Ṭā ḥā is then chased from the land by Pharaoh. After escaping, Moses leaves his people to confer with God. During his absence, his people are led awry by al-Samiri, and begin to worship a golden calf instead of God. Upon his return, Moses is furious. He exiles al-Samiri, and chastises his brother Aaron for allowing the people to worship anything other than the one true God. Samiri's provokation of Moses's disciples to worship a lowly calf beside the Almighty, clearly refuted God's grace as well as Moses and Aaron's preaching. Hence, Samiri's defiance that is quite similar to Iblis' or Satan's
Jewish commentaries on the Bible often consulted literal translation of the Bible with a few exceptions. Figurative language is usually not translated literally but is explained (e.g., Gen. 49:25; Ex. 15:3, 8, 10; 29:35). Geographical names are often replaced by those current at a later time (e.g., Gen. 10:10; Deut. 3:17). According to the Talmud, the Torah and its translation into Aramaic were given to Moses on Mount Sinai, because Egyptian slaves spoke Aramaic. After the Babylonian exile, the Targum was completely forgotten. Onkelos, a Roman convert to Judaism, was able to reconstruct the original Aramaic. Saadia Gaon disagrees and says the Aramaic of Onkelos