Was the golden calf connected to Egyptian gods?
Yes. The golden calf was connected to Egyptian gods. The Israelites were accustomed to Egypt, where everything was a god, and the calf or ox was itself one of many Egyptian gods. Aaron fashioned the molten calf from their golden earrings, and they proclaimed these as the gods that brought them out.
Les explains that the people asked Aaron to make gods to go before them because that was what they were used to in Egypt. In Egypt everything was a god, and he imagines some of it had rubbed off on these Israelites. Aaron told them to break off their golden earrings, melted the gold, fashioned it with a graving tool, and made the molten calf. Les points out that the calf, the ox, or whatever, was an Egyptian god as well, one of many. The claim that the calf brought them up out of Egypt was a lie; the golden calf had nothing to do with bringing them through the Red Sea.
And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
More Questions
Did the golden calf miraculously come out of the fire, or did Aaron actually make it?
Aaron falsely told Moses that the calf came out of the fire, but the earlier account shows he actually melted the gold and crafted it with a graving tool.
Who actually fashioned the golden calf with a graving tool in Exodus 32?
Aaron himself received the gold and personally fashioned it with a graving tool after making it a molten calf, so the pronoun 'he' refers to Aaron.