Exod 20:23 “with me … you shall
not make for yourselves any gods of gold” anticipates the story of the golden
calf (Exod 32:1–6). As long as Moses was visible, the freshly emancipated
Israelite slaves could believe in Moses’ invisible God. But once Moses
disappeared from sight on Sinai’s shrouded peak—without prior notice—Israel
panicked. They needed assurance that this god was still with them. Hence, they
built a golden calf, (a young bull), a visible sign of God’s presence. In the
Ancient Near East, the bull served as the pedestal on which the God stood or
rode (cf. ANEP, nos. 470–74, 479,
486, 522, 525–26, 531, 534, 537, 830, 835). In many respects it was equivalent
to the Ark flanked by two winged kerubim
which served as YHWH’s throne. However, it was ensconced in the adytum of the
Tabernacle, invisible to priests and laypersons alike. (Jacob
Milgrom, Leviticus 23–27: A New
Translation with Introduction and Commentary [AYB 3B; New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2008], 2283-84)
