Confidence in YHWH’s superior
power is also reflected in the many biblical narratives built around the theme
of competition between YHWH and his competitors [55]. This rivalry is in particular
the central motif of the story of the Exodus from Egypt, perhaps the most
important biblical narrative of all. The story begins with Pharaoh’s contemptuous
remark that he does not even know who YHWH is (Exod 5:2) and the repeatedly
stated purpose of the plagues that follow is that the Egyptians should learn
from them “that I am the LORD” (Exod 7:5; 8:18; 14:18) or that “there is none
like the LORD our god” (Exod 8:6). The Egyptian magicians, surrogates for YHWH’s
Egyptian rivals, eventually absorb this painful lesson; at first (7:10-12) they
can match without difficulty the tricks that Moses and Aaron perform, but
finally, with the plague of lice (8:14), they can no longer keep up with the
growing challenge. The theme is ceaselessly reiterated. The triumphal song of
Moses explicitly denies (15:11) that there is any like YHWH “among the gods” [56],
YHWH’s actions in Egypt are twice (Exod 12:12; Num 33:4) described as his execution
of judgment against the gods of Egypt [57], and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law,
reacts to Moses’ recounting of his adventures by saying that “now” he knows
that YHWH is greater than all the gods (Exod 18:11). This last instance, with its
acknowledgement by a non-Israelite listener of YHWH’s invincible power, serves
to confirm that the Exodus established the superiority of Israel’s god from its
very emergence as a nation [58].
Such constant
denigration of other gods’ potency eventually comes to sound like a refusal to
consider them gods at all; deeply inferior to YHWH, they are unworthy of being
placed with him in the same category at all [59]. Several texts skirt the line
between belittling the gods of the nations and rejecting their divinity
altogether. A key phrase in the Exodus story (Exod 9:14, 16) can be understood
to claim that there is none like YHWH either “in the land” (that is , the land
of Egypt) or “in the earth” (that is, the whole world). A similar ambiguity
attends to the Chronicler’s report that a prophet in the days of King Asa
(early ninth century BCE) rebuked Israel for going too long without “the [or a]
true god” (‘elohei ‘emet; 2 Chr 15:3). At the time of the Chronicler
this charge would presumably have reflected the belief that all gods other than
YHWH is “true” to his followers in a way that other gods cannot be trusted to
duplicate [60]. Also to be noted in this connection is the claim that “the gods
of the nations are idols but the LORD made the heavens” (Ps 96:4-5 = 1 Chr
16:25-26; Ps 97:7) and Jeremiah’s frequent designation of YHWH’s rivals as “no-gods”
(Jer 2:11; 5:7; 16:20) [61]. (Robert Goldenberg, The Nations that Knew Thee
Not: Ancient Jewish Attitudes Towards Other Religions [Sheffield: Sheffield
Academic Press, 1997], 20-21 [notes found on pp. 117-19])
Notes for the Above
[55] McKenzie (1968),
lxiv-lxv denies the reality of such competition. Writing of Israel prior to the
time of Second Isaiah, he claims that during this earlier period
Israel was
monotheistic in the sense not only that it worshiped no god but Yahweh, but
that it took no account of any other god. Earlier books of the Old Testament do
not reflect an idea of Yahweh as a god who is stronger than his competitors;
Yahweh has no competitors. The absence of any explicit denials of the reality
of other gods implies that their reality was not accepted even as working
hypothesis. The cult of other gods is rejected in the Old Testament not only as
an offense to Yahweh, but as an irrational action.
The present chapter,
however, is full of evidence refuting this position. McKenzie’s final assertion
is correct, but for reasons precisely opposite the ones he proposes. This
competition between YHWH and his rivals was often indistinguishable from that
of the Israelites themselves with their neighbors.
[56] Modern
translations of this verse vary widely. Most recent Christian translations (RSV,
NED, REB, etc.) translate ‘elim literally,
as in the text here. The new Jewish Publication Society translation, however,
has “among the celestials,” with “the mighty” in a footnote as an alternate.
According to Sarna )1989), 79, in the JPS commentary that now accompanies this
translation, “it needs to be emphasized that [the term] cannot be interpreted
literally to imply recognition of the existence of divinities other than the
one God,” but the issue throughout the Exodus story is not the existence of
other gods but their impotence, an issue that entirely loses its sing of the
other gods are not even real. Speaking of this same passage, Levenson (1985), 59
correctly observes that “one can deny the reality of the other gods [in this
context] only by depriving a moving hymn of its power”; only extrinsic theological
considerations might justify such a move. See his further comments on 60.
Without explaining the difference, in Ps 29:1; 89:7-9; 138:1; and Job 1:6 the
new JPS translation more forthrightly renders similar phrases as “divine
beings.”
[57] The prophet
Ezekiel, using the same phrase, repeatedly speaks of YHWH’s executing judgment,
but always against human evildoers, never against their gods. See Ezek 5:10,
15; 11:9; 16:41; 25:11; 28:22, 26; 30:14, 19. In the last-cited chapter,
however, he does not include the destruction of the gods of Egypt as one of the
features of a general devastation of Egypt that the Babylonians will shortly
unleash.
[58] The picture of a
foreigner learning and openly acknowledging the power of Israel’s god is central
as well to some of the stories in Daniel, the latest book in the Hebrew caon;
see in particularly the unfolding of the stories in Daniel 3 and 6, and note
the probably contemporary story of Heliodorus in 2 Macc 3:35-36. This theme
clearly reappears as well in Jeremiah’s taunting invitation to the worshipers of
other gods to rely if they wish on their powers to save (Jer 2:27028; see also
Isa 42:17), and see the previous discussion of the stories of Rahab and Naaman.
Two other texts,
however, are less certain in their meaning. In YHWH’s confident assurance (Isa
42:8) that he will never “yield [his] glory to another,” the intention may be
to reassure Israel that YHWH will never let the nation worshiping) another god
overcome them, but one cannot be certain of this interpretation; Kaufmann and
others going back as far as Kimhi have
preferred to read the verse as expressing YHWH’s refusal to share the exalted
title “god” with any other. Similarly, Mic 5:13[14] connects YHWH’s impending
removal of Israel’s pagan shrines with the destruction of her cities, as though
Israel’s reliance on other deities had caused the withdrawal of his protection,
but there is widespread agreement (see the commentaries) that the text requires
emendation in a manner that removes this link. . . .
Philo of Alexandria
that the biblical passages comparing YHWH to the other gods by implication
recognize those gods’ existence and legitimize their worship; for this reason
he called Jethro a blasphemer for daring to compare the incomparable (Ebr.
43). This problem is not obviated by the mocking tone such passages normally
adopt; they still call the idols “gods,” their clergy “priests,” and so on . .
.
[59] On this link
between the “need to discredit the gods” and the denial of their existence, see
also Levenson (1985), 67.
[60] The latter
meaning is almost certainly intended in Isa 65:16, which calls YHWH “true gods”
(‘elohei amen), apparently in the sense that YHWH’s word can safely be
affirmed. See also 1 kgs 8:23 = 2 Chr 6:14 (Solomon’s dedication of the Temple
in Jerusalem), Amos 2:4 (the people of Judah are said to have despised the
Instruction of YHWH and allowed themselves to be misled by their “delusions” or
“deceptions” instead) . . .
[61] See also Jer
3:9; Hab 2:18-19; Ps 115:4-8; 135:1, 5-18. The latter texts connect the lifelessness
of pagan cult objects to the futility of relying on pagan deities. Noting that
Deut 32:21 calls YHWH’s rivals “no-gods” and Israel’s rivals “no-peoples,”
Levenson (1975), 215n7 observes that neither designation denies the actual existence
of the entity so described: “they are illegitimate, but still extant.” Levenson
does acknowledge (ibid.) that passages elsewhere in Deuteronomy “deny . . . the
reality of other divine personalities” altogether.
