Kejadian 20:9

20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? ¹  You have done things to me that should not be done!” ² 

Kejadian 42:22

42:22 Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!” ³ 

Keluaran 32:21

32:21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?”

Keluaran 32:1

The Sin of the Golden Calf

32:1 ⁴ When the people saw that Moses delayed ⁵  in coming down ⁶  from the mountain, they ⁷  gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Get up, ⁸  make us gods ⁹  that will go before us. As for this fellow Moses, ¹⁰  the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what ¹¹  has become of him!”

1 Samuel 2:25

2:25 If a man sins against a man, one may appeal to God on his behalf. But if a man sins against the Lord, who then will intercede for him?” But Eli’s sons ¹²  would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided ¹³  to kill them.

1 Samuel 19:4-5

19:4 So Jonathan spoke on David’s behalf ¹⁴  to his father Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you. On the contrary, his actions have been very beneficial ¹⁵  for you. 19:5 He risked his life ¹⁶  when he struck down the Philistine and the Lord gave all Israel a great victory. When you saw it, you were happy. So why would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death for no reason?”

1 Samuel 24:11

24:11 Look, my father, and see the edge of your robe in my hand! When I cut off the edge of your robe, I didn’t kill you. So realize and understand that I am not planning ¹⁷  evil or rebellion. Even though I have not sinned against you, you are waiting in ambush to take my life.

Matius 18:21

18:21 Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother ¹⁸  who sins against me? As many as seven times?”

[20:9]  ¹ tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.

[20:9]  ² tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.

[42:22]  ³ tn Heb “and also his blood, look, it is required.” God requires compensation, as it were, from those who shed innocent blood (see Gen 9:6). In other words, God exacts punishment for the crime of murder.

[32:1]  ⁴ sn This narrative is an unhappy interlude in the flow of the argument of the book. After the giving of the Law and the instructions for the tabernacle, the people get into idolatry. So this section tells what the people were doing when Moses was on the mountain. Here is an instant violation of the covenant that they had just agreed to uphold. But through it all Moses shines as the great intercessor for the people. So the subject matter is the sin of idolatry, its effects and its remedy. Because of the similarities to Jeroboam’s setting up the calves in Dan and Bethel, modern critics have often said this passage was written at that time. U. Cassuto shows how the language of this chapter would not fit an Iron Age setting in Dan. Rather, he argues, this story was well enough known for Jeroboam to imitate the practice (Exodus, 407-10). This chapter can be divided into four parts for an easier exposition: idolatry (32:1-6), intercession (32:7-14), judgment (32:15-29), intercession again (32:30-33:6). Of course, these sections are far more complex than this, but this gives an overview. Four summary statements for expository points might be: I. Impatience often leads to foolish violations of the faith, II. Violations of the covenant require intercession to escape condemnation, III. Those spared of divine wrath must purge evil from their midst, and IV. Those who purge evil from their midst will find reinstatement through intercession. Several important studies are available for this. See, among others, D. R. Davis, “Rebellion, Presence, and Covenant: A Study in Exodus 32-34,” WTJ 44 (1982): 71-87; M. Greenberg, “Moses’ Intercessory Prayer,” Ecumenical Institute for Advanced Theological Studies (1978): 21-35; R. A. Hamer, “The New Covenant of Moses,” Judaism 27 (1978): 345-50; R. L. Honeycutt, Jr., “Aaron, the Priesthood, and the Golden Calf,” RevExp 74 (1977): 523-35; J. N. Oswalt, “The Golden Calves and the Egyptian Concept of Deity,” EvQ 45 (1973): 13-20.

[32:1]  ⁵ tn The meaning of this verb is properly “caused shame,” meaning cause disappointment because he was not coming back (see also Judg 5:28 for the delay of Sisera’s chariots [S. R. Driver, Exodus, 349]).

[32:1]  ⁶ tn The infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition is used here epexegetically, explaining the delay of Moses.

[32:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “the people.”

[32:1]  ⁸ tn The imperative means “arise.” It could be serving here as an interjection, getting Aaron’s attention. But it might also have the force of prompting him to get busy.

[32:1]  ⁹ tn The plural translation is required here (although the form itself could be singular in meaning) because the verb that follows in the relative clause is a plural verb – that they go before us).

[32:1]  ¹⁰ tn The text has “this Moses.” But this instance may find the demonstrative used in an earlier deictic sense, especially since there is no article with it.

[32:1]  ¹¹ tn The interrogative is used in an indirect question (see GKC 443-44 §137.c).

[2:25]  ¹² tn Heb “they”; the referent (Eli’s sons) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “desired.”

[19:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “spoke good with respect to David.”

[19:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “good.”

[19:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he put his life into his hand.”

[24:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “there is not in my hand.”

[18:21]  ¹⁸ tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a), whether male or female. Concerning the familial connotations, see also the note on the first occurrence of this term in v. 15.