Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bill Rea <cctr114 AT it.canterbury.ac.nz>]

Liz wrote:-

>What is also interesting about these verses is the
>writer's understanding of what the Glory is.
>The Glory went out of Israel when the Ark was taken,
>the Glory was the Ark! The Ark was the idol, the hypostasis,
>of YHWH, or indeed, YHWH himself.

I know your stated interpretation method is to take things literally,
but this doesn't agree with what we know about other idol worship.
People who worship idols know that the physical object is not the
real god, or at least that's the impression I get from everything
I've read about religion in surrounding countries, particularly Egypt.
If all the other people realised this, I don't see how we can claim
that the Israelites were the only people who thought YHWH was the 
physical Ark.

From the other descriptions we have of the Ark, the presence of YHWH
was above it, not a part of it. If we are to believe your case, then
how do you explain all the sacrifices to YHWH which took place on
the high places? 

Bill Rea, Information Technology Dept., Canterbury  University  \_ 
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