Is Yahweh the Golden Calf?

Upvote:2

If that is the suggestion of what you quote it is contrary to:

Exo 32:2 through 8 NKJV And Aaron said to them, "Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!" 5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD." 6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 7 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!' "

There are two statements which debunk the idea that the calf could be a representation of God.

  1. "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.

God didn't even acknowledge that he brought them out of Egypt as it truly was Moses. If they were worshiping God why would he call it corruption?

2.They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!' "

God referred to it as 'god' which is indicative of a false God.

Also numbers 24:8 does not refer to God as a bull.

Numbers 24:8 "God brings him out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox; He shall consume the nations, his enemies; He shall break their bones And pierce them with his arrows.

He has strength like a wild ox; is along way from calling God a calf, and even more so a 'golden calf'.

Upvote:4

Yes, that is a common understanding of the passage. On this interpretation the Israelites disobeyed the following commandment:

“You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me... (Exodus 20:4-5 RSV)

The following source lends credibility to this idea:

Although both Exodus and Kings portray "calf worship" as disloyalty to YHWH, most scholars believe that it was not really an abandonment of Yahwism. Archaeological finds, including the El texts from Ugarit, indicate that Near Eastern gods commonly were envisioned as standing invisibly on the backs of calves, bulls, or other powerful animals. The calf figures were merely pedestals for the divine presence. (Harris and Platzner, The Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible)

See also Exodus 32:4, where the graven image is identified with the power that brought them out of Egypt, as well as verse 5 which includes a reiteration of their fidelity to the Lord.

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