The BibleGospel Companion
Event · Egypt and the Exodusc. 1491 BC

The golden calf

Range across sources: 1491–1448 BC

True span4004 BC – AD 100
Beginnings · 4004 BC – 1996 BC · 12 eventsBeginnings4004 BC – 1996 BCThe Patriarchs · 1996 BC – 1635 BC · 34 eventsPatriarchs1996 BC – 1635 BCEgypt and the Exodus · 1635 BC – 1451 BC · 19 eventsExodus1635 BC – 1451 BCConquest and Settlement · 1451 BC – 1400 BC · 7 eventsConquest1451 BC – 1400 BCThe Judges · 1405 BC – 1095 BC · 13 eventsJudges1405 BC – 1095 BCThe United Kingdom · 1095 BC – 975 BC · 38 eventsUnited Kgdm1095 BC – 975 BCIsrael and Judah · 933 BC – 721 BC · 27 eventsIsrael & Judah933 BC – 721 BCJudah Alone · 721 BC – 586 BC · 22 eventsJudah alone721 BC – 586 BCThe Exile · 586 BC – 538 BC · 7 eventsExile586 BC – 538 BCReturn and Restoration · 538 BC – 400 BC · 13 eventsReturn538 BC – 400 BCBetween the Testaments · 400 BC – 4 BC · 8 eventsBetween400 BC – 4 BCThe Life of Jesus · 6 BC – AD 33 · 42 eventsJesus6 BC – AD 33The Apostles and the Early Church · AD 30 – AD 100 · 29 eventsThe ChurchAD 30 – AD 1001573 BC — Pharaoh orders the Hebrew boys killed1491 BC — God calls Moses at the burning bush1491 BC — The ten plagues1491 BC — The Passover and the departure from Egypt1491 BC — Israel crosses the Red Sea1491 BC — The Ten Commandments at Sinai1491 BC — The golden calf1491 BC — The tabernacle is set up1490 BC — The twelve spies; Israel refuses to enter the land1452 BC — Aaron dies on Mount Hor1452 BC — Balaam blesses Israel instead of cursing1451 BC — Moses dies on Mount NeboA new king enslaves Israel — placed by its order in the narrativeMoses is born and drawn from the Nile — placed by its order in the narrativeMoses flees to Midian — placed by its order in the narrativeManna and quail in the wilderness of Sin — placed by its order in the narrativeWater from the rock; Amalek defeated at Rephidim — placed by its order in the narrativeKorah's rebellion — placed by its order in the narrativeThe bronze serpent — placed by its order in the narrative
the events of this period, each at its year — this one outlinedplaced only by its order in the narrativethe whole thread →

Told in

Exodus 32:1–35When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for…
Opening words from the World English Bible (public domain); the passage list is in-house

Who and where

AaronMosesSinai ›
Names and references: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · coordinates: OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding · CC BY 4.0

How we know the date

Ussher's Annals (1650) gives 1491 BC (its year of the world 2513 c); ISBE's Old Testament chronology (1915) gives 1448 BC. The sources differ by 43 years; the year shown (1491 BC) is the one this timeline follows through this stretch, from Ussher's Annals (1650).

Written in-house from the sources below · every year is a quotation

The sources, word for word

“2513. b. … QuARTO mense. d, Winitis quadraginta illis diebus et quadraginta noctibus, dedit Dcus Mosi duas legis tabulas lapidcas, sua manu fabrefactas ct suo digito scriptas!: celcritcr illum descendcre jubens, quod populus vitulum aureim sibi conflassct, ct adoraret cum.”

Ussher, Annales Veteris Testamenti (1650), Latin text in The Whole Works of James Ussher, vols. VIII–XI (Dublin, 1864) · vol. VIII, AM 2513 c · gives 1491 BC

“In order to get the time limits of this period, it is necessary to count back 37 years from the end of Solomon's reign in 933 BC, and this brings us to that epoch-marking event, the laying of the foundations of the Temple in 969 or 970, the 4th year of his reign (1Ki 6:1); and from this event we are brought by the addition of the comprehensive number 479, given in the same verse, back to the year of the Exodus, approximately 1448 BC, making the total length of the period about 516 years.”

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT · gives 1448 BC

Sources