What was the shape of the “calf” (עגל)? The word denotes a young bull at the peak of its youth. It
probably did not have a scornful ring, although the word also denotes a
helpless calf, dependent upon its mother. Already in Ugarit it could be
compared with Baal: “As with the heart of a cow toward her calf [ʿgl], as with the heart of a ewe toward
her lamb, so is the heart of ʿAnat toward
Baal;” in CTCA 3.3.41 (Gordon ʿnt
3.41) ʿgl il probably means the god
Yamm, Baal’s enemy. Hence the word is official cultic terminology rather than
an intentional expression of derision, especially since Ex 32:4, 8, etc.; Dtn
9:16, 21, and 1 Kgs 12:28, 32 use the same word. The image was probably
constructed of a wooden center overlaid with gold leaf, since it could be
burned (Ex 32:20). Noth provides the justification for using Ex 32 to clarify
the matter. Also compare the word “splinters” in v 6 (see below). There is no
agreement as to the type of idol it was. Otto Eissfeldt suggests that it was “a
staff crowned with the image of a calf,” used as a standard to lead the cultic
procession. It represented God as one who goes before his people as their
leader: “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt” (Ex 32:4;
1 Kgs 12:28). To be sure, the only comparable material Eissfeldt is able to
cite is a mosaic of shell from Mari. On the other hand, there is evidence from
the eighth century that in the region of Syria the calf commonly served as a
pedestal for the gods, especially the storm god. Not to be excluded from
consideration here is the picture of an idol with the body of a human being and
the head of an animal, as may be seen from the calf image from Tell el-Aschʿari. (Hans
Walter Wolff, Hosea: A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Hosea [Hermeneia—a
Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible; Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
1974], 140-41)
