Wyjścia 32:7 Komentarz: Rashi, Chizkuni, Da'at Zekenim & Ramban

וידבר AND [THE LORD] SAID — This term דבר when not followed by a word of the root אמר implies censorious speech, as (Genesis 42:7) “And he spake (וידבר) roughly (קשות) unto them”.

אשר העלית, “whom you (Moses, not G-d) have brought out of Egypt.” The vowel pattern of this word is slightly different from the vowel pattern of the same word in 33,1, so that the reading is slightly different too. The author does not offer a reason for the difference;[perhaps he means to suggest that the העם referred to in 33,1 are the true Israelites for whom the Exodus was a moral ethical elevation, whereas the העם that Moses had taken out of Egypt without consulting G-d had become a spiritual burden, instead. Ed.]

כי שחת עמך, “for your people have acted corruptly;” they are your people regardless if you chose them to be, just as you took them out of Egypt regardless if that had been done willingly or not. They acted corruptly by exchanging their leader without consulting you (or Me) Seeing that I had given you them as their leader, they were not at liberty to disown you. In addition to this, they violated My commandment of לא תעשה לך פסל, “do not make for yourself a graven image.” (Exodus 20,4) You are not allowed to do so, even if the image is to symbolise your G–d in heaven.