Das Bild Gottes und die Götterbilder im Alten Testament

ISSN： 0044-3549

Source： Zeitschrift fuer Theologie und Kirche, Vol.110, Iss.2, 2013-06, pp. : 133-157

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Abstract

This paper deals with the question of whether or not there is a theological connection between the Deuteronomistic ban on images of anything in heaven, on earth or in the water under the earth (Ex 20:4ff, Dt 5:8ff) and the idea of a person as an image of God in the Priestly writing (Gen 1:26-28). The author concludes that the commandment to man to rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in heaven, the animals and the entire earth is the answer to this question. Since man himself is the only legitimate image of God, he is not allowed to make any graven images. The ban on making graven images and the commandment to rule the earth in God's own likeness (dominium terrae) are two voices from the discourse on the theology of images between deuteronomistic and priestly theologians in Israel in the 5th and 6th centuries BC.