Exodus 32:26

Complete Jewish Bible

Moshe stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, "Whoever is for Adonai , come to me!" All the descendants of Levi rallied around him.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
then Moshe stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on the LORD's side, come to me!" All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

King James Version
Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord 's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

Lexham English Bible
And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and he said, "Whoever is for Yahweh, to me." And all the sons of Levi were gathered to him.

New Century Version
So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, "Let anyone who wants to follow the Lord come to me." And all the people from the family of Levi gathered around Moses.

New English Translation
So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, "Whoever is for the Lord , come to me." All the Levites gathered around him,

Amplified Bible
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on the LORD'S side, come to me!" And all the sons of Levi [the priestly tribe] gathered together to him.

New American Standard Bible
Moses then stood at the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Moses stoode in ye gate of the campe, and sayde, Who pertaineth to the Lorde? let him come to mee. And all the sonnes of Leui gathered themselues vnto him.

Legacy Standard Bible
so Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, "Whoever is for Yahweh, come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him.

Contemporary English Version
So Moses stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, "Everyone who is on the Lord 's side come over here!" Then the men of the Levi tribe gathered around Moses,

Darby Translation
And Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, He that is for Jehovah, [let him come] to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered to him.

Easy-to-Read Version
So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, "Anyone who wants to follow the Lord should come to me." Everyone from the tribe of Levi ran to Moses.

English Standard Version
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, "Who is on the Lord 's side? Come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.

George Lamsa Translation
Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the LORDS side? Let him come to me. And all the Levites gathered themselves together to him.

Good News Translation
So he stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, "Everyone who is on the Lord 's side come over here!" So all the Levites gathered around him,

Christian Standard Bible®
And Moses stood at the camp’s entrance and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.

Literal Translation
And Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is for Jehovah? Come to me! And all the sons of Levi assembled to him.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
he wete in to the gate of the hoost, and sayde: who so belongeth vnto the LORDE, let him come hither vnto me. Then all the children of Leui gathered them selues vnto him,

American Standard Version
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on Jehovah's side, let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

Bible in Basic English
Then Moses took his place at the way into the tents, and said, Whoever is on the Lord's side, let him come to me. And all the sons of Levi came together to him.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Moyses stode in the gate of the hoast, and sayd: Who [pertayneth] to the Lorde, [let hym come] vnto me. And all the sonnes of Leui gathered theselues together vnto hym.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said: 'Whoso is on the LORD'S side, let him come unto me.' And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

King James Version (1611)
Then Moses stood in the gate of the campe, and saide, Who is on the Lords side? let him come vnto mee. And all the sonnes of Leui gathered themselues together vnto him.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
then stood Moses at the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come to me. Then all the sons of Levi came to him.

English Revised Version
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on the LORD'S side, let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

Berean Standard Bible
So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me." And all the Levites gathered around him.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Moises stood in the yate of the castels, and seide, If ony man is of the Lord, be he ioyned to me; and alle the sones of Leuy weren gaderid to hym.

Young's Literal Translation
and Moses standeth in the gate of the camp, and saith, `Who [is] for Jehovah? -- unto me!' and all the sons of Levi are gathered unto him;

Update Bible Version
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoever is on Yahweh's side, [let him come] to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who [is] on the LORD'S side? [let him come] to me. And all the sons of Levi assembled themselves to him.

World English Bible
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on Yahweh's side, come to me!" All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

New King James Version
then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on the LORD's side--come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

New Living Translation
So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, "All of you who are on the Lord 's side, come here and join me." And all the Levites gathered around him.

New Life Bible
So Moses stood in the gate of the place where they had set up their tents and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!" And all the sons of Levi came together around him.

New Revised Standard
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Who is on the Lord 's side? Come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So Moses took his stand in the gate of the camp, and said - Who is for Yahweh? …To me! Then gathered unto him all the sons of Levi,

Douay-Rheims Bible
Then standing in the gate of the camp, he said: If any man be on the Lord’s side, let him join with me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him:

Revised Standard Version
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Who is on the LORD's side? Come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him.

Contextual Overview

²¹ Moshe said to Aharon, "What did these people do to you to make you lead them into such a terrible sin?" ²² Aharon replied, "My lord shouldn't be so angry. You know what these people are like, that they are determined to do evil. ²³ So they said to me, ‘Make us gods to go ahead of us; because this Moshe, the man that brought us up from the land of Egypt — we don't know what has become of him.' ²⁴ I answered them, ‘Anyone with gold, strip it off!' So they gave it to me. I threw it in the fire, and out came this calf!" ²⁵ When Moshe saw that the people had gotten out of control — because Aharon had allowed them to get out of control, to the derision of their enemies — ²⁶ Moshe stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, "Whoever is for Adonai , come to me!" All the descendants of Levi rallied around him. ²⁷ He told them, "Here is what Adonai , the God of Isra'el, says: ‘Each of you, put his sword on his side; and go up and down the camp, from gate to gate; and every man is to kill his own kinsman, his own friend and his own neighbor!" ²⁸ The sons of Levi did what Moshe said, and that day three thousand of the people died. ²⁹ Moshe said, "You have consecrated yourselves today to Adonai , because every one of you has been against his own son and against his own kinsman, in order to bring a blessing on yourselves today."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Who is on: Joshua 5:13, 2 Samuel 20:11, 2 Kings 9:32, Matthew 12:30

Reciprocal: Genesis 29:34 - was Exodus 32:27 - slay every man Numbers 1:50 - thou shalt Numbers 3:6 - General Numbers 3:40 - General Numbers 3:41 - General Psalms 94:16 - rise up Malachi 2:5 - I gave

Cross-References

Genesis 32:1
(Maftir) Early in the morning Lavan got up, kissed his sons and daughters, and blessed them. Then Lavan left and returned to his own place.

Genesis 32:6
I have cattle, donkeys and flocks, and male and female servants. I am sending to tell this news to my lord, in order to win your favor." '"

Genesis 32:7
The messengers returned to Ya‘akov saying, "We went to your brother ‘Esav, and he is coming to meet you; with him are four hundred men."

Genesis 32:8
Ya‘akov became greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people, flocks, cattle and camels with him into two camps,

Genesis 32:9
saying, "If ‘Esav comes to the one camp and attacks it, at least the camp that is left will escape."

Genesis 32:12
Please! Rescue me from my brother ‘Esav! I'm afraid of him, afraid he'll come and attack me, without regard for mothers or children.

Genesis 32:13
You said, ‘I will certainly do you good and make your descendants as numerous as the grains of sand by the sea, which are so many they can't be counted.'"

Genesis 32:28
The man asked, "What is your name?" and he answered, "Ya‘akov."

Genesis 32:29
Then the man said, "From now on, you will no longer be called Ya‘akov, but Isra'el; because you have shown your strength to both God and men and have prevailed."

Exodus 32:10
Now leave me alone, so that my anger can blaze against them, and I can put an end to them! I will make a great nation out of you instead."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp,.... In one of the gates of it; for it doubtless had more than one to go in and out of, as is clear from Exodus 32:27 it being probably entrenched all around; here Moses set himself, it being the usual place, as in cities, where the people were summoned together on important occasions, and justice and judgment were administered:

and said, who is on the Lord's side? [let him come] unto me; who is for the worship of the true God, and him only, and against the worship of a gold calf, or any other idol, and is zealous for the glory of God, and the honour of his name;

and all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him; that is, all those that had not given in to the idolatry of the calf; all is put for many. Jarchi infers from hence, that this tribe was wholly free from that sin; but the contrary is most evident, for it appears from the context that many of them were slain for it; yea, as, on the one hand, they were only of the tribe of Levi, who joined themselves to Moses, though there was no doubt many in all the tribes that were not in the idolatry; so, on the other hand, there were none slain, or very few, but of the tribe of Levi, as will appear in the exposition of the following verses, the being principally concerned with Aaron in making the calf; and therefore those of the same tribe that joined them not were the more zealous and studious to purge themselves from the imputation of the crime, by going over to Moses at once, and showing themselves to be on the Lord's side.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The faithfulness of Moses in the office that had been entrusted to him was now to be put to the test. It was to be made manifest whether he loved his own glory better than he loved the brethren who were under his charge; whether he would prefer that he should himself become the founder of a “great nation,” or that the Lord’s promise should be fulfilled in the whole people of Israel. This may have been especially needful for Moses, in consequence of his natural disposition. See Numbers 12:3; and compare Exodus 3:11. With this trial of Moses repeated in a very similar manner Numbers 14:11-23, may be compared the trial of Abraham Genesis 22:0 and of our Saviour Matthew 4:8-10.

Exodus 32:8

These be thy gods ... have brought - This is thy god, O Israel, who has brought ...

Exodus 32:10

Let me alone - But Moses did not let the Lord alone; he wrestled, as Jacob had done, until, like Jacob, he obtained the blessing Genesis 32:24-29.

Exodus 32:14

This states a fact which was not revealed to Moses until after his second intercession when he had come down from the mountain and witnessed the sin of the people Exodus 32:30-34. He was then assured that the Lord’s love to His ancient people would prevail God is said, in the language of Scripture, to “repent,” when His forgiving love is seen by man to blot out the letter of His judgments against sin (2 Samuel 24:16; Joel 2:13; Jonah 3:10, etc.); or when the sin of man seems to human sight to have disappointed the purposes of grace (Gen 6:6; 1 Samuel 15:35, etc.). The awakened conscience is said to “repent,” when, having felt its sin, it feels also the divine forgiveness: it is at this crisis that God, according to the language of Scripture, repents toward the sinner. Thus, the repentance of God made known in and through the One true Mediator reciprocates the repentance of the returning sinner, and reveals to him atonement.

Exodus 32:17-18

Moses does not tell Joshua of the divine communication that had been made to him respecting the apostasy of the people, but only corrects his impression by calling his attention to the kind of noise which they are making.

Exodus 32:19

Though Moses had been prepared by the revelation on the Mount, his righteous indignation was stirred up beyond control when the abomination was before his eyes.

Exodus 32:20

See Deuteronomy 9:21. What is related in this verse must have occupied some time and may have followed the rebuke of Aaron. The act was symbolic, of course. The idol was brought to nothing and the people were made to swallow their own sin (compare Micah 7:13-14).

Exodus 32:22

Aaron’s reference to the character of the people, and his manner of stating what he had done Exo. 5:24, are very characteristic of the deprecating language of a weak mind.

Exodus 32:23

Make us gods - Make us a god.

Exodus 32:25

Naked - Rather unruly, or “licentious”.

Shame among their enemies - Compare Psalms 44:13; Psalms 79:4; Deuteronomy 28:37.

Exodus 32:26-29

The tribe of Levi, Moses’ own tribe, now distinguished itself by immediately returning to its allegiance and obeying the call to fight on the side of Yahweh. We need not doubt that the 3,000 who were slain were those who persisted in resisting Moses. The spirit of the narrative forbids us to conceive that the act of the Levites was anything like an indiscriminate massacre. An amnesty had first been offered to all by the words: “Who is on the Lord’s side?” Those who were forward to draw the sword were directed not to spare their closest relations or friends; but this must plainly have been with an understood qualification as regards the conduct of those who were to be slain. Had it not been so, they who were on the Lord’s side would have had to destroy each other. We need not stumble at the bold, simple way in which the statement is made.

Exodus 32:29

Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord ... - The margin contains the literal rendering. Our version gives the most probable meaning of the Hebrew, and is supported by the best authority. The Levites were to prove themselves in a special way the servants of Yahweh, in anticipation of their formal consecration as ministers of the sanctuary (compare Deuteronomy 10:8), by manifesting a self-sacrificing zeal in carrying out the divine command, even upon their nearest relatives.

Exodus 32:31

Returned unto the Lord - i. e. again he ascended the mountain.

Gods of gold - a god of gold.

Exodus 32:32

For a similar form of expression, in which the conclusion is left to be supplied by the mind of the reader, see Daniel 3:15; Luke 13:9; Luke 19:42; John 6:62; Romans 9:22. For the same thought, see Romans 9:3. It is for such as Moses and Paul to realize, and to dare to utter, their readiness to be wholly sacrificed for the sake of those whom God has entrusted to their love. This expresses the perfected idea of the whole burnt-offering.

Thy book - The figure is taken from the enrolment of the names of citizens. This is its first occurrence in the Scriptures. See the marginal references. and Isaiah 4:3; Daniel 12:1; Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5, etc.

Exodus 32:33, Exodus 32:34

Each offender was to suffer for his own sin. Compare Exodus 20:5; Ezekiel 18:4, Ezekiel 18:20. Moses was not to be taken at his word. He was to fulfill his appointed mission of leading on the people toward the land of promise.

Exodus 32:34

Mine Angel shall go before thee - See the marginal references and Genesis 12:7.

In the day when I visit ... - Compare Numbers 14:22-24. But though the Lord chastized the individuals, He did not take His blessing from the nation.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 32:26. Who is on the Lord's side? — That is, Who among you is free from this transgression?

And all the sons of Levi, &c. — It seems they had no part in this idolatrous business.