In the patriarchal times, if we may trust the mythical stories in Genesis, we find sacred stones which seem to be Fetiches, Stone-pillars,[1] Idolatry,[2] worship of Ramphan and Chiun while in Egypt and the desert;[3] the Golden Calf of Aaron and that of Jeroboam;[4] and the Goats that were worshipped in the wilderness.[5] Besides, we find the worship of the serpent,[6] a relic of the superstition of Egypt or Phoenicia; the worship of Baal in its various forms;[7] of Astarte, “Heaven's Queen and Mother;” of Thammuz, and Moloch;[8] all of which seem to be remains of Fetichism.[9] In the very Law itself we find traces of Fetichism. The prohibition of certain kinds of food, garments, and sacrifices; the forms of divination, the altars, feasts, sacrifices, scape-goat, the ornaments of the priest's dress, all seem to have grown out of the rude worship that formerly prevailed. The old Idolatry was spiritualized, its forms modified and made to serve for the worship of Jehovah. The frequent relapses of king and people prove, on the one hand, that the nation was slowly emerging out of a state of great darkness and superstition, and, on the other, that lofty minds and noble hearts were toiling for their civilization.
For many centuries a most bloody contention went on between the ideal Monotheism and the actual Idolatry; at times it was a war of extermination. This shows how difficult it is to introduce Monotheism before the people are
- ↑ Gen. xxviii. 18, xxxv. 14.
- ↑ Gen. xxxi. 19, xxxv. 1-4.
- ↑ See Josh. xxiv. 14; Ezek. xx. 7, et seq., xxiii. 3; Amos v. 25, 26; Exod. xxxii. 1; Lev. xvii.
- ↑ Exod. xxxii. 1-6; 1 Kings xii. 28 ; Ezek. i. 10, and x. 14.
- ↑ Levit. xvii. 7. Devils, in our version.
- ↑ Numb. xxi. 4–9; 2 Kings xvii. 4.
- ↑ 1 Kings xviii. 23, 26, 28, xix. 18; Jerem. xix. 5; 2 Kings i. 2; Judges viii. 32, ix. 4, 46; Numb. xxv. 1, et seq.
- ↑ 1 Kings xi. 33; Jerem. vii. 18; Judges ii. 13, x. 6; 2 Kings xxiii. 7; Levit. xix. 29; Deut. xxiii. 18; Ezek. viii. 14; 2 Kings xxiii. 5, xvii. 16, xxi. 3, 5; Deut. iv. 19, xvii. 3; 2 Kings xxiii. 10; Levit. xviii. 21, xx. 2, et seq.; Deut. xviii. 10; Jerem. vii. 31, xix. 5, xxxii. 35. See the testimony of the ancients and remarks of the learned on this subject in De Wette, Archäologie, &c., § 191, et seq., and § 231, et seq. Vatke goes too far in his explanations, § 21—27; but his book is full of valuable thoughts.
- ↑ There is a remarkable passage, though of but four words, in Hosea xiii. 2, which shows that one of the worst vices of Fetichism still prevailed in his time, saying, “They that sacrifice a man shall kiss the calves,” i. e. the Idols of the People. This is not the common translation—but it seems to me the true one.
