How Acts 7:39-41 Illumines A Proper Understanding of the Golden Calf Incident (GCI)
Scripture provides revelation about the Golden Calf Incident (GCI) in at least 6 chapters in Scripture (Exod. 32; Deut. 9; Neh. 9; Ps. 106; Acts 7; 1 Cor. 10). In my previous threads about this incident, I did not discuss the verses in Acts 7 that are about the GCI:
Acts 7:39 To whom [Moses: our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
40 Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
These verses illumine a proper understanding of the GCI because they include a quotation from Exodus 32:1 that decisively answers a key question about the GCI:
Did the Israelites idolatrously worship one or more false gods on this occasion?
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I do not want this thread to be another discussion about the musical aspects of the GCI that are revealed in Exodus 32. Rather, I would like to focus on discussing what these verses specifically reveal in their context about who was worshiped on this occasion and the nature of the idolatrous worship on this occasion.
Carefully comparing Exodus 32:1 with Acts 7:40 reveals that Acts 7:40 is an excellent example of the value of closely examining how the NT uses the OT:
Exod 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; [עֲשֵׂה־לָ֣נוּ אֱלֹהִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר יֵֽלְכוּ֙ לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ] for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Acts 7:40 Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: [ποίησον ἡμῖν θεοὺς οἳ προπορεύσονται ἡμῶν] for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
The noun “gods” is plural in both the Heb. of Exod. 32:1 (אֱלֹהִ֗ים) and the Greek of Acts 7:40 (θεοὺς). In addition, the verbs immediately following are also plural: “shall go” [יֵֽלְכוּ֙ (Exod. 32:1]; “to go” (προπορεύσονται [Acts 7:40] ).
Many have noted that the plural noun elohim is used very often in the Hebrew OT for the true God. On that basis, they argue that the Israelites worshiped Yahweh in the GCI but did so idolatrously through the calf that they made.
Acts 7:40, however, shows that interpretation is wrong. The Greek NT never uses the plural of theos to speak of the true God. Every time that plural is found in the GNT, it refers either to false gods (Acts 7:40; 14:11; 19:26; 1 Cor. 8:5; Gal. 4:8) or to human judges (John 10:34-35).
Based on the plural noun Theous and the plural verb that follows it in the GNT in Acts 7:40, we can say with certainty that the Israelites worshiped one or more false gods in the GCI.
[RajeshG] we can say with certainty that [some of] the Israelites worshiped one or more false gods in the GCI.
I have no doubt!
They certainly intended to make and worship a false god.
Is every such effort successful in that a demonic being (false god) becomes associated with the physical idol?
[Darrell McCarthy]I have no doubt!
If by “some of ,” you mean that you hold that not all the Israelites participated in the idolatry of the GCI, I agree entirely.
If, however, you hold that of those who did engage in idolatry, some worshiped one or more false gods through the idol and some worshiped only Yahweh through the idol, I disagree strongly.
Because the calf was an idol that the NT says was something that they made to be “gods,” anyone who participated in that idolatry in any way worshiped one or more false gods regardless of whether he may have thought that he was worshiping only Yahweh.
[Dan Miller]“Associated” is a problematic word to use in this regard.They certainly intended to make and worship a false god.
Is every such effort successful in that a demonic being (false god) becomes associated with the physical idol?
Scripture says that “they sacrificed unto devils, not to God” (Deut. 32:17) and that “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God” (1 Cor. 10:20). I understand both passages to teach that every such sacrifice really and actually was (and is) a sacrifice to demons whether those who offered (or offer) those sacrifices intended (or intend) to do so or not.
[RajeshG]“Associated” is a problematic word to use in this regard.
Scripture says that “they sacrificed unto devils, not to God” (Deut. 32:17) and that “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God” (1 Cor. 10:20). I understand both passages to teach that every such sacrifice really and actually was (and is) a sacrifice to demons whether those who offered (or offer) those sacrifices intended (or intend) to do so or not.
I’m open to other “wordings.” I know wwe discussed that and I can’t remember how you liked it phrased.
You and I have discussed 1 Cor 10:20 before and I agree that Paul proclaims that the idols of Corinth have demons [associated] with them and that that implies that ALL idols have demons [associated] with them.
The reason for my question is that during those discussions, this passage came up:
Isaiah 44:9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing?
Do you think that this teaches that some idols are lacking sight, thought, ability, and profit? And would this suggest they are just physical idols?
[Dan Miller]The reason for my question is that during those discussions, this passage came up:
Isaiah 44:9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing?
Do you think that this teaches that some idols are lacking sight, thought, ability, and profit? And would this suggest they are just physical idols?
No, Scripture denounces all idols as lacking those things (Ps. 115:6-8; 135:15-18; Isa. 46:6-7; Jer. 10:3-5; 14-15). All idols are just physical idols that cannot do anything in and of themselves. When humans offer things to an idol, however, Scripture teaches that what is offered is actually and really offered to demons.
[Dan Miller]In 1 Cor. 10:20, Paul does not specify that what he says about idols in that verse was only about the idols of Corinth. I do not find any evidence in the passage to limit “Gentiles” in that verse to mean only the Corinthian Gentiles.You and I have discussed 1 Cor 10:20 before and I agree that Paul proclaims that the idols of Corinth have demons [associated] with them and that that implies that ALL idols have demons [associated] with them.
[RajeshG]Hab. 2:18-19 is another passage that emphasizes the uselessness of idols and the harmfulness of anyone’s trusting in them and praying to them:No, Scripture denounces all idols as lacking those things (Ps. 115:6-8; 135:15-18; Isa. 46:6-7; Jer. 10:3-5; 14-15). All idols are just physical idols that cannot do anything in and of themselves. When humans offer things to an idol, however, Scripture teaches that what is offered is actually and really offered to demons.
Habakkuk 2:18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? 19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
This passage teaches that all graven images, molten images, etc. are dumb (they do not speak) idols that have no breath at all in them, that do not profit their makers, and that are teachers of lies. Whether they are made of metals, wood, or stone and regardless of whether they are laid over with gold and silver, they are completely of no value.
God has pronounced a woe on anyone and everyone who is involved in idolatry in any manner, Learning all that we can from the accounts of the GCI is vital so that we will not be idolaters in any of the ways that they were (1 Cor. 10:7).
Acts 7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
Stephen makes clear with this statement that the idolaters in the GCI were not rejoicing in the Lord; instead, they were rejoicing “in the works of their own hands.” Given that they made the calf to be their gods and that they did not rejoice in the Lord but in the works of their own hands, there is no basis in any of the GCI passages to hold that they in actuality in any sense observed a feast to the Lord.
Using the search capabilities of the GSE tool in BibleWorks 10, I am currently in the process of examining intensively the occurrences of elohim in the Hebrew OT. So far, I have not found a single occurrence of elohim functioning as the subject of a plural verb form where elohim refers to the true God.
This finding is very significant for a right interpretation of the GCI because all the occurrences of elohim in Exod. 32 that refer to the idol are with plural verbs. If the results that I have obtained so far stand up after I have completed an exhaustive study of that construction in the Hebrew OT, that result will further prove that it is impossible to hold legitimately that they made the calf to be an idol that was supposed to be Yahweh.
Exod. 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Neh. 9:18 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;
The underlying Hebrew word is the same in both verses, but it is rendered as “thy gods” in one verse but as “thy God” in the other.
Did the people say that the golden calf was Israel’s “gods” (Ex. 32:4) or Israel’s “God” (Neh. 9:18)?
This is a key question that needs to be answered for a proper overall understanding of the GCI.
Based on the additional results from my ongoing detailed analysis of the occurrences of elohim with plural verbs in the Hebrew OT, I posted the following information elsewhere this evening:
“Elohim” with Plural Verbs to Signify the True God
Through information from some language references and my ongoing research in the Hebrew OT, I have learned that there are at least 3 clear instances where elohim is the subject of a plural verb form and signifies the true God:
Gen. 20:13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
Gen. 20:13 ἐγένετο δὲ ἡνίκα ἐξήγαγέν με ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρός μου καὶ εἶπα αὐτῇ ταύτην τὴν δικαιοσύνην ποιήσεις ἐπ᾽ ἐμέ εἰς πάντα τόπον οὗ ἐὰν εἰσέλθωμεν ἐκεῖ εἰπὸν ἐμὲ ὅτι ἀδελφός μού ἐστιν
Gen. 20:13 וַיְהִ֞י כַּאֲשֶׁ֧ר הִתְע֣וּ אֹתִ֗י אֱלֹהִים֘ מִבֵּ֣ית אָבִי֒ וָאֹמַ֣ר לָ֔הּ זֶ֣ה חַסְדֵּ֔ךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תַּעֲשִׂ֖י עִמָּדִ֑י אֶ֤ל כָּל־הַמָּקוֹם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נָב֣וֹא שָׁ֔מָּה אִמְרִי־לִ֖י אָחִ֥י הֽוּא׃
Gen. 35:7 And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
Gen. 35:7 καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν ἐκεῖ θυσιαστήριον καὶ ἐκάλεσεν τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου Βαιθηλ ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἐπεφάνη αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῷ ἀποδιδράσκειν αὐτὸν ἀπὸ προσώπου Ησαυ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ
Gen. 35:7 וַיִּ֤בֶן שָׁם֙ מִזְבֵּ֔חַ וַיִּקְרָא֙ לַמָּק֔וֹם אֵ֖ל בֵּֽית־אֵ֑ל כִּ֣י שָׁ֗ם נִגְל֤וּ אֵלָיו֙ הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים בְּבָרְח֖וֹ מִפְּנֵ֥י אָחִֽיו׃
2 Sam. 7:23 And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?
2 Sam. 7:23 καὶ τίς ὡς ὁ λαός σου Ισραηλ ἔθνος ἄλλο ἐν τῇ γῇ ὡς ὡδήγησεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς τοῦ λυτρώσασθαι αὐτῷ λαὸν τοῦ θέσθαι σε ὄνομα τοῦ ποιῆσαι μεγαλωσύνην καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ ἐκβαλεῖν σε ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ λαοῦ σου οὗ ἐλυτρώσω σεαυτῷ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἔθνη καὶ σκηνώματα
2 Sam. 7:23 וּמִ֤י כְעַמְּךָ֙ כְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל גּ֥וֹי אֶחָ֖ד בָּאָ֑רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָלְכֽוּ־אֱ֠לֹהִים לִפְדּֽוֹת־ל֙וֹ לְעָ֜ם וְלָשׂ֧וּם ל֣וֹ שֵׁ֗ם וְלַעֲשׂ֙וֹת לָכֶ֜ם הַגְּדוּלָּ֤ה וְנֹֽרָאוֹת֙ לְאַרְצֶ֔ךָ מִפְּנֵ֣י עַמְּךָ֗ אֲשֶׁ֙ר פָּדִ֤יתָ לְּךָ֙ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם גּוֹיִ֖ם וֵאלֹהָֽיו׃
Observations about these verses
1. The plural Hebrew verb of which elohim functions as the subject in each verse precedes it in all three verses.
2. The KJV correctly renders elohim as God in all three verses even though it is the subject of a plural verb in the Hebrew text.
3. The Septuagint correctly renders elohim as the singular theos and renders the plural Hebrew verb of which it is the subject as a singular verb in all three verses. The translators thereby reflect correctly that the plural noun and verb in the Hebrew text signify actions by the true God.
For the purposes of this thread, these results are significant because they show that in the very, very few instances in Scripture when elohim does occur as the subject of a plural verb to signify the true God, the verb precedes it.
Because the occurrences of elohim as the subject of plural verbs in all the verses in Exodus 32 that speak about the idol (Exod. 32:1, 4, 8, 23) have the verb after it, this evidence further supports holding that elohim in those verses does not signify the true God.
Aaron and the people made a single molten calf, but the people used plural demonstrative pronouns to speak about who the calf was:
Exod. 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exod. 32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
It’s puzzling how they could use plural pronouns to speak of a singular calf.
[RajeshG]This is only a guess, but perhaps the plural is due to the idea that the physical calf was representing a spiritual being, so as they worshiped the calf, they were worshiping both the representation and the spiritual being behind it as gods.Aaron and the people made a single molten calf, but the people used plural demonstrative pronouns to speak about who the calf was:
Exod. 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exod. 32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
It’s puzzling how they could use plural pronouns to speak of a singular calf.
[Kevin Miller]Exodus 32:4 seems to speak about what they said immediately or very soon after the calf was made and before they worshiped it, but in 32:8, God seems to tell Moses about what they said after they had worshiped it. To complicate matters much more, Neh. 9 has elohim with a singular demonstrative pronoun and a singular verb in the relative clause:This is only a guess, but perhaps the plural is due to the idea that the physical calf was representing a spiritual being, so as they worshiped the calf, they were worshiping both the representation and the spiritual being behind it as gods.
Neh. 9:18 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;
I have been going through hundreds of verses in the Hebrew OT to try to determine what are the significant differences (pertinent to this study) between the instances where elohim occurs with a singular verb versus with a plural verb. That ongoing study so far has not produced any definitive understanding for me of the differences in the statements in Exodus 32:1, 4, 8, and 23 versus Neh. 9:18.
If you are a user of BibleWorks and familiar with the Graphical Search Engine, this blog post may be of interest to you about what the query looks for finding all occurrences of elohim with a preceding plural verb with exactly 3 words between. The post is an example of the detailed study that I am doing to try to understand better how to interpret correctly the GCI passages.
(If you are not a student of Hebrew and an advanced user of the GSE in BibleWorks 10, the post will not be of any real interest to you.)
GSE Search: Elohim Preceded by Plural Verbs with Exactly 3 Words Between
Even if the post itself is not of any interest to you, I would like to say that the kinds of things that I am looking at would probably be nearly impossible to do were it not for electronic Bible study tools. God has so richly blessed us with such tools in our day. We have a great obligation to make the most of His favoring us in this way.
The January/February 2023 issue of FrontLine magazine includes a one-page article that I wrote on Exodus 32: "The Golden Calf: 'A god,' 'gods,' or 'God'?"
This article is in the "Straight Cuts" section of the magazine that concerns "rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15)" [quoted from the header of the section].
Prior to the publication of this article, 6 people with earned PhDs (4 in OT, 1 in Theology, 1 in NT) evaluated my work. This article would not have been published had there been concerns about my exegetical and theological handling of the Bible in it.
I normally would never share detailed information of this sort publicly, but I believe that it is legitimate for me to do so presently on SI because of the nature of the comments that have been previously made on SI asserting that I mishandle Scripture.
As I continue to intensely study the GCI, I have produced two new posts on my blog that present some of my latest thoughts about it. Neither of these posts is intended to be a comprehensive treatment of the incident (I do not discuss the musical aspects of the GCI in either of these posts).
What Should Believers Learn from the Golden Calf Incident in Exodus 32?
How “Instant Replay” Proves the Correct Identity of the Golden Calf in Exodus 32
If you are seriously interested in interacting with Scripture itself, I invite you to visit my blog and carefully examine these posts.
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