| 1. | a golden idol set up by Aaron and worshiped by the Israelites. Ex. 32. |
| 2. | either of the two similar idols set up by Jeroboam. I Kings 12:28, 29. |
| 3. | money or material goods as an object of worship or pursuit. |
| golden calf n.
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Golden calf
(Ex. 32:4,8; Deut. 9:16; Neh. 9:18). This was a molten image of a calf which the idolatrous Israelites formed at Sinai. This symbol was borrowed from the custom of the Egyptians. It was destroyed at the command of Moses (Ex. 32:20). (See AARON ØT0000002; MOSES.)
golden calf
idol worshipped by the Hebrews during the period of the Exodus from Egypt in the 13th century BC and during the age of Jeroboam I, king of Israel, in the 10th century BC. Mentioned in Exodus 32 and I Kings 12 in the Old Testament, worship of the golden calf is seen as a supreme act of apostasy, the rejection of a faith once confessed. The figure is probably a representation of the Egyptian bull god Apis in the earlier period and of the Canaanite fertility god Baal in the latter.
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