Deuteronomy 9:16

16 There below me I could see that you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had melted gold and made a calf idol for yourselves. How quickly you had turned away from the path the LORD had commanded you to follow!

Deuteronomy 9:16 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 9:16

And I looked
When he was come down from the mount, and was nigh the camp:

and, behold, ye had sinned against the Lord your God;
that plainly appeared by what they had done, and at which he was amazed; and therefore a behold is prefixed to it, it being such a gross sin, having so much impiety and ingratitude, and stupidity in it:

and made you a molten calf;
that he saw with his eyes, and them dancing about it; see ( Exodus 32:19 )

ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the Lord had commanded
you;
see ( Deuteronomy 9:7 ) .

Deuteronomy 9:16 In-Context

14 Leave me alone so I may destroy them and erase their name from under heaven. Then I will make a mighty nation of your descendants, a nation larger and more powerful than they are.’

15 “So while the mountain was blazing with fire I turned and came down, holding in my hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.

16 There below me I could see that you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had melted gold and made a calf idol for yourselves. How quickly you had turned away from the path the LORD had commanded you to follow!

17 So I took the stone tablets and threw them to the ground, smashing them before your eyes.

18 “Then, as before, I threw myself down before the LORD for forty days and nights. I ate no bread and drank no water because of the great sin you had committed by doing what the LORD hated, provoking him to anger.