Egel vs. Luchot, Part 2

As discussed here, Tanakh describes the luchot twice. The first is factual and to the point: when the luchot are creatd, we find out that they are -

a. “Tablets of Testimony” (i.e. symbolic of something important)

b. Stone slabs

c. Written (i.e. text) by God

It is all we need to know and nothing more.

The second, lengthier description serves to create a parallel within the narrative of the egel hazahav. It allows us to get more complete sense of the gap between calf and Commandment, and the gravity of Israel's sin. So its style is a bit more emphatic and encompassing:

Luchot	Egel Hazahav
The Tablets were written from both sides – from this side and that side they were inscribed. And these Tablets, they were the work of God; and the writing, it was the writing of God – engraved upon the Tablets. (32:15-16)	Break off the golden rings - which are in the ears of your wives, sons, and daughters - and bring them to me. . . Aaron took it from them, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, making a molten calf. (32:2)
Points to Note a. Tablets are the work of God. b. Writing of God. c. No description of how it was created d. Text e. Empty, inscribed space	Points to Note a. Calf made from gold rings. b. Aaron fashioned it. c. With a tool d. Calf e. Physical substance

For the luchot, we are told again and again that they were formed by God. We get no description of how that actually took place – it just happened, Divinely, mysteriously. The working material is a creation in and of itself – God didn't miraculously write on earthly stones, but created a heavenly pair of tablets.

For the golden calf, we get this great image of an eldery goldsmith hunched over a fire, working on this handmade calf. We learn about the tools he needed for his craft. The material is itself man-made and pre-formed (earings) the substance (gold) likewise a product/symbol of human work.

Furthermore, the egel is what it is by merit of its visual image and physical form: it looks like and physically represents a calf.

The luchot are what they are by merit of its words and those blank, non-tangible spaces: it is a text, composed out of air.