Peter J. Leithart

At the beginning of Galatians 3, Paul reminds the Galatians of his first visit to them and says that Christ was “publicly portrayed” before them. This was before their eyes; now, someone has laid an “evil eye” on them. This verse is sometimes taken as a reference to the . . . . Continue Reading »

Theodore Lewis assesses Tryggve Mettinger’s comparative study of Israel’s aniconic tradition in a 1998 issue of JAOS . Lewis’s enumerated conclusions are (the next few paragraph are directly quoted): 1. Aniconic traditions (i.e., Mettinger’s “de facto . . . . Continue Reading »

Greeks also seem to have practiced some form of ancestor cult and, perhaps related, a cult of heroes. In a detailed discussion of the archeology of the cult of the dead in early Greece in the American Journal of Archeology , Carla Antonaccio summarizes the evidence that she wishes to test by . . . . Continue Reading »

A 1984 article by Baruch Levine and Jean-Michel de Tarragon in the JAOS examines a Ugaritic liturgy that commemorates the accession of Ammurapi and includes honors to his dead father Niqmaddu. The liturgy begins with a summons to the Patrons of Ugarit, including the “Rephaim of the . . . . Continue Reading »

In a 1973 article in the journal Iraq , Miranda Bayliss reviews the evidence for a cult of the dead in ancient Assyrian and Babylon Little evidence survives a general “cult of deceased kin” except among royal families. For others, most of the evidence involves dealing with ghosts that . . . . Continue Reading »

Nearly every student of Israel and the ANE emphasizes the uniqueness of Israel’s aniconic worship. Explaining the significance of it is much more difficult. As Ronald Hendel summarizes ( CBQ 1988), scholars have offered several rationales for the exclusion of images from Israel’s . . . . Continue Reading »

Though the Greeks built temples for a variety of reasons, housing and serving the cult image of a god was one of the motivations for building a temple in the first place. John Pedley ( Sanctuaries and the Sacred in the Ancient Greek World ) writes that some temples “seem to have been . . . . Continue Reading »

Othmar Keel ( The Symbolism of the Biblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Book of Psalms ) has shown that much of the symbolism and theology of temple is common throughout the ancient world. Of Egypt, he writes, “Almost all the great Egyptian sanctuaries claimed to house . . . . Continue Reading »

Exodus 12:42: “It is a night to be guarded for Yahweh for having brought them out of the land of Egypt; this night is for Yahweh, to be guarded by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations. Exodus 12 cannot remind us often enough that the Passover took place at night. Eat the flesh . . . . Continue Reading »

Exodus 12:43, 45, 48: This is the ordinance of the Passover: no son of a stranger is to eat of it. A sojourner or hired servant shall not eat of it. But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised. Passover is for Israel and for Israel . . . . Continue Reading »