But
what about the second half of the statements of Deut 4.35 (אין עוד מלבדו)? Must
the phrasing be construed as a denial of the existence of all other gods except
YHWH? There are several difficulties with this understanding.
First,
similar constructions are used in reference to Babylon and Moab in Isa 47.8, 10
and Nineveh in Zeph 2.15. In Isa 47.8, 10, Babylon says to herself, אני ואפסי עוד
("I am, and there is none else beside me"). The claim is not that she
is the only city in the world but that she has no rival. Nineveh makes
the identical claim in Zeph 2.15 (אני ואפסי עוד). In these instances, these
constructions cannot constitute the denial of the existence of other cities and
nations. The point being made is very obviously incomparability.
Second,
מלבדו and other related forms, (לבד, לבדו) need not mean "alone" in
some exclusive sense. That is, a single person in a group could be highlighted
or focused upon. 1 Kgs 18.1-6 is an example. The passage deals with the end of
the three-year drought and famine during the career of Elijah. After meeting
with Elijah, Ahab calls Obadiah, the steward of his house, and together they
set upon a course of action to find grass to save their remaining horses and
mules. Verse 6a then reads: אחאב הלך בדרך אחד לבדו ועבדיהו הלך בדרך־אחד לבדו
("Ahab went one way by himself [לבדו], and Obadiah went another way by
himself [לבדו]"). While it may be possible to suggest that Obadiah
literally went through the land completely unaccompanied in his search, it is
preposterous to say that the king of Israel went completely alone to look for
grass, without bodyguards or servants. The point is that לבדו (and by extension
מלבדו) need not refer to complete isolation or solitary presence. Another
example is Ps 51.6 [Eng., 51.4], which reads in part: לך לבדך חטאתי
("against you, you alone, I have sinned"). God was not the only
person against whom David had sinned. He had sinned against his wife and
certainly Uriah. This is obviously heightened rhetoric designed to highlight
the One who had been primarily offended. It was God against whom David's
offense was incomparable. (Michael S. Heiser, "Does Deuteronomy 32:17 Assume or Deny the Reality of Other Gods?," The Bible Translator
59, no. 3 [July 2008]: 144-45)
