Exodus 32 · Verse 21

Exodus 32:21

And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
Exodus 32:21, King James Version

Exodus 32:21 in other translations

BSB“What did this people do to you,” Moses asked Aaron, “that you have led them into so great a sin?”
WEBMoses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”
ASVAnd Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them?
YLTAnd Moses saith unto Aaron, ‘What hath this people done to thee, that thou hast brought in upon it a great sin?'
DARBYAnd Moses said to Aaron, What has this people done to thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin on them?
BBEAnd Moses said to Aaron, What did the people do to you that you let this great sin come on them?
WebsterAnd Moses said to Aaron, What did this people to thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

What does Exodus 32:21 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 21 What did this people unto thee - It seems if Aaron had been firm, this evil might have been prevented.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 32:21-29
Never did any wise man make a more frivolous and foolish excuse than that of Aaron. We must never be drawn into sin by any thing man can say or do to us; for men can but tempt us to sin, they cannot force us. The approach of Moses turned the dancing into trembling. They were exposed to shame by their sin. The course Moses took to roll away this reproach, was, not by concealing the sin, or putting any false colour upon it, but by punishing it. The Levites were to slay the ringleaders in this wickedness; yet none were executed but those who openly stood forth. Those are marked for ruin who persist in sin: those who in the morning were shouting and dancing, before night were dying. Such sudden changes do the judgments of the Lord sometimes make with sinners that are secure and jovial in their sin.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Exodus 32:21 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.

וַיֹּ֤אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
מֹשֶׁה֙mo.ShehMosesH4872
אֶֽל\־'el-toH413
אַהֲרֹ֔ן'a.ha.RonAaronH175
מֶֽה\־meh-what?H4100
עָשָׂ֥ה'a.Sahdid it doH6213
לְךָ֖le.Khato <the> you
הָעָ֣םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
הַזֶּ֑הha.Zeh<the> thisH2088
כִּֽי\־ki-thatH3588
הֵבֵ֥אתָhe.Ve.tayou have broughtH935
עָלָ֖יו'a.Lavon itH5921
חֲטָאָ֥הcha.ta.'Aha sinH2401
גְדֹלָֽה\׃ge.do.LahgreatH1419

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

Cross references for Exodus 32:21

  • Genesis 20:9

    Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

  • Joshua 7:19-26

    And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. …

  • 1 Kings 14:16

    And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.

  • 2 Kings 21:9-11

    But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spake by his servants the prophets, saying, Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:

  • Deuteronomy 13:6-8

    If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:

  • Genesis 26:10

    And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

  • 1 Kings 21:22

    And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.

  • 1 Samuel 26:19

    Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ge 20:9; 26:10; De 13:6-8; 1Sa 26:19; Jos 7:19-26; 1Ki 14:16; 21:22
2Ki 21:9-11

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

Context

  • Exodus 32:20

    And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

  • Exodus 32:21

    And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

  • Exodus 32:22

    And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.

Read all of Exodus 32

Exodus 32:21 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y dijo Moisés á Aarón: ¿Qué te ha hecho este pueblo, que has traído sobre él tan gran pecado?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et Moïse dit à Aaron: Que t’a fait ce peuple, pour que tu aies fait venir sur lui un si grand péché?
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und Mose sprach zu Aaron: Was hat dir dieses Volk getan, daß du eine große Sünde über dasselbe gebracht hast?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Dixitque ad Aaron: Quid tibi fecit hic populus, ut induceres super eum peccatum maximum?