Cult Images

In the ancient Near East, cult images were used in the worship of gods.

A cult image represented a particular god. In fact, the god was said to be present in the statue. This is why the statue was treated with great reverence. It was cared for, dressed and fed. The image was regularly carried in processions.

Cult images were usually shaped to look like a person. The statues were hewn from stone, modelled out of clay, or carved from wood. They were also made by pouring molten metal (bronze, silver or gold) into a mould.

The Old Testament forbids the worship of cult images, and calls them idols (see for example Exodus 20:4-5). In prophetic books, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, the worship of idols is ridiculed. It is said that statues are not living gods, but lifeless things made by humans (see for example Jeremiah 10:3-5).

Despite the fact that it was forbidden, the worship of idols persisted in Israel for a long time. Examples include: the gold bull-calf that the Israelites made in the desert (Exodus 32–34), the idols of Micah from Ephraim (Judges 17–18), and the statues of bull-calves that King Jeroboam I placed in Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28-33). It was only after the Babylonian exile that idol worship came to an end.

The Old Testament uses many different words for cult images. Some examples include the house gods (terapim in Hebrew), the “carved images” and the “cast images”. There are also words for cult images that express contempt, such as the “dungy idols” (gillulim in Hebrew) and the “shameful things” (shiqqutsim in Hebrew).