Returning to the situation at hand; God and Moses are having a meeting atop Mount Sinai, Joshua is just out of earshot, and Aaron is with Hur keeping and eye on Israel at the base of the mountain. Now this is not short meeting, it is a 47 day trip, and Israel begins to be affected by the absence of the primary leadership. Here is when a toddler does what it does best, it takes action. In Exodus 32:1 the Hebrew puts it best.
וַיַּ֣רְא הָעָ֔ם כִּֽי־בֹשֵׁ֥שׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה לָרֶ֣דֶת מִן־הָהָ֑ר וַיִּקָּהֵ֨ל הָעָ֜ם עַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ אֵלָיו֙ ק֣וּם ׀ עֲשֵׂה־לָ֣נוּ אֱלֹהִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר יֵֽלְכוּ֙ לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ כִּי־זֶ֣ה ׀ מֹשֶׁ֣ה הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר הֶֽעֱלָ֙נוּ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְנוּ מֶה־הָ֥יָה לֹֽו׃
And he saw, (the people unit), that_he delayed (shamefully), (Moses), to come down, from_the mountain., And he gathered, (the people unit), unto_Aaron, and he said (people unit), to him, Arise!, Make!_for us, gods, which, they will go, before us, for_this, Moses, the man, which, he brought us, from the land, Egypt, not, we know, what_became, to him.
No word here is unimportant, however, one stands out more than the others. This is the trigger point for Israel taking the action they did. The word is בֹשֵׁ֥ש loosely translated “he delayed.” This word is event more interesting than that though. The whole sentence is based on the subjective perspective of Israel. A further study of this word indicates that it comes from the root word בֹוש meaning “be ashamed.” How does one get “delayed” from “ashamed?” Other contexts translate this word as “dispersed” or “disconcerted.” Taking all these into context one could infer that Israel was becoming disconcerted that God and Moses had abandoned them since they had both been gone so long and they felt they needed someone to become their new leadership. This being said because they never specifically said they desired to worship these gods, but rather, they wanted a god(s) which would go before them to hold up the deity’s end of the covenant. The famous childish saying “but You promised!!” comes to mind. And thus, Israel went to the last vestige of leadesrhip they knew around and made their demand to Aaron, who was afterall, the high priest.
Tags: Covenant, Exodus, God, Israel, Old Testament, Theology
