The people of Moses, in his absence, made from their ornaments the statue of a calf which had a sound. Did they not see that it could not speak to them, nor guide them to any way. They took it and turned wicked.
Translation endnotes
[7:148] The verse does not say the calf made a sound; but a calf that had a sound, indicating its mechanical function. This sound was most likely created by wind passing through its holes. Indeed, archeologists discovered in Egyptian temples calf statues that created sound by the help of wind. See 20:83-99.