In the Thanksgiving Hymn (1QHa XVIII) from Qumran, we see that the language of “none besides me” (cf. Isa 44:6, 8) does not deny the ontological existence of other beings in the same category (Gods/gods, etc) but instead, a statement of incomparability:
See, you are the
prince of gods and the king of the glorious ones, lord of every spirit, ruler
of every creature. Apart from you nothing happens, and nothing is known without
your will. There is no-one besides you, no-one matches your strength, nothing
equals your glory, there is no price on your might. And who among all your
wonderful great creatures will have the strength to stand before your glory? And
what, then, is someone who returns to his dust, to retain [stren]gth? Only for
your glory have you done all this. (1QHa XVIII 8-12 as found in The
Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, eds. Florentino García Martínez and Eibert
J.C. Tigchelaar [Leiden: Brill, 1997], 1:187; my thanks to my friend Christopher
Davis for pointing this out to me).
Refuting Jeff Durbin on "Mormonism" (exegetes Isa 43:10; 44:6, 8 and other relevant texts such as Gen 20:13 where Abraham states his belief in the ontological existence of plural gods--cf. the Book of Abraham)
