The Narrator’s Words are Not the Last Word: Four Perspectives on the Gold Calf Episode

Abstract

ABSTRACT The traditional interpretation of the golden calf episode takes the narrator’s picture to be the whole story. By uncovering the different ways in which Moses, Aaron, the Israelites, and the neighboring tribes think about the episode, I show that the narrator’s picture is just one of several perspectives offered by the text. Relying solely on the narrator leaves the reader with interpretive puzzles and unsavory lessons. My interpretation shows the episode to be more nuanced than the tradition recognizes, resolves these puzzles, and replaces the repugnant lessons with reasonable ones.