Psalms 106:19

19. They made a calf In imitation of the sacred bulls of the Egyptians Apis, at Memphis, and Mnevis, at Heliopolis. But they called it Eloheem, God. It was not intended as a revolt from God, but as an image, or rather symbol, of God, and the feast in honour of it was called “a feast to Jehovah.” Exodus 32:4-5. They might have viewed it in the light of a cherubic symbol, of which the Egyptian worship had many. But it was a gross violation of the second commandment, and was thus considered.

Exodus 32:8; comp. Acts 7:40-41. The whole affair shows the debased condition of the people, from their long residence in Egypt. In returning from Korah’s conspiracy to the calf at Horeb, the author reverses the historical order of events.

Horeb According to Robinson, this was the generic name for the whole range of mountains, and Sinai the specific name of that portion where the law was given. But Ritter thinks Horeb also applies to that particular section where the rock was smitten. Exodus 17:6. The names evidently are here used interchangeably. In passing from the plain er-Rahah into the Wady Shu’eib, or Convent Valley, the traveller still sees upon his left, at the mouth of the wady and on the edge of the plain, at the foot of the awful mount, the notable eminence called the “Hill of Aaron,” or “Hill of the Golden Calf,” a spot which tradition has well identified. Coincident with this is the fact that when Moses descended from the mount, before he came in sight of the people, he heard a noise of voices in the camp. Exodus 32:15-19. Palmer says: “Often in descending the Wady Shu’eib, while the precipitous sides of the ravine hid the tents from our gaze, have I heard the sound of voices from below, and thought of Joshua and Moses,” etc., as in the passage above quoted. It seems certain that Moses must have ascended and descended through this wady, the only feasible path to and from the great plains of er-Rahah and Wady Sheikh.

Molten image The calf might have been made of massive gold, but from the fact that Moses “burnt it and ground it to powder,” (Exodus 32:20,) it would seem to have been made of wood and plated with gold.

Worshipped From the formality of “building an altar and proclaiming a feast to Jehovah,” it would appear that sacrifices to Jehovah were first offered, as on the great feast days, (Leviticus 23:0,) followed by a festival. The whole affair was a strange mixture of Mosaism and heathenism. The word “play,” (Exodus 32:6,) which was part of the festive ceremony, must be taken technically of lewdness and debauch, added to singing, dancing, and shouting. It is translated “mock,” Genesis 39:14; Genesis 39:17. Compare also the worship of Baal-peor. Numbers 25:0