SEV Biblia, Chapter 7:41
Y entonces hicieron el becerro, y ofrecieron sacrificio al ídolo, y en las obras de sus manos se regocijaron.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 41. And they made a calf in those days , etc.] Whilst Moses was in the mount; this was done in imitation of the Egyptian idol Apis or Serapis, which was an ox or a bullock; and it was made of the golden earnings of the people, which were melted down, and cast into the form of a calf, and graved by Aaron with a graving tool, ( Exodus 32:2-4) And so the Syriac version here reads in the singular number, and he made them a calf; this was a most shameful and scandalous piece of idolatry. The Jews themselves are so sensible of the horribleness of it, and of the guilt of it, and of the reproach that lies on them for it, that it is common for them to say f364 , there is not a generation, or an age, in which there is not an ounce of the sin of the calf. Or, as elsewhere expressed, no punishment befalls thee, O Israel, in which there is not an ounce of the sin of the calf. And offered sacrifice unto the idol ; an altar was built, and proclamation made, that the next day would be the feast of the Lord; and accordingly early in the morning the people rose, and offered both burnt offerings and peace offerings, ( Exodus 32:5,6) and rejoiceth in the works of their own hands; for so the calf was; and which rejoicing they showed by eating, and drinking, and singing, and dancing.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 30-41 - Men deceive themselves, if they think God cannot do what he sees to be good any where; he can bring his people into a wilderness, and ther speak comfortably to them. He appeared to Moses in a flame of fire, ye the bush was not consumed; which represented the state of Israel i Egypt, where, though they were in the fire of affliction, yet they wer not consumed. It may also be looked upon as a type of Christ's takin upon him the nature of man, and the union between the Divine and huma nature. The death of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, cannot break the covenant relation between God and them. Our Saviour by this proves the future state, Mt 22:31. Abraham is dead, yet God is still his God therefore Abraham is still alive. Now, this is that life an immortality which are brought to light by the gospel. Stephen her shows that Moses was an eminent type of Christ, as he was Israel' deliverer. God has compassion for the troubles of his church, and the groans of his persecuted people; and their deliverance takes rise from his pity. And that deliverance was typical of what Christ did, when for us men, and for our salvation, he came down from heaven. Thi Jesus, whom they now refused, as their fathers did Moses, even thi same has God advanced to be a Prince and Saviour. It does not at all take from the just honour of Moses to say, that he was but a instrument, and that he is infinitely outshone by Jesus. In assertin that Jesus should change the customs of the ceremonial law. Stephen wa so far from blaspheming Moses, that really he honoured him, by showin how the prophecy of Moses was come to pass, which was so clear. God wh gave them those customs by his servant Moses, might, no doubt, chang the custom by his Son Jesus. But Israel thrust Moses from them, an would have returned to their bondage; so men in general will not obe Jesus, because they love this present evil world, and rejoice in their own works and devices.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 CONJ εμοσχοποιησαν 3447 5656 V-AAI-3P εν 1722 PREP ταις 3588 T-DPF ημεραις 2250 N-DPF εκειναις 1565 D-DPF και 2532 CONJ ανηγαγον 321 5627 V-2AAI-3P-ATT θυσιαν 2378 N-ASF τω 3588 T-DSN ειδωλω 1497 N-DSN και 2532 CONJ ευφραινοντο 2165 5712 V-IPI-3P εν 1722 PREP τοις 3588 T-DPN εργοις 2041 N-DPN των 3588 T-GPF χειρων 5495 N-GPF αυτων 846 P-GPM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
41. They made a calf (emoscopoihsan). Only here in New Testament, and not in Septuagint. Bengel says, "A very notorious crime is denoted by an extraordinary and newly-coined word." This was in imitation of the Egyptian bull-worship. Several of these animals were worshipped at different places in Egypt. Apis was worshipped at Memphis. Herodotus says: "Now this Apis, or Epaphus, is the calf of a cow which is never afterward able to bear young. The Egyptians say that fire comes down from heaven upon the cow, which thereupon conceives Apis. The calf which is so called has the following marks: He is black, with a square spot of white upon his forehead, and on his back the figure of an eagle. The hairs in his tail are double, and there is a beetle upon his tongue" (3, 28). He was regarded by the Egyptians, not merely as an emblem, but as a God. He was lodged in a magnificent court, ornamented with figures twelve cubits high, which he never quitted except on fixed days, when he was led in procession through the streets. His festival lasted seven days, and all came forward from their houses to welcome him as he passed. He was not allowed to reach the natural term of his life. If a natural death did not remove him earlier, he was drowned when he reached the age of twenty-five, and was then embalmed and entombed in one of the sepulchral chambers of the Serapeum, a temple devoted expressly to the burial of these animals.Another sacred bull was maintained at Heliopolis, in the great Temple of the Sun, under the name of Mnevis, and was honored with a reverence next to Apis. Wilkinson thinks that it was from this, and not from Apis, that the Israelites borrowed their notions of the golden calf. "The offerings, dancing, and rejoicings practiced on the occasion, were doubtless in imitation of a ceremony they had witnessed in honor of Mnevis during their sojourn in Egypt" ("Ancient Egyptians," 2 ser., vol. ii., p. 197). A third sacred bull, called Bacis, was maintained at Hermonthis, near Thebes. It was a huge, black animal, and its hairs were said to grow the wrong way. Other bulls and cows did not hold the rank of gods, but were only sacred. Offered (agnhgagon). Lit., led up. See on Jas. ii. 21.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
7:41 {They made a calf} (emoscopoiesan). First aorist active indicative of moscopoiew, here only in the N.T. and unknown elsewhere. The LXX (#Ex 32:3) has epoiese moscon from which phrase the word is evidently made. Aaron made the calf, but so did the people (#Ex 32:35). {The idol} (twi eidwlwi). Stephen calls it by the right name. The people said it was their way of worshipping Jehovah! So the Egyptians worshipped the bull Apis at Memphis as the symbol of Osiris (the sun). They had another sacred bull Mnevis at Leontopolis. eidwlon (from eidos, form or figure) is the image or likeness of anything. The heathen worship the god through the image or idol. {Rejoiced} (eufrainonto). Imperfect, middle, kept on rejoicing (#Ex 32:6,18) or making merry.
