Twilight of the Gods: Polytheism in the Hebrew Bible

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Westminster John Knox Press, 1 ian. 2005 - 108 pagini

Since the middle of the twentieth century, one of biblical scholarship's chief assumptions has been that ancient Israel evolved out of the polytheism of surrounding cultures into an ethical monotheism. However, this consensus has fallen apart in recent years. Scholars now know that early Israel was surrounded by a very polytheistic culture and that many Israelites thought of Yahweh as the chief God among many gods. Furthermore, archaeology has shown that Yahweh was worshiped along with other gods throughout the period after the exile, when many shrines were in honor of "Yahweh and his Asherah." David Penchansky's Twilight of the Gods is the first accessible book that shows a historical Israel where polytheism and monotheism existed simultaneously in great conflict. He provides a historical introduction, followed by close readings of key Old Testament passages, where he demonstrates how to interpret difficult biblical texts that depict other gods or claim Yahweh is the only God within this new understanding of Israelite religion.

Din interiorul cărții

Pagini selectate

Cuprins

The Wrath of Chemosh When Yahweh Lost a War
3
Miqreh Happenstance in Ancient Israel
13
Benê Elōbîm The Divine Council
23
The Dissolution of the Divine Council
33
AntiIdol Polemic An Attack on the Gods of Israel
41
The Goddesses of Ancient Israel
49
Lady Zion The Beautiful Goddess
67
Asherah and Archaeology
75
Conclusion
91
Index of Scripture
101
Drept de autor

Termeni și expresii frecvente

Pasaje populare

Pagina 69 - Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
Pagina 70 - Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.
Pagina 74 - Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy! Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, "Raze it, raze it! Down to its foundations!
Pagina 13 - And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth-shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us.
Pagina 52 - Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water, before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth...
Pagina 49 - So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Pagina 29 - And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.
Pagina 57 - And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebu'zarad'an the captain of the guard carried into exile.
Pagina 27 - For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD, 7 a God feared in the council of the holy ones, great and awesomew above all that are around him?
Pagina 52 - The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.

Despre autor (2005)

David Penchansky is Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota.

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