Deuteronomy - 9:21



21 I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust: and I cast its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Deuteronomy 9:21.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.
And your sin that you had committed, that is, the calf, I took, and burned it with fire, and breaking it into pieces, until it was as small as dust, I threw it into the torrent, which cometh down from the mountain.
And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, and ground it very small, until it became fine dust; and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that flowed down from the mountain.
and your sin, which ye have made, the calf, I have taken, and I burn it with fire, and beat it, grinding well till that it is small as dust, and I cast its dust unto the brook which is going down out of the mount.
And I took your sin, the image which you had made, and put it in the fire and had it hammered and crushed very small till it was only dust: and the dust I put in the stream flowing down from the mountain.
And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and beat it in pieces, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.-
But as for your sin which you committed, that is, the calf, taking hold of it, I burned it with fire. And breaking it into pieces, and reducing it entirely to dust, I threw it into the torrent that descends from the mountain.
Porro peccatum vestrum quod feceratis, nempe vitulum, accepi, et combussi ilium igni, et contrivi bene molendo, donec comminutus esset in pulverem: ae projeci pulverem ejus in torrentem qui descendebat e monte illo.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

I took your sin, the calf which ye had made - See this fully explained Exodus 32:20 (note).

And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, [and] ground [it] very small, [even] until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the (m) mount.
(m) Horeb, or Sinai.

And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made,.... Which was the object of their sin, which lay in making and worshipping it; see Isaiah 31:7.
and burnt it with fire, and stamped it; with his feet after it was burnt, to bring it into small pieces:
and ground it very small; or, as the Targum of Jonathan,"ground it in a mortar well;''the burnt and broken pieces:
even until it was as small as dust; being ground to powder, as in Exodus 32:20.
and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount; and made the children of Israel to drink of it, as in the previously mentioned place; See Gill on Exodus 32:2; all this was done before the prayer for Aaron and the people.

I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount--that is, "the smitten rock" (El Leja) which was probably contiguous to, or a part of, Sinai. It is too seldom borne in mind that though the Israelites were supplied with water from this rock when they were stationed at Rephidim (Wady Feiran), there is nothing in the Scripture narrative which should lead us to suppose that the rock was in the immediate neighborhood of that place (see on Exodus 17:5). The water on this smitten rock was probably the brook that descended from the mount. The water may have flowed at the distance of many miles from the rock, as the winter torrents do now through the wadies of Arabia-PetrÃ&brvbr;a (Psalm 78:15-16). And the rock may have been smitten at such a height, and at a spot bearing such a relation to the Sinaitic valleys, as to furnish in this way supplies of water to the Israelites during the journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir and Kadesh-barnea (Deuteronomy 1:1-2). On this supposition new light is, perhaps, cast on the figurative language of the apostle, when he speaks of "the rock following" the Israelites (1-Corinthians 10:4) [WILSON, Land of the Bible].

Into the brook - That there might be no monument or remembrance of it left.

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