Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter_Kirk AT SIL.ORG]

If Loren defines "monotheism" as a philosophical position, it would be 
most consistent to define "henotheism", "polytheism" etc as 
alternative philosophical positions. In that case I might well 
conclude that there is also no henotheism or polytheism described in 
the Hebrew Bible, either in Israel or amongst her neighbours. For I 
don't find any philosophical positions in the text, and I would not 
expect to as the whole idea is anachronistic: Hebrew thinking was not 
about philosophy but about practical realities.

I do find texts which clearly express a world-view consisting of a 
single eternal creator God YHWH transcendent over the whole earth and 
no other beings more powerful than humans, e.g. Isaiah 40:12-26. If 
Loren want to find something more philosophical than that, I suggest 
he reads Greek authors rather than Hebrew ones.

Peter Kirk