When the Israelites fled from Egypt they were accompanied by a mix multitude of other nations, amongst the Egyptians. Finding the opportunity, in the absence of Musa, Samaritan makes a golden calf, although the bible is not specific in identifying the culprit but the Quran makes the open declaration. The graven image is referred to Elohim, as the court of Gods (Ba’al, el, Yahweh, Ashira…). Many Israelites go astray but after the reminder of Harun, some of them repent. Later on, the idol worshipers were slain, Quran 2:54, Exodus 32:28. The only contradictions occurred during to some misinterpretations of the text.
We will take a look on the two narratives and see them perfectly going hand in hand, the verses where Quran has described bil’ijmal and its relevant verse in the Tanakh. The verses taken from the Quran are Al-Baqqarah (51- 54, 92-93), Taha (85-98), Al-Araf (145, 148-157).
Exodus, the historic documentation:
1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, ’Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
The Quranic indication:
And [recall] when We made a covenant with Moses for forty nights. Then you took [for worship] the calf after him, while you were wrongdoers.
Exodus, the historic documentation:
2 So Aaron said to them, ‘Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’
The Quranic indication:
They said, ‘We did not break our promise to you by our own will, but we were made to carry burdens from the ornaments of the people [of Pharaoh], so we threw them [into the fire], and thus did the Samaritan throw.
Exodus, the historic documentation:
3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.
4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden[a] calf. And they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’
7 And the Lord said to Moses, ’Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’’
9 And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.’
11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, ‘O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ’I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’’ 14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
The Quranic indication:
He (Moses) said, ‘We have certainly tried your people after you [departed], and the Samaritan has led them astray.’ So Moses returned to his people, angry and grieved. He said, ‘O my people, did your Lord not make you a good promise? Then, was the time [of its fulfillment] too long for you, or did you wish that wrath from your Lord descend upon you, so you broke your promise [of obedience] to me?’
15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written.
16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
The Quranic indication:
We wrote for him on the Tablets ˹the fundamentals˺ of everything; commandments and explanations of all things. ˹We commanded,˺ ‘Hold to this firmly and ask your people to take the best of it. I will soon show ˹all of˺ you the home of the rebellious.
Exodus, the historic documentation:
17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, ‘There is a noise of war in the camp.’
18 But he said, ‘It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.’
19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
The Quranic indication:
And when Moses returned to his people, angry and grieved, he said, ‘How wretched is that by which you have replaced me after [my departure]. Were you impatient over the matter of your Lord?’ And he threw down the tablets and seized his brother by [the hair of] his head, pulling him toward him
Exodus, the historic documentation:
20 He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.
The Quranic indication:
And look at your ‘god’ to which you remained devoted. We will surely burn it and blow it into the sea with a blast.’ Indeed, your god is Allah, except for whom there is no deity. He has encompassed all things in knowledge.’
Exodus, the historic documentation:
21 And Moses said to Aaron, ‘What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?’
22 And Aaron said, ‘Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
23 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
24 So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.’
The Quranic indication:
And Aaron had already said to them before, ‘O my people, you are only being tested by it. And indeed, your Lord is the Most Merciful, so follow me and obey my order.’ They said, ‘We will never cease being devoted to it until Moses returns to us.’ [Moses] said, ‘O Aaron, what prevented you when you saw them going astray, from following me? Then have you disobeyed my order?’ [Aaron] said, ‘O son of my mother, do not seize [me] by my beard or by my head. Indeed, I feared that you would say, ‘You caused division among the Children of Israel, and you did not observe [or await] my word.’’ [Moses] said, ‘Then what is your case, O Samaritan?’ He said, ‘I saw what they did not see, so I took a handful [of dust] from the track of the messenger and threw it, and thus did my soul entice me.’
Exodus, the historic documentation:
25 And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies),
26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, ‘Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.’ And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.
27 And he said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’
28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell.
The Quranic indication:
And [recall] when Moses said to his people, ‘O my people, indeed you have wronged yourselves by your taking of the calf [for worship]. So repent to your Creator and kill yourselves. That is best for [all of] you in the sight of your Creator.’ Then He accepted your repentance; indeed, He is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.
[Moses] said, ‘Then go. And indeed, it is decreed for you in [this] life to say, ‘No contact.’ And indeed, you have an appointment [in the Hereafter] you will not fail to keep. And look at your ‘god’ to which you remained devoted.
Exodus, the historic documentation:
29 And Moses said, ‘Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.’
30 The next day Moses said to the people, ’You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.’
31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, ‘Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold.
The Quranic indication:
And when regret overcame them and they saw that they had gone astray, they said, ‘If our Lord does not have mercy upon us and forgive us, we will surely be among the losers.’
But those who committed misdeeds and then repented after them and believed – indeed your Lord, thereafter, is Forgiving and Merciful. And when the anger subsided in Moses, he took up the tablets; and in their inscription was guidance and mercy for those who fear their Lord. And Moses chose from his people seventy men for Our appointment. And when the earthquake seized them, he said, ‘My Lord, if You had willed, You could have destroyed them before and me [as well]. Would You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done? This is not but Your trial by which You send astray whom You will and guide whom You will. You are our Protector, so forgive us and have mercy upon us; and You are the best of forgivers.’
Exodus, the historic documentation:
(Exodus 33:1-6)The Lord said to Moses, ‘Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’
2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.’
4 When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.
5 For the Lord had said to Moses, ‘Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’’
6 Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.
The Quranic indication:
And when, We took your covenant and raised the mountain above you ˹saying˺, ‘Hold firmly to that ˹Scripture˺ which We have given you and obey,’ they answered, ‘We hear and disobey.’ The love of the calf was rooted in their hearts because of their disbelief.
Conclusion
Deciphering the story of the Golden calf has become a very challenging task to uphill, due to the ambiguities, flavored by the diverse sorts of exegeses and the interpretation provided through them. In-spite of these comprehension barriers, with the correct linguistic approach, the text seems to fully adhere to Quran’s narration, placed in the right framework. Hence, the article absolves the historical depiction from any sort of prominent corruption, in the light of the Holy Quran.
The problems generated in the interpretation of the text was due to the major problem of committing to wrong approach, for studying the text. They included, adherence to inappropriate diction and severing the ties of the content from the context.
If the scriptures are read, merely, using the technique of Affective fallacy, the true meaning shall never be revealed, and one shall find all sorts of interpretations, every now and then, and the true meaning shall be lost somewhere in the hue.
On the other hand, while opting a rather, Intentional fallacy (speaking in literary terms), the ripples might be cleared, and one can get to the bottom of the true story, and the same approach has been used in this article.