The Rationale for Aniconism in the Old Testament: A Study of Select Texts

Why does the Old Testament reject idolatry? is a question that might

be asked by both academics and others. Although many people may be

satisfied with a simple answer, the scholarly community continues to

grapple with this question. Scholarly works have looked at Israelite

aniconism (the rejection of idolatry) using evolutionary, sociological

and theological approaches, but they have not paid much attention to

explaining its rationale in the Old Testament (OT). The present work

fills this gap by examining selected OT texts. The thesis of this work

is that the OT rejects idolatry because of the incompatibility between

the aniconic deity (Yahweh) and idol on the one hand and between the

status of Israel and idol on the other hand. Here the word idol is

used for something that is intended to represent Yahweh and/or other

gods in the religions of Ancient West Asia (AWA).