Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Irene Riegner <iriegner AT concentric.net>]

 Dear List People,

The specific issue is  the phrase <sons of El >, among whom, according
to this translation, is Yahweh.

The NRSV translate this verse thus:

Deut 32:8  When the Most High apportioned the nations, when he divided
humankind, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the
number of the gods;

The NJPS translates as follows:
When the Most High gave nations their homes
And set the divisions of man,
He fixed the boundaries of peoples
In relation to Israel's numbers,
For the Lord's [Yahweh's] portion is his people....

The disputed lines are :

a.  he fixed their bounds according to the number of the sons of El /
number
    of gods,
b.  He fixed the boundaries of peoples, In relation to Israel's numbers,


The NJPS says nothing about the sons of El / gods.  Nor does the
Hebrew.  This reading with "El /gods" is based on an emendation of the
text.  A fairly literal rendering of the Hebrew:

    He set the boundaries of the peoples, " lmspr " of the sons of
Israel

I'm not sure how to translate "lmspr" in this context but "bny ysr)l"
means Israelites and not sons of El.  The LXX says "according to the
number of angels of god," "aggelwn theos."  BHS notes that an Old Latin
version, the Syrohexaplaris also used this and that these versions
"correct" what the editors of BHS assumed was the original, "sons of El
[  )l  ]," or sons of Elim  [  )lym  ].  If "sons of El" or "sons of the
gods" is correct, then "he fixed their bounds according to the number of
sons of El / gods" would certainly make sense.  Before accepting this
emendation, I would need to know the reason behind the emandation.

However, Dt 4.19 says that "Yahweh, your god," apportioned the sun, moon
and stars to other people to worship.  "Your god" functions as an
appositive to YHVH and represents a category called "god."  Yahwh is one
member among other, unnamed members.  No creator god, like El, is
mentioned as having sired these other members.  One could draw the
implication that Yahweh, as the creator of the sun, moon, etc.,  not
only controls these heavenly bodies and thus the gods whom the other
nations worship but also is the only "real" member in the category
"gods."  However, we don't know if, at the point this was written,
Yahweh had assimilated the creator function since it is not explicit but
implicit in Dt 4.19---Yahweh, your god assigned
[ xlq ] them (sun, moon, stars, etc) to all the peoples.......   On the
other hand if Yahweh in Dt 32.8 is indeed a son of El or of unnamed
gods, Yaweh did not yet function as a creator god.  In vss 10-14, the
deity found [  mc)  ] and rescued Israel but did not create her.   Even
vs 18 is not as clear cut as the translations suggest.

        Dt 32.18:  the rock of your birthing,  you ?? [  t$' ]
                            and you forgot the god [  )l  ]  of your
writhing or birthing

 The verb form t$y, has the stem $yh .  It's a hapax legomenon,
appearing only in this verse;  thus its  meaning is uncertain.  NRSV
translates it "unmindful"  and the NJPS, "neglected."  However, vs 18a
is hardly a literal description of Israel's birth----rocks don't give
birth---so that we can't use this to conclude that Yahweh was a cosmic
creator god.   Even vs. 18b is not clear about Yahweh's creative
endeavor vis-a-vis Israel.   "xwl" generally means to whirl or writhe
but in the po'lel, the form used in vs 18b, it means "to writhe in
travail with, bear, bring forth."  Vs 18b, however, is not explicit
about role of  the deity in this birthing process or what it
meant---does it refer to the rescue in the desert, the coming out of
egypt, the giving of law or to actual human creation.  The first group
does not require a creator god but only a god who has been assigned to
care for them.  The choice of "xwl" is interesting since the usual word
meaning "to bear" is "yld" and this wasn't used.

On the other hand v. 39 does suggest a crestor function for Yaweh.

Where does this leave me?  I'm not sure.   Dt is not dealing with the
question of whether Yaweh is the only god or whether Yahweh is one god
among many.  Dt is not philosophical;  it's import is supposed to be
practical---how to insure the prosperity of Judah and how to explain and
prevent destructive encounters with the surrounding nations.  Dt. is
moving towards the position  where Yahweh is not only the most powerful
god but also the only god and thus a creator god, but it does not fully
articulate this position.  It's incidental to Dt's interests and does
not become paramount until Isaiah of the exile, whom we should probably
read in connection with Gen 1. Thus, in Dt., we receive mixed messages
on this issue.

irene riegner