The Quran

قالوا ما أَخلَفنا مَوعِدَكَ بِمَلكِنا وَلٰكِنّا حُمِّلنا أَوزارًا مِن زينَةِ القَومِ فَقَذَفناها فَكَذٰلِكَ أَلقَى السّامِرِيُّ

Muhammad Asad

They answered: "We did not break our promise to thee of our own free will, but [this is what happened:] we were loaded with the [sinful] burdens of the [Egyptian] people's ornaments, and so we threw them [into the fire],¹ and likewise did this Samaritan cast [his into it]."

It is mentioned in Exodus xii, 35 that, immediately before their departure from Egypt, the Israelites "borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver and jewels of gold". This "borrowing" was obviously done under false pretences, without any intention on the part of the Israelites to return the jewellery to its rightful owners: for, according to the Biblical statement (ibid., verse 36), "they spoiled [i.e., robbed] the Egyptians" by doing so. While it is noteworthy that the Old Testament, in its present, corrupted form, does not condemn this behaviour, its iniquity seems to have gradually dawned upon the Israelites, and so they decided to get rid of those sinfully acquired ornaments (Baghawi, Zamakhshari and - in one of his alternative interpretations - Razi).