{"id":308,"date":"2012-01-23T14:40:13","date_gmt":"2012-01-23T03:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/?p=308"},"modified":"2012-01-23T14:40:13","modified_gmt":"2012-01-23T03:40:13","slug":"deut-328-9-and-the-ancient-israelite-pantheon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/?p=308","title":{"rendered":"deut 32:8\u20139 and the ancient israelite pantheon?"},"content":{"rendered":"

During a recent online debate the question of the meaning of Deut 32:8\u20139 was raised as evidence of the Bible’s affirmation of polytheism and the subordinate status of the God of Israel, Yhwh. The essence of the claim is that the version of this passage preserved in the DSS identifies El Elyon as head of a pantheon who assigns nations to various subordinate deities, and Israel is assigned to Yhwh in this process.<\/p>\n

The argument rests upon the alternate reading found in a fragment from cave 4 at Qumran (4Q37 or 4QDeutj<\/sup>).1<\/sup> This fragment only preserves a few words from these verses.<\/p>\n


\nHere’s a diagram which illustrates the extent of the relevant fragment of 4QDeutj<\/sup> (i.e. 4Q37):
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The MT reads as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n
\n

When Elyon gave the nations an inheritance,2<\/sup>
\nWhen he scattered the sons of man,
\nHe established the borders of the nations,
\nAccording to the number of the sons of Israel<\/em>.
\nBut the portion of Yhwh is his people,
\nJacob is the scope of his inheritance.\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u05d1\u05d4\u05e0\u05d7\u05dc \u05e2\u05dc\u05d9\u05d5\u05df \u05d2\u05d5\u05d9\u05dd
\n\u05d1\u05d4\u05e4\u05e8\u05d9\u05d3\u05d5 \u05d1\u05e0\u05d9 \u05d0\u05d3\u05dd
\n\u05d9\u05e6\u05d1 \u05d2\u05d1\u05dc\u05ea \u05e2\u05de\u05d9\u05dd
\n\u05dc\u05de\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05d1\u05e0\u05d9 \u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc
\n\u05db\u05d9 \u05d7\u05dc\u05e7 \u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d4 \u05e2\u05de\u05d5
\n\u05d9\u05e2\u05e7\u05d1 \u05d7\u05d1\u05dc \u05e0\u05d7\u05dc\u05ea\u05d5\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

The different reading of 4Q37 is this (only the italicised line above is preserved with any differences, so only that line is reproduced below):<\/p>\n\n\n
\n

According to the number of the sons of God<\/em>.\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n\u05dc\u05de\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05d1\u05e0\u05d9 \u05d0\u05dc\u05d5\u05d4\u05d9\u05dd\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Scholars generally agree that this latter is the superior reading. For one it is reflected in the LXX (for which various manuscripts read either \u1f00\u03b3\u03b3\u03ad\u03bb\u03c9\u03bd \u03b8\u03b5\u03bf\u1fe6 or \u03c5\u1f31\u03bf\u1f76 \u03b8\u03b5\u03bf\u1fe6 [cf. Dt 32:43]).<\/p>\n

There are essentially two issues raised in discussion of this passage:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The expression \u05d1\u05e0\u05d9 \u05d0\u05dc\u05d5\u05d4\u05d9\u05dd refers to a pantheon which reflects an earlier stage in Israelite religion, and<\/li>\n
  2. The text indicates that the chief god, usually identified as \u02beEl \u02bfely\u00f4n<\/em> on the basis of verse 8’s use of \u05e2\u05dc\u05d9\u05d5\u05df, assigned nations to various subordinate deities and that Yhwh chosen from among those deities and assigned to Israel.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Ultimately, however, there are too many problems with both of these claims for them to be viable.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. There are a number of references to sons of God in the OT. A singular “son” of God is a designation for God’s appointed human king (e.g. Ps 2:7). Plural sons appears to refer to the members of a divine court, presumably angelic beings but certainly not “gods” (e.g. Gen 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7).\n

      One particularly interesting text is Ps 82:6 which reads:<\/p>\n

      \n

      \u200f\u05d0\u05e0\u05d9 \u05d0\u05de\u05e8\u05ea\u05d9 \u05d0\u05dc\u05d4\u05d9\u05dd \u05d0\u05ea\u05dd
      \n\u05d5\u05d1\u05e0\u05d9 \u05e2\u05dc\u05d9\u05d5\u05df \u05db\u05dc\u05db\u05dd<\/p>\n

      I said, “You are gods,
      \nand sons of \u02bfely\u00f4n<\/em> are you all!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      The gods (\u05d0\u05dc\u05d4\u05d9\u05dd, \u02beel\u014dh\u00eem<\/em>) who are sons of \u05e2\u05dc\u05d9\u05d5\u05df, \u02bfely\u00f4n<\/em>, here are clearly human beings \u2014\u00a0albeit rulers.\n<\/li>\n

    2. The term \u05e2\u05dc\u05d9\u05d5\u05df (\u02bfely\u00f4n<\/em>) is used as an epithet in the ancient Near East for quite a number of deities, and elsewhere in the Old Testament (and, indeed, in the new when \u1f55\u03c8\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 is used) it refers to Yhwh. In this way the term itself is relatively generic as a designation for a deity. To claim it must refer to some deity other than Yhwh in Deut 32 fails to recognise this observation.\n

      There is certainly no warrant in any manuscript from the DSS to support the claim that this is a reference to a Canaanite deity named \u02beEl-\u02bfEly\u00f4n since the fragment from the DSS does not even preserve this portion of the text. Futhermore, even this expression, when it does appear, is clearly identified as Yhwh (e.g. Gen 14:22).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Beyond this, understanding \u05e2\u05dc\u05d9\u05d5\u05df \u02bfely\u00f4n<\/em> as an epithet for Yhwh in Deut 32 makes very good sense. The passage functions to exalt Yhwh and his people over the nations. While Yhwh (designated by \u05e2\u05dc\u05d9\u05d5\u05df, \u02bfely\u00f4n<\/em>) apportioned the nations according to the proportions of the heavenly court, he himself retained special ownership of the people of Israel. The passage is poetic and the parallelism aligns \u02bfely\u00f4n<\/em> with Yhwh who has been repeatedly mentioned both before and after verse 8.<\/p>\n

      In the end, the claims that this passage, read through the light of the fragments from the DSS, preserves evidence of an earlier stage in the religion of the OT, can only be maintained if one ignores the context and reads much into the text.<\/p>\n

      \nFurther reading:<\/p>\n

      Heiser, Michael S., “Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God,” Bibliotheca Sacra<\/em> 158 (Jan\u2013Mar 2001) 52\u201374.<\/p>\n

      \nFootnotes:
      \n
      \n1. The reading is also supported by 4QDtq<\/sup>, although that fragment preserves even less of the text itself, i.e. only \u05d1\u05e0\u05d9 \u05d0\u05dc, making it unclear whether it included the plural form \u05d0\u05dc\u05d5\u05d4\u05d9\u05dd.<\/p>\n

      2. Most English versions read something like “when the Most High gave the nations their inheritance” (NASB). The Hebrew is a little less clear. There’s no “their” in the Hebrew and the hiphil of \u05e0\u05d7\u05dc usually means “to give as<\/em> an inheritance” with a double accusative. Consequently it would be possible to render the Hebrew as “gave the nations as an inheritance” or “gave the nations an inheritance.” The LXX supports the English translations with its “\u1f45\u03c4\u03b5 \u03b4\u03b9\u03b5\u03bc\u03ad\u03c1\u03b9\u03b6\u03b5\u03bd \u1f41 \u1f55\u03c8\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f14\u03b8\u03bd\u03b7.”
      \n<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      During a recent online debate the question of the meaning of Deut 32:8\u20139 was raised as evidence of the Bible’s affirmation of polytheism and the subordinate status of the God of Israel, Yhwh. The essence of the claim is that the version of this passage preserved in the DSS identifies El Elyon as head of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,35,37,25,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-dead-sea-scrolls","category-deuteronomy","category-hebrew","category-old-testament"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.shields-online.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}