When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”
The uproar itself tells us how madly they worshipped that calf. Satan so enchants miserable men that they mistake dissolute licentiousness for pious zeal, and the devil baits his false worship with such attractions that they seize and grip them willingly and stubbornly. Joshua's caution made him fear battle, but Moses, knowing God's mind, heard no sound of conquerors or conquered, only song.
AI summary
Joshua, trained in war, feared battle at the noise. But Moses, fresh from God's presence, distinguished the sound more truly: it was the voice of singers, not soldiers. Those whom God advances are not puffed up, nor too distant to attend freely to their servants' concerns, nor careless of the camp below.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 32:15-20
Moses knew what Israel had done where Joshua did not, and so could judge the sound rightly. It is neither the strong voice of conquerors exulting in victory nor the weak cry of the defeated shrieking in anguish, but the noise of those who sing as at a merry feast.
AI summary