I begin by considering the perspective that the prohibition, “You shall not make for yourself an idol” means “You shall not make for yourself an idol of an alien deity.” Seven points have been argued in support of this reading. The first has to do with
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the fact that the prohibition of idols immediately follows the prohibition of other gods. This sequence suggests to some that it is the divine images of gods other than YHWH that are being prohibited. For example, concerning the relationship between the prohibitions, Houtman writes, “The one flows logically from the other; the prohibition to have other gods alongside of YHWH implies the prohibition to make images of other gods.”7
Along these lines, Hutton paraphrases the version of the prohibitions in Deuteronomy as, “You shall have no other gods before me. [That is to say], you shall not make for yourself a cast image [of these gods].”8
Therefore some interpreters argue that the sequence of the prohibitions suggests that divine images of alien deities are being referred to.
A second point could be made in connection with the various shapes which an idol may take. Israel is told not to make an idol “whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”9
This description appears to include, for example, the sun and stars, birds, cattle, creeping things, and fish. Some scholars argue that these forms are most likely to represent alien deities and not YHWH. For example, Nelson writes, “The initial apodictic prohibition (‘do not make an idol’) suggests at first that this ‘idol’ would be an image of Yahweh, but…the sentence develops into multiple potential shapes that, in the context of Deuteronomy, must be understood as idols of heathen deities.”10
7
Houtman, Exodus, Vol. 3: Chapters 20-40, 19.
8 Hutton, “A Simple Matter of Numbering?,” 213-214. Cf. Kutsko, Between Heaven and
Earth, 44.
9
Deut. 5:8b/Exod. 20:4b.
10 Nelson, Deuteronomy, 80. Cf. Miller, The Ten Commandments, 49-50; Mayes,
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A third point has to do with the jealousy of YHWH. Following the command, “You shall not make for yourself an idol…” an explanation is provided: “For I the Lord your God am a jealous God.” In regard to this explanation, H. Th. Obbink raised the question, “how can Yahweh be jealous if Israel makes an image of him and bows down before this image of Yahweh? But if Israel shows the honour due to Yahweh to other gods, then Yahweh’s jealousy is stirred up. Since he cannot
tolerate that his honour should be given to other gods.”11
The idea here is that the jealousy of YHWH is best understood if the prohibition of idols is particularly a prohibition of divine images of alien deities.
A fourth point has to do with what some scholars see as an absence of divine images of YHWH within the Old Testament as a whole. Both Obbink and Pfeiffer have argued that there were no real representations of Yahweh in Israelite religion.12 For example, Robert Pfeiffer, in his 1926 JBL article entitled “Images of YHWH”, writes: “The Old Testament, with its exhaustive denunciation of the worship of foreign gods and of idols (the first two of the ten commandments being correlative), contains no condemnation of images of Yahweh.”13
While Gideon’s ephod,14 the golden calves of Aaron and Jeroboam,15 Micah’s image,16 and the Bronze Serpent17 could be suggested as representations of YHWH or images associated with the worship of YHWH, these scholars point out that the connections are not explicit. In
11 Obbink, “Jahwebilder,” ZAW 47 (1929): 265. For reviews of Obbink’s arguments, see Stamm and Andrew, The Ten Commandments in Recent Research, 83; Childs, Exodus, 406; Durham,
Exodus, 285. These three reject his main point. However, for a defense of Obbink’s position note
Houtman, Exodus, Vol. 3: Chapters 20-40, 21.
12 Obbink, “Jahwebilder,” 264-274; Pfeiffer, “Images of Yahweh,” JBL 45, no. 3-4 (1926): 211-222.
13 Pfeiffer, “Images of Yahweh,” 220. 14 Judg. 8:22-28.
15
Exod. 32, Deut. 9, 1 Kgs. 12. 16 Judg. 17-18.
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contrast, explicit references to divine images of alien deities are ubiquitously found within the Old Testament.18 Therefore, within this broader context, it could be argued that the prohibition of idols is best understood as a prohibition against the worship of divine images of alien deities.
A fifth point may be drawn from Zimmerli’s study of the second
commandment.19 Zimmerli pointed out that the specific combination of the verbs “bow down and worship” is never used to refer to YHWH or an image of YHWH. As mentioned in chapter two, the phrase is overwhelmingly used within the Old Testament to refer to “other gods.” Interpreters who would argue that prohibiting “other gods” includes prohibiting “idols” might find in this “non-Yahwistic” usage of the phrase “Bow down and worship” a fifth reason to assume that the idols being prohibited are divine images of “other gods.” Because occurrences of the phrase outside of the context of the commandments never refer to an image of YHWH, it is unlikely to have referred to an image of YHWH in the prohibition of idols.
A sixth point also arises in connection with Zimmerli’s argument. If
Zimmerli’s theory of redaction is accepted, it could be argued that the redactor who added the phrase, “You shall not bow down to them or worship them,” saw the prohibitions of idols as an elaboration or concretization of the prohibition of other gods and therefore as a prohibition of the divine images of those “other gods.”20
Along these lines, Tatum writes, “Consequently, the scope of the Second
Commandment—as defined by traditional Judaism and confirmed by the critical analysis of Zimmerli—indicates that what Yahweh prohibits is ‘a sculptured image’ or ‘likeness’ of ‘other gods.’ Whatever the original form and meaning of the
18
E.g. Deut. 29:17-18, 2 Sam. 5, Isa. 46. 19 Zimmerli, “Das Zweite Gebot,” 553-554. 20 Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1-11, 288.
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prohibition against images, therefore, it has been interpreted in the MT of the Second Commandment as not universally anti-iconic but as anti-idolic—as not against all images but as against images representative of alien deities.”21
A seventh and final point may be made in connection with the Deuteronomic version of the Ten Commandments. As described in the introduction to chapter one, the Deuteronomic version uses one verb to command Israel not to “desire” (דמח) their neighbour’s wife and another verb to command Israel not to “covet” (הוא) their neighbour’s house and property. If this is taken to indicate separate commandments (as in the Catholic and Lutheran traditions), then there would be eight
commandments left instead of nine.22 It could therefore be argued that the merging of the prohibitions is the most reasonable way to arrive at the count of ten and that this was possible if the prohibition of idols was understood as a prohibition of divine images of alien deities.
Therefore, to summarize the points in favour of this first approach to the theological ambiguity: It could be argued that the prohibition, “You shall not make for yourself an idol” means “You shall not make for yourself an idol of an alien
deity” because (1) The sequence in which the prohibition of idols follows the
prohibition of other gods suggests that the idols of concern are the divine images of “other gods,” i.e., alien deities. (2) The various forms an idol may take are unlikely to represent YHWH. (3) It makes the most sense of YHWH’s jealousy (4) There are no real representations of YHWH in Israelite religion within the Old Testament but
21
Tatum, “The LXX Version of the Second Commandment ” 180-181. Cf. Houtman,
Exodus, Vol. 3: Chapters 20-40, 21; Preuss, “הוח, ḥwh,” 254.
22 This seems to be the way that the Masoretes understood these prohibitions in Deut. The Masoretic notation in Deuteronomy includes a break (a setumah) after the command not to desire the wife and before the command not to covet the house or property. On this see Hutton, “A Simple Matter of Numbering?,” 212.
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the hand-made gods of the nations are ubiquitously criticized. (5) The phrase “Bow down and worship” is never used of YHWH or images of YHWH, (6) If Zimmerli’s theory of redaction is accepted, then the redactor saw the prohibition of idols as an elaboration of the prohibition of other gods and therefore a prohibition of the divine images of alien deities. And (7) The separation of the coveting command in
Deuteronomy points toward the merger of the prohibitions and this is most reasonable if the idol prohibition is concerned with the divine images of “other gods.”
3.2 Implications
Interpreters who conclude that the prohibition of idols is best understood as a prohibition of divine images of alien deities are likely to find a tight connection between it and the prohibition of other gods which precedes it. The first stands against the worship of, for example, the Philistine god Dagon, and the second stands against the worship of an image of Dagon. It could be argued that the Old Testament as a whole makes little distinction between the two and there is therefore little reason to distinguish between the prohibitions within the context of the commandments. According to this position, the prohibition of idols simply extends the prohibition of other gods. Such a reading favours an enumeration of the Ten Commandments which merge the prohibitions into a single commandment. Again, I do not rehearse these points because I agree with this position but simply in order to present one way that the theological ambiguity might be approached.
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