Where the Gods Are : Spatial Dimensions of Anthropomorphism in the Biblical World / Mark S. Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Mark S., author.

Series:

The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Anthropomorphism.

Bible. New Testament.

God--Attributes.

God.

Image of God.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (244 p.)

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing (UK), 2025.

Place of Publication:

London : Yale University Press, 2016.

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

text file rdaft

Summary:

The issue of how to represent God is a concern both ancient and contemporary. In this wide-ranging and authoritative study, renowned biblical scholar Mark Smith investigates the symbols, meanings, and narratives in the Hebrew Bible, Ugaritic texts, and ancient iconography, which attempt to describe deities in relation to humans. Smith uses a novel approach to show how the Bible depicts God in human and animal forms-and sometimes both together. Mediating between the ancients' theories and the work of modern thinkers, Smith's boldly original work uncovers the foundational understandings of deities and space.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction: The Place of Anthropomorphism

Part 1. Spatial Representations of Divine Anthropomorphism

1. The Three Bodies of God in the Hebrew Bible

2. Like Deities, Like Temples (Like People)

Part 2. Anthropomorphism and Theriomorphism in Cultic Space

3. The Construction of Anthropomorphism and Theriomorphism

4. The Calf Images at Dan and Bethel: Their Number and Symbolism

Part 3. Gods of Cities, Cities of Gods

5. Gods and Their City Sites

6. The Royal City and Its Gods

Epilogue: Ancient Theorizing About Anthropomorphism and Space

Notes

Subject Index

Index of Modern Authors

Index of Ancient Sources

Notes:

Includes indexes.

ISBN:

0-300-28826-3

0-300-22096-0

OCLC:

950613573