# Why a Golden Calf? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 15, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412 "2007-02-15T22:01:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/1 "2007-02-15T22:01:37Z")
As per the New International Version of the Bible… > [@](#): > > When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” > > Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” The point of the story is clear enough but why a calf? I can’t help but think that I’d be skeptical if presented with a baby cow and told it was a divine being but, then, I wasn’t there for it. I’m sure there must be _some_ sort of cultural context which made Aaron opt for “calf” instead of “Sheep” or “Bull” or “Multi-armed humanoid” or “Gila monster”. Especially if you’re trying to impress the rank-and-file with your statue’s divinity. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/2 "2007-02-15T22:41:24Z")
If speculation is acceptable: If the refugees fleeing Egypt, and wandering around for nearly a generation before finding a place of their own to live, were able to take their herds of cattle with them, then the cows (and/or sheep and goats) would have provided a lot for them: Milk for drinking. Meat for eating. Leather for clothes. These animals could have been directly seen, daily, as essential gifts from god to support their lives, or something along those lines. I am curious, though, if these folks truly gave up their (assumedly long held) beliefs overnight, as may be infered in the Bible. Maybe, for a folks who did not have an idol or symbol of their god, instead chose to finally adopt one, (in the form of a calf) without asking what god thought of that, first. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/3 "2007-02-15T22:44:41Z")
Several egyptian goddesses were depicted as cows. It was probably in reference to a god that was worshipped in the area of Egypt they came from. (at least according to the story) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/4 "2007-02-15T22:58:18Z")
Cattle in various stages were used in fertility cults in many Middle Eastern cultures of the period. One of the later laws - “you shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk” - was in reaction to a [fertility rite](http://www.jhom.com/topics/goats/cook.htm) of one of the local religions. As mentioned, these were wandering animal herders. The safety and increase of their flocks was vitally important - if they wanted a useful god, it would be one that would protect their young animals. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/5 "2007-02-15T23:00:58Z")
A golden bull is the traditional effigy of El, who was one of the gods of Canaan at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/6 "2007-02-15T23:03:54Z")
[QUOTE=mlees] Maybe, for a folks who did not have an idol or symbol of their god, instead chose to finally adopt one, (in the form of a calf) without asking what god thought of that, first. [/QUOTE] They do that too. From 1 Kings 12: > [@](#): > > Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.” > > After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there. > > Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/7 "2007-02-16T03:34:02Z")
As others have mentioned, there were quite a few bovine gods in Egypt and other Middle Eastern nations. Don’t think of the idol as a harmless little calf- think of him as a strong, young bull representing strength, virility and studliness/fertility. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/8 "2007-02-16T12:59:30Z")
Aaron was more of a leg man than a breast man? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/9 "2007-02-16T14:06:29Z")
Meet [Apis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apis_%28Egyptian_mythology%29) ---
**Author:** ![Lynwood\_Slim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Lynwood\_Slim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynwood_Slim)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/10 "2007-02-16T14:11:35Z")
See 1 Kings 12:28. The author(s) of Kings (likely finally edited by the Jeremiah school) is clearly critical of the Jeroboam’s secession, and his setting up Golden Calves as objects of worship. Some Bible scholars hold that as the Pentateuch was being redacted (also by the Jeremiah school), this story was included and shaped not so much as a critique of Egypt, but as a later critique of the idol worship of Northern Israel. By the war, the Bible itself rarely refers to the incident recording in Exodus 32 as the “golden calf” but rather “molten calf”. See Ex 32.8, Deut 9:16, Psalms 106.19, Neh. 9.18. I know that it is referred to Golden calf somewhere in Prophets, but I can’t recall off hand. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/11 "2007-02-16T16:06:23Z")
Cattle cults were a big deal in the ancient world, especially around the Med, from those already mentioned, and others. Starting from the Lascaux aurochs & the “first city” Çatalhöyük all the way to the Mithraic religion of the Roman empire, with many, many stops in between, like Crete and Europa. While the Biblical story probably directly derives from Apis specifically, with the prevalence and longivety of _some_ form of a cattle cult in the wider area, one could almost say it would be more surprising if it _wasn’t_ a bovine. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/12 "2007-02-16T18:23:58Z")
What people have said. Also, I can’t provide a cite but I was taught that “calf” was a euphemism and that it was a gold bull’s phallus. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/13 "2007-02-16T18:44:28Z")
Just a note of thanks for the insight. My own experience with the Egyptian pantheon is typical grade school Osiris, Isis & Anubis type stuff. I didn’t know purely animal shaped deities were common. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/14 "2007-02-16T18:54:35Z")
If you think about it, there are places even today that very literally hold cows sacred. So the cow as an object of worship and veneration shouldn’t be surprising. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/15 "2007-02-16T20:26:40Z")
**astorian** might be correct about the “young bull” possibility. However, I had generally heard it explained as rank sarcasm. “_These people want to create their strong-as-booll god and all they can come up with is a calf._” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/16 "2007-02-17T01:10:05Z")
The part I’ve never understood is: since when do slaves wear that much gold jewelry, if any. If gold was such a precious metal, why did the Egyptians allow their slaves to own any? And the same goes for herds of cattle. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/17 "2007-02-17T01:34:42Z")
In the nomadic Middle East, the most popular form of portable wealth is gold jewelry. If the Hebrews didn’t own real estate in Egypt, all the more reason to keep their savings in the form of jewelry. [QUOTE=MrDibble] Cattle cults were a big deal in the ancient world, especially around the Med, from those already mentioned, and others. Starting from the Lascaux aurochs & the “first city” Çatalhöyük all the way to the Mithraic religion of the Roman empire, with many, many stops in between, like Crete and Europa. While the Biblical story probably directly derives from Apis specifically, with the prevalence and longivety of some form of a cattle cult in the wider area, one could almost say it would be more surprising if it wasn’t a bovine. [/quote] Hear, hear. [Cathryn Platine writes](http://gallae.com/His1.html), with reference to the bull cult at Çatalhöyük– > [@](#): > > When raising cattle, the bulls become the excess available for meat since the cows are needed both for milk production and reproduction. For a people whose mundane and spiritual lives are intertwined, it would only be natural for the slaughter of bulls to become ritualized and the resulting meat a Divine gift. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/18 "2007-02-17T01:52:04Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] The part I’ve never understood is: since when do slaves wear that much gold jewelry, if any. If gold was such a precious metal, why did the Egyptians allow their slaves to own any? And the same goes for herds of cattle. [/QUOTE] After all the plagues were visited upon the Egyptians, they finally decided they’d had enough. “All right! Fine! Go! Quickly! Here, take our stuff! Keep it, just go away!” > [@](#): > > **Exodus 12:31-36 (KJV)** > > And [Pharaoh] called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. > > **And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste** ; for they said, We be all dead men. > > And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and **they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment** : And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. There were also, apparently, a good number of Egyptians who went along with them (possibly convinced by the plagues that there was something to this Hebrew god). It may have been these Egyptians who suggested the calf, as well. I think, also, that a lot of the “cattle” were goats. When Jacob and his sons came to live in Egypt (back in Genesis) they brought their herds of goats with them. According to that passage, goats and goatherders were an “abomination” to Egyptians, and so they were given their own parcel of land away from the Egyptians. The Egyptians, despising goats as they did, were not inclined to go and take them away. What would they do with them? They didn’t even want to touch the beasts. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/19 "2007-02-17T01:57:46Z")
Also, a WAG: Perhaps the Hebrews weren’t “slaves” in the same sense that we think of today when we hear the word. They may have more of a source of cheap/free labor that simply wasn’t allowed to emigrate. By letting them raise their own food, the Egyptians saved themselves that expense. ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412/20 "2007-02-17T11:58:58Z")
I’m struggling to remember, but recently I heard/read about some archaelogical digs on a USA plantation slave site. They had some pretty snazzy store bought china. It looks like they could earn a buck on the side - which rather figures. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-golden-calf/392412.md?page=2)