LDS apologist, James Stutz, has a very enlightening post on the rhetoric of Isaiah 40-47 and the supremacy of
Yahweh in light of Isa 47:8, 10 and the phrase, “none else beside me” written
in reference to Babylon. One could add other instances, such as the following:
All
nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than
nothing, and vanity. (Isa 40:17)
The Hebrew locution, "as
nothing" translates כְּאַיִן, which is rendered correctly by the KJV (an alternative
translation would be like/as nought [cf. the NASB; 1985 JPS Tanakh]). The same
locution appears in Isa 41:11:
Behold,
all they that were incensed against thee shall be shamed and confounded: they
shall be as nothing (כְאַיִן); and they that strive with thee shall perish.
Of course, this is a statement of the
supremacy of Yahweh, not the denial of the ontological existence of nations
apart from Israel.
In Isa 40:23, we read:
That
bringeth the princes to nothing; he makes the judges of the earth as vanity.
Again, the term often translated as
"nothing" or "nought" (Heb: אַיִן) is coupled with a pre-fixed preposition, in this instance, לְ ( לְאָיִן ). Again,
the supremacy of Yahweh (and national Israel) is in view here, not the denial
of the ontological existence of the princes in this verse who, obviously, have
real existence, not imagined.
The term אַיִן often means "insufficient" or impotent, even in
"Deutero-Isaiah" (Isa 40-47). Note the following:
And
Lebanon is not sufficient (אַיִן) to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient (אַיִן) for a burnt offering.
(Isa 40:16)
Again, the impotency of Yahweh's (and
Israel's) enemies are in view here; not a denial of their ontological
existence.
To quote Daniel McClellan (who, in turn is
paraphrasing some of the work of Michael S. Heiser):
Deutero-Isaiah
is not denying the ontological existence of other deities; rather, he is
denying their efficacy and legitimacy. The language used by Deutero-Isaiah and
Deuteronomy (“I am and there is no other,” “there is none beside me,” etc.) is
also used in reference to Babylon, Moab (Isa 47:8, 10), and Nineveh (Zeph
2:15). The vernacular is placed in the mouths of Israel’s opponents, but the
point is clear: these cities are not denying the existence of other cities, but
rather that they are at all relevant in comparison (see Ps 89:6 and Isa 40:25).
Deuteronomy 32 provides further indication that this is the correct reading. In
v. 21 YHWH states, “They made me jealous with a non-god (בלא־אל) . . . so I will make them jealous with a non-people (בלא־עם).” The nation being
referenced (Assyria-Babylon) is not one that does not exist, but one that is
inconsequential in the eyes of YHWH. That this is part of the same propaganda
is supported by v. 39 (ואין אלהים עמדי) and by Isa 40:17: “All the nations are as nothing (כאין) before him, he
considers them as less than nothing (מאפס) and deserted (ותהו).”
That
the authors of this rhetoric in no way deny the existence of other deities is
also made clear by the proximity of explicit mentions of other gods. Deut
32:8–9 and 43, for instance, mention the sons of El and command “all the gods”
to bow before YHWH, respectively. In Deut 4:19 the gods of the nations are
explicitly said to have been established by YHWH for the worship of the people
of those nations. Divine council imagery is also present in Isaiah 40 and 45.
Evangelical critics of LDS theology
are guilty of eisegesis when they claim texts such as Isa 44:6, 8 refute
Latter-day Saint theology on the “number” of God.
Suggested Reading
Mark S. Smith, The Origins of
Biblical Monotheism: Israel’s Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts
Nathan McDonald, Deuteronomy and
the Meaning of "Monotheism"
Blake T. Ostler, Of God and Gods