The cultus restored — 'Then all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down. They broke in pieces his altars and his images, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altars' (וַיָּבֹאוּ כָּל־הָעָם בֵּית־הַבַּעַל וַיְנַתְּצוּהוּ וְאֶת־מִזְבְּחוֹתָיו וְאֶת־צְלָמָיו שִׁבְּרוּ וְאֶת־מַתַּן כֹּהֵן הַבַּעַל הָרְגוּ לִפְנֵי הַמִּזְבְּחוֹת). The renewed covenant is immediately manifested in cultic reformation. The people (כל העם) demolish (נתץ) the house of Baal (בית הבעל), break his altars and images (צלמיו), and execute Mattan (מתן), the priest of Baal. The killing of the Baal priest (כהן הבעל) before the altars represents the violent purification of the temple's immediate surroundings. The house of Baal, presumably in or near Jerusalem, is destroyed utterly. The reformation moves from political to religious purification — the covenant renewal requires the removal of idolatry.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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