When the Old Testament specifically refers to two gods: “Most High” or “El” – the Father and Creator, and “Yahweh” – one of Most High’s 70 sons and champion of the Israelites?
We know that the people who lived in the ancient states of what is now Israel/Palestine, believed in a whole pantheon of gods or “divine council”. Two gods within this divine council were “Most High” and “Yahweh”. There are even little snippets of polytheism within the Bible, such as Psalm 82. Psalm 82 tells us that “Most High” resides over a “divine council” of heavenly beings. Some will try to say that the divine council is made up of angels, but a few lines later in Psalm 82, Most High says, “You are gods.”
Update:@ Paul B<<<Can you add detail about the Most High's 70 sons, and the distinction you say is evident in the Dead Sea Scrolls?>>>
The number 70 comes from pre-Old Testament Ugaritic text. The Ugaritic texts are tablets that were discovered in 1932. They were originally written about 1300-1200 BCE. Most of the Old Testament scriptures were probably written about 800-200BCE. (The surviving Old Testament scriptures date to about 1000 AD, I believe). Many passages found in the Old Testament (such as the creation story, Noah’s Ark, Daniel in the lions den, many of the Psalms, etc) our also found in the Ugaritic texts, meaning that the Old Testament probably evolved from the older Ugaritic texts. At this point in history, the people that now live in the area of what’s now known to be Israel were polytheists. They believe in a whole “divine council” of gods. “Most High”, or “El” was, well, the highest god in the council.
Update 3:Also, the words “sons of Israel” is open to debate. According to the Dead Seas Scrolls, this really should read as “sons of El”. The earliest known Old Testament scriptures used to date to about 1000 AD (if I’m not mistaken). The Dead Seas Scrolls date to about 200 BCE. So likely, sometime between 200BCE and 1000AD, some editor who frowned upon polytheism in the Bible changed this verse. I could have also been an honest mistranslation as well.
But what’s interesting here, is that this verse implies that El divided the people up into nations, and then gave each nation to one of his sons. The people of Jacob (Israelites) were given to Yahweh. It doesn’t say explicitly, but we can infer from elsewhere in the Bible that, for example, that the Ammonites were given to Moloch, and the Moabites were given to Chemosh. Ammon and Moab (I believe) are uncles to Jacob. Baal was given the Sidonians. Moloch, Chemosh, Baal are also gods from the ancient Ugaritic “divine council” or pantheon or gods.
Update 5:<<<The principle of monotheism had been accepted by the time Deuteronomy was redacted to its present form: the central prayer of Judaism, taken from Deuteronomy 6:4, says>>>
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one."
[Yahweh is Yahweh and there's only one Yahweh.]
At some point, Yahweh did become the national God of the Israelites. But, at first, each city and settlement would worship their own version of Yahweh. There would be, for example, a Yahweh-Jerusalem, a Yahweh-Bethlehem, a Yahweh-Nazareth, etc. What Deuteronomy 6:4 is saying is that all of these Yahwah’es are the same Yahweh!
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Another koan, why is God (singular) called Elohim (plural, for gods) in the book of Genesis... Genesis 3:22, "and the lord god said, behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever." Another paradox, how is there one God (monotheism) when also the Holy Spirit and Jesus are gods? (polytheism)
These questions are some of the most debated theological questions in the world. Many Muslims consider us polytheists and pagans because of that! But, they too have theological issues that their own Ulamas have been wrestling with for many centuries. Unitarians came to the conclusion (first with Michael Servetus, who was burned at the steak by Calvin, in coordination with the Catholic inquisition!) that the Father is God, and that Jesus scripturally never claimed to be God also. Mark 10: 17-18, "And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." I believe it was St. Patrick (in Catholic theology) who famously held up a 3 leaf clover to demonstrate how God could be 1 and 3. The ancient Roman trinitarian theologians argued that there was 1 God with 3 Personas. (Both the modern word persona, and Person has evolved from that Roman word)
The principle of monotheism had been accepted by the time Deuteronomy was redacted to its present form: the central prayer of Judaism, taken from Deuteronomy 6:4, says [my own literal translation, nothing added]:
Hear [imperative singular form] Israel YHWH our-God YHWH one
Our-God, Eloheinu, is a form of Elohim, a grammatical plural form used to describe God, but always taking a single verb. Gesenius Hebrew grammar describes this as an intensive form, not a true plural. El or Eloah, singular forms, occur more rarely, as does El Elyon, God most high.
However, it may be interesting that Deut 6:4 was worth saying.
The etymology of El, possible relationship to the Babylonian god El, and to Ellil meaning idol, are interesting questions in philology, and the emergence of monotheism from whatever was around before, are all very interesting questions, but the process had been completed long before the birth of Christianity.
Can you add detail about the Most High's 70 sons, and the distinction you say is evident in the Dead Sea Scrolls?
BTW: I see some people here have been taught to pay attention to the difference between "god" and "God", as if that were given in the text. But there ARE NO capitals in Hebrew! Pathetic!
Elohim is an "intensive plural" noun in Hebrew, thoroughly characterized by the qualities of majesty, sovereignty, power which is emphasized in Genesis 1.
Genesis 1-2 is a polemic against the once prevailing Ancient Near East view of the world and of the divine image. The ANE pantheon was characterized by gods which were much like humans, only more powerful. They fought and scrapped all the time. There is no hint of this in Genesis or that the Lord God (Yahweh Elohim) participated in such foolishness. Genesis seems to be a polemic against the ANE pantheon, and God (known by different names, and known to be plural (a basis for the Trinity) is clearly in charge.
Yahweh is the ultimate power with no rivals vs. gods waging war for power. Yahweh is the God of justice vs. gods who are unpredictable in the Ugaritic pantheon.
As for dividing up the peoples -- I think you are hugely overreaching. But if the Ammonites and other were assigned to one region, there is little doubt that God in His sovereignty, directed them to such places. That's what Sovereign means -- not a single molecule in the universe escapes His guiding hand.
You'll find that the critical scholars really agree on little. Wellhausen first set down the idea of the bumbling redactor in the 19th Century, but his work is not well regarded today (on either side).
J E D P fell into disarray with the consensus that a bumbling redactor could not have created such a coherent artistic work as the Pentateuch. You can't have it both ways.
You're referring to 'gods' and 'God'. Many false (little gods) but only one true God (big G). Yahweh, El Shaddai, Jehovah, Jehovah-nissi etc are all names for the same God but have different meanings. One means provider, one protector and so on. The 'Most High' (capitals again) refer to the one true God, who judges all.
In the Old Testament you will also find references to an Angel, and that is a reference to Jesus Christ. Capitals refer to the one true God. There are at least 7 names in the Old Testament for God, but they are all referring to the same One.
By the way, are you sure about the Dead Sea scrolls being the oldest known copies? Also, just because something might be the oldest doesn't mean something written later is not correct..
There is but one true God, the great I AM. I am his son, so I am a Son of God. Is not the son like the Father? Jesus is God, and Jesus is my brother. So I am a brother to God as well.
You class me where you will in this, but there is but One God and we can know him through Jesus.
And the Old Testament is incomplete without Jesus and the New Testament. Seek God and see.
Psalm 51:11 (New International Version)
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Do you know God and have his spirit in you? many of us do.
bless you.
One is a title, the other a name. I can refer to the current head of the US as either "Barak Obama" or as "Mr President". I do not make two leaders out of him by using the two different "names".
You forget to mention how many times the names are used together, and he is referred to as "Yahewh Most High".
The idea of there only being one God is central to both the Jewish and Christian faith.
None of the books mentioned by you are original. The only original
Divine Text is Holy Quran, which makes it amply clear that there
is only One God Who was called by different names in different
countries and at different times.
Muhammad Javed Iqbal
There is but one Most High God and His Hebrew name is Yahweh, His Greek and English name is Jehovah.
i havn't studdied psalms but i kno dat it is angels. notice d "g" in gods wasn't capital. it token bout d sons o god. n it's very hard to interpet psalms which is y i'm gonna shut up b4 i missinterperet it n get u confused
I like this question.
It is monotheistic polytheism.
One God and yet not.