In the context of giving an overview of the various interpretations of the golden calf of Exo 32:4, William H. C. Propp noted that the thesis the calf (cf. the calves of 1 Kgs 12:28) represent Yahweh himself:
Each of the calves
represents Yahweh himself.
This is the surface interpretation of Exod 32:4, 8 = 1 Kgs 12:28. The worship
leader points to the image and proclaims, “These are/see your Deity/gods who
took you up from the land of Egypt” (on the plural, see NOTES to 32:1, “deity …
they,” 4 “These are your Deity”). Micah’s image, which some identify as a calf,
is also said to be “for Yahweh” (Judg 17:3). Num 23:22; 24:8 acclaims Yahweh as
“God (ʾēl), who takes them/him from
Egypt, he has indeed (?) wild-ox prongs (tôʿāpōt
rəʾēm).” That is, the god of the Exodus has bovine horns. Finally, on a
Samaria ostracon we find a personal name ʿglyw
(AHI 3.041), which may mean “Yahweh
is the Calf” (Koenen 1994) (but it could also mean “Yahweh’s Calf”). (William
H. C. Propp, Exodus 19–40: A New
Translation with Introduction and Commentary [AYB 2A; New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2008], 582)
