Hi,

In verses 1, 4, 8, 23 & 31 of Ex 32, some Bibles say "god", and others "gods", with reference to the golden calf. An online Bible I often refer to for the value of its detailed footnotes is the NET Bible. It has the plural throughout, noting in v.1 that the plural is required, and in v. 4 that "more than one god was meant by the image." I'll go with that.

So what?

Well, there was only one calf, so what sense can the plural reference make? - "These are your gods, O Israel, ?". I was thinking that the theory likening the incident to Baal worship - that the calf itself was not intended to represent God, but rather was a pedestal for the unseen God - suggests an explanation. For, Aaron & co. could have regarded the calf as a pedestal for multiple unseen gods just as easily as for one.

Yet, the LORD's appraisal was that the calf was part, if not the whole, of what was worshipped. He said:

32:8 "They have quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them ? they have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down <u>to it</u> and sacrificed <u>to it</u> and said, ?These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.?? (NET)

Therefore, whatever the truth of the "pedestal theory", it is no basis for any conjecture that the Israelite's had good intentions, IMO, given that the second commandment was violated, and the first also, given the plural "gods".

Neil