And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
20. And he took the calf which they had made It might seem to be a cruel and inhuman punishment that Moses should in a manner infect the bowels of the people with the corruption of the crime. They had already polluted both their bodies and souls more than enough, without the contagion entering any deeper.
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
And Moses said unto Aaron,.... Having destroyed the calf, and thereby expressed his abhorrence of their idolatry, he examines the principal persons concerned, and inquires into the cause and reason of it, how it came about; and begins with Aaron, though his own brother, with whom along with Hur he had committed the government of the people during his absence; and therefore was justly accountable...