Biblical aniconism? Representing the gods of ancient Israel and Judah

Abstract

This paper argues that one should not speak of an “original aniconism” in the cult of Yhwh, the god of Israel. In the Northern kingdom and in the first temple of Jerusalem, this god was represented in a theriomorphic and anthropomorphic way. The prohibitions of images of the god of Israel in the Decalogue and other texts were written after the Babylonian exile and are related to the rise of monotheism. During the Persian period Yhwh became the “only” and transcendent god who could no longer be represented by statues or other symbols as were the Mesopotamian gods. However, the Menorah, the candelabra, which was placed in the Second Temple is, in a way, a representation of the divine presence. Aniconism is, however, not a pure invention of nascent Judaism. There are apparently in the Ancient Near East aniconic tendencies that are, nevertheless, compatible with iconic representations of the deities. This may be explained by the facts that ancient people were aware that statues and other images should not be identified with the deities.