15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand , tablets which were written on both sides ; they were written on one side and the other . 16 The tablets were God's work , and the writing was God's writing engraved on the tablets . 17 Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted , he said to Moses , "There is a sound of war in the camp ." 18 But he said , "It is not the sound of the cry of triumph , Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat ; But the sound of singing I hear ." 19 It came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp , that he saw the calf and the dancing ; and Moses' anger burned , and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain . 20 He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire , and ground it to powder e , and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 32:15-20
Commentary on Exodus 32:15-20
(Read Exodus 32:15-20)
What a change it is, to come down from the mount of communion with God, to converse with a wicked world. In God we see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing but what is sinful and provoking. That it might appear an idol is nothing in the world, Moses ground the calf to dust. Mixing this powder with their drink, signified that the backslider in heart should be filled with his own ways.