Talk:Golden calf
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Though there is as yet no discussion here, User:CheeseDreams has applied NPOV and cleanup notices to this page and others. The contributions of this user to the article may be assessed at the article's Page History. --Wetman 23:51, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
[edit] tags
See history for explanation.
"It is also not clear why it might be involved with bringing the people up from Egypt"
It's not clear because it wasn't involved. It's clear from the episode development that Aaron was making it up from his lack of trust on Moses after the later delayed to go back.
Should not the fact that the calf was seen as an image of Yahweh in the nprthern kingdom be mentioned?--Rob117 03:31, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Scientific Accuracy
We should add a section questioning the validity of the claims. Gold is neither flammable nor water soluble yet in the story it behaves in a way incosistent with current chemical knowledge. I propose a new section detailing this. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.50.35.38 (talk) 23:54, 17 January 2007 (UTC).
- That would be original research, not allowed here. Also, it says he "burned the high place", not the calf, and doesn't say the gold dissolved in the water, simply that it was scattered on it. --tjstrf talk 00:20, 18 January 2007 (UTC)
While that's true the summary given for the story is "Moses then burnt the golden calf in the fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on water, and forced the Israelites to drink it." Additionally it would not count as original research as the current article on Gold already contains all the information and references required namely, "Heat, moisture, oxygen, and most corrosive agents have very little chemical effect on gold, making it well-suited for use in coins and jewelry...". The article on colloidal gold likewise contains more than enough information to make the conclusion that the likely conditions of the burning were unlikely to produce water soluble gold compounds.