Psalms 106:19-20
They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
What's easy to miss here is the sheer audacity of their sin: they literally built an idol at the very mountain where God had just revealed himself in a spectacular display of power. This wasn't just a lapse in judgment; it was a direct, public defiance of the God who had just delivered them from slavery. They traded the indescribable glory of the living God for a lifeless metal image that mimicked a grass-eating animal.
The Psalmist is recounting Israel's pattern of unfaithfulness, highlighting their shocking lapse into idolatry just after witnessing God's mighty deliverance from Egypt and receiving His law on Mount Sinai. This egregious sin, the worship of a golden calf, stands as a stark betrayal of God's presence and covenant, demonstrating their swift forgetfulness and preference for a created image over the Creator.
Imagine receiving the ultimate gift, only to immediately try and recreate it with a cheap imitation. That's the heart of Israel's sin at Horeb.
The Israelites, fresh from the miraculous liberation of Egypt, where God had displayed His power over the Egyptian gods, chose to make a calf. This wasn't just any idol; it was likely modeled after Egyptian deities like Apis.
A Stunning Reversal
How quickly can we forget the incredible things God has done for us? Israel's memory was shockingly short.
The creation of the calf wasn't just a moment of poor judgment; it was a symptom of deep forgetfulness. The Psalmists repeatedly call out Israel's tendency to forget God's past actions:
The Cycle of Forgetting
Understand the original words
chavah · Hebrew Verb
The act of bowing down, serving, or showing reverence to a deity or object, which is due to God alone. Idolatrous worship transfers this devotion to created things.
mass ekah · Hebrew Noun
A visible, physical object created to represent a deity, which is strictly forbidden in the Decalogue as it attempts to domesticate or define God by human hands.
kabod · Hebrew Noun
The weight, splendor, brilliance, or majesty of God’s manifested presence. It encompasses all that makes God who He is, which humans are prone to replace with inferior substitutes.
tabniyth · Hebrew Noun
A physical representation, often carved or molded, used as an object of devotion; biblically, an idol represents a failure to worship the invisible, sovereign Creator, preferring a tangible, limited substitute.
This incident happened mere weeks after God's miraculous deliverance from Egypt and His thunderous revelation at Sinai, making their embrace of idolatry a profound betrayal and a stark demonstration of their fickle hearts.
c. 1446 BC
Israelites Leave Egypt
After 400 years of slavery, God miraculously delivers the Israelites from Egypt under Moses' leadership, demonstrating His power over Egyptian gods.
c. 1446 BC
The Ten Commandments Given at Sinai
God meets with Moses on Mount Sinai (Horeb), delivering the Law, including the clear prohibition against making and worshiping idols.
c. 1446 BC— this verse
The Golden Calf Incident
While Moses is on Mount Sinai, the Israelites impatiently demand Aaron make them gods, leading to the creation and worship of a golden calf idol.
c. 1446 BC
Moses Intercedes for Israel
Upon discovering the idolatry, Moses pleads with God to spare the Israelites from destruction, averting God's wrath but resulting in judgment.
This passage directly describes the event mentioned in Psalms, showing how Aaron fashioned the calf from the people's gold earrings and declared, 'These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'
Deuteronomy 9:12Moses recounts this sin to the Israelites, highlighting their swift corruption after receiving the Law, which parallels the Psalmist's condemnation of their actions so soon after God's deliverance and revelation.
Romans 1:22-23This New Testament passage speaks to the human tendency to exchange the glory of the immortal God for images made by human hands, directly echoing the sin of worshiping the 'molten image' described in Psalms.
1 Corinthians 10:7The Apostle Paul explicitly warns the Corinthian church against idolatry by referencing this very incident, calling them not to be idolaters as some of them were, reminding them of the Israelites who 'ate and drank and rose up to play.'
bensonPsalms 106:19: "They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image."
Psalm 106:19-23 . They made a calf in Horeb — When they were but very lately brought out of Egypt, by such wonderful power and goodness of God, and had seen the dreadful plagues of God upon the Egyptian idolaters, and upon their idols too, as is observed Numbers 33:4 ; and when the law of God was but newly delivered to them, in such a solemn and tremendous manner; and the most high God was yet present, and delivering f…
wesleyPsalms 106:19: "They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image."
106:19 A calf - When they were but just brought out of Egypt by such wonders, and had seen the plagues of God upon the Egyptian idolaters, and when the law of God was but newly delivered to them in such a tremendous manner.
What's easy to miss here is the sheer audacity of their sin: they literally built an idol at the very mountain where God had just revealed himself in a spectacular display of power. This wasn't just a lapse in judgment; it was a direct, public defiance of the God who had just delivered them from slavery. They traded the indescribable glory of the living God for a lifeless metal image that mimicked a grass-eating animal.
The Psalmist is recounting Israel's pattern of unfaithfulness, highlighting their shocking lapse into idolatry just after witnessing God's mighty deliverance from Egypt and receiving His law on Mount Sinai. This egregious sin, the worship of a golden calf, stands as a stark betrayal of God's presence and covenant, demonstrating their swift forgetfulness and preference for a created image over the Creator.
The Psalmist is recounting Israel's pattern of unfaithfulness, highlighting their shocking lapse into idolatry just after witnessing God's mighty deliverance from Egypt and receiving His law on Mount Sinai. This egregious sin, the worship of a golden calf, stands as a stark betrayal of God's presence and covenant, demonstrating their swift forgetfulness and preference for a created image over the Creator.
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Ask a follow-up
Ask Sola things like:
Live chat about Psalms 106:19-20 is available in the Sola app.
c. 1446 BC
The Ark of the Covenant
Following the incident, God instructs Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred chest symbolizing His presence with the people.
"They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass." — What's easy to miss here is the sheer audacity of their sin: they literally built an idol at the very mountain where God had just revealed himself in a spectacular display of power. This wasn't jus…
