Monotheism and Monolatry

This post will follow from a topic mentioned briefly in the previous post: Monotheism in Israel. There is a difference between the term Monotheism, and Monolatry. Monotheism being the belief that there is only one God, and denying the very existance of any other god. Monolatry being the worship of one god, but not denying the existance of other gods. This seems to be the case in early Israelite religion. I will be discussing a variety of texts and why I think they demonstrate a Monolatry within the Israelite religion, as opposed to Monotheism.

The first passage we will look at is Deuteronomy 32:8-9

When the Most High ('elyon) gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated humanity, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of divine beings (sons of god). For Yahweh's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.

The masoretic texts read bene yisra'el, which would translate as the "sons of Israel". The Qumran texts read bene 'lhym, which would translate as "sons of god" or divine beings. As the Qumran texts are the oldest, we will be using them for this translation.

Each nation in Israel, and really in the Ancient Near East as a whole, had its own deity. Here we see that the nations are divided up by 'elyon, the highest god, and Yahweh is given Israel. 'elyon is very likely the cannanite god El.

Next is Joshua 22:22.


22"The Mighty One, God, the LORD, the Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows, and may Israel itself know. If it was in rebellion, or if in an unfaithful act against the LORD do not save us this day!

What we are mainly interested in is the first line. The Hebrew text reads:
'el 'elohim yhwh 'el 'elohim yhwh
This would literally translate "God of gods, Yahweh. God of gods, Yahweh." This gives a definite feeling that Yahweh is the main god of many other gods. It does not deny the existance of other gods, but merely places Yahweh on a higher level to other gods. The translation above, seems to push this aspect under the carpet.

Now, in the ten commandments we see again an example of Monolatry in Exodus 20:1-3.

And God spoke all these words: I am the Lord (Yahweh) your God ('el), who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.

This verse again denotes that Yahweh is Israel's God, and that there are indeed other gods out there to be worshipped, but that they should worship him alone.

Here are a couple more that speak for themselves.

Exodus 15:11
Who is like You among the gods, O LORD (Yahweh)? Who is like You, majestic in holiness

Exodus 18:11
"Now I know that the LORD (Yahweh) is greater than all the gods; indeed, it was proven when they dealt proudly against the people."

Something that one notices too, is that in our english translations of the Hebrew text, Yahweh is translated as "the Lord," when really it is more of a name for the God the Hebrews worshipped. So, if one reads "the Lord" as Yahweh, it greatly changes the meaning, or the overtones of the text.

We have then seen that monotheism was not really a practice among the Hebrews, rather Monolatry. This has great implications for Christianity, as most Christians believe that the Bible teaches monotheism throughout. However, the belief structure that is taught in the beginning of the Bible, is not the same as what is taught later on. The religion of the Hebrews during their wanderings in the wilderness, was not the same as their religion in the Exile. Their theology and thought changed. This idea of Monotheism vs. Monolatry is one example of the changing religion of the Hebrews.

On another little side note, in the same way, the Christianity that we have today, that we believe to be the one true Christianity, is not the same as the Christianity that existed 100 years ago, or 1000 years ago, or even at the time of Christ. The Bible itself displays an evolving, changing religion. One that reflects the culture that it was in at the current time. Christianity is an evolving religion, one that changes to meet the needs of the current culture. This is why, I believe, that it has survived for so long.