The Worship of the Golden Calf: A Literary Analysis of a Fable on Idolatry
The worship of the Golden Calf in Exodus 32 and the aftermath of that offense described in Chapters 33 and 34, presenting innumerable problems in terms of form and content, coherence and consistency, has been analyzed in terms of documentary sources on dubious grounds and with results reflecting lit...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
HUC
1984
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual
Year: 1983, Volume: 54, Pages: 1-44 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | The worship of the Golden Calf in Exodus 32 and the aftermath of that offense described in Chapters 33 and 34, presenting innumerable problems in terms of form and content, coherence and consistency, has been analyzed in terms of documentary sources on dubious grounds and with results reflecting little credit on the editor of this pastiche. This essay approaches the three chapters as one integral narrative and, employing the tools of literary criticism, discloses the episodic narrative technique of its construction and the string on which the episodic elements are strung together. The result is an exegesis, a minimalistic interpretation of an exemplary rhetorical achievement. The final part of this essay attempts a broader interpretation of the biblical rhetorician's object in terms of a philosophical fable addressing the offense of "idolatry" in the context of religious iconoplasm or iconoclasm. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual
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