And he received the gold at their hand is literally “And he took from their hand,” with the words the gold added. Good News Translation has “the earrings,” but New International Version is less specific, “He took what they handed him.”

And fashioned it with a graving tool is literally “and he formed it in [or, by] the cheret,” but the meaning of the word cheret is uncertain. It is used elsewhere only in Isa 8.1, where Revised Standard Version translates it as “characters” (“write … in common characters”). It may refer to a stylus or a writing tool, but such a tool is not normally used when forming a molten calf, which suggest that “he cast the metal in a mould” (Revised English Bible), or “poured the gold into a mold” (Good News Translation). And made a molten calf is literally “and he made it a [male] calf of molten metal.” The word for “molten metal” comes from the verb “to pour.” Most translations therefore take the word cheret to mean “mold” (New Revised Standard Version). Good News Translation makes this very explicit: “He took the earrings, melted them, poured the gold into a mold, and made a gold bull-calf.” In cultures where molds for shaping melted metal are unknown, it will be better to omit the mention of “mold” and follow Contemporary English Version‘s model, “then he melted them and made an idol in the shape of a young bull.” “Bull-calf” is better than either calf or “bull,” since the male bovine was widely recognized as a symbol of power and fertility, and the Hebrew clearly denotes a young bull. (See the comment on bull or “ox” at 21.28.) And they said introduces what the people said after the “bull-calf” had been made.

These are your gods, O Israel is literally “These your [singular] gods, Israel.” The singular your is used because the word for Israel is singular, but it refers to all Israelites, so many translators will want to use the plural form. Gods is the word ʾelohim, which is plural in form. It is not certain, however, whether the singular or plural meaning is intended, so translations are divided. However, it is recommended that translators use the singular here; for example, “This is your [plural] god [singular].” Good News Translation changes the pronoun from second person to first person (inclusive), “Israel, this is our god, who led us out of Egypt!” The meaning of brought you up out of the land of Egypt is the same as “brought you up” in verse 1. (See the comment there.)

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 .