A LITERARY STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE GOLDEN-CALF EPISODE IN EXODUS 32:1-33:6

1. Contemporary Views of Exodus 32:1-33:6 There is quite a variety of source-critical views on the GoldenCalf episode, with no scholarly consensus in sight. Brevard Childs, on the other hand, warns against focusing too closely on such topical "polarities"--a procedure which has "often led literary critics to fragment this chapter into multiple layers and sources which lack all cohesion." OT scholars recognize the multiplicity of themes within the episode. The central theme has been identified variously as disobedience, rebellion and atonement, or as the overarching theme of the danger of the departure of YHWH's presence from among his