Exodus 32:7-14 relates the narrative of the dialogue between God and Moses atop Sinai, as Aaron and the Israelites, at the base of the mountain are involved with the golden calf. For well over two millennia Jewish, Christian, and secular sources have sought to understand and explain the dynamics of what is taking place on Mt Sinai. This article looks at a variety of representative samples from the ancient world such as Rewritten Bibles, including Pseudo-Philo’s Biblical Antiquities; rabbinic teachings and midrashim from late antiquity to the Middle Ages; the Patristics (Church Fathers); Targums (Aramaic translations of the Torah); traditional Jewish commentators; prominent Christian exegetes from the time of the Reformation and after, and contemporary scholars.
Augustine, the City of God. Books 8-16. 1962. Tr. Gerald G.Walsh and GraceMonahan. New York: Fathers of the Church.
2.
Babylonian Talmud, Berakot, 1978 [1935]). Tr. MauriceSimon. London: Soncino.
3.
Baskin, Judith R.1983. Pharaoh’s Counsellors: Job, Jethro, and Balaam in Rabbinic and Patristic Tradition. Brown Judaica Series 47. Chico, CA: Scholars Press.
4.
Berlin, Adele. 2003. “Writing a Commentary for a Jewish Audience.”The Book of Esther in Modern Research. Eds. S. W.Crawford and L. J.Greenspoon. London: T. & T. Clark.
5.
Bruckner, James K.2008. NIBC – Exodus. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.
Harrington, Daniel. 1985. “Pseudo-Philo.”The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 2. Ed. J. H.Charlesworth. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
14.
Hirshman, Marc. 2000. A Rival of Genius; Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity. Tr. BatyaStein. Albany: SUNY.
15.
The Homilies of Saint Jerome. Vol. 1 (1-59 On the Psalms). 1964. “Homily 26.” Tr. MarieEwald. Washington, DC.
16.
Jacob, Benno. 1992. The Second Book of the Bible, Exodus. Interpreted by Benno Jacob. Tr. WalterJacob and YaakovElman. Hoboken, NJ: Ktav.
17.
Jacobson, Howard. 2013. Pseudo Philo, Book of Biblical Antiquities. Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture, vol. 1. Eds. L. H.Feldman, J. L.Kugel, and L. H.Schiffman. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.
18.
The JPS Tanakh: Gender-Sensitive Edition. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society / Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2023).
Laytner, Anson. 1990. Arguing with God: A Jewish Tradition. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aaronson.
21.
Midrash Rabbah (The Midrash). 1939. Eds. H.Freedman, MauriceSimon, and Judah J.Slotki. 10 vols. London: Soncino.
22.
Pesikta de Rab Kahana: Rabbi Kahana’s Compilation of Discourses for Sabbaths and Festal Days. 1975. Tr. William G.Braude, and Israel J.Kapstein. JPS Classics. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication. Society.
23.
Pesikta Rabbati: Discourses for Feasts, Fasts, and Special Sabbath. 1968. Tr. William G.Braude. New Haven: Yale University Press.
24.
Porton, Gary G.1992. “Midrash.”Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. Ed. D. N.Freedman, New York: Doubleday.
25.
The Principal Works of St Jerome. Second Series, 1912. Tr. W. H.Freemantle. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
26.
Propp, William H. C.2008. Exodus 19-40: A New Translation. AYBC 2A. New York: Doubleday.
27.
Sarna, Nahum M.1991. The JPS Commentary—Exodus. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.
28.
Schoenfeld, Devorah. 2018. “‘A Good Argument to Penitents’: Sin and Forgiveness in Midrashic Interpretations of the Golden Calf.”Golden Calf Traditions in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Eds. Eric F.Mason and Edmondo F.Lupieri. Leiden: Brill.
29.
Sifre: A Tannaitic Commentary on the book of Deuteronomy. 1986. Tr. ReuvenHammer. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
30.
Simkovich, Malka Z.2018. Discovering second temple literature: The scriptures and stories that shaped early Judaism. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.
31.
Targum Neofiti: Exodus. The Aramaic Bible, Vol. 2. 1994. Tr. MartinMcNamara. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical.
32.
Targum Onkelos to Exodus. An English Translation of the Text with Analysis and Commentary. 1990. Tr. IsraelDrazin. New York: Ktav.
33.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Exodus. The Aramaic Bible, Vol. 2. 1994. Tr. MichaelMaher. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical.
34.
Tobin, Thomas H.2018. “Philo of Alexandria’s Interpretations of the Episode of the Golden Calf.”Golden Calf Traditions in Early Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Eds. Eric F.Mason, and Edmondo F.Lupieri. Leiden: Brill.
