{"id":64507,"date":"2019-10-20T17:04:20","date_gmt":"2019-10-20T14:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64507"},"modified":"2023-05-16T08:41:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T05:41:22","slug":"a-whos-who-of-ancient-idolatry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-whos-who-of-ancient-idolatry\/","title":{"rendered":"A Who\u2019s Who Of Ancient Idolatry"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[366,429,942],"acf":{"old_id":"64507","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"332","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"And an interesting sympathetic reading of the bamot (high places)\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our chapter spares no detail in describing the efforts of King Josiah to eliminate all vestiges of idolatry from his kingdom. So much so, in fact, that it reads like a \u201cWho\u2019s Who\u201d of ancient Near Eastern religions. Here\u2019s a sampling:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAll the objects made for Baal and Asherah and all the host of heaven\u2026 the sun and moon and constellations\u201d (4-5);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cTopheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, so that no one might consign his son or daughter to the fire of Molech\u201d (10);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe shrines (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) facing Jerusalem\u2026 which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom, the detestable thing of the Ammonites\u201d (13);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe altar in Bethel [and] the shrine (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamah<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) made by Jeroboam son of Nebat\u201d (15);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAll the cult places (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) in the towns of Samaria\u201d (19).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gersonides (Ralbag) addressed the attribution of \u201cshrines\u201d to Solomon, observing that they were actually introduced by Solomon\u2019s foreign wives (see 1 Kings 11:1 ff.), but were ascribed to him because he tolerated them. Radak was troubled by the failure of several of Josiah\u2019s righteous predecessors (e.g., Asa and Jehoshaphat) to remove the idols and intimated that their tolerance of the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (high places) was nigh idolatrous.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We ought to note that while the other forms of worship listed here are clearly idolatrous, <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (high places), while prohibited once the Temple was established, were used to serve God. In this regard, a most unusual interpretation of the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was offered by the Netziv (R. Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, 1816-1893), who presumed that they were born of an irresistible, yet positive, impulse to serve God. After Jeroboam prohibited pilgrimage to Jerusalem and established the golden calves in Dan and Beersheba, people could not reconcile themselves to never again sacrificing to God. Hence, in conscious violation of strict Torah law, they persisted to worship God at the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The Netziv likened their behavior to that of the 250 elders who mimicked Aaron\u2019s offering of incense (Numbers 16-17)\u2014 knowing fully well that it would cost them their lives\u2014 because they could not resist the impulse to be so close to God.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: William Blake, The Golden Calf, 1800 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":64508,"id":64508,"title":"2kings23-William_Blake- the_Golden_Calf","filename":"2kings23-William_Blake-the_Golden_Calf.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-William_Blake-the_Golden_Calf.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-whos-who-of-ancient-idolatry\/2kings23-william_blake-the_golden_calf\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings23-william_blake-the_golden_calf","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64507,"date":"2019-10-20 14:04:09","modified":"2019-10-20 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