Aniconism in Judaism

Aniconism in Judaism covers a number of areas. The portrayal of YHWH in any kind of human or concrete form is absolutely forbidden, and there is a strong tradition of avoiding sculpture, especially if large and free-standing, of all types and in all contexts, but especially religious sculpture. Two-dimensional images, including those of religious subjects and humans, are often regarded as acceptable, especially if on a small scale, such as book illustrations, the concern always being to avoid anything approaching idolatry.

A number of verses in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) refer to prohibitions against the creation of various forms of images, invariably linked directly with idolatry. The strongest over-all source is based on what Judaism counts as the second of the Ten Commandments:

This prohibition is widespread. For instance, Leviticus 26:1 reads:

Similar injunctions appear in Numbers 33:52, Deuteronomy 4:16, and 27:15; in all cases, the creation of the image is associated with idolatry, and indeed, the words commonly translated as "image" or some variant thereof (פסל pesel, שקוץ shikuts) are generally used interchangeably with words typically translated as "idol" (e.g., אליל elil). (An important exception is צלם tselem, used in such verses as Genesis 1:26: "let us make man in our image"; this word was not associated with idols.)

Based on these prohibitions, the Hebrew prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and others, preached very strongly against idolatry. In many of their sermons, as recorded in the biblical books bearing their names, the prophets regarded the use of religious images as a negative sign of assimilation into the surrounding pagan cultures of the time. The Torah permits drawing of humans as long as they are not used for idolatry.

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