golden calf

(GOL-den KAHF)

noun
Something unworthy that is excessively esteemed, especially money.

Etymology
In the biblical story Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments only to find Israelites worshiping a calf made of gold

Usage
"In an increasingly hi-tech, global market, convenience has become the golden calf. Consumers expect year-round savings and availability." — Erin Ryan; Good News For the Little Guy; Boise Weekly (Idaho); Jun 30, 2005.

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Israelite object of worship. The golden calf was the representation of a young bull made of wood and plated in gold. The Bible relates two episodes of a golden calf: one in the wilderness when Moses was on Mount Sinai (Ex. 32) and the second concerning King Jeroboam I (I Kings 12:28, 29). In the former narrative, the golden calf was made by Aaron in response to the request of the Israelites for a god to lead them as they awaited the delayed return of Moses from the top of Mount Sinai (Ex. 32:1-4). This calf was made of golden ornaments collected from the people, melted and molded, and then worshiped amidst dancing, feasting, and play. When Moses returned after 40 days, he broke the tablets bearing the Ten Commandments, destroyed the calf, and forced the people to drink its remains mixed with water. The Levites then slew 3,000 of the worshipers and the Lord sent a plague upon the people for their sin. This episode has received a number of different interpretations. It was held that the golden calf was an imitation of the idolatrous bull worship in Egypt, which the Israelites had just left. Naḥmanides, followed by a number of traditional Bible commentators, declared that the golden calf was intended as a substitute for Moses, whom the people feared would not return from Mount Sinai, having been there for 40 days.

Recently, scholars have proposed that, in line with ancient Semitic practice, the golden calf was meant to represent the seat of the invisible God of Israel. Moses' destruction of the golden calf and his orders to execute those who had worshiped it were based on the fear that it would be deemed a god. The Midrash seeks to exculpate Aaron for his role in the episode.

The motivation behind King Jeroboam's making of two golden calves, one at Beth El and one at Dan, is spelled out in I Kings 12:28. It was to provide an alternative to the Temple in Jerusalem and deter the people from going to Jerusalem and thus accepting the rule of King Rehoboam, against whom Jeroboam had revolted. The prophet Hosea (8:5-6, 13:2) denounced the worship of these calves as idolatry.

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Israelite object of worship. The golden calf was actually the representation of a young bull made of wood and overlaid with a plaiting of gold (see Ps 106:19-20). It appears in two separate periods, the first when Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and the second during the reign of King Jeroboam I of Israel. In the former narrative, the golden calf was made by Aaron in response to the request of the Israelites for a god to lead them as they awaited the delayed return of Moses from the top of Mount Sinai (Ex 32:1-4). This calf was made of golden ornaments collected from the people, melted and molded and then worshiped amidst dancing, feasting and playing. When Moses returned after 40 days, he broke the tablets, destroyed the calf and forced the people to drink its remains mixed with water. The Levites then slew 3,000 of the worshipers and the Lord sent a plague upon the people for their sin.

The second case of calf building was during the reign of King Jeroboam (I Kgs 12:27) when two calves were erected in the northern temples of Bethel and Dan. Jeroboam's intention was to prevent the people from worshiping in the Temple of Jerusalem.

Not only are the general features of the two stories similar, but the explanatory formula in Exodus 32:4, – "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt" – is virtually identical to that used in I Kings 12:28. This has given rise to the question of the chronological relationship between the two accounts with some scholars holding the I Kings incident to be dependent on the Exodus story and others holding the view that the Exodus story presupposes that in I Kings. In any event, Jeroboam's initiative could not have succeeded without some ancient tradition as precedent. In this context, it should be noted that bulls occupied a prominent place in the cultic practices of various regions of Egypt. The bull also appears in the art and religious texts of the ancient Near East. The Syrian storm-god, Hadad-Rimmon, is frequently represented as standing on a bull.

In the case of the Exodus story, Aaron probably intended the calf to represent the vacant throne of God and not the deity himself, similar to the function of the cherubim in the tabernacle. However, the calf was popularly hailed as the representation of God who had brought the people out of Egypt. It is plausible that Jeroboam's calves were similarly designed as functional correspondences to the cherubim of Solomon's Temple. However, whereas the cherubim were kept in the Holy of Holies, inaccessible to the public, Jeroboam's calves were placed in the public courts of the Temple, where the people could see and kiss them (Hos 13:2).

Concordance
Ex 32:4, 8,19-20, 24-25. Deut 9:16, 21. I Kgs 12:28,32. II Kgs 10:29; 17:16. II Chr 11:15; 13:8. Neh.9:18. Ps 106:19. Hos 8:5-6; 10:5; 13:2. Acts 7:41

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An idol that the Israelites made during the Exodus. While God was giving Moses the Ten Commandments and other provisions of the Mosaic law on Mount Sinai, the people whom Moses was leading to the Promised Land melted down their gold jewelry and ornaments and built a golden calf, which they began to worship. Moses came down from the mountain carrying two stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written; when he saw the calf, he smashed the tablets and made the people destroy the idol.

By extension, a “golden calf” is any false god or anything worshiped undeservedly.

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