Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Banyai AT t-online.de (Michael Banyai)]

Hallo Peter,

I don´t know what ephods exactly were either, but what should they have been 
for example in the case of Dan. Saying ephod is a way of shamefully conceding 
the antiquity of the calf tradition. That is probably also the role of 
Jerobeam as perpetrating the tradition. Should this statues have represented 
Jahweh this would have been a violation of the deuteronomic law forbidding 
representation of Jahweh. I don´t beleave there ever existed such violations 
since we never hear of any protesting prophets against such a phaenomenon. 
However were Dan and Beth-El Jahweh cultplaces. So it was some associate 
lesser god. Calf fits good.

> The biblical story is Rachel riding a camel. Any link with Europa riding 
> a bull is entirely speculative. The only similarity between the two 
> stories is a woman riding an animal.

Not exactly. Jacob plays in the story of Penuel the role of the bull, and 
this is a central image - since explaining the name of Israel. And Jacob is 
the raptor of the consenting Rachel. The ephod(s?) is represented as a figure 
one can ride upon, since Rachel puts a saddle on them. I don´t beleave the 
story is based on a factual happening that some Rachel hid indeed some 
teraphim realy under a (camel´s) saddle. Than why this fixation on a saddle, 
what of an image did the writer have in mind? Any other object from carpet 
till pillow would have otherwise done it probably better.

> >I recall the sherd found in Samaria, naming the bull-calf of Jahweh 
> >"egeliah", a clear association in a city with an important Jahweh cult, ...
> >
> 
> Of what date? Presumably during the northern kingdom period, when it is 
> well known that calves were worshipped at Bethel and Dan as if they were 
> images of Yahweh, or perhaps the idea was that Yahweh was riding the 
> calves as you mention.

Yes of course. That is also the period one began to write our Sinai story. So 
this is the period the text had ideologically to serve. It is little doubt, 
that one could Jahweh not regard as being a calf, at maximum on several 
occasions maybe a bull. So is this calf co-opted to the Jahweh cult in 
Samaria.

Best regards,

Bányai Michael
Stuttgart