Exodus 32:19

He came nigh. The religious ceremonies of most ancient nations included dancing. Among the Hebrews this was sometimes solemn and dignified, like that of David (2 Sam. 6:14), sometimes festive and joyful (see on Ex. 15:20). Among the heathen, however, and especially so among the Oriental nations, such dances were of a loose and lascivious character. Egyptian dancers were professionals of a degraded type, and their dancing was sensual and indecent. In Syria, Asia Minor, and Babylon dancing was a wild orgy. It was in this type of dancing that the Israelites now indulged, a fact which accounts for the heated anger of Moses. It was idolatry at its worst. It is not strange that he cast the two tables violently upon the ground and “brake them.” By this he indicated that as they had broken their covenant with God, so God broke His covenant with them (Deut. 9:17; PP 320).