Let's start today by rereading last week's passage Exodus 32:1-14:
(1) and the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain,
and the people gathered/assembled before Aaron,
and they said to him,
"Rise up.
Make for us elohim who shall walk/go before us,
because this Moses-- the man who brought us from the land of Egypt-- we don't know what has
happened to him,"
(2) and Aaron said to them,
"Take off the rings of gold
which [are] in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters,"
and bring [them] to me,
(3) and all the people took off the earrings of gold
that were in their ears,
and they brought [them] to Aaron,
(4) and he took from their hand(s),
and he cast/designed it with an engraving tool,
and he (singular) made a calf-- a cast metal image--,
and they (plural) said,
"These [are] your elohim, O Israel,
who brought you from the land of Egypt,"
(5) and Aaron saw,
and he built an altar before it,
and Aaron called/summoned,
and he said,
"A feast/festival [there shall be] to/for Yahweh tomorrow,"
(6) and they rose early on the next day,
and they offered burnt offerings,
and they brought peace/fellowship offerings,
and the people sat/settled down to eat and to drink,
and they rose up to "indulge in physical sexual play" (DBL; cf. Genesis 26:8),
(7) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Go down!,"
because they have behaved in a corrupt/debased/sinful way-- your people,
whom you brought up from the land of Egypt.
(8) They have quickly turned aside from the way/road
that I have commanded them.
They have made for themselves a calf-- a cast metal image--,
and they bowed down to it,
and they sacrificed to it,
and they said,
"These [are] your elohim, O Israel,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt,"
(9) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"I have seen this people,
and LOOK! A people hard of neck, it [is],
(10) and so then, Give rest to me,
that my anger may burn against them,
and that I may consume them,
and that I may make you into a great people/nation,
(11) and Moses sought the face/presence of Yahweh his Elohim/God,
and he said,
"Why, O Yahweh, does your anger burn against your people,
whom you brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?
(12) Why should Egypt speak, saying,
"With evil/harmful [intent] He brought them out,
to kill them in the mountains,
and to wipe them out from upon the face of the land"?
Turn from your anger,
and relent/repent/change your mind concerning the evil/harm (same word as verse 12) toward your people.
(13) Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants,
whom you swore to them by yourself,
and you said to them,
"I shall multiply your seed,
as the stars of the heavens,
while [concerning] all of this land I hereby say, I will give to your seed,
and/that they shall inherit it forever,"
(14) and Yahweh repented/relented/changed his mind concerning the evil/harm
that He spoke to do to his people,
Our natural reaction, in this moment, is to assume that everything is now patched up between God and Israel. We think that God listened to Moses' prayer. We think that God has confirmed that Israel is "his" people (verse 14). We think that everything is okay.
What we are going to see, is that it's not that simple. Israel's sins, are big sins. The kind that call into question whether or not this new Mosaic covenant is still in effect. The kind that leave the future up in the air.
All that God has decided, as of verse 14, is that He isn't going to carry out his three part plan in its entirety. God isn't going to (1) burn in anger, (2) kill them all, AND (3) start over with Moses. God heeded Moses' voice, at least to that degree. But beyond that, everything, from God's perspective, is still a question.
We maybe struggle with this. We tend to view sin only from a 1 John 1:9 perspective: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, and will forgive our sins, and cleanse us from every unrighteousness."
Is there anything hard, or complicated, about that? (the baiting begins, apparently).
But in Exodus, three times now we've been told that Yahweh is not the kind of God who acquits, or forgives, the guilty. Or, at least, we've been told that there are certain kinds of sins that God will not forgive:
Exodus 20:7 (NIV no reason):
“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Exodus 23:7 (NIV no reason):
7 Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.
Exodus 23:20-21 (NIV no reason):
20 “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.
And maybe the most relevant verses, are back in Exodus 20:4-6 (NIV):
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
In making the golden calf, Israel has become a people who hate God. As a result, they have become the kind of people God punishes. Not the kind He shows love toward.
We are uncomfortable thinking about God like this. We don't like any of these verses. They're not the kind of verses we stick on our fridge, and memorize.
But these are the verses we are supposed to keep in mind, as we read. On this side of the golden calf, the future of Israel, and of the covenant, is very much up in the air.
So these are the questions I want you to keep in mind, as we move into new verses (put in outline): Is the covenant between God and Israel over? Is there any path forward, for a mending of the relationship? Or does everything have to be radically different on the other side-- is there a little bit of paradise lost [there's a ton of verbal links between this and the fall in Genesis 3]?
So. Verse 15-16:
(15) And Moses turned and descended from the mountain,
with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand-- tablets written on both sides.
On one side, and on the other, they were written, [Everything before the comma is focused]
and/Now, the tablets, the work of God/Elohim, they [were], ["the work of God" is focused]
and/Now, the writing, the writing of God, it [was], engraved upon the tablets ["the writing of God" is focused],
All of us, at times, have a tendency to read the Bible fast. It's hard to slow down, and really reflect on it. Exodus here helps us, through repetition, and focused word order. So let's stop, and think about the stone tablets (because the Hebrew puts a massive amount of focus on this).
The tablets are God's handiwork. They are not simply inspired by God, or "Spirited" by God, but directly written by God. In all of Scripture, in all of Israel's history, they are unique.
And what are these tablets?
They are the covenant, embodied.
So Exodus wants us to see this picture, of Moses coming down the mountain, holding these two precious tablets. He's holding the covenant, in the way we might hold a marriage certificate. So picture Moses, holding the tablets.
Verse 17:
(17) and Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted,
and he said to Moses,
"The sound of war in the camp,"
(18) and he (Moses) said,
"It isn't the sound of the cry/shouting of victory,
and it isn't the sound of the cry/shouting of defeat.
The sound of singing, I am hearing. ["The sound of singing" is focused],
(19) and then, after he drew near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing,
Let's pause right here, a bit awkwardly maybe.
At this point, Moses sees what God sees. "He saw the calf and the dancing."
and Moses burned in anger,
and he threw down from his hand the tablets,
and he broke them under/at the foot of the mountain,
Moses sees Israel, the way that God does. He sees them, and he reacts the same way. He burns in anger. And then, he throws down the tablets, and breaks them.
How should we understand this?
I've wrestled with how to describe this. But I think we have to say, that the covenant is broken (Exodus 34:10 is probably my best support in defense of this, but that's the verse everything is moving toward, and I'm not going to wreck the story). The people have abandoned Yahweh, and their commitment to Yahweh. Instead, they are worshipping a different god-- an idol. So at this point, the tablets no longer serve any purpose. Moses breaks them, because Israel has broken the covenant. [When your spouse cheats on you, you can tear up the certificate, because they've already torn up the certificate?]
Verse 20:
(20) and he took the idol that they made,
and he burned [it] in the fire,
and he ground it into powder,
and he scattered [it] upon the face of the waters,
and he forced the sons of Israel to drink,
I'm not sure what's going on here. The best explanation (C.H. Wright), I think, is that Moses is forcing them to own their sin. At any rate, one thing is clear: this is punishment for sin.
Verse 21:
(21) and Moses said to Aaron,
"What did this people do to you,
that you brought upon them a great/terrible sin,"
(22) and Aaron said,
"May your anger not burn, my lord (adonai).
You know the people,
that in evil, it is,
(23) and they said to me,
"Make for us a god/elohim who shall walk before us,
because this Moses-- the man who brought us from the land Egypt-- we don't know what happened
to him,
(24) and I said to them,
"Whoever has gold, take it off yourselves,"
and they brought [it] to me,
and I threw it in the fire,
and this golden calf came out,"
Worst excuse ever?
(25) and Moses saw the people,
that unbounded/unrestrained/running wild, it was,
because Aaron unbound/unrestrained [them] to the mocking of the ones standing against them,
(26) and Moses stood at the entrance to the camp,
and he said,
"Whoever is for Yahweh, [come] to me,"
You could also translate this, "Whoever belongs to Yahweh," come to me.
This is a verse you should underline in your Bibles. And this is key, for the story as a whole (and what follows here is based on C.H. Wright's Exodus commentary).
Exodus has already told us that "all the people" participated in sin (even if we aren't supposed to take it completely literally). What Moses is doing here, is giving all the people a chance to repent. This is your window of opportunity, for seeing things the way that God does, for recognizing that Moses is back, and that all of this has been the worst decision of your life. Moses gives everyone here a chance to turn, and come to him.
This is the kind of verse you stick on your fridge, so that you feel its pull. That's the kind of decision you make every day: "Whoever is for Yahweh." Is that you? Is that me?
Our story continues, still verse 26:
and all the sons of Levi gathered to him,
(27) and he said to them,
"Thus has said Yahweh, the God/Elohim of Israel:
Put on, each man, his sword upon his side.
Cross through,
and return from the entrance to the entrance in the camp,
and kill, each man, his brother,
and each man, his friend,
and each man, his near relative,
(28) and the sons of Levi did in accordance with the word of Moses,
and they fell from the people on that day about three thousand men,
(29) and Moses said,
"Fill your hand (=Consecrate yourselves; Ezekiel 43:26) today for Yahweh,
because each man [was] against his son and against his brother,"
and so bringing upon yourselves today a blessing.
The first thing I want you to see in these verses, is in verse 27. Yahweh still views himself as the God of Israel. This gives us hope. But this also makes us afraid. It's a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And when you commit the worst sin against God ever, literally, what will your God do to you?
If Yahweh hasn't washed his hands of his people-- if He's not done with them-- then that means punishment/judgment is coming.
And what we see here, is that Yahweh punishes his people Israel a second way, through the faithful Levites. Let's flip back to Exodus 12:21-23:
(21) and Moses called to all the elders of Israel,
and he said to them,
"Drag out and take for yourselves a lamb/goat for your families,
and kill the Passover [animal],
(22) and take a bunch of hyssop,
and dip [it] in the blood that [is] in the basin,
and touch [it] to the top doorframe and the two doorposts from the blood that [is] in the basin,
while you shall not go out-- anyone-- from the opening of his house until morning,
(23) and Yahweh will CROSS THROUGH to plague the Egyptians,
and He will see the blood upon the top doorframe and upon the two doorposts,
and Yahweh will pass over the opening,
and He will not give the destroyer to enter into your houses to plague (you),
I think we are supposed to hear an echo of this story, in Exodus 32. In Exodus 12, Yahweh "crosses through" the Israelite camp, sparing them, and striking down every Egyptian firstborn. Here, in Exodus 32, the Levites "cross through" the Israelite camp, and kill... who? They aren't just targeting firstborns. They are killing brothers, and friends, and near relatives. Anyone they see, who is still committing these sins (I think that's how we should understand it), they are to kill, without any mercy. You look your own brother in the eye, and then you kill him. Yahweh (with Moses) demands ruthlessness.
And the Levites do it. They kill about 3,000 people that day (which is a way of atoning for the sin; Numbers 25:13). God is pleased with them because of their ruthlessness. He calls them consecrated toward Yahweh, and He says they've brought a blessing upon themselves.
But is this enough, for the people as a whole? Is Yahweh no longer angry with his people? Is the sin forgiven? Is there a path forward for God and Israel?
Our story continues, verse 30:
(30) and then, on the next day, Moses said to the people,
"You have sinned a great/terrible sin,
and so then, I shall go up to Yahweh.
Perhaps I shall atone on behalf of your sin,"
So Moses has a plan. He knows that the punishment Israel has received so far, hasn't settled anything. It hasn't been enough. The terrible sin is still there. But Moses knows that there's a possibility-- a "perhaps"-- that he can somehow make atonement on behalf of the sin.
Now, what exactly does this mean? This word "atone" is one of the most complicated, and debated, in all of OT studies (what follows builds on Jenni, Westermann, Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, 626).
When you "atone for sin" in the OT, you are mending a broken relationship with God (atonement, not in the context of sin, can just mean something more like "dedication," Ezekiel 43:26. The altar didn't sin.). Often, atonement is connected with cleansing (Leviticus 14:53). And the goal, is forgiveness (Lev 4:26, 31, 35; 5:6, 10, 13, 18, 26; 14:18, 20; 15:15; 19:22).
Most of the time we read about atonement in the OT, it's in connection with sacrifices. Sacrifices atone for sins, and cleanse people from their sins (but there are other ways, at times; Numbers 31:50).
So is this what Moses has in mind?
He's planning to go up to Yahweh. And he has some plan, for how he might atone for their sin.
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There's debate about whether the original meaning of "atone" is "to wipe away," or "to cover," or, less likely, "to ransom." It gets really speculative [Probably the best arguments for it meaning "to cover," are based on (1) the qal form of the verb in Genesis 6:14 where Noah covers the ark-- but it's argued that's from a different root, and (2) where Nehemiah 3:37 cites Jeremiah 18:23, replacing "atone" with a different word that means "cover."]. It's speculative enough, I'm just not going to touch it.
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Verse 31-32:
(31) and Moses returned to Yahweh,
and he said,
"Please, this people has sinned a great/terrible sin,
and they have made for themselves a god/elohim of gold,
(32) and so then, if you will carry/forgive their sin...
and if not, blot me out, please, from your book you have written,"
So how does Moses try to atone for their sin?
Through a request.
In verse 32, Moses asks God to "forgive," or "carry" their sin. English Bibles usually just translate this Hebrew word as "forgive." But more literally, it means "to carry." The idea is that sin is like a burden, carried by the people. This sin, is a "great" sin (like the fish that swallowed Jonah is a "great" fish). It's big. It's heavy. It's more than the people can carry. And so Moses asks God to "carry" their sin-- to take the burden.
Except, he doesn't actually finish the sentence. It just peters out, sort of. He sets out this option before Yahweh, as an "if." "If you will carry their sin."
He then sets out a second option-- a second request-- to Yahweh. And if Yahweh won't forgive, Moses asks, very nicely, that Yahweh blot him out from his book.
God keeps a record of faithful people. He writes their name down in his book (Daniel 12:1). Why He does that, Exodus doesn't say. But later in the Bible, we will find out that this book is the basis for who receives eternal life. Faithful people get in. Unfaithful people don't. That's Daniel 12:1. Revelation 3:5. [Other verses I can't remember].
But right now, all we know is that God has this book. And if God won't forgive Israel, Moses wants to be erased.
Moses here shows total solidarity with Israel. And he's signaling to God, again, that he's not okay with God starting over with him.
So those are the two options that Moses, very nicely, puts before God. He wants God to carry their sins, and if not, he wants to be written out of God's book.
And I think the idea, is that if God carries their sins, they are (somehow) atoned for. God carrying their sins would fix the relationship.
How does God respond to this choice Moses gives him? Verse 33-35 [these verses could be explained quite differently. Wrestled with this, fwiw]:
(33) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Whoever sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book (Rev. 3:5),
(34) and so then, Go lead the people to where I have spoken to you.
LOOK! My angel/messenger shall go before you,
and on the day of visitation/punishment, I will visit/punish upon them their sin,"
(35) and Yahweh struck/plagued (same verb as Exodus 12:23) the people
because they made the calf that Aaron made.
Yahweh here, basically, tells Moses "no." On this, He isn't flexible, or responsive. [C.H. Wright, echoing Walter Brueggemann, says that God has a "responsive sovereignty." He's the kind of king who listens, and responds, and cares about his people. He's not the kind of king who rules, without heeding. But here, He doesn't heed.]. The one who sins, is the one who gets blotted out of God's book (similarly, Ezekiel 18:20). That's not negotiable. This is the not the type of sin that God is either able, or willing, to "carry." It's not the kind that can be "atoned" through a simple request.
The golden calf is the type of sin that gets punished. That's verse 34, "on the day of visitation, I will visit upon them their sin."
And then we see God carrying this out, in verse 35. Yahweh "strikes," or "plagues," the people because of the calf. He does to them, what He did to Egypt. He strikes them, as a punishment for their sin.
So at this point, God has punished the people in three different ways. The first, was when Moses forced them to drink the dissolved idol. The second, was when the Levites killed 3,000 people. And the third, was when God himself plagued the people.
Is this enough? Are these three punishments, together, enough to deal with the sin?
Next week, when we get to Exodus 33, we will find ourselves wrestling with this again. But I think the answer, is "maybe."
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For an application today, I want to talk about sin, and punishment. It's not what I was planning to do, at all. But I feel like God opened up the Bible to me on this, and I want to share it. Parts of this are still really new to me. Parts are still cloudy. So use discernment, and think about it. And feel free to not accept all of it. My feelings won't be hurt.
When the OT talks about sin, and how that sin can be dealt with, it uses images, or metaphors. These images express reality, and truth, but they are also metaphors.
In our passage today, we saw one of these images. English Bibles translate this image as "forgive," but it actually means "carry." Sin is like a burden, that you carry around with you. Like a 50 pound backpack. And Moses hopes that God will take that burden, and carry it for them. This one probably resonates with us, right? When we sin, we feel the weight. It's a burden, and we hope that God will take that burden from us.
But in this passage, that's exactly what God refuses to do. The golden calf is not a sin that God will carry. Instead, it's a sin he punishes. [So forgiveness, and punishment, are opposites?]
It's on this point, where I feel like God opened things up for me this week. And this is the part, at the same time, I'm less settled about.
Let's first turn to Isaiah 40:1-2 (NRSV updated):
40 Comfort, O comfort (plural) my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
God tells his divine council here to comfort his people. All the sins Israel had committed have been paid for. She's served her term.
How?
Through God's punishment. Israel's sins were "great"-- so great, that God sent a foreign nation against Israel to conquer it, and capture it, and scatter the people across the nations. Israel's sins were paid for, through punishment, and years of exile.
Now let's turn to Numbers 25. This is the kind of story that doesn't make its way into children's Bibles (NRSV updated):
25 While Israel was staying at Shittim, the people began to have sexual relations with the women of Moab. 2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 Thus Israel yoked itself to the Baal of Peor, and the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel. 4 The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and impale them in the sun before the LORD, in order that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you shall kill any of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”
6 Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman into his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up and left the congregation. Taking a spear in his hand, 8 he went after the Israelite man into the tent and pierced the two of them, the Israelite and the woman, through the belly. So the plague was stopped among the Israelites. 9 Nevertheless those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
10 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites by manifesting such zeal among them on my behalf that in my jealousy I did not consume the Israelites. 12 Therefore say, ‘I hereby grant him my covenant of peace. 13 It shall be for him and for his descendants after him a covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.’ ”
Punishment, brought atonement. It restored the relationship between God and Israel. It fixed it. Maybe, you could say that punishment pays for atonement (Isaiah 47:11; DBL: 2. LN 57.152–57.171 (piel) ransom, i.e., pay an amount of money as a gift, with a quid pro quo of so being allowed to keep one’s freedom (Isa 47:11) ).
This is what we are seeing in Exodus 32. The golden calf is paid for through three separate punishments. First, God has the people drink the dissolved idol. Second, God has Moses and the Levites go through the camp, and strike people down with the sword. And then, third, God "visits their sin upon them" by striking them, or plaguing them.
The idea isn't simply that sin deserves punishment, and that the people are getting what they deserve.
The idea is that punishment pays for sin.
It's quite possible that all of you already knew that. I have weird gaps in my understanding, that constantly surprise the people around me. But for me, this idea that punishment pays for sin, clarifies everything in the Bible.
Let's turn to Isaiah 53:1-6. This is a key passage in Isaiah, and in the NT. It points us to Jesus, and what He accomplished for us (NRSV updated no reason):
53 Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering[a] and acquainted with infirmity,
and as one from whom others hide their faces[b]
he was despised, and we held him of no account.
4 Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases,
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
The idea in Isaiah 53, is that the suffering servant paid the price for the people's sins. He was punished, in their place. They were healed, and made whole, because God laid their iniquities on him.
This, essentially, is the gospel [or, at least, one way of explaining the gospel]. Our sins couldn't be "carried." They couldn't be "atoned for" through a simple request. Our sins could only be dealt with through punishment. And God, because He loves us, sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins (Romans 5:8-9). God put our sins, on him.
So Jesus did, what Moses was unable to do. Jesus made atonement for us, through his own death. He took our punishment, dying on the cross.
And if we hear this as good news, and want to be made whole, and restored, and forgiven, what do we do?
We go to Jesus. Healing and forgiveness come through Jesus.
How do we go to Jesus?
We turn from our sins. We bend our knee before Jesus, confessing that Jesus is our Savior, Lord, and King. And we get baptized, as our pledge of allegiance to Jesus (1 Peter 3:21, NIV).
[Altar call]
Translation:
(15) And Moses turned and descended from the mountain,
with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand-- tablets written on both sides.
On one side, and on the other, they were written, [Everything before the comma is focused]
and/Now, the tablets, the work of God/Elohim, they [were], ["the work of God" is focused]
and/Now, the writing, the writing of God, it [was], engraved upon the tablets ["the writing of God" is focused],
(17) and Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted,
and he said to Moses,
"The sound of war in the camp,"
(18) and he (Moses) said,
"It isn't the sound of the cry/shouting of victory,
and it isn't the sound of the cry/shouting of defeat.
The sound of singing, I am hearing. ["The sound of singing" is focused],
(19) and then, after he drew near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing,
and Moses burned in anger,
and he threw down from his hand the tablets,
and he broke them under/at the foot of the mountain,
(20) and he took the idol that they made,
and he burned [it] in the fire,
and he ground it into powder,
and he scattered [it] upon the face of the waters,
and he forced the sons of Israel to drink,
(21) and Moses said to Aaron,
"What did this people do to you,
that you brought upon them a great/terrible sin,"
(22) and Aaron said,
"May your anger not burn, my lord (adonai).
You know the people,
that in evil, it is,
(23) and they said to me,
"Make for us a god/elohim who shall walk before us,
because this Moses-- the man who brought us from the land Egypt-- we don't know what happened
to him,
(24) and I said to them,
"Whoever has gold, take it off yourselves,"
and they brought [it] to me,
and I threw it in the fire,
and this golden calf came out,"
(25) and Moses saw the people,
that unbounded/unrestrained/running wild, it was,
because Aaron unbound/unrestrained [them] to the mocking of the ones standing against them,
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It's really hard to capture the sense of verse 25 in translation, because there's not an English word that nicely works both ways. The people were "unbounded," a passive participle of the verb "para." And the reason they were "unbounded" is because Aaron "unbounded," active verb, them. The active verb elsewhere is used for hair three times, describing letting hair down, unbinding it (Lev. 10:6; 21:10; Num. 5:18). In Job 33:24 it means "to let free" (h/t HALOT). "Let him free from going down into the pit." Sirach 10:3 uses it to describe an undisciplined king (HALOT). HALOT also lists "to leave unattended" as a gloss, pointing to Ezekiel 24:14 (first verb in the sentence), Proverbs 1:25; 4:15; 8:33; 13:18; 15:32. Basically, Aaron allowed them to run wild (van der Merwe's gloss).
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(26) and Moses stood at the entrance to the camp,
and he said,
"Whoever is for Yahweh, [come] to me,"
and all the sons of Levi gathered to him,
(27) and he said to them,
"Thus has said Yahweh, the God/Elohim of Israel:
Put on, each man, his sword upon his side.
Pass over (like the avenger),
and return from the entrance to the entrance in the camp,
and kill, each man, his brother,
and each man, his friend,
and each man, his near relative,
(28) and the sons of Levi did in accordance with the word of Moses,
and they fell from the people on that day about three thousand men,
(29) and Moses said,
"Fill your hand today for Yahweh,
because each man [was?] against his son and against his brother,"
and by/for the purpose of giving upon yourselves today a blessing.
(30) and then, on the next day, Moses said to the people,
"You have sinned a great/terrible sin,
and so then, I shall go up to Yahweh.
Perhaps I shall cover/atone on behalf of your sin,"
(31) and Moses returned to Yahweh,
and he said,
"Please, this people has sinned a great/terrible sin,
and they have made for themselves a god/elohim of gold,
(32) and so then, if you will carry/forgive their sin...
and if not, blot me out, please, from your book you have written,"
(33) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Whoever sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book (Rev. 3:5),
(34) and so then, Go lead the people to where I have spoken to you.
LOOK! My angel/messenger shall go before you,
and on the day of visitation/punishment, I will visit/punish upon them their sin,"
(35) and Yahweh struck/plagued (same verb as Exodus 12:23) the people
because they made the calf that Aaron made.
