CHAPTER XL 
ICHTHYOLATRY IMPROBABLE—FISH NOT IN SACRIFICES 
OR AUGURIES 
ALTHOUGH nothing is said of sacrificial fish, it is possible that 
Ichthyolatry did prevail in Israel to some extent. In Deut. 
iv. 18,! we find an express commandment or law laid down by 
Moses against the making of a graven image of “ the likeness 
of any fish that is in the water under the earth’’: in Exodus 
xx. 4, we read, “‘ Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, 
nor the likeness of any form that is in heaven above, or that is 
in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”’ 
If Ichthyolatry existed, it could hardly have sprung up 
among a nomad people living in the Desert, as did the Jews 
for years before they entered the Promised Land. Such a cult 
with other customs was probably adopted from the Canaanites 
by their conquerors. Psalm cvi. 35 ff., expressly tells us, ‘ but 
they mingled themselves with the nations and learned their 
works ; and they served their idols which became a snare unto 
them.”” Any argument in favour of the existence of Ichthy- 
olatry which rests mainly on Deut. iv. 18, and Ex. xx. 4, can to 
my mind carry little or no weight. They simply embody a 
comprehensive command against making a graven image of 
any kind whatever, celestial, terrestrial, or aquatic. 
As to the observance of the commandment, Petrie writes :—? 
“Tt is often assumed that the prohibition to make a graven 
1 Many hold that Deuteronomy was written not earlier than the seventh 
century, or even as late as 550 B.C., previous to which there had taken place 
a large influx of foreigners, especially from N.W. Mesopotamia and Babylon, 
where gods were represented by scores. 
2 Egypt and Israel, pp. 60, 61. Objection to the use of images in Israel 
was not apparently general till the latter half of the eighth century B.c. Their 
existence may, perhaps, be explained by (A) the universal existence of such 
worship among the Canaanites, (B) the proportion of Israelites to Canaanites 
being about as small as that of the Normans to the Saxons in England. 
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