Anthropomorphisms and Their Meaning

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    Anthropomorphisms and their Meaning

    by Ludwig Khler

    fromOld Testament Theology(Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1957), pp. 22-25.

    [In the Old Testament] the language which ascribes to God the attributes of

    man is neither restrained nor incidental; indeed, anthropomorphism is to be

    found on every page of the Old Testament in a wealth of detail, unashamed and

    even drastic. God speaks,Gen. 1:3; converses, Lev. 4:1; calls, Lev. 1:1; he hears, Ex.

    16:12; sees, Gen. 1:4; smells, 1 Sam 26:19; laughs, Ps. 2:4; and hisses, Isa. 7:18. He

    has eyes, Amos 9:4, which he sets on sinners; hands, with which he grasps

    them, Amos 9:2; a hand, that is against the prophets that see vanity, Ezek. 13:9;fingers, with which he writes the tables of the Law, Deut. 9:10; an arm, which he

    stretches out with might, Jer. 27:5, and which he lays bare before all nations to

    seperate them, Isa. 52:10; ears, Num. 11:18, 14:28, Ezek. 8:18, 2 Kings 19:28; feet,

    under which he whirls the clouds like dust, Nah. 1:3, and for which there is even

    a footstool, Isa. 66:1; a mouth, with which he instructs the peoples, Jer. 9:12; lips

    that are full of indignation and a tongue that is a devouring fire, Isa. 30:27; a

    head, that has a defense, Ps. 60:7; a face which he maketh to shine upon his

    saints, Num. 6:25, and which he hides to the terror of the creature, Ps. 104:29;and a back which Moses was permitted to see, Ex. 33:23. His heart turns within

    him and his emotions are kindled, Hos. 11:8 [read . [

    Not only is God represented as possessing parts of the human body; he also

    has feelings and passions like those of a man. Alongside anthropomorphisms in

    the strict sense there are anthropopathisms. He feels delight, Jer. 9:24; shows

    favor, Isa. 60:10; he rejoices with joy and exultation, Zeph. 3:17. But he also

    rebukes, Isa. 17:13; he hates, Deut. 12:31; he rejects, Jer. 14:19; he abhors, Ps.106:40; he feels disgust, Lev. 20:23. He is provoked to anger, Jer. 7:18, and can be

    jealous; indeed this is an outstanding trait of his character. While the gods of a

    Pantheon need to be tolerant and permit their worshippers to invoke other gods,

    the God of the Old Testament never ceases to insist upon his exclusiveness. "I am

    a jealous God," Ex. 20:5, Deut. 5:9. The position of this text is noteworthyit is in

    theDecaloguea significant place and one that was always immediately

    relevant to everyone under the Old Covenant. While his outward jealousy is

    unchanged (see pp. 52, 66) his inward reactions are variable. He can repent ofwhat he has undertaken; Gen. 6:6, Jonah 3:10. He can be moved to intense anger:

    it is kindled against Israel's insubordination, 2 Sam. 24:1, and his anger and his

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    jealousy smoke against the impenitent, Deut. 29:20. Things can be a trouble to

    him, so that he is weary to bear them; Isa. 1:14.

    Likewise God's works and ways are described in bold anthropomorphisms. He

    treads down the peoples as in a winepress, so that his garments are sprinkled

    with their lifeblood, Isa. 63:1-6. He rideth upon the heaven, Deut. 33:26. He goes

    forth out of Seir and marches out of the field of Edom, Judg. 5:4. He bursts forth

    from his temple and treads upon the high places of the earth, Mic. 1:3. He comes

    down to see the Tower of Babel, Gen. 11:5. He walks in his garden in the cool of

    the day, Gen. 3:8. Like a Homeric hero he scoffs at his enemies,Ps. 2:4, 59:8. He

    bends Judah as a bow and places Ephraim thereon as the arrow, Zech. 9:13. For

    he is a man of war, Ex. 15:3, and mighty in battle, Ps. 24:8. When Hosea

    compares him to a moth and rottenness, 5:12, to a lion and a young lion, 5:14, to

    a lion that roars, 11:10, to a panther that watches by the way, to the dew that

    brings growth, 14:5, he is probably making his own spontaneous similes; but

    that is not true of the great majority of anthropomorphisms, to which we have

    made only scant reference. They are not creations of the moment, but of long

    usage and therefore of real significance.

    A history of the anthropomorphism of the Old Testament has not yet been

    written. It would be of no great value even theologically. For we find very little

    variation in the anthropomorphisms from one part of the Old Testament to

    another or from one period of time to another. There are certainly a greatnumber of anthropomorphisms in the Psalter, which as a whole and in its final

    form is late, and in the later Prophets: this may be due in part to the fact that the

    later writers simply make full use of the forms of expression they have taken

    over from their predecessors; it shows also however that they had no objection to

    these forms. Anthropomorphisms remain relevant in the Old Testament; they

    suffer no "spiritualization."

    It is also to be noted that they show no evidence of classification. The OldTestament does not know a wise God in one place and a warlike or inventive or

    ill-humoured or friendly or formidable God in another place. The character of

    God varies according to what is appropriate at any one moment. God is not

    presented as belonging to a strict or carefully distinguished type; he is presented

    as changeable and therefore very much alive, but always the same God. The

    result is a great richness in the conception of God. [On the change in

    theSeptuagintsee Charles T. Fritsch,The Anti-Anthropomorphisms of the Greek

    Pentateuch, Princeton Univ. Press, 1943.]

    One realizes at this point the function of the anthropomorphisms. Their

    intention is not in the least to reduce God to a rank similar to that of man. To

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    describe God in terms of human characteristics is not to humanize him. That has

    never happened except in unreasonable polemic. Rather the purpose of

    anthropomorphisms is to make God accessible to man. They hold open the door

    for encounter and controversy between God's will and man's will. They

    represent God as person. They avoid the error of presenting God as a careless

    and soulless abstract Idea or a fixed Principle standing over against man like a

    strong silent battlement. God is personal. He has a will, he exists in controversy

    ready to communicate himself, offended at men's sins yet with a ready ear for

    their supplication and compassion for their confessions of guilt: in a word, God

    is a living God. Through the anthropomorphisms of the Old Testament God

    stands before man as the personal and living God, who meets him with will and

    with works, who directs his will and his words towards men and draws near to

    men. God is the living God (Jer. 10:10).