Hebrew Henotheism: Challenging the notion of Biblical Monotheism
According to the Jewish bible, about four thousand years ago, a man named Abraham living in Ur of Chaldea met a god named Yahweh. Yahweh instructed Abraham to leave the land of his ancestors and travel a distant land, a land that became known as Canaan. Out of one of Abraham’s sons came a nation; that nation was called Israel. Israel’s sole god, if not their only god was Yahweh. For the past two thousand years, Judaism and Christianity both maintained that there is only one God, a position that academics call “monotheism.” Although Judaism is strictly a monotheistic religion, as evidenced by the 13 Principles of Moses Maimonodes, it is probable that the ancient Hebrews were originally Henotheists. I will first present the arguments of others for Monotheism. Next, I will present arguments that the ancient Israelites were Henotheists. Finally, I will give my analysis of the Scriptural texts presented in the argument and my conclusion.
Before I begin, let me start by defining the terms theism, and monotheism. According to to Stanford’s Encyclopedia of Philosophy, theists believe “that reality's ultimate principle is God—an omnipotent, omniscient, goodness that is the creative ground of everything other than itself” (Wainwright 2009). It goes on to say, “Monotheism is the view that there is only one such God.”
Now I will discuss four arguments that the ancient Israelites were Monotheists. First is the argument that the Authors of Deuteronomy and Isaiah, or as Henry Preserved Smith says, “the writer whom we know as Deutero-Isaiah” (Smith 1908), portray God as the only God. Smith says this is evidence in Isaiah 44:6 when it says “I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” Monotheism is also evidenced in Deuteronomy 6:4 which Smith quotes as, “"Yahweh our God is one Yahweh” (Smith 1908). Smith believes that these passages clearly show that there is only one god, and that god is Yahweh. Next, Peter Machinist notes in his essay that Yehezkel Kaufmann state in his multi volume, “History of Israelite Religion”, that the polytheistic religions surrounding Israel didn’t worship all powerful gods, but rather little spirits that can be powerful, exalted, and controlling parts of nature (Machinist 2005). The Israelite god, however is an all powerful being that created the universe and controls owns all nations, a trait the bible only gives to Yahweh. If a god is defined as a being, then the bible teaches only one, Yahweh.
The third evidence of that the Biblical Hebrews were monotheists is found in Isaiah, where the prophet chastises Israel for their worship of other gods, and then challenges that other gods speak up, when no other god speaks, the prophet says in Isaiah 43:10, “ Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.” Here, it appears that Isaiah is establishing that Yahweh is the only god, and that none other exists. Finally, in Deuteronomy 4:35, the author states that Yahweh is God and there is no other but him.
Next I will turn to the opposing argument. The opposing view to Hebrew monotheism is that the ancient Israelites were Henotheists. First, I let me define the term henotheism. There are several definitions given of henotheism, as Machinist points out in his article. The definition he gives is the belief “in which the focus remains on one deity, but the deity is one that has absorbed or embodied within itself other deities and their powers and functions—a process that has not erased all traces, or even worship, of these others” (Machinist 2005). I define henotheism in way that Machinist would label it as monolatry. For the purpose of this paper, henotheism is the belief and worship of only one god, without denying the existence or possible existence of other gods.
In this section, I will present three arguments that the ancient Israelites were henotheists. The first argument comes from Genesis 31, where Jacob and Laban have a feud between the two, and in settling the feud, they decide to let the gods sort judge the matter. The passage is found in verse 53 which says, “May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” Machinist points out that “In the Hebrew the word “judge” is a plural form: there are two gods here, not one” (Machinist 2005). Meaning, the natural reading of the passage indicates that the god of Abraham is a different god then the god of Nahor. This reading would also mean that the third part should read “the gods of their fathers.” The second evidence is found in Psalm 82:1, which reads, “God stands in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he passes judgment.” Michael Heiser points out that “The first Elohim is clearly referring to a singular entity (God) due to subject – verb agreement and other contextual clues. The second Elohim is obviously plural due to the preposition b’qerev, because God cannot be said to be standing in the midst of a (singular) god or Himself” (Heiser 2008). This passage acknowledges that other gods exist, and that the biblical god, Yahweh, judges and sentences to die like men in verse 7.
The third proof that the Israelites were not monotheists is found in the Song of Moses found in Exodus 15. In this song, Moses and the children of Israel recount how Yahweh delivered them from Egypt, that Yahweh drowned all of pharaoh’s army into the Sea of Reeds. In the climax of this song, Moses cries out “who is like you Yahweh among the gods?” in verse 11. Machinist comments on this passage with the following: “The point here is simple: by engaging with and besting Egypt, one of the major empires of the day, Yahweh has engaged with and bested its gods. He has thus earned the status, as Exodus 15:11 asserts, of the mightiest of the gods: incomparable, “majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders. (Machinist 2005)” The final argument for henotheism is one that Smith makes; he notes that Elijah and his sidekick Elisha not once condemns non-Israelites for worshipping their gods. Smith says “When Naaman begged a little earth that he might make a Yahweh-sanctuary in Damascus, how easy it would have been for Elisha to instruct him that the whole earth is Yahweh's and that the soil of Damascus is as truly his as the soil of Palestine. But the opportunity passed without improvement. Neither Elijah nor his biographer thought that the woman of Zarephath ought to give up the service of her Baal on the ground that there was no God but Yahweh. These facts are inexplicable except on the theory that neither Elisha nor Elijah nor the men who wrote their lives denied the existence of the heathen gods. Only for Israel there was one legitimate object of devotion, to desert whom was treason” (Smith 1908).
Now that I have laid arguments for monotheism and against the existence of monotheism in the Hebrew Bible, I will now analyze some of the claims. For the most part, my analysis will be strictly literary, meaning that I will look at the literature at hand leaving theology out of the equation. When analyzing the literature, I will keep two things in mind, one being the language of the text, and the surrounding contexts. As such, I will be doing some of my own translational work of the Hebrew text. I will also back up my translation with definition of key words from experts.
The first claim that needs to be analyzed is Isaiah 44:6 and Deuteronomy 6:4 teach that Yahweh is the only God. First, let’s analyze Isaiah. The passage reads in Hebrew, “ ko-amar Yahweh melekh-yisrael vegoalo Yahweh tzevaot ani rishon vaani ahharon umibaladai en elohim.” Which translated means “Thus says Yahweh, Israel’s king and redeemer, Yahweh of armies: I am the first, and I am the last; and apart from me there is no god.” The key word is “mibaladai.” Davidson defines its root as “not, without, besides, except” (Davidson 1967). The indication is that without Yahweh, no god would exist. This is the opposite monotheism, the claim rather upholds the stands the position of Henotheism. The context also is not trying to prove that other gods don’t exist, but rather that Yahweh is Israel’s maker, and that he chose them as his own. Yahweh also in this passage condemns Israel for worshipping the works of man’s hands, statues made of wood. The second passage is in Deuteronomy 6:4, which says “Shema Yisra’el Yahweh eloheinu Yahweh ‘echad.” This passage normally translates as “Hear oh Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD.” The problem with this translation, is that is not what the passage says, it says that Yahweh is one.
The next passage should be kept in mind as well when translating and interpreting the meaning of the verse. It says “And you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” Also keep in mind that this instruction comes right after the giving of the Ten Commandments. With these facts in view, one should see that the call is for Israel to give her allegiance to Yahweh alone. The 1985 edition of the Jewish Publication Society translation of the TaNaKH portrays this when they translate the verse as “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.” This reading displays that Yahweh is the only god that Israel is to have, echoing the first command to not have any gods before Yahweh. The second claim that needs to be analyzed is that Isaiah 43:10 states that no god other than Yahweh exists. The passage states that, “Isaiah 43:10 atem edai neum-Yahweh veavdi asher bahharti lemaan tedu vetaaminu li vetavinu ki-ani hu lefanai lo-notzar el veahharai lo yihye:” This passage rendered properly reads, “"You are My witnesses," declares Yahweh, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before me El was not formed, and after me he will not exist.” The phrase normally translated as “before me, there was no god” is “lefanai lo notzar el.” Lefani literally means “to my face,” the idea is that something is done or exists in my presence, or “before me.” The word notzar comes from the verb yatzar, which means “to form, fasion, or make” (Davidson 1967). The word “lo” means no, and negates the previous verb. So far we have ‘and in my presence, el was not formed.” El is the chief god some Canaanite cities, as evidenced by the Ugaritic tablets, which paints describes in in a similar way the Bible describes Yahweh (M. S. Smith 2002). The surrounding context of the chapter is that of the prophet chastising Israel of worshipping the gods of the nations around about, this is evidence in chapters 42, 43, and 45. Here Isaiah is contrasting Yahweh with El, reminding Israel that Yahweh is their savior, that he was the one that delivered them from Egypt, because of this, they are to forsake the worship of El, and serve their god, Yahweh. Finally, I will look at Deuteronomy 4:35, which reads ““You were shown these things so that you might know that Yahweh, he is the God (HaElohim); besides him there is no other (ein ‘od milvado).” This passage is similar to the Isaiah passage. Heiser states that milvado does not necessarily mean that there is no other gods, but that there is no rival god to Yahweh. He cites passages in which the word appears for Nineveh and Babylon. He also quotes a passage in 1 Kings where the word is not used as “alone” In the exclusive sense (Heiser 2008).
To sum up my work, I have stated that it is highly probable that the ancient Hebrews were Henotheists despite the belief in Orthodox Judaism and Christianity that the Bible teaches that Yahweh is the only god, a position called Monotheism. In my endeavor to expound on my thesis, I gave both arguments for Hebrew monotheism and for Hebrew henotheism from academic works. I then analyzed the literary work myself. While most scholarship believes that Hebrews evolved into monotheism around the time of Isaiah, I demonstrated from the literary works of Isaiah, that it does not make a claim of monotheism at all, but rather it chastises Israel and Israel alone, for worshiping the gods of the gentiles, and calls them back to their allegiance to Yahweh. The Hebrew view of Yahweh is that he is the God of gods, and that Israel is to worship and serve him alone as their god.
Bibliography:
Davidson, Benjamin. The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon. London: Samuel Bagster & Sons LTD, 1967.
Heiser, Michael. "Monotheism, Polytheism, Monolatry, or Henotheism? Toward and Assessment of Divine Plurality in the Hebrew Bible." Bulletin for Biblical Research, January 1, 2008: 1-30.
Machinist, Peter. "Once More: Monotheism in Biblical Israel." Journal of the Interdisciplinary Study of Monotheistic Religions, 2005: 155-183.
Smith, Henry Preserved. "Moses and Monotheism." The American Journal of Theology, 1908: 444 - 454.
Smith, Mark S. The early history of God: Yahweh and the other deities in ancient Israel 2nd Edition. Grand Rapids: Win B. Eerdmans Publish Co., 2002.
Wainwright, William. "Monotheism." Stanford Enyclopedia of Philosophy. October 26, 2009. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/monotheism (accessed 4 12, 2012).
Before I begin, let me start by defining the terms theism, and monotheism. According to to Stanford’s Encyclopedia of Philosophy, theists believe “that reality's ultimate principle is God—an omnipotent, omniscient, goodness that is the creative ground of everything other than itself” (Wainwright 2009). It goes on to say, “Monotheism is the view that there is only one such God.”
Now I will discuss four arguments that the ancient Israelites were Monotheists. First is the argument that the Authors of Deuteronomy and Isaiah, or as Henry Preserved Smith says, “the writer whom we know as Deutero-Isaiah” (Smith 1908), portray God as the only God. Smith says this is evidence in Isaiah 44:6 when it says “I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” Monotheism is also evidenced in Deuteronomy 6:4 which Smith quotes as, “"Yahweh our God is one Yahweh” (Smith 1908). Smith believes that these passages clearly show that there is only one god, and that god is Yahweh. Next, Peter Machinist notes in his essay that Yehezkel Kaufmann state in his multi volume, “History of Israelite Religion”, that the polytheistic religions surrounding Israel didn’t worship all powerful gods, but rather little spirits that can be powerful, exalted, and controlling parts of nature (Machinist 2005). The Israelite god, however is an all powerful being that created the universe and controls owns all nations, a trait the bible only gives to Yahweh. If a god is defined as a being, then the bible teaches only one, Yahweh.
The third evidence of that the Biblical Hebrews were monotheists is found in Isaiah, where the prophet chastises Israel for their worship of other gods, and then challenges that other gods speak up, when no other god speaks, the prophet says in Isaiah 43:10, “ Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.” Here, it appears that Isaiah is establishing that Yahweh is the only god, and that none other exists. Finally, in Deuteronomy 4:35, the author states that Yahweh is God and there is no other but him.
Next I will turn to the opposing argument. The opposing view to Hebrew monotheism is that the ancient Israelites were Henotheists. First, I let me define the term henotheism. There are several definitions given of henotheism, as Machinist points out in his article. The definition he gives is the belief “in which the focus remains on one deity, but the deity is one that has absorbed or embodied within itself other deities and their powers and functions—a process that has not erased all traces, or even worship, of these others” (Machinist 2005). I define henotheism in way that Machinist would label it as monolatry. For the purpose of this paper, henotheism is the belief and worship of only one god, without denying the existence or possible existence of other gods.
In this section, I will present three arguments that the ancient Israelites were henotheists. The first argument comes from Genesis 31, where Jacob and Laban have a feud between the two, and in settling the feud, they decide to let the gods sort judge the matter. The passage is found in verse 53 which says, “May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” Machinist points out that “In the Hebrew the word “judge” is a plural form: there are two gods here, not one” (Machinist 2005). Meaning, the natural reading of the passage indicates that the god of Abraham is a different god then the god of Nahor. This reading would also mean that the third part should read “the gods of their fathers.” The second evidence is found in Psalm 82:1, which reads, “God stands in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he passes judgment.” Michael Heiser points out that “The first Elohim is clearly referring to a singular entity (God) due to subject – verb agreement and other contextual clues. The second Elohim is obviously plural due to the preposition b’qerev, because God cannot be said to be standing in the midst of a (singular) god or Himself” (Heiser 2008). This passage acknowledges that other gods exist, and that the biblical god, Yahweh, judges and sentences to die like men in verse 7.
The third proof that the Israelites were not monotheists is found in the Song of Moses found in Exodus 15. In this song, Moses and the children of Israel recount how Yahweh delivered them from Egypt, that Yahweh drowned all of pharaoh’s army into the Sea of Reeds. In the climax of this song, Moses cries out “who is like you Yahweh among the gods?” in verse 11. Machinist comments on this passage with the following: “The point here is simple: by engaging with and besting Egypt, one of the major empires of the day, Yahweh has engaged with and bested its gods. He has thus earned the status, as Exodus 15:11 asserts, of the mightiest of the gods: incomparable, “majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders. (Machinist 2005)” The final argument for henotheism is one that Smith makes; he notes that Elijah and his sidekick Elisha not once condemns non-Israelites for worshipping their gods. Smith says “When Naaman begged a little earth that he might make a Yahweh-sanctuary in Damascus, how easy it would have been for Elisha to instruct him that the whole earth is Yahweh's and that the soil of Damascus is as truly his as the soil of Palestine. But the opportunity passed without improvement. Neither Elijah nor his biographer thought that the woman of Zarephath ought to give up the service of her Baal on the ground that there was no God but Yahweh. These facts are inexplicable except on the theory that neither Elisha nor Elijah nor the men who wrote their lives denied the existence of the heathen gods. Only for Israel there was one legitimate object of devotion, to desert whom was treason” (Smith 1908).
Now that I have laid arguments for monotheism and against the existence of monotheism in the Hebrew Bible, I will now analyze some of the claims. For the most part, my analysis will be strictly literary, meaning that I will look at the literature at hand leaving theology out of the equation. When analyzing the literature, I will keep two things in mind, one being the language of the text, and the surrounding contexts. As such, I will be doing some of my own translational work of the Hebrew text. I will also back up my translation with definition of key words from experts.
The first claim that needs to be analyzed is Isaiah 44:6 and Deuteronomy 6:4 teach that Yahweh is the only God. First, let’s analyze Isaiah. The passage reads in Hebrew, “ ko-amar Yahweh melekh-yisrael vegoalo Yahweh tzevaot ani rishon vaani ahharon umibaladai en elohim.” Which translated means “Thus says Yahweh, Israel’s king and redeemer, Yahweh of armies: I am the first, and I am the last; and apart from me there is no god.” The key word is “mibaladai.” Davidson defines its root as “not, without, besides, except” (Davidson 1967). The indication is that without Yahweh, no god would exist. This is the opposite monotheism, the claim rather upholds the stands the position of Henotheism. The context also is not trying to prove that other gods don’t exist, but rather that Yahweh is Israel’s maker, and that he chose them as his own. Yahweh also in this passage condemns Israel for worshipping the works of man’s hands, statues made of wood. The second passage is in Deuteronomy 6:4, which says “Shema Yisra’el Yahweh eloheinu Yahweh ‘echad.” This passage normally translates as “Hear oh Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD.” The problem with this translation, is that is not what the passage says, it says that Yahweh is one.
The next passage should be kept in mind as well when translating and interpreting the meaning of the verse. It says “And you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” Also keep in mind that this instruction comes right after the giving of the Ten Commandments. With these facts in view, one should see that the call is for Israel to give her allegiance to Yahweh alone. The 1985 edition of the Jewish Publication Society translation of the TaNaKH portrays this when they translate the verse as “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.” This reading displays that Yahweh is the only god that Israel is to have, echoing the first command to not have any gods before Yahweh. The second claim that needs to be analyzed is that Isaiah 43:10 states that no god other than Yahweh exists. The passage states that, “Isaiah 43:10 atem edai neum-Yahweh veavdi asher bahharti lemaan tedu vetaaminu li vetavinu ki-ani hu lefanai lo-notzar el veahharai lo yihye:” This passage rendered properly reads, “"You are My witnesses," declares Yahweh, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before me El was not formed, and after me he will not exist.” The phrase normally translated as “before me, there was no god” is “lefanai lo notzar el.” Lefani literally means “to my face,” the idea is that something is done or exists in my presence, or “before me.” The word notzar comes from the verb yatzar, which means “to form, fasion, or make” (Davidson 1967). The word “lo” means no, and negates the previous verb. So far we have ‘and in my presence, el was not formed.” El is the chief god some Canaanite cities, as evidenced by the Ugaritic tablets, which paints describes in in a similar way the Bible describes Yahweh (M. S. Smith 2002). The surrounding context of the chapter is that of the prophet chastising Israel of worshipping the gods of the nations around about, this is evidence in chapters 42, 43, and 45. Here Isaiah is contrasting Yahweh with El, reminding Israel that Yahweh is their savior, that he was the one that delivered them from Egypt, because of this, they are to forsake the worship of El, and serve their god, Yahweh. Finally, I will look at Deuteronomy 4:35, which reads ““You were shown these things so that you might know that Yahweh, he is the God (HaElohim); besides him there is no other (ein ‘od milvado).” This passage is similar to the Isaiah passage. Heiser states that milvado does not necessarily mean that there is no other gods, but that there is no rival god to Yahweh. He cites passages in which the word appears for Nineveh and Babylon. He also quotes a passage in 1 Kings where the word is not used as “alone” In the exclusive sense (Heiser 2008).
To sum up my work, I have stated that it is highly probable that the ancient Hebrews were Henotheists despite the belief in Orthodox Judaism and Christianity that the Bible teaches that Yahweh is the only god, a position called Monotheism. In my endeavor to expound on my thesis, I gave both arguments for Hebrew monotheism and for Hebrew henotheism from academic works. I then analyzed the literary work myself. While most scholarship believes that Hebrews evolved into monotheism around the time of Isaiah, I demonstrated from the literary works of Isaiah, that it does not make a claim of monotheism at all, but rather it chastises Israel and Israel alone, for worshiping the gods of the gentiles, and calls them back to their allegiance to Yahweh. The Hebrew view of Yahweh is that he is the God of gods, and that Israel is to worship and serve him alone as their god.
Bibliography:
Davidson, Benjamin. The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon. London: Samuel Bagster & Sons LTD, 1967.
Heiser, Michael. "Monotheism, Polytheism, Monolatry, or Henotheism? Toward and Assessment of Divine Plurality in the Hebrew Bible." Bulletin for Biblical Research, January 1, 2008: 1-30.
Machinist, Peter. "Once More: Monotheism in Biblical Israel." Journal of the Interdisciplinary Study of Monotheistic Religions, 2005: 155-183.
Smith, Henry Preserved. "Moses and Monotheism." The American Journal of Theology, 1908: 444 - 454.
Smith, Mark S. The early history of God: Yahweh and the other deities in ancient Israel 2nd Edition. Grand Rapids: Win B. Eerdmans Publish Co., 2002.
Wainwright, William. "Monotheism." Stanford Enyclopedia of Philosophy. October 26, 2009. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/monotheism (accessed 4 12, 2012).