First Glance

“Do not learn the way of the nations,” implores Jeremiah (10:1). The prophet reserves his bitterest scorn for idol worship, declaring idols worthless and an illusion. But what were these idols, how did they look and what were they made of? In “Jeremiah’s Polemic Against Idols,” Philip J. King draws on archaeological evidence to provide some answers. His discussion of the god-images created by the Babylonians and Assyrians explains how these gods were fashioned and worshiped, giving a concrete context to Jeremiah’s poetic diatribe. King, a leading authority on archaeology and the Hebrew Bible, is professor of biblical studies […]