32:4 molten calf:
Interpreters differ over whether this is an “idol” representing a foreign god
or simply a “throne” symbolizing Yahweh’s presence among his people. Aaron’s announcement
of “a fast to the LORD” in 32:5 is said to favor the latter interpretation, as
is the fact that Near Eastern artwork depicts deities standing on pedestals
made in the image of a lion or bull. However, other factors make it more
probable that this is a brazen act of idolatry. (1) Israel is guilty,
not only of forging a graven image in the likeness of a creature (in violation of
20:4), but of making “gods of gold” (32:31; in violation of 20:23). (2) The
people worshiped “it” rather than the Lord on the following day (32:8). (3) Elsewhere
in Scripture the participants are described as idolaters (1 Cor 10:7) who
returned to the ways of Egypt (Acts 7:39-41; cf. Ezek 20:7-8). (The Ignatius
Catholic Study Bible, ed. Scott Hahn and Curtis J. Mitch [San Francisco:
Ignatius Press, 2024], 164-65)
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