Exodus 32 · Verse 17

Exodus 32:17

And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
Exodus 32:17, King James Version

Exodus 32:17 in other translations

BSBWhen Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “The sound of war is in the camp.”
WEBWhen Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the noise of war in the camp.”
ASVAnd when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
YLTAnd Joshua heareth the voice of the people in their shouting, and saith unto Moses, ‘A noise of battle in the camp!'
DARBYAnd Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, and said to Moses, There is a shout of war in the camp.
BBENow when the noise and the voices of the people came to the ears of Joshua, he said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the tents.
WebsterAnd when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

What does Exodus 32:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 32:15-18

15-18. Moses turned, and went down from the mount--The plain, Er-Raheh, is not visible from the top of Jebel Musa, nor can the mount be descended on the side towards that valley; hence Moses and his companion, who on duty had patiently waited his return in the hollow of the mountain's brow, heard the shouting some time before they actually saw the camp.

Read the full comment on Exodus 32:15-18 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 17 Joshua - said - There is a noise of war in the camp - How natural was this thought to the mind of a military man! Hearing a confused noise he supposed that the Israelitish camp had been attacked by some of the neighboring tribes.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 32:15-20

What a change it is, to come down from the mount of communion with God, to converse with a wicked world. In God we see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing but what is sinful and provoking. That it might appear an idol is nothing in the world, Moses ground the calf to dust. Mixing this powder with their drink, signified that the backslider in heart should be filled with his own ways.

Read the full comment on Exodus 32:15-20 →

Exodus 32:17 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיִּשְׁמַ֧עvai.yish.Ma'and he heardH8085
יְהוֹשֻׁ֛עַye.ho.Shu.a'JoshuaH3091
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
ק֥וֹלKol[the] sound ofH6963
הָעָ֖םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
בְּרֵע֑וֹbe.re.'Oin shouting itsH7452
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙vai.Yo.merand he saidH559
אֶל\־'el-toH413
מֹשֶׁ֔הmo.ShehMosesH4872
ק֥וֹלKola sound ofH6963
מִלְחָמָ֖הmil.cha.MahbattleH4421
בַּֽמַּחֲנֶה\׃Ba.ma.cha.neh[is] in the campH4264

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 32:17

  • Exodus 24:13

    And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.

  • Exodus 17:9

    And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

  • 1 Samuel 4:5-6

    And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp.

  • Joshua 6:16

    And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city.

  • 1 Samuel 17:20

    And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.

  • Exodus 32:18

    And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

  • Jeremiah 51:14

    The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

  • Ezra 3:11-13

    And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

  • Job 39:25

    He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

  • Amos 2:2

    But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:

  • Amos 1:14

    But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:

  • Joshua 6:10

    And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Joshua had waited patiently during all the forty days, in the place where Moses had left him--below the summit of the mount, at a distance from the people, and out of the way of temptation.
Joshua.
17:9; 24:13
they shouted.
18; Ezr 3:11-13; Ps 47:1
There is a noise.
Jos 6:5,10,16,20; Jud 15:14; 1Sa 4:5,6; 17:20,52; Job 39:25
Jer 51:14; Am 1:14; 2:2

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Exodus 32:16

    And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

  • Exodus 32:17

    And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

  • Exodus 32:18

    And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

Read all of Exodus 32

Exodus 32:17 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y oyendo Josué el clamor del pueblo que gritaba, dijo á Moisés: Alarido de pelea hay en el campo.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
– Et Josué entendit la voix du peuple qui jetait des cris, et il dit à Moïse: Il y a un bruit de guerre au camp!
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und Josua hörte die Stimme des Volkes, als es jauchzte, und sprach zu Mose: Kriegsgeschrei ist im Lager!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Audiens autem Josue tumultum populi vociferantis, dixit ad Moysen: Ululatus pugnæ auditur in castris.