The Origins of Biblical Monotheism
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"This is an important work which will alter the perspectives of many."--The Bible Today
"Not only is the text wide-ranging and insightful at every turn, but it is greatly complemented by the endnotes, which resume arguments, develop tangential aspects, and offer a massive bibliography for further exploration."--Journal of Near Eastern Studies
"Brilliant, well-documented, well-organized, and very discomforting. Biblical scholars now recognize that in the pre-exilic era Asherah worship, infant sacrifice, solar veneration, and other religious practices attacked by biblical authors represented normal Israelite worship, while monotheism was a late development in the Babylonian Exile and subsequent years. Smith and others led the charge in this new scholarly perception of Israelite religion. But with this volume Smith has thrown down a gauntlet to challenge our understandings even more. Smith has produced a seminal work with which scholars must come to grips for years."--Journal of Hebrew Scriptures
"Not only is the text wide-ranging and insightful at every turn, but it is greatly complemented by the endnotes, which resume arguments, develop tangential aspects, and offer a massive bibliography for further exploration."--Journal of Near Eastern Studies
"Brilliant, well-documented, well-organized, and very discomforting. Biblical scholars now recognize that in the pre-exilic era Asherah worship, infant sacrifice, solar veneration, and other religious practices attacked by biblical authors represented normal Israelite worship, while monotheism was a late development in the Babylonian Exile and subsequent years. Smith and others led the charge in this new scholarly perception of Israelite religion. But with this volume Smith has thrown down a gauntlet to challenge our understandings even more. Smith has produced a seminal work with which scholars must come to grips for years."--Journal of Hebrew Scriptures
Product Description
As the bible tells us, ancient Israel's neighbours worshipped a wide variety of gods. It is now widely accepted that the Israelites' God, Yahweh, must have originated as one among these many, before assuming the role of the one true God of monotheism. Mark Smith here seeks to discover more precisely what was meant by "divinity" in the ancient near-East, and how these concepts apply to Yahweh. Part One of the book offers a detailed examination of the deities of ancient Ugarit, known to us from the largest surviving group of relevant extra-biblical texts. In Part Two, Smith looks closely at four classic problems associated with four Ugaritic deities, and considers how they affect our understanding of Yahweh. At the end of the book he returns to the question of Israelite monotheism, seeking to discover what religious issues it addressed and why it made sense at the time of its emergence. He argues that within the Bible, monotheism is not a separate "stage" of religion but rather represents a kind of rhetoric reinforcing Israel's exclusive relation with its deity.
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What do Ugaritic texts and iconography tell us about the representation of divinity? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
What do Ugaritic texts and iconography tell us about the representation of divinity? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you want to get a grip on what on earth the Old Testament is talking about then this is a good place to start. It examines the texts unearthed at Ugarit which pre date the Bible.It looks at the similarities in what the Canaanites of Ugarit believed about the gods and what the writers of the Old Testament believed. This will give an appreciation of the realities that people in the Ancient Near East really did believe in El& Athirat, Yahweh& Asherah, Baal& Anat, etc . Yes, they had Mr &Mrs god back then,how else can you get sons of god?The Canaanites at Ugarit envisioned a pantheon/family tree of gods and really did have sculptures as a focus for their worship to the corresponding god in heaven. Probably most didn't think the sculpture was the god , just as the Hebrews didn't think the tabernacle was God. At Ugarit the people thought Baal was in control of the thunder& lightning & rains that fell at the end of the long hot summer which were crucial to the following growing season. Baal had to be appeased to get plenty of rain.
This book is a time machine back to 1350 BCE
This book is a time machine back to 1350 BCE
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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9 reviews
110 of 115 people found the following review helpful
A Scholarly Tour De Force
10 May 2003
Format:Hardcover
If you have read Smith's "Early History of God" and been intrigued by his conception of the development of our notion of God during the Biblical period, "The Origins Of Monotheism" delivers a significantly more detailed analysis of the ancient Bronze Age texts from Ugarit and their influence on the culture of ancient Palestine in general, and Biblical texts in particular. Mr. Smith examines conceptions of the divine family and council of the gods, more general notions of ancient aspects of divinity, and the roles of various divinity. Especially insightful is his critique of James Frazier's category of "dying and rising" gods in the Near East. In his analysis of Isaiah, he gives considerable background into Mesopotamian views on the divinity of statues of gods, whithout prejudice. There is a lot more than I can list here in this book, but if you're interested in how the idea of one, all-powerful god came about, this is really essential reading.
25 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Good Presentation
23 Aug 2007
Format:Paperback
Mark Smith has arranged his materials such that his critiques are easy to follow with the aid of a tanach [I don't have an Ugaritic text]. Thought provoking and thorough. Smith tells you the relative probabilities of different critical hypothesis' & it is apparent when he is positing his own opinions.
I especially like the way Smith's approach opens up tanach as a text with a context familiar to contemporaneous West Asians.
This is not a quick read. The citations in the manuscript as well as the footnotes are worth following up if possible.
It is especially helpful if one knows hebrew language. The hebrew letters are transliterated into a roman alphabet which means you've got to retranslate from the roman letters into the hebrew letters in order to realize the shoreshim [roots of the word meanings]...a minor irritant.
I highly recommend this book for those with an interest in tanach in particular or West Asian religions in general.
I especially like the way Smith's approach opens up tanach as a text with a context familiar to contemporaneous West Asians.
This is not a quick read. The citations in the manuscript as well as the footnotes are worth following up if possible.
It is especially helpful if one knows hebrew language. The hebrew letters are transliterated into a roman alphabet which means you've got to retranslate from the roman letters into the hebrew letters in order to realize the shoreshim [roots of the word meanings]...a minor irritant.
I highly recommend this book for those with an interest in tanach in particular or West Asian religions in general.
41 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Scholars Dream
4 Jan 2006
Format:Paperback
This is an excellently documented book, written by a true scholar. All assertions are documented, and when the author makes an assertion, any contrary evidence is disclosed as well.
This book examines the the Ugaritic pantheon and how it relates to pre-exilic Hebrew religion.
This book examines the the Ugaritic pantheon and how it relates to pre-exilic Hebrew religion.
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