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Beyond Prestige and Magnificence: The Theological Significance of Gold in the Israelite Tabernacle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2019

Nissim Amzallag
Nissim Amzallag*
Affiliation:
Ben Gurion University
*
email: nissamz@post.bgu.ac.il
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Abstract

Examination of Exodus 25–31 and 35–40 shows that preciousness and aesthetic considerations were not the main precipitants of the use of gold in the tabernacle. Rather, the distribution of this metal in both the tabernacle and the priestly garments reveals a theological criterion for its use and distribution. It is suggested here that this criterion is rooted in pre-Israelite Yahwism, and that it emanates from the parallel of gold, approached as the metal produced by YHWH, and copper, its human-made counterpart. Accordingly, YHWH’s residence within the tabernacle is associated with pure gold, whereas the function of communion with the Israelites in this facility is attached to a gold-copper alloy (ordinary gold). It is shown that the theological significance of gold related in Exodus contrasts with the considerations of prestige and magnificence associated in Kings with the use of gold in the Jerusalem temple. These observations reveal a divergence between the Priestly and the Deuteronomistic sources in regard to the status of gold and, by extension, of the pre-Israelite background of Yahwism. It is concluded that the description of the tabernacle in Exodus challenges the abandonment of the theological dimension of gold and metallurgy in the Jerusalem temple in the late monarchic period or, alternately, serves as fundament for a theodicy that justifies the fall of the city.

Keywords

TabernacleJerusalem templecultic metallurgytheology of goldpre-Israelite YahwismPriestly sourceDeuteronomistic source
Type
Articles
Information
Harvard Theological Review , Volume 112 , Issue 3 , July 2019 , pp. 296 - 318
Copyright
© President and Fellows of Harvard College 2019 

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Footnotes

*

The anonymous reviewers are warmly acknowledged here for their precious advice, recommendations, and criticisms, which substantially contributed to the maturation of this study and enhanced the scientific quality of this paper.

References

1 David, Carpenter, “Gold and Silver,” in The Encyclopedia of Religion (ed. Mircea, Eliade; 16 vols.; New York: MacMillan, 1987) 6:67–69Google Scholar. For a recent view on the use of gold in ancient Near East sanctuaries, see Martin J. Palmer, “Expressions of Sacred Space: Temple Architecture in the Ancient Near East” (PhD Diss.; University of South Africa, 2012) 44, 98, 136, 142–45, 240, 300.

2 Craig, Keener, “The Tabernacle and Contextual Worship,” The Asbury Journal 67 (2012) 127–38, 131Google Scholar; Cornelis, Houtman, Exodus (HCOT; 3 volumes, Leuven: Peeters, 1993–1999) 3:335Google Scholar.

3 For example, Willian, H.C. Propp, Exodus 19-40—A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New York: Doubleday, 2006) 380Google Scholar. See also Benjamin, Kedar-Kopfstein, “Zahav,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (ed. Johannes Botterweck, G. and Ringgren, Helmer; 15 vols.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974–2006) 4:32–40Google Scholar, at 35. Alan, R. Buescher, “Gold,” in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (ed. David, N. Freedman; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000) 518Google Scholar; Robin, Wakely, “zahab,” in New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (ed. Willem, A. van Gemeren; 5 vols.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997) 1:1075–84Google Scholar, at 1078, 1080.

4 For example, Evelyn, J. van der Steen, “Gold,” in The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (ed. Katharine, Doob Sakenfeld; 5 vols.; Nashville: Abingdon, 2006–2007) 2:622–23Google Scholar; Keener, “Contextual Worship,” 130; Houtman, Exodus, 335, 337; Karl, H. Singer, Die Metalle Gold, Silber, Bronze, Kupfer und Eisen im Alten Testament und ihre Symbolik (Würzburg: Echter, 1980) 158–61Google Scholar.

5 Philip, P. Jenson, Graded Holiness: A Key to the Priestly Conception of the World (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1992) 103Google Scholar.

6 “For many in the history of religions,” writes Carpenter (“Gold and Silver,” 68), “gold has not merely symbolized the imperishable but embodied it.”

7 Sidney, Aufrère, L’univers minéral dans la pensée égyptienne (Le Caire: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 1991) 379Google Scholar.

8 Kedar-Kopfstein, “Zahav,” 35; Sidney H. Aufrère, “L’univers minéral dans la pensée égyptienne: essai de synthèse et perspectives,” Archéo-Nil 7 (1997) 113–44, at 122, 127.

9 As stressed by Helen, Whittaker (“Religious Symbolism and the Use of Gold in Burial Contexts in the Late Middle Helladic and Early Mycenaean Periods,” Studi Miceni ed Egeo-Anatolici 48 [2006] 283–89Google Scholar, at 285), “The quality of luminosity is universally or near-universally perceived to be associated with the materialisation of the supernatural. Shiny metals, in particular gold, are therefore imbued with religious meaning signifying divine presence.”

10 Concerning the significance of golden funerary masks among the Mycenaeans, Whittaker (“Religious Symbolism,” 283) concludes: “The indestructibility and immutability of gold in contrast to the impermanence of human flesh serve to make it particularly appropriate as a symbol of immortality.” A similar importance of gold in the transition from death to immortality is observed in ancient Egypt. See Aufrère, L’univers minéral, 375–76, 390.

11 Christoph, Huth, “Gifts from the Gods: A New Look at some Weapons and Vessels from the Metal Ages,” in Diversity of Sacrifices: Form and Function of Sacrificial Practices in the Ancient World and Beyond (ed. Carrie, A. Murray; Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2016) 49–64Google Scholar.

12 Jenson, Graded Holiness, 108.

13 Among the many scholars who defend this opinion see, for example, Menahem, Haran, “The Priestly Image of the Tabernacle,” HUCA 36 (1965) 191–226Google Scholar, at 201, 206; Joe, O. Lewis, “The Ark and the Tent,” Review and Expositor 74 (1977) 537–48Google Scholar, at 543; Nahum, M. Sarna, Exploring Exodus: The Heritage of Biblical Israel (New York: Shoken, 1986) 205Google Scholar; Houtman, Exodus, 337; Waldemar, Janzen, “Tabernacle,” in The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 5:447–58Google Scholar, at 449; Propp, Exodus 19–40, 421; Keener, “Contextual worship,” 130. This opinion is resumed by Jenson (Graded Holiness, 101) as follows: “The costliness of an item is proportional to its closeness to God.”

14 Menahem, Haran, Temple Service in Ancient Israel: An Inquiry into the Character of Cult-Phenomena and the Historical Setting of the Priestly School (Oxford: Clarendon, 1978) 158Google Scholar.

15 In Exod 25–31, silver is used in fabricating the pedestals/sockets (אדנים) of the planks and pillars of the structure (פרוכת) that separates the holy place from the holy of holies (Exod 26:19, 21, 25, 32). It is also used to join the pillars/posts (עמודים) that delimit the tabernacle courtyard (Exod 27:10–11, 17).

16 Haran, Temple Service, 159.

17 Michael, B. Hundley (“Sacred Spaces, Objects, Offerings, and People in the Priestly Texts: A Reappraisal,” JBL 132 (2013) 749–67Google Scholar, at 750) even observes that “In [Ex] 40:10, the bronze altar is even referred to as most holy in (deliberate) contrast to the tabernacle and all that is in it, including the inner sanctuary, which is simply labeled ‘holy’ in the preceding verse (40:9).”

18 See Haran, Temple Service, 163 (for the tabernacle) and 169 (for the priest’s garments). This view contradicts the difference stressed by Haran between pure and ordinary gold concerning the parallel gradient of holiness and costliness. See Haran, Temple Service, 158; Wood, Wings and Wheels, 24.

19 The only exception is the golden bells on the priest’s robe, made of ordinary gold in Exod 28:33 and of pure gold in Exod 39:25. See note 46.

20 Distinguishing between gold and pure gold, Benno, Jacob (Exodus [New York: Ktav, 1992] 869Google Scholar) concludes that four, rather than three, metals are present in the tabernacle.

21 The nature of ordinary gold in use in antiquity and its relationship with pure gold in the tabernacle are detailed in the following section, “Relation between Pure Gold and Alloyed Gold in the Tabernacle.”

22 Sarna, Exploring Exodus, 205; Wood, Wings and Wheels, 24; Keener, “Contextual worship,” 129.

23 Abigail S. Limmer, “The Social Functions and Ritual Significance of Jewelry in the Iron Age II Southern Levant” (PhD Diss., Department of Near Eastern Studies, The University of Arizona, 2007) 160–62.

24 Though Exod 32–34 is not identified today with a priestly source, the coherence of their message with that of the surrounding chapters may be deduced from the priestly editing of Exodus 25–40 (and even of Exodus as a whole). See Mark, S. Smith, “The Literary Arrangement of the Priestly Redaction of Exodus: A Preliminary Investigation,” CBQ 58 (1996) 25–50Google Scholar.

25 This includes details about the origin of this gold, its casting, its treatment by burning and grinding, and even special emphasis on the use of this metal for the forbidden worship: “This people has sinned a great sin, they have made for themselves a god of gold (אלהי זהב)” (Exod 32:31b).

26 The importance of this claim is confirmed by its central position, together with the subsequent mention of the tent of meeting (vv. 7–11), in the chiastic superstructure generated by Exod 32–34. See Mark, A. O’Brien, “The Dynamics of the Golden Calf Story,” ABR 60 (2012) 18–31Google Scholar, at 20.

27 This premise is supported by the opinion of most scholars, who treat Exod 33 as a chapter devoted to the question of divine presence among the Israelites, e.g., Martin, Noth, Exodus: A Commentary (trans. Bowden, J. S.; OTL; London: SCM, 1965) 253Google Scholar; Brevard, S. Childs, Exodus: A Commentary (London: SCM, 1974) 558, 562Google Scholar; Thomas, B. Dozeman, Commentary on Exodus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009) 717–18Google Scholar. Walter, R. Moberly, L. (At the Mountain of God: Story and Theology in Exodus 32–34 [Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1983] 62Google Scholar) assumes that “Ex. 33 is the most extended treatment of the issue of God’s presence in the OT.”

28 Umberto, Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Exodus (trans. Israel, Abrahams; Jerusalem: Magnes, 1967) 427Google Scholar; Dozeman, Exodus, 719; James, W. Watts, “Aaron and the Golden Calf in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch,” JBL 130 (2011) 417–30Google Scholar, at 426.

29 Cassuto, Exodus, 425–26; Daniel Timmer, “Small Lexemes, Large Semantics: Prepositions and Theology in the Golden Calf Episode (Exodus 32–34),” Biblica 88 (2007) 92–99, at 93.

30 Cassuto, Exodus, 427.

31 Moberly, Mountain of God, 60.

32 Childs, Exodus, 489 and ref. therein.

33 Propp, Exodus, 598. According to Moberly (Mountain of God, 61), such an oddity is justified as alluding to an incomplete repentance by the Israelites in v. 4b. Joel S. Baden (“On Exodus 33, 1–11,” ZAW 124 [2012] 329–40, at 333–35) ranges even farther, suggesting that the meaning of v. 4, “none took off his finery,” should be inverted and understood as consecutive to mourning, thereby explaining the subsequent divine request (vv. 5–6).

34 Houtman, Exodus, 692.

35 Dozeman, Exodus, 723.

36 Herbert, C. Brichto, “The Worship of the Golden Calf: A Literary Analysis of a Fable on Idolatry,” HUCA 54 (1983) 1–44Google Scholar, at 22.

37 Houtman, Exodus, 320–21.

38 Thomas, G. H. James, “Gold Technology in Ancient Egypt: Mastery of Metal Working Methods,” Gold Bulletin 5 (1972) 38–42Google Scholar, at 39; Ch. J. Raub, “The Metallurgy of Gold and Silver in Prehistoric Times,” in Prehistoric Gold in Europe: Mines, Metallurgy and Manufacture (ed. Giulio Morteani and Jeremy P. Northover; Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1995) 243–59, at 245. This natural variance in silver content explains the importance, in the Bible, of the mention of the provenance of gold (Hawilah, Gen 2:11; Ophir, Isa 13:12; Ps 45:10; Job 22:24; 28:16) and the specific mention of the quality of gold that originates in a given mining area (e.g., Gen 2:12).

39 Volker, Pingel, “Technical Aspects of Prehistoric Gold Objects on the Basis of Metal Analysis,” in Prehistoric Gold in Europe: Mines, Metallurgy and Manufacture (ed. Giulio, Morteani and Jeremy, P. Northover; Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1995) 385–98Google Scholar, at 388–89; Thilo, Rehren, Karsten, Hess and Graham, Philip, “Auriferous Silver in Western Asia: Ore or Alloy?” JHMS 30 (1996) 1–10Google Scholar, at 7.

40 Pingel, “Technical Aspects,” 394–95.

41 In ancient Egypt, the concentration of copper in gold (especially in jewelry) generally ranged from 5 percent to 50 percent, aiming for intentional addition of copper. See Jack, Ogden, “Metals,” in Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology (ed. Paul, T. Nicholson and Ian, Shaw; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000) 148–75Google Scholar, at 164; Lore, G. Troalen, Maria, F. Guerra, Jim, Tate and Bill, Manley, “Technological Study of Gold Jewelry Pieces Dating from the Middle Kingdom to the New Kingdom in Egypt,” ArcheoSciences 33 (2009) 111–19Google Scholar. An examination of ancient Egyptian documents shows recipes for the preparation of low-grade gold with a gold/copper ratio of 37.5/62.5 percent (9 carat gold). See Leslie, B. Hunt, “The Oldest Metallurgical Handbook: Recipes of a Fourth Century Goldsmith,” Gold Bulletin 9 (1976) 24–31Google Scholar, at 28. Analysis of Mesopotamian gold from the fourth millennium BCE reveals a similar practice of copper alloying (again between 5 percent and 70 percent of copper added), and Mesopotamian texts from the second millennium BCE refer to a general addition of 25–45 percent copper to native gold for use of the latter metal in jewelry. See Martin, Levey, “The Refining of Gold in Ancient Mesopotamia,” Chymia 5 (1959) 31–36Google Scholar. The presence of copper (5–25 percent, but sometimes up to 50 percent) in Phoenician gold jewelry from Spain indicates that similar practices existed in the Iron Age Levant (Pingel, “Technical Aspects,” 386, 393).

42 Houtman, Exodus, 384; Wood, Wings and Wheels, 29. The same protective function of the cherubim is mentioned in Ezek 28:14.

43 Jacob, Exodus, 683–90.

44 Carol, L. Meyers, The Tabernacle Menorah: A Synthetic Study of a Symbol from the Biblical Cult (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1976) 174–81Google Scholar. See also Gordon, J. Wenham, “Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story,” in Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies, Division A (1985) 19–25Google Scholar, at 21; Lifsa, Schachter, “The Garden of Eden as God’s First Sanctuary,” JBQ 41 (2013) 73–77Google Scholar, at 76.

45 This conclusion is supported by the similarity in the colors (blue, purple, and scarlet) used for the inner curtain of the tabernacle (Exod 26:1) and for the priestly garments (Exod 28:5, 6, 8).

46 Dozeman, Exodus, 635; Propp, Exodus, 525.

47 These chains of pure gold are not mentioned in Exod 39, but their absence is apparently compensated for by the use of pure gold (instead of ordinary gold) for the bells that lay at the extremities of the priest’s robe (compare Exod 28:33 with Exod 39:25).

48 See Haran, “Priestly Image,” 211.

49 The same ritual is mentioned in Exod 35:22.

50 See Jacob, Milgrom, Leviticus 1–16 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998) 462Google Scholar.

51 Jacob, Milgrom (“Hattĕnûpâ,” in Studies in Cultic Theology and Terminology [Leiden: Brill, 1983] 139–58Google Scholar, at 148) also identifies a type of הפונת ritual especially performed in unusual circumstances. Here again, however, this justification cannot explain why such a ritual is not performed for other materials, even silver, that were donated for the construction of the tabernacle.

52 Dietrich, Klemm, Rosemarie, Klemm, and Andreas, Murr (“Gold of the Pharaohs: 6000 Years of Gold Mining in Egypt and Nubia,” African Earth Sciences 33 [2001] 643–59Google Scholar, at 648) specify that “During the Old (2700–2160 BC) and Middle Kingdom (2119–1794 BC), the previously described prospecting method of searching for malachite staining in the host rocks continued in general, but in addition hematite enriched quartz veins (in place with barite) became important for exploitation and, in case of gold discovery, for subsequent mining targets.”

53 The similar interdiction of using gold and silver to represent deities, extensively mentioned in the Bible (e.g., Exod 20:23; Deut 7:25; 29:17), also supports the hypothesis of belief in a common divine property/origin of these two metals.

54 See note 38.

55 This iron byproduct comes from the traditional addition, in the Levant, of iron ores as fluxes to furnaces in order to improve the smelting of copper ore. See Noel H. Gale et al., “The Adventitious Production of Iron in the Smelting of Copper,” in The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper: Archaeology-Experiment-Theory (ed. Beno Rothenberg; London: The Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies, 1990) 182–91. This double parallel—between copper and gold and between iron (as a byproduct of copper smelting in human furnaces) and silver (as a byproduct of gold smelting in a divine furnace)—is supported by an oracle found in Isa 60:17a: “Instead of copper I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver.”

56 The addition of copper to gold, even in a low concentration, considerably improves the latter metal’s mechanical properties. This human contribution to the divine metal enables not only its contemplation, but also its use it for producing a multiplicity of items of prestige. This beneficent addition of copper to the divine metal was probably invested with theological significance, introducing a dimension of collaboration between YHWH and humankind.

57 This homology is reflected in the common mention of cherubim (Gen 3:24; Exod 25:18; Ezek 28:14) and the similar association between gold and precious stones (Exod 28:17–20; Ezek 28:13). See Wenham, “Sanctuary Symbolism”; Michael, L. Morales, The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus (Leuven: Peeters, 2012) 245–77Google Scholar; Schachter, “Garden of Eden.” According to Lawrence, E. Stager (“Jerusalem and the Garden of Eden,” Eretz-Israel 26 [1999] 183*–99Google Scholar*, at 187*), a similar homology apparently existed with the Jerusalem temple. Wenham (“Sanctuary Symbolism,” 22) noticed that “if Eden is seen as a super sanctuary, this reference to gold can hardly be accidental for the most sacred items of tabernacle furniture were made of gold or covered with ‘pure gold.’ ”

58 Mircea, Eliade, Forgerons et alchimistes (Paris: Flammarion, 1977) 45–53Google Scholar; Kristian, Kristiansen and Thomas, L. Larsson, The Rise of the Bronze Age Society: Travels, Transmissions and Transformations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005) 49–55Google Scholar; Sandra, Blakely, Myth, Ritual, and Metallurgy in Ancient Greece and Recent Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) 25, 152–57Google Scholar.

59 Concerning recent developments about the Qenite hypothesis, see Joseph, Blenkinsopp, “The Midianite-Kenite Hypothesis Revisited and the Origins of Judah,” JSOT 33 (2008) 131–53Google Scholar; Marlene E. Mondriaan, “The Rise of Yahwism: The Role of Marginalized Groups” (PhD Diss., The University of Pretoria, South Africa, 2010) 307–70. For considerations about the way of life, ethnicity, and metallurgical activity of this congregation, see Paula, M. McNutt, The Forging of Israel: Iron Technology, Symbolism, and Tradition in Ancient Society (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1990) 237–46Google Scholar; Thomas, E. Levy, Russel, B. Adams, and Adolfo, Muniz, “Archaeology and the Shasu Nomads: Recent Excavations in the Jabal Hamrat Fidan, Jordan,” in Le-David Maskil: A Birthday Tribute for David Noel Freedman (ed. William, H. C. Propp and Richard, E. Friedman; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2004) 63–89Google Scholar.

60 Concerning the metallurgical activity in Iron Age Edom, see Thomas, E. Levy, “You Shall Make for Yourself No Molten Gods: Some Thoughts on Archaeology and Edomite Ethnic Identity,” in Sacred History, Sacred Literature: Essays on Ancient Israel, the Bible, and Religion in Honor of R. E. Friedman (ed. Shawna, Dolansky; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2008) 239–55Google Scholar. The ethnic continuity between the Edomites and the Bronze Age Shassu populations is suggested by Thomas, E. Levy, “Pastoral Nomads and Iron Age Metal Production in Ancient Edom,” in Nomads, Tribes and the State in the Ancient Near East: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives (ed. Jeffrey, Szuchman; Chicago: The Oriental Institute Press, 2009) 147–77Google Scholar. About the probable worship of YHWH in Edom, in parallel with Israel, see Linda, Haney, “YHWH, the God of Israel . . . and of Edom? The Relationships in the Oracle to Edom in Jeremiah 49:7–22,” in Uprooting and Planting: Essays on Jeremiah for Leslie Allen (ed. John, Goldingay; New York: T&T Clark, 2007) 78–115Google Scholar; Blenkinsopp, “Midianite-Kenite hypothesis,” 149–51; Nissim, Amzallag, Esau in Jerusalem: The Rise of a Seirite Religious Elite in Zion at the Persian Period (Pendé: Gabalda, 2015) 39–41Google Scholar.

61 Godfrey, R. Driver, “Ezekiel’s Inaugural Vision,” VT 1 (1951) 60–62Google Scholar; Nissim, Amzallag, “Copper Metallurgy: A Hidden Fundament of the Theology of Ancient Israel?” SJOT 27 (2013) 155–80Google Scholar, at 164–66.

62 For example, the Sinai theophany in Exod 19:18; 20:18; 24:17; Deut 4:15. For further examples of volcanic theophany of YHWH in the Bible, see Jean, Koenig, “Aux origines des théophanies iahvistes,” RHR 169 (1966) 1–36Google Scholar; Jacob, E. Dunn, “A God of Volcanoes: Did Yahwism Take Root in Volcanic Ashes?” JSOT 38 (2014) 387–424Google Scholar; Nissim, Amzallag, “Some Implication of the Volcanic Theophany of YHWH on his Primeval Identity,” AntOr 12 (2014) 11–38Google Scholar.

63 Amzallag, “Copper metallurgy,” 158–62; Nissim, Amzallag, “Furnace Re-melting as Expression of YHWH’s Holiness: Evidence from the Meaning of qanna in Divine Context,” JBL 134 (2015) 233–52Google Scholar.

64 For example, compare 1 Kgs 6:21a with 1 Kgs 6:22a.

65 The explicit nexus of Solomon’s wealth and his use of gold for the temple and his palace is reflected in 1 Kgs 10:21: “All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon.”

66 The parallel between costliness and holiness in the book of Kings is confirmed by the specific use of different woods (oil-wood, cedar, and cypress) in the temple, whereas the most precious one is found in the inner sanctum. See Menahem, Haran, “Shiloh and Jerusalem: The Origin of the Priestly Tradition in the Pentateuch,” JBL 81 (1962) 11–24Google Scholar, at 15; Victor, A. Hurowitz, “YHWH’s Exalted House: Aspects of the Design and Symbolism of Solomon’s Temple,” in Temple and Worship in Biblical Israel (ed. John, Day; London: T&T Clark, 2005) 63–110Google Scholar, at 88–89.

67 Nissim, Amzallag, “The Serpent as a Symbol of Primeval Yahwism,” Semitica 58 (2016) 208–39Google Scholar.

68 For review of recent research about the relationship between Kings and the Deuteronomistic school, see Gary, N. Knoppers, “Rethinking the Relationship between Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic History: The Case of Kings,” CBQ 63 (2001) 393–415Google Scholar and Michael, Avioz, “The Book of Kings in Recent Research (Part I),” CBR 4 (2005) 11–55Google Scholar, at 14–16. Concerning the affinities of the Deuteronomistic school with the Josiah reform, see Moshe, Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School (Oxford: Clarendon, 1972) 9, 65, 161–66Google Scholar; Erik, Eynikel, The Reform of King Josiah and the Composition of the Deuteronomistic History (Leiden: Brill, 1996) 7–31Google Scholar.

69 In the context of magical properties of gold, Propp (Exodus 19–40, 432) suggests, “Some biblical authors may have considered divining by an ephod tantamount to idolatry.”

70 Menahem, Haran, “Shiloh and Jerusalem: The Origin of the Priestly Tradition in the Pentateuch,” JBL 81 (1962) 14–24Google Scholar; Richard, J. Clifford, “The Tent of El and the Israelite Tent of Meeting,” CBQ 33 (1971) 221–27Google Scholar, at 226; Friedman, “Tabernacle,” and ref. therein. The mention of acacia wood being used in the tabernacle, instead of cypress, olive, or cedar, even suggests a reference to non-Israelites tent-sanctuaries used in southeastern Canaan in the Iron Age and even before, as suggested by Craig, R. Koester, “Tabernacle,” in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (ed. David, N. Freedman; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000) 1269–70Google Scholar; and Kitchen, “Tabernacle.”

71 Menahem, Haran, “The Divine Presence in the Israelite Cult and the Cultic Institutions,” Biblica 50 (1969) 251–67Google Scholar, at 262–63; Avi, Hurvitz, “Dating the Priestly Source in Light of the Historical Study of Biblical Hebrew a Century after Wellhausen,” ZAW 100 (1988) 88–100Google Scholar, at 99; Friedman, “Tabernacle,” 300; Milgrom, “Hattĕnûpâ,” 454, 458; Ralph, W. Klein, “Back to the Future. The Tabernacle in the Book of Exodus,” Interpretation 50 (1996) 264–76Google Scholar.

72 Haran (Temple Service, 12) assumes that “even those who consider P a pre-exilic work must concede that before Ezra it led only a quasi-sectarian existence and could hardly be discerned against the visible course of history.”

73 This classical position is reviewed and discussed by Sommer, Bodies of God, 96, and Janzen, “Tabernacle,” 451–52. It is supported by authors dating the P-source from the exilic/post-exilic period; e.g., Clements, R. E., God and Temple (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1965) 113–22Google Scholar; William, H. C. Propp, “The Priestly Source Recovered Intact?” VT 46 (1996) 458–78Google Scholar, at 472–76; Esias, E. Meyer, “Dating the Priestly Source in the Pre-Exilic Period: Some Remarks about Anachronistic Slips and Other Obstacles,” Verbum et Ecclesia 31 (2010) 1–6Google Scholar.

74 The question of the authorship of the different parts of Exodus and their gathering into a coherent opus is beyond the scope of this study. However, the metallurgical dimension of YHWH’s volcanic theophany at Sinai, the presence of Jethro (a member of the Qenite congregation of metalworkers) in crucial phases of the birth of Israel (Exod 3–4, 18), and the metallurgical wonders associated with YHWH’s revelation in Exod 4:3; 7:9–12, 15 (see Nissim, Amzallag, “YHWH, The Canaanite God of Metallurgy?” JSOT 33 [2009] 387–404Google Scholar, at 394–96) reveal that the emphasis on the metallurgical dimension of ancient Yahwism is not restricted to considerations relative to the tabernacle. Together, these observations reveal a high level of homogeneity in Exodus in regard to the importance of the metallurgical background of ancient Yahwism, a feature that singularizes this opus among all other books of the Bible.

75 Menahem, Haran, “Behind the Scenes of History: Determining the Date of the Priestly Source,” JBL 100 (1981) 321–33Google Scholar, at 332; Stephen, A. Geller, “Blood Cult: Toward a Literary Theology of the Priestly Work of the Pentateuch,” Prooftexts 12 (1992) 97–124Google Scholar, at 120.

76 Many scholars assume that the tabernacle is a retrojection of the Jerusalem temple in which archaic features were introduced (e.g., Sarna, Exploring Exodus, 196; Houtman, Exodus, 325–26; Alice, Wood, Of Wings and Wheels: A Synthetic Study of the Biblical Cherubim [Berlin: de Gruyter, 2008] 28–29Google Scholar; Benjamin, D. Sommer, The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009] 90–93Google Scholar). Others trace the inspiration to tent-shrines from the pre-monarchic period. See Frank, M. Cross, “The Priestly Tabernacle,” in The Biblical Archaeologist’s Reader (ed. David, N. Freedman and Ernest, Wright; New York: Doubleday, 1961) 201–27Google Scholar; Haran, “Priestly Image”; Richard, E. Friedman, “Tabernacle,” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (ed. David, N. Freedman; 6 vols.; New York: Doubleday, 1992) 6:292–300Google Scholar, at 294–95; Kenneth, A. Kitchen, “The Tabernacle: A Bronze Age Artefact,” Eretz-Israel 24 (1993) 119*–29Google Scholar*, at 126*–27*. These divergences aside, all authors agree that the text in Exodus should be treated as an idealized description.

77 The idealization of the tabernacle allows the author to emancipate the mention of metals from all practical constraints. Consequently, one would expect this description to over-emphasize the theological dimension of gold, if such a dimension truly exists in the Israelite religion.

78 For Terence, E. Freitheim (“The Priestly Document: Anti-Temple?” VT 18 [1968] 313–29Google Scholar, at 318), “It is clear, however, that there was some anti-temple feeling prior to the building of the post-exilic sanctuary whose representatives would have welcomed the Priestly program or perhaps were involved in its promulgation.”

79 The only exception is the mention of two copper vases among the gifts donated by the exilic community for the temple. Their transport to Jerusalem, however, is again conditioned not by theological considerations but by the high commercial value of their alloy, reported as being “as precious as gold” (Ezra 8:27). Concerning the identification of this alloy as Corinthian bronze, see David, M. Jacobson and Michael, P. Weitzman, “What Was Corinthian Bronze?” AJA 96 (1992) 237–47Google Scholar, at 240–241; Dan, Levene and Beno, Rothenberg, A Metallurgical Gemara: Metals in the Jewish Sources (London: The Institute of Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies, 2007) 70–73Google Scholar.