What Alien Deities?

So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Rid yourselves of the alien gods in your midst” (Gen. 35:2).

That all sounds fine, if a little odd. But what Jacob does next is more than odd:

They gave to Jacob all the alien gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the terebinth that was near Shechem.

Instead of breaking or burning or otherwise destroying the idols, Jacob buries them. Which is precisely what you do if you are keeping open the option of coming back and getting them later.

How can we possibly understand this?

If we read the Torah in order, then there might be a good explanation. Here goes:

Until the Exodus, G-d’s power is not specified. To our forefathers, He is essentially called a familial deity. This is why Isaac calls G-d, “The G-d of my father,” and Jacob calls G-d, “The G-d of my fathers.” The tribal deity continues the conversation and the relationship through the generations, but neither the forefathers, nor their wives, nor their enemies, ever refer to G-d as somehow more powerful than “The G-d of my father/s” (Gen 26:24, 28:13).

When Jacob dreams and sees what he calls “the gates of heaven,” he exclaims, “Surely the LORD is present in this place, and I did not know it!” (Gen. 28:16). If G-d is in a certain place, then it suggests that G-d is not in every place. In other words, Jacob does not gain the understanding that G-d is all-powerful. Instead, he cuts a deal: “If I return safe to my father’s house—the LORD shall be my G-d” (Gen. 28:21). Is it possible that Jacob sees Hashem as one deity among many?

This could explain why Rachel does not destroy her father’s idols, breaking them before she left. Instead, she steals them because she apparently wishes to have them herself. And this would explain why Jacob buries the idols, so he has the option to go and get them later.

Jacob is never told that G-d is all-powerful, nor is he even ever commanded to not have other gods in the household. So he keeps the other idols, just in case.

This pattern is consistent:

Moses himself does not quite grasp the magnitude of G-d’s power, at least not when they first meet. G-d introduces Himself as “The G-d of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” It is a good start, but it is not an argument for omnipotence.

G-d tells Moses to go talk to Pharoah, and Moses demurs, saying that he has a speech impediment. G-d replies, “Who hath made man’s mouth? Or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I the LORD?” (Ex. 4:11). Moses is unconvinced and unmoved; G-d loses the argument, and instead appoints Aaron to speak on Moses’ behalf. G-d is not getting the respect He deserves. It is going to take a big demonstration to get there.

When Moses is first rebuffed in his attempts to free the people, G-d responds:

"I am the LORD; and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as ‘El Shaddai,’ but by My name YKVK I made Me not known to them."

Perhaps this is, in other words: “You are about to see a facet of me that the forefathers never saw.” That is the G-d of the Exodus, the almighty god of the whole world. Which means that the entire Exodus is G-d’s revelation to the world as well as to the Jews!

What is fascinating is that G-d does not even demand that the people worship Him exclusively until the Ten Commandments are given at Sinai! Monotheism is introduced to the Jewish people at Sinai! From that point, we no longer bury idols; we destroy them.