I threw it into the fire and out came this calf

The Hebrew in Exodus 32:24 that is translated as “I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf” or similar in English is translated in Chitonga as “Then I put it in the fire and — lo and behold this calf here!”

Wendland (1987, p. 137) explains: “When Moses confronts Aaron concerning the golden calf incident, the latter attempts to excuse himself by pleading ignorance, while he attributes the calf to some sort of magical trick. The Tonga emphasizes the climax of Aaron’s account, which would seem to absolve him from any direct blame in the affair, by translating in [the above-mentioned way]. This brings out the assumed wonder in Aaron’s words.”

complete verse (Exodus 32:24)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 32:24:

  • Kupsabiny: “So I told them that, ‘Let everyone remove anything made of gold and give me.’ From there, they gave me those things, after that, I took them and melted them, and/but after that I molded it into a thing like a calf!’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Therefore I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, let him take it off and bring it’ So they gave the fold to me. I put the gold in the fire and out came this bull calf.’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So I told them that they should-bring their gold jewelries to me. When they brought them to me, I threw them into the fire and out-came this cow.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “Therefore I said to them, ‘If anyone has gol decorations, he must remove them and then bring them to me.’ Therefore they brought their gol to me, and then I threw it onto the fire. And suddenly this carving of the bulmakao came forth from nothing.’” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “So, I answered for them it ‹one who have gold, let him untie it down.› They give me it, I throw it in fire, and it change into calf by itself.»” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “So I said to them, ‘Everyone who is wearing gold earrings should take them off.’ So they took them off and gave them to me. I threw them into the fire, and out came this statue of a young bull!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 32:24

Aaron is still speaking to Moses. And I said to them again introduces a quote within a quote. Let any who have gold is literally “for whoever gold,” meaning “whoever has gold!” Take it off is literally “they tore off,” which may also mean “they will tear off,” implying a command. As in Revised Standard Version, most translations interpret it as “they will tear off” and include it as part of Aaron’s command to the people. Fox, however, reads it as part of Aaron’s words to Moses, “So I said to them: Who has gold? They broke it off and gave it to me.” One may also say “So I said to them, ‘Any of you who have gold earrings, take them off and bring them to me.’ ” Good News Translation understands it in the same way but changes everything to indirect speech to avoid an embedded quote: “and those who had any took them off and gave them to me.”

So they gave it to me is no longer part of the embedded quote but is now a continuation of Aaron’s words to Moses. The pronoun it refers to the gold. And I threw it into the fire uses the same word as verse 19, where Moses threw down the stone tablets. And there came out this calf is literally “and this bull-calf came out.” This implies that the calf had been “self-produced,” or took shape quite accidentally. We may therefore assume that Aaron is trying to put all the blame on the people.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Then I said to them, “Any of you that have gold earrings, take them off and bring them to me.” They took them off and gave them to me. I threw them into a fire, and to my surprise, out came this bull-calf.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .