Exodus 32:27

Exo 32:27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, [and] go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.

Ver. 27. Slay every man his brother.] Not all that they met with, for so they might have slain the innocent; but all that were chief in the transgression. In the war against the Waldenses in France, the Pope’s great army took one populous city and put to the sword sixty thousand, among whom were many of their own Catholics. For Arnoldus the Cistercian Abbot, being the Pope’s Legate in this great war, commanded the soldiers saying, Caedite eos: novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius: Kill them one with another: for the Lord knoweth who are his. {a} This was fine Popish justice.

{a} Caesar Heisterbuchensis, Hist., lib. v. cap. 21.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo_32:27

Slay every man his brother.

Idolatry punished

I. the actors in this idolatrous scene.

1. Their historical character.

2. The recent experiences through which they had passed.

3. In view of these facts what a revelation of human nature we have here!

(1) Of its fickleness.

(2) Of the difficulty of making deep religious impressions.

(3) Of the imperiousness of the religious nature (Exo_32:1).

(4) Of the depraved tendency of mans natural religious instincts (Exo_32:6).

(5) Of the ingratitude of human nature.

(6) Of the weakness of their present leader, Aaron.

II. The punishment.

1. The opportunity to repent before the punishment was meted out (Exo_32:26).

2. The fidelity of the sons of Levi.

3. The terrible slaughter (Exo_32:27-28).

4. The condition of forgiveness (Exo_32:29-30).

5. The tender-hearted intercessor (Exo_32:31-32).

6. The result of the intercession (Exo_32:33-35).

Lessons:

1. The plausible grounds on which men justify themselves in following their inclinations.

(1) Doubtless the leaders in this idolatry were those who had been corrupted in Egypt, and were longing to have a taste of Egyptian religion.

(2) Their excuse was the delay of Moses in coming down from the mount.

2. The ease with which some leaders will fall in with a popular cry.

3. False leaders will lie to justify themselves.

4. What a power for good or evil is a great popular enthusiasm!

5. The contrast between the religion of man and the religion of God.

6. Sin is no less odious in Gods sight because it is committed in the name of religion. God is ever ready to forgive the truly penitent. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)

Penalty a veiled blessing

When a thunderstorm is in progress, and torrents of rain are falling, one might wonder why God allowed such a seemingly evil thing to happen. But the farmer, who has been watching for weeks for some sign of rain, knows that this sudden storm and downpour is a blessing in disguise. So the penalties by which God preserved the Israelites from complete self-destruction were veiled blessings. Frowning fortresses, heavy artillery, and iron-clad ships are sometimes Gods best instruments in His sharp surgery of the nations. It is hard to see how the visitation of a penalty is often an act of mercy; but when Moses for his sin was denied an entrance into the Holy Land, was it, after all, a great hardship that he was taken into Gods Paradise instead? (S. S. Times.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo 32:27. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel — What Moses now did was not done merely in the heat of a pious zeal, but by a divine influence and direction; and therefore can be no warrant to others to imitate his example, who cannot pretend to the same authority, and who are placed in circumstances entirely different from those in which he and the Israelites were placed. Slay every man his brother, and every man his companion — Moses being, under God, their chief ruler, at God’s command, passed this extraordinary sentence upon the offenders, without the common process in courts of judicature, requiring the sons of Levi to go armed into the camp, and cut off the most notorious and obstinate offenders, without regard to kindred, friendship, or any other distinction whatever. And there was no fear of their killing the innocent in this case, because Moses had called to himself all that were on God’s side. These, either by resorting to him, or by retiring to their tents, were separated from the guilty, who were impudently walking about in the camp, trusting to their numbers. It may be observed further here, that, besides the authority of the command of Moses to the Levites, a peculiar impulse from God must have actuated them in this business, otherwise it is very improbable that they should have obeyed so readily, or have dared to attack so many; and a peculiar consciousness of guilt and terror must have fallen on the people, to have caused such a multitude to submit to be slain without making any resistance.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This fact did so please God, that he turned the curse of Jacob against Levi to a blessing, Deut. 33:9.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 27. From gate to gate] It is probable that there was an enclosed or intrenched camp, in which the chief rulers and heads of the people were, and that this camp had two gates or outlets; and the Levites were commanded to pass from one to the other, slaying as many of the transgressors as they could find.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(27) Thus saith the Lord God.—Moses felt that he was divinely commissioned to perform this act of severity. The lives of all who had committed the idolatry were justly forfeit. Trial was unnecessary where the offence was being openly committed before the eyes of all. Such dancing and such shouting could not possibly be Jehovah-worship. It was by its very character idolatrous.

Go in and out from gate to gate . . . —i.e., “pass through the whole camp from end to end, visit all parts of it, and wherever you see the rites continuing, smite with the sword—smite, and spare not.”

Slay every man his brother.—Comp. Exo_32:26. The Levites who had rallied to the call of Moses might find their own brothers or their own sons among the idolaters. If they did, they were still to smite, though the offender was their near relative.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. Thus saith, &c.] as Exo_5:1, Jos_7:13, 1Sa_10:18 al. Moses speaks as a prophet. Cf. on Exo_4:22.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses,.... They girded their swords by their sides, went through the camp, and slew their brethren, companions and neighbours, who were keeping holy day in honour of the idol:

and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men; the Vulgate Latin version reads 23,000, very wrongly; now these being chiefly, if not altogether, of the tribe of Levi, the brethren, companions, and neighbours of the Levites, that were the slayers, together with the after plagues that came upon them, Exo 32:35 account for the deficiency of males in this tribe, some few months after, when it was numbered; and the number of them from one month old and upwards amounted but to 22,000, which was but a very small one in proportion to the other tribes, who generally, one with another, numbered 40,000 each, and none so few as 30,000 (r); of this tribe Aaron was, and therefore used with severity, because of his concern in this sin; and even though it was the tribe of Moses, it was not spared.

(r) See the Bishop of Clogber's Chronology of the Hebrew Bible, p. 360, 362.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The meaning is, slay every principal offender whom you meet with, without any indulgence or exception, though brother, or companion, or neighbour. There was no fear of killing the innocent in this case, because,

1. The people were generally guilty.

2. Moses had called to himself all that were on God’s side, who thereby where separated from the guilty.

3. The innocent might easily be discerned from the transgressors, either by the personal knowledge which the Levites or others had of the most forward idolaters, or by their abiding in their tents as ashamed and grieving for their sin, whilst the transgressors were impudently walking about in the camp, as trusting to their numbers; or by the direction of God’s providence, if not by some visible token.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. Slay every man his brother — Those who were guilty of this breach of the covenant (comp. Exo_32:33) were liable to the penalty of a capital crime, and hence the order for this fearful slaughter. That this order was not intended or understood to warrant an indiscriminate and wholesale massacre is obvious from what follows. Only “about three thousand men” were slain, (Exo_32:28,) or one in two hundred of the adult Israelites, (compare Exo_12:37,) and had these Levitical swordsmen understood Moses’s words literally, they would have felt obliged to slay one another as well as all in the camp. It is not improbable that the three thousand who were slain resisted these Levites, or had refused to drink of the water, (Exo_32:20,) or in some way persisted in their sin. In going in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp the armed executioners of the order may have been safely left to determine who the most guilty parties were. Many facts, known to these Levites, who had seen the operations of the calf worship from its beginning, may be assumed to have guided them in their work of retribution.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Go in and out from gate to gate, etc., i.e. , "pass through the whole camp visit every part of it and, where you see the licentious rites continuing, use your swords do not spare, though the man be a brother, or a companion, or a neighbour strike nevertheless, and bring the revel to an end."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Slay every man his brother - That is, Slay all those that you know to have been active for the making and worshipping of the golden calf, though they were your nearest relations or dearest friends. Yet it should seem they were to slay those only whom they found abroad in the street of the camp; for it might be hoped that those who were retired into their tents were ashamed of what they had done.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The Levites had to allow their obedience to God to be subjected to a severe test. Moses issued this command to them in the name of Jehovah the God of Israel: "Let every one gird on his sword, and go to and fro through the camp from one gate (end) to the other, and put to death brothers, friends, and neighbours," i.e., all whom they met, without regard to relationship, friendship, or acquaintance. And they stood the test. About 3000 men fell by their sword on that day. There are several difficulties connected with this account, which have furnished occasion for doubts as to its historical credibility. The one of least importance is that which arises from the supposed severity and recklessness of Moses' proceedings. The severity of the punishment corresponded to the magnitude of the crime. The worship of an image, being a manifest transgression of one of the fundamental laws of the covenant, was a breach of the covenant, and as such a capital crime, bringing the punishment of death or extermination in its train. Now, although the whole nation had been guilty of this crime, yet in this, as in every other rebellion, the guilt of all would not be the same, but many would simply follow the example of others; so that, instead of punishing all alike, it was necessary that a separation should be made, if not between the innocent and guilty, yet between the penitent and the stiff-necked transgressors. To effect this separation, Moses called out into the camp: "Over to me, whoever is for the Lord!" All the Levites responded to his call, but not the other tribes; and it was necessary that the refractory should be punished. Even these, however, had not all sinned to the same extent, but might be divided into tempters and tempted; and as they were all mixed up together, nothing remained but to adopt that kind of punishment, which has been resorted to in all ages in such circumstances as these. "If at any time," as Calvin says, "mutiny has broken out in an army, and has led to violence, and even to bloodshed, by universal law a commander proceeds to decimate the guilty." He then adds, "How much milder, however, was the punishment here, when out of six hundred thousand only three thousand were put to death!" This decimation Moses committed to the Levites; and just as in every other decimation the selection must be determined by lot or accidental choice, so here Moses left it to be determined by chance, upon whom the sword of the Levites would fall, knowing very well that even the so-called chance would be under the direction of God.

There is apparently a greater difficulty in the fact, that not only did the Levites execute the command of Moses without reserve, but the people let them pass through the camp, and kill every one who came within reach of their sword, without offering the slightest resistance. To remove this difficulty, there is no necessity that we should either assume that the Levites knew who were the originators and ringleaders of the worship of the calf, and only used their swords against them, as Calvin does, or that we should follow Kurtz, and introduce into the text a "formal conflict between the two parties, in which some of Moses' party were also slain," since the history says nothing about "the men who sided with Moses gaining a complete victory," and merely states that in obedience to the word of Jehovah the God of Israel, as declared by Moses, they put 3000 men of the people to death with the sword. The obedience of the Levites was an act of faith, which knows neither the fear of man nor regard to person. The unresisting attitude of the people generally may be explained, partly from their reverence for Moses, whom God had so mightily and marvellously accredited as His servant in the sight of all the nation, and partly from the despondency and fear so natural to a guilty conscience, which took away all capacity for opposing the bold and determined course that was adopted by the divinely appointed rulers and their servants in obedience to the command of God. It must also be borne in mind, that in the present instance the sin of the people was not connected with any rebellion against Moses.

Very different explanations have been given of the words which were spoken by Moses to the Levites (Exo 32:29): "Fill your hand to-day for Jehovah; for every one against his son and against his brother, and to bring a blessing upon you to-day." "To fill the hand for Jehovah" does not mean to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, but to provide something to offer to God (Ch1 29:5; Ch2 29:31). Thus Jonathan's explanation, which Kurtz has revived in a modified form, viz., that Moses commanded the Levites to offer sacrifices as an expiation for the blood that they had shed, or for the rent made in the congregation by their reckless slaughter of their blood-relations, falls to the ground; though we cannot understand how the fulfilment of a divine command, or an act of obedience to the declared will of God, could be regarded as blood-guiltiness, or as a crime that needed expiation. As far as the clause which follows is concerned, so much is clear, viz., that the words can neither be rendered, "for every one is in his son," etc., nor "for every one was against his son," etc. To the former it is impossible to attach any sense; and the latter cannot be correct, because the preterite חיח could not be omitted after an imperative, if the explanatory clause referred to what was past. If כּי were a causal particle in this case, the meaning could only be, "for every one shall be against his son," etc. But it is much better to understand it as indicating the object, "that every one may be against his son and against his brother;" i.e., that in the cause of the Lord every one may not spare eve his nearest relative, but deny either son or brother for the Lord's sake (Deu 33:9). "And to give" (or bring), i.e., so that ye may bring, a blessing upon yourselves to-day." The following, then, is the thought contained in the verse: Provide yourselves to-day with a gift for the Lord, consecrate yourselves to-day for the service of the Lord, by preserving the obedience you have just shown towards Him, by not knowing either son or brother in His service, and thus gain for yourselves a blessing. In the fulfilment of the command of God, with the denial of their own flesh and blood, Moses discerns such a disposition and act as would fit them for the service of the Lord. He therefore points to the blessing which it would bring them, and exhorts them by their election as the peculiar possession of Jehovah (Num 3-4), which would be secured to them from this time forward, to persevere in this fidelity to the Lord. "The zeal of the tribe-father burned still in the Levites; but this time it was for the glory of God, and not for their own. Their ancestor had violated both truth and justice by his vengeance upon the Shechemites, from a false regard to blood-relationship, but now his descendants had saved truth, justice, and the covenant by avenging Jehovah upon their own relations" (Kurtz, and Oehler in Herzog's Cycl.), so that the curse which rested upon them (Gen 49:7) could now be turned into a blessing (cf. Deu 33:9).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

כה אמר הי וגו׳ THUS SAITH THE LORD etc. — Where did he say so? In the command, (Exodus 22:19) “He that sacrificeth unto any god shall utterly be destroyed”. Thus is it stated in the Mechilta.

אחיו HIS BROTHER from the same mother, but from a different father, and who was therefore an ordinary Israelite and not a Levite (Yoma 66b).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

THUS SAITH THE ETERNAL, THE G-D OF ISRAEL. The reason for this expression — the Divine Name which denotes the attribute of justice. is that since the worshippers of the calf had intended to sacrifice to the G-d of Israel, therefore the attribute of justice extracted punishment from them, because they “mutilated the shoots” [of faith], and besides, for the judgment is G-d’s. It is for this reason that he [Moses], said of the Levites, for the G-d of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, for the Service is to the G-d of Israel, and to His Name they were separated by virtue of this meritorious deed.

PUT YE EVERY MAN HIS SWORD UPON HIS THIGH. Since there were many worshippers of the calf, and they could not have all been brought to the court, therefore Moses commanded all the sons of Levi to put on their swords, in a similar way to that which our Rabbis have said, that if you cannot administer to the guilty the specific kind of death mentioned for his case, you may execute him by any means that you can. Now this procedure was a decision only for an emergency, in order to sanctify G-d’s Name, since those who worshipped [the calf] had not been forewarned [of the death penalty], for who had warned them beforehand? The sons of Levi, however, recognized those whom they killed as the worshippers of the calf. And in the opinion of the Sage who says that if there were witnesses [to the act of idolatry] and forewarning of the penalty, the offender’s death was by hand of man, as Rashi wrote, then we shall interpret the meaning of the verse to be that Moses commanded the sons of Levi to put on their swords and take hold of the offenders by force and bring them to court before Moses or before the Sanhedrin. Those who were found to have worshipped the calf in the presence of witnesses and with forewarning, were then put to death by stoning, as is the punishment of those who worship idols, or perhaps their death was by the sword, as is the punishment of a whole city gone astray. Thus all the sons of Levi remained loyal to G-d, and it was they who had warned the people not to worship the calf or sacrifice to it, seeing that Aaron had only commanded to hold a feast to the Eternal alone, as I have explained. The correct interpretation is in accordance with the opinion of the Sage who says: “Those who slaughtered or burnt the sacrificial portions [to the calf] were punished by the sword; those who embraced and kissed it, were punished with death [by the hand of Heaven]; those who merely rejoiced in their heart, were afflicted with dropsy,” as is stated in Tractate Yoma. Thus it was all a decision under circumstances of emergency, because embracing or kissing an idol does not make one liable to death [by the hand of Heaven] in all future generations.

AND SLAY EVERY MAN HIS BROTHER. This means that they were not to spare nor conceal brother, friend, or relative. And the meaning of the expression, Thus saith the Eternal, the G-d of Israel: [Put ye every man his sword…] is not [as Rashi has it, a command] based upon the verse, He that sacrificeth unto the gods shall be utterly destroyed, since these worshippers of the calf were not strictly liable to death [as has been explained above], but it was a command said to Moses by the Almighty which was not written in the Torah; for when the Glorious Name repented of the evil, He commanded Moses, “Since you do not want Me to destroy them, you should slay its worshippers by the sword,” similar to that which is said, Take all of the chiefs of the people, and hang them up unto the Eternal in face of the sun, that the fierce anger of the Eternal may turn away from Israel. This commandment is thus similar to the one in connection with the manna, where it is said, This is the thing which the Eternal hath commanded: Let an omerful of it be kept etc. I have already mentioned, 10:2, and 11:1. similar instances.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.