Twilight of the Gods: Polytheism in the Hebrew BibleWestminster 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. |
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... note , " Graeco - Roman Jews seem to have been quite ready to accommo- date various divine beings .... Part of the problem in estimating what Jews made of heavenly beings other than God ' ontologically ' is that scholars tend to employ ...
... notes , " We are left with the uncom- fortable sense that something has gone wrong " ( Bergen 1992 , 130 ) . Some interpreters , such as Philip Stern , claim that the wrath belongs to Yahweh alone . Stern argues that it could not be the ...
... note the scorched - earth policy of Jehoram as he swept through the Moabite countryside : " The cities they overturned , and on every good piece of land everyone threw a stone , until it was covered ; every spring of water they stopped ...
... notes the sense of halfhearted loyalty and bitter disappointment on the part of Jehoram , who tried to serve Yahweh . It certainly compares unfa- vorably to the fiery - hot devotion of King Mesha of Moab , who did not spare his own son ...
... note that not all among the Israelite writers and storytellers subscribe to simple monotheism . At least some of the accounts represent a different point of view , and this in itself implies a plurality of positions within ancient ...
Cuprins
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 |