List Books » The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts
Authors: Mark S. Smith
ISBN-13: 9780195167689, ISBN-10: 0195167686
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date Published: September 2003
Edition: 1st Edition
Mark S. Smith is Skirball Professor of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at New York University. His publications include The Pilgrimage Pattern in Exodus (1997), The Ugaritic Baal Cycle (1994), The Early History of God (1990), as well as several other books on the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and West Semitic mythology and literature.
According to the Bible, ancient Israel's neighbors worshipped a wide variety of gods. In recent years, scholars have sought a better understanding of this early polytheistic mileu and its relation to Yahweh, the God of Israel. Drawing on ancient Ugaritic texts and looking closely at Ugaritic deities, Mark Smith examines the meaning of "divinity" in the ancient near East and considers how this concept applies to Yahweh.
Abbreviations, Terms, and Sigla | ||
Introduction | 3 | |
Pt. I | The Structures of Divinity | |
1 | Anthropomorphic Deities and Divine Monsters | 27 |
2 | The Divine Council | 41 |
3 | The Divine Family | 54 |
4 | Pluralities, Pairings, and Other Divine Relations | 67 |
Pt. II | Characteristics of Divinity | |
5 | The Traits of Deities | 83 |
6 | The Life and Death of Baal | 104 |
Pt. III | The Origins of Monotheism in the Bible | |
7 | El, Yahweh, and the Original God of IsraEL and the Exodus | 135 |
8 | The Emergence of Monotheistic Rhetoric in Ancient Judah | 149 |
9 | The Formation of Monotheistic Theologies in Biblical Literature | 167 |
10 | Monotheism in Isaiah 40-55 | 179 |
Notes | 195 | |
Indexes of Texts | 303 | |
Index of Subjects | 311 |