Are Idols the Same as Gods?
The Bible mentions the gods of other nations constantly. For instance, Naomi tells Ruth that Orpah has “gone back to her people and to her gods (אֱלֹהֶיהָ, eloheha)” (Ruth 1:15), and Ezra recalls how the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar took the vessels from the temple in Jerusalem and “put them in the house of his gods (אֱלֹהָיו; elohav)” (Ezra 1:7). Even Paul clarifies, “Indeed, there are many gods (θεοὶ, theoī) and many lords” (1 Corinthians 8:5). In the face of this data, the monotheistic reader might admit that Scripture mentions these so-called “gods,” but retort that the references are to lifeless idols rather than living beings. However, gods and idols are not the same: the Hebrew אֱלֹהִים (elohim: “gods”) refers to real divinities that populate the heavenly realm, whereas “idols” are the human creations that represent the gods on earth.
Based on a text like Psalm 115, it is tempting to conclude that the Scriptures of Israel reflect monotheism—the notion that only one God exists in the universe. The psalm compares Israel’s God with the idols of other nations: “Our God (אלֹהֵינוּ; elohenu) is in the heavens; he does all that he desires. Their idols (עֲצַבֵּיהֶם; atsavehem) are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; they have noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; they have feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them” (Psalm 115:3-8). For English readers, it is easy to assume that the reference to “idols” is another way of saying “gods,” but the Hebrew shows that the words for “God” (אֱלֹהִים) and “idol” (עָצָב; atsav) are different. The psalmist derides the uselessness of worshiping “silver and gold” statues, but this derision is not tantamount to denying the existence of other gods.
Among the nations that surrounded ancient Israel, the theological conviction was that making “idols” provided the various gods with earthly locations in which to dwell and commune more closely with their worshipers. In an Egyptian text called the Memphite Theology, the superior god Ptah builds idols for the other gods so they have “bodies” to inhabit: “[Ptah] established [the gods’] shrines, he made their bodies according to their wishes. Thus, the gods entered into their bodies of every wood, every stone, every clay” (AEL 1.59-60). The Israelites are prohibited from creating these kinds of graven images (cf. Exodus 20:4; Deuteronomy 5:8), and this prohibition reinforces the greatness of their God. The Bible does not deny the existence of other deities, but it does underscore the superiority of the living Lord over lifeless idols (and the lesser gods who inhabit them).
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