The Social Background of Early Israels Rejection of Cultic Images: A Proposal

Abstract

Early Israel's rejection of the cultic image stems from the social revolt by which Canaanite-Israelite peasantry overthrew a hierarchical social structure. In its place it attempted to form a society marked by decentralized power and an even distribution of material goods. At the social level, the idol functioned as a legitimating device for Canaanite social hierarchies. Through sacrifice to the idol, large amounts of material productivity were funneled into the control of the Canaanite priestly and royal classes. The idol was therefore a kind of tax or tribute gathering device. In this context, Israelite hostility to cultic images yields to a possible two-fold interpretation. First, by repudiating the cultic image, Israel rid itself of an important source of wealth for the ruling classes, thereby thwarting possible internal programs seeking to re-establish political hierarchy. Second, frontier Israel was insuring that agricultural goods used in cultic sacrifice would be circulated back into the producing community. An imageless cult was one way of enhancing political and economic self-sufficiency.