Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter_Kirk AT SIL.ORG]

How do you justify the rendering of ):ELIYLIYM in Psalm 96:5 as 
"godlets"? Surely it is clear, at least in Isaiah 2 and Leviticus, 
that this word means idols made by hand from precious metals, rather 
than any kind of spiritual or supernatural entity. Thus this verse is 
a strong statement of monotheism. The previous verse of course looks 
like henotheism when taken out of context, but verse 5 makes clear how 
it was meant by the psalmist.

And Jephthah was very likely not an Israelite at all, and so cannot be 
taken as an argument for Israelite religion.

None of your evidence has any bearing on the religion of Moses' time, 
which was the point of my posting - except for the monotheism of the 
Ten Commandments which (unlike much of the historical record I grant) 
are explicitly stated as having been written down by Moses (Exodus 
34:28). Surely if anything survived from that early time, it would 
have been those tablet of ten words.

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________
Subject: Re: Historiography and Peter
Author:  yonsaf AT beitberl.beitberl.ac.il at internet
Date:    17/02/1999 02:34


<snip>
Many psalms indicate a henotheistic belief: 29, 95-99, and more. 
"Ascribe ye to YHWH, O ye sons of the gods!"; "Bow down to him, all ye 
gods"; "For all the gods of the Gentiles are but godlets, while YHWH has 
created the heavens!"
In Jud. 11, Jephthah writes the king of Ammon that Chemosh has given the 
Ammonites their land, YHWH has given the Israelites their land, so why 
are you making trouble?
<snip>