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If we perceive a godlikeness in a human (and we may) there is justice in seeing him (or her) as if we saw God. It is the beauty in the encounter of Jacob with Edom that he fears and honours his older (and betrayed) brother as he would fear the presence of God. The same we can appreciate with Paul when he reminds brothers of their love for him and how they ...

The confusion comes in part from imperfect translation. The commandment, in both Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, reads as follows: לֹא-תַעֲשֶׂה לְךָ פֶסֶל, וְכָל-תְּמוּנָה, אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל, וַאֲשֶׁר בָּאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת--וַאֲשֶׁר בַּמַּיִם, מִתַּחַת לָאָרֶץ. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any ...

Jacob Milgrom considers four theories about how the command came about: Maimonides suggested that it was a reaction to a specific Canaanite practice. Philo suggested the practice was inhuman for the same reason killing a young animal and its mother on the same day or killing an animal before it's weaned. Beginning with the work of Émile Durkheim, it has ...

The commingling of life and death was sacrilegious in the Hebrew Bible. For example, animals that are scavengers (lobster, shrimp, swine, dogs, vultures, lions and tigers, etc.) may thrive by habit on waste (garbage, refuse, scum, and/or other dead and decayed creatures), and thus they are unclean. Such animals could not be used for human consumption or ...

It is always God who reveals Himself and speaks to Moses and to the prophets. However, if we take a close look, we may find that even though God is speaking and being addressed as God, He really is represented by His messenger who speaks in His Name and with His authority. The mention of God´s Angel in Moses´ encounter with God in the burning thornbush ...

In part, this is derived from Deut. 33:2 and Psa. 68:17. In Deut. 33:2, it is written, And he said, "YHVH came from Sinai, and He rose up from Seir to them; He shined forth from mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of holy ones; from His right hand, a fiery law for them." וַיֹּאמַר יְהוָה מִסִּינַי בָּא וְזָרַח מִשֵּׂעִיר לָמֹו הֹופִיעַ ...