Komentarz do Wyjścia 20:4

פסל A GRAVEN IMAGE — it is so called because it is chiselled out (the root פסל has this meaning).

לא תעשה לך פסל, even if you do not mean to use it as an object of worship.

לא תעשה לך פסל, "Do not make a graven image for yourself, etc." Seeing that G'd had already outlawed even entertaining idolatrous thoughts on pain of death, why would He have to prohibit the making of an idol? If the Torah referred to making an idol for someone else, why did it add the word לך "for yourself?" Besides, if only the construction of an idol as a piece of art is meant, the Torah did not need to add the words: "do not bow down to them" in verse 5! Why does the Torah employ the expression פטל instead of אלוהים אחרים? Why did the Torah have to repeat the words ה׳ אלוקיך in verse 5? G'd had already described Himself as a "jealous G'd," etc.! Why did G'd have to give a reason for the prohibition by saying: "because I am a jealous G'd," etc.? Does He have to justify His objection to the Israelites serving idols?

Because it is carved. It is from the same root as (34:1) “Carve out פסל לך , two stone tablets for yourself.”

ALL THAT IS IN THE WATER UNDER THE EARTH. This expression includes the demons beneath the waters and the inhabitants thereof.³⁴²Job 26:5. And so the Rabbis have said,³⁴³Mechilta on the verse here. “All that is in the water under the earth: this includes the reflected images [which appear in the water].” Of all of them He said, Thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them³⁴⁴Verse 5. in any manner of worship whatsoever, even if the worshipper’s intent is not to remove himself from the authority of the Holy One, blessed be He. Thus He has ordered all these services to be devoted to the Proper Name [of the Eternal], blessed be He.

(Ibid. 4) "You shall not make for yourself an idol (lit., "a carving")": I might think that he may not make one that projects but he may make one that is flat. It is, therefore, written "any likeness." I might think that he may not make a flat one, but that he may make (an idol of) a planting. It is, therefore, written (Devarim 16:25) "You shall not plant for yourself an asheirah." I might think that he may not plant one, but that he may make one of wood. It is, therefore, written (Ibid.) "any wood." I might think that he may not make one of wood, but that he may make one of stone. It is, therefore, written (Leviticus 26:1) "And a covering stone, etc." I might think that he may not make one of stone, but that he may make one of silver. It is, therefore, written (Exodus 20:20) "gods of silver." I might think that he may not make one of silver, but that he may make one of gold. It is, therefore, written (Ibid.) "and gods of gold." I might think that he may not make one of gold, but that he may make one of copper or tin or lead. It is, therefore, written (Exodus 34:13) "Molten gods you shall not make for yourself." I might think that he may not make for himself the likeness of all these but that he may make one of any form. It is, therefore, written (Devarim 4:16) "Lest you corrupt yourselves and make … of any form." I might think that he may not make one of any form, (of human being), but that he may make one of the likeness of an animal, beast, or bird. It is, therefore, written (Ibid. 17) "the figure of any beast, etc." I might think that he may not make the likeness of all of these, but that he may make the likeness of fish, hoppers, reptiles, and creeping things. It is, therefore, written (Ibid. 19) "any thing that creeps on the ground." I might think that he may not make the likeness of sun, moon, stars, and constellations. It is, therefore written (Ibid. 19) "And lest you lift your eyes to the heavens, etc." I might think that he may not make the likeness of any of these, but he may make the likeness of angels, cherubs, ofanim and chashmalim (angelic entities). It is, therefore, written (Ibid. 39) "in the heavens." If "in the heavens," I might think that he may not make the likeness (only) of sun, moon, and stars. It is, therefore, written (Ibid.) "above" — neither the likeness of cherubs or ofanim. I might think that he may not make the likeness of all these, but he may make the likeness of the depths or of darkness. It is, therefore, written (Ibid. 18) "which is in the waters beneath the earth." To include reflected images. These are the words of R. Akiva. Others say: To include shavririm (water creatures). So far did the Holy One Blessed be He pursue the yetzer hara (the evil inclination) to give it no pretext for permissiveness (in this area).

V.4. Die Verirrung steigt, wenn der Vorstellung von dem Dasein eines andern Gottes noch durch irgend eine bildliche Darstellung ein konkreter Ausdruck gegeben wird. פסל: obgleich פסל (verwandt mit פצל, abschälen), seiner Grundbedeutung nach auf Skulptur hinweist und zunächst ein aus Stein oder Holz geschnitztes Bild zu bedeuten scheint, so lehren doch Stellen wie הפסל נסך חרש (Jes. 40, 19), wo das Bild gegossen wird, dass in dem Begriff פסל von der Art der Hervorbringung abgesehen ist und damit eine jede plastische Darstellung bezeichnet wird. תמונה aber, rad. מון, wovon מין, umfasst, wie wir bereits zu (Bereschit 1, 11) bemerkt, eine jede die Art eines Wesens, somit seinen Begriff vergegenwärtigende Darstellung. תמונה kann daher auch das gemalte Bild, ja auch die bloße symbolische Vergegenwärtigung eines Wesens an sich bezeichnen. — Es heißt nun nicht תמונת אשר וגו׳, sondern: תמונה. Es ist somit nicht: Bild und Darstellung dessen, was im Himmel usw. sondern beides ist Akkusativ: mache dir das, was im Himmel etc. ist, nicht in einem plastischen Bilde oder in sonst einer Darstellung. Es ist dies um des im folgenden Verse vorkommenden לא תשתחוה להם וגו׳ wichtig. Ist im V. 4 nur das Bild und die Darstellung Objekt, so bezieht sich das להם usw. auch nur auf diese, und es wäre sodann da eigentlich nur Bilderdienst untersagt. Sind aber dort die im Himmel etc. vorhandenen oder gedachten Wesen und ihre bildliche Darstellung Objekt, so bezieht sich das להם auf beides, auf die Wesen und auf ihre Darstellung und verbietet die göttliche Verehrung beider. — מעל .ממעל wäre jeder über uns befindliche Raum, den wir nur aufsteigend erreichen können. ממעל bezeichnet die Nichtung von dem Anfang dieser über uns befindlichen Grenze aufwärts. Also alles, was nahe oder bis in die unermessliche Ferne über uns ist. Ebenso entgegengesetzt: מתחת, von unterhalb unserer Füße abwärts.

לא תעשה לך פסל וכל תמונה, “do not make for yourself a sculptured image or any likeness (of what is in heaven above or on earth below)” In Deuteronomy 4,15 the Torah supplies the reason for this prohibition when we read: “for you have not seen any likeness (at the revelation)”. You should not be able to say that I am a G-d Who hides Himself, and since no one can see You I am forced to make for myself an image in order to constantly remind myself of You and to prostrate myself before Your image instead, in Your honour.

וכל תמונה lit., OR ANY LIKENESS i. e. the likeness of any thing אשר בשמים THAT IS IN THE HEAVENS.

A picture of any thing in the heavens. . . Rashi explains this so we will not think תמונה is the name of a certain idol [whose image may not be made]. Furthermore, [Rashi says this] because a picture of heaven cannot be made. A picture is a property of an entity; one cannot make a picture that stands [independent of a material entity]. Therefore Rashi explains: “Of any thing in the heavens,” such as stars in the shape of Aries or of Taurus.

Apparently, the Torah speaks about a prohibition of idol worship over and above that which was mentioned in verse 3. It may well refer to the person who believes in the One and only G'd but, who, due to G'd's invisibility, desires to remind himself of His existence and all-pervasiveness by means of a symbol such as a picture or a sculpture. When such a person offers up a prayer he feels more comfortable if he can concentrate on a visual image of sorts; hence he constructs for himself such an image in order to pray more intensely to our One and only G'd. Or, such a worshiper may feel embarassed to bother G'd Himself with all his little problems, but he feels at ease speaking of these problems to someone whom he considers merely a subordinate of G'd. Most of the idol worshipers have fallen victim to this error. Originally, they knew very well that they did not bow down in front of a deity but only in front of one of G'd's servants whom they had decided to adopt as a symbol. The reason that the Torah refers to such a sculpture as פסל and not as אלוה is precisely because that is all the sculpture meant to the person who fashioned it. The word is closely connected to פסולת, refuse, something to be discarded; as such it reminds a person that it has no intrinsic value or power. Another reason the Torah may call it פסל is that it is liable to become worthless as soon as G'd decides to rob it of its value because someone had idolised it. We find something along these lines in Eycha Rabbati chapter 2 where the people of the generation which perished during the deluge [in my edition this seems to apply to the generation of the time of Jeremiah, Ed.] are described as making use of G'd's celestial forces to overcome their enemies. G'd outmanoeuvered them by changing the names of these various forces so that people could not make improper use of their knowledge of the powers invested in these celestial forces. At any rate, G'd said: "Do not make a פסל for yourself (of anything representing celestial forces) even if you are fully aware that it has no intrinsic value." G'd then continued to describe what purpose such a פסל was meant to serve, i.e. to bow down to it.

וכל תמונה, “nor any likeness;” the prefix letter ו seems unnecessary; it is meant to mean: “do not make for yourself a sculptured image of any likeness, even if it is only the face of that creature. Since the reason of making such artwork is to use it as a symbol of G-d, it is idolatrous by definition. You must not even make sculptured images of a widow or orphan.

The reason one is not to bow down to it is the jealous nature of G'd, i.e. He objects to this even if it is not only not meant to offend Him, but to enhance the worshiper's relationship with his G'd. In order to better understand this element of "jealousy" it is worthwhile to look at Numbers 5,14 where the Torah discusses the "jealousy" of a husband who has reason to suspect his wife of marital infidelity. The Torah writes: "and a spirit of jealousy over- comes him (the husband)." There are times when a father has reason to be jealous of his son, or a master of his servant, or a husband of his wife. You know that Israel's status vis-a-vis G'd is like that of a bride to a husband. This theme has been developed at length by Solomon in his Song of Songs. If Israel were to make some other deities for themselves even while they do not deny G'd or rebel against His commandments seeing that He is the Supreme G'd, the "husband" would still be entitled to become jealous. Imagine the wife of a king who falls in love with one of his servants and who would display this affection by paying extra attention to the requirements of this servant. Would the king not become jealous when he observed this and would ultimately stab his wife to death? Our relationship with G'd has to be viewed in a similar light. If one examines the many areas in which the relationship between Israel and G'd is special, one will not have any difficulty in accepting that G'd is "jealous" of preserving this special relationship. This is why He stresses : "I am the Lord YOUR G'd," i.e. our relationship is special. Moses underlines this once more in Deut. 4,19 when he refers to the intermediaries G'd has assigned to looking after the interests of the nations of the world as opposed to Israel who do not need such intermediaries.

G'd therefore warns Israel "do not make a פסל for yourself," i.e. do not destroy yourself by disqualifying your special relationship with G'd. The sin of idolatry brings in its wake a loss of the צלם אלוקים, the image of G'd in which man has been created. We know this from Psalms 39,7: אך בצלם יתהלך־איש, "man can walk upright only as long as he possesses the mark of having been created in the image of the Lord;" The Psalmist means that celestial beings will not take any notice of man once he forfeits his צלם אלוקים. We find a similar thought expressed in Kings II 3,14, when the prophet Elisha tells king Yehoram (the idolator) that "if I had not beheld (respected) the face of King Yehoshaphat king of Yehudah, I would not have even looked at you" the two kings were allied against Moav, Ed.]