Elohim takes his stand in the council of El; he accuses among the gods.
“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the weak and the orphan, give justice to the poor and needy. Rescue the weak and the needy, deliver them from the hand of the wicked. They have neither knowledge nor understanding; they walk around in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.”
“I presumed that you are gods, and all of you sons of the most high. Nevertheless, you will die like men and fall like one of the princes. Arise, Elohim, and judge the earth, for you will inherit all the nations.” (Ps. 82:1-8)
In this psalm, YHWH (called “Elohim” or “God”) is depicted as standing in “the council of El,” which is known from the Ugaritic texts to be a technical term for the group of second-tier deities (El’s children) below the most high god El. [1] This term shares the same connotation in Psalm 82, as we see that the gods of the council are “sons of the most high” (v. 6). But is YHWH conflated with El here, or is he one of El’s sons as in Deuteronomy 32?
Several considerations support the latter view. First, if this were YHWH’s council, it would be more natural to say, “Elohim takes his stand in his council,“ rather than “Elohim takes his stand in El’s council” (v. 1). [2] Furthermore, rather than presiding over El’s council, YHWH is standing in the midst of the council as prosecutor. There’s no precedent in the ancient Near East texts, Israelite or otherwise, for the high god himself acting as prosecutor in his council. [3] YHWH is told, “you will inherit all nations” (qal imperfect; v. 8), which implies that he’s not already ruler of all nations. It’s probable that the speaker changes between YHWH and El from v. 5 to 6. After YHWH denounces the other gods before El, El condemns them to death, and as a consequence, YHWH inherits the nations that his former siblings once ruled. [4] This parallels the Ugaritic “Ba’al Cycle,” where Ba’al is declared to be ruler of the gods after defeating one of them in battle. [3]
The likely setting of this psalm, and the other “psalms of Asaph,” is the exilic period. The “inheritance” of YHWH has been destroyed by the gentiles (Ps. 79:1-4), and his people have been driven from the land of Israel, making it impossible for them to worship YHWH (Ps. 137:1-4; see previous post). The solution is that YHWH must rebuke the other gods for their injustice, take his place as leader of the divine council, and inherit rulership of all nations (Ps. 82). [5]
This transition can also be seen in the redactional history of Deuteronomy. Moses’ speech in Deut. 1:1-4:43 is known to have been written later than the rest of Deuteronomy, probably in the exilic period (but the precise dating doesn’t matter very much). [6] This speech modifies the account of Deut. 32:8-9 by putting YHWH in the place of the most high god, as the one who divided the nations among the gods, and who took Israel as his own possession (4:19-20). It also emphasizes that YHWH himself set the borders of the nations (2:4-5, 9). The Deuteronomistic account of the exile, which must date to the exilic period, also emphasizes YHWH’s sovereignty over the foreign armies that invaded Judah (2 Kgs. 24:2-4, 20), which shows that he was seen as ruler of all nations.
To be sure, I’m not arguing for a linear development of Israelite religion, only that such a development can be seen in the Deuteronomistic literature. The J source of the Pentateuch, belonging to the monarchic period, already conflates YHWH with El, as the “sons of God” (Gen. 6:1-4) are depicted as YHWH’s offspring. [7] The view of YHWH as the leader of the second-tier deities, the “sons of El/God,” is also found in some of the poetic literature of the Hebrew Bible — pre-exilic (Ps. 29:1-2), exilic (Ps. 89:6-7), and post-exilic alike (Job 1:6; 38:7-9). [8] The commandment to have “no other gods before” YHWH, found in the Covenant Code (Exod. 20:3), may mean that El was no longer seen as a separate god. The prophet Hosea, writing in the mid-8th century BC, equated YHWH with El who wrestled Jacob (Hos. 12:2-5). The prophet Isaiah, writing slightly later, saw YHWH as sovereign over all nations including Assyria (Isa. 10:5-12).
The inscriptions at Kuntillet ’Ajrud, dating to the late monarchic period, describe YHWH alongside a consort A/asherah (which may be a proper name or a generic noun), and may conflate YHWH with both El and Ba’al. [9] Thus, the conflation of YHWH with El as the head of the divine council occurred in some Israelite circles by the early monarchic period, and in others possibly as late as the exilic period.
Through the Persian period, the view of YHWH as head of the Israelite pantheon continued in some areas. The Elephantine papyri, belonging to a group of YHWH-worshipping Israelite exiles in Egypt during the 5th century BC, testify to the conflation of YHW with the Aramean high god Bethel. Alongside him, they worshipped his consort Anat-Bethel and their son Eshem-Bethel, making a three-god pantheon out of the divine family. [10] In 408 BC, the Elephantine community petitioned the Judean high priest for help rebuilding their temple of YHW (Elephantine Papyri no. 30), but seemingly never received a response, which suggests a break between the YHW-centered polytheism of Elephantine and the monotheism of the post-exilic Judean community.
YHWH as the only true god
During the exilic period, some of the Judean exiles took the next step of not only seeing YHWH as the highest god and ruler of the pantheon, but as the only one worthy of being called “God” (Heb: elohim). This is most clearly seen in Second Isaiah (2Isa; Isaiah 40-55), a text written toward the end of the exilic period. 2Isa repeatedly says of YHWH that there is no god beside him, that no god was formed before him nor will outlast him, and that there is no one like him (Isa. 43:10-11; 44:6-7; 45:5-7, 14, 18, 21; 46:8-9). The uniqueness of YHWH is tied to his sole creation of the heavens and earth, with no one else beside him (40:12, 21-22; 44:24; 45:12, 18; 48:13; 51:13, 16).
The prophet Jeremiah, writing in the late pre-exilic period, shared a similar view: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens” (Jer. 10:11-12). Both Jeremiah and 2Isa went so far as to say that the idols of the nations have no breath in them, and are not gods at all (Isa. 40:9-22; Jer. 10:2-15; 51:17).
However, none of this rhetoric is unparalleled in the ancient Near East. The statements about no god being beside YHWH, and his creation of the heaven and earth, is very similar to Egyptian and Babylonian statements about the superiority of their own favored gods. [11] Even the rhetoric about the idols of other nations having no breath and being “nothing” is paralleled in the statements of Ashurbanipal and Nabonidus about their enemies’ idols. [12] Furthermore, 2Isa acknowledges the existence of other divine beings, such as the “heavenly hosts” whom YHWH created and commands (40:25-26; 45:12), and the sea monster Rahab whom YHWH defeated (51:9-10). The real innovation of 2Isa is its refusal to call other divine beings “gods/God” (Heb: elohim). [13] Based on this, it should truly be classified as monotheistic, with its belief in only one God.
By the late Persian and Hellenistic periods, monotheism became the hegemonic view in second-Temple Judaism. The other “gods” of the nations, formerly second-tier deities, had been downgraded to mere angels, fourth-tier heavenly beings totally subordinate to the one true God YHWH. This can be seen, for example, in the LXX translation of Deuteronomy 32 into Greek, which downgrades the “sons of God” to “angels of God” and exhorts the angels, not the “gods,” to worship the Lord. [14] The Dead Sea Scrolls, written by the Qumran community in the 2nd-1st centuries BC, frequently refer to “gods” (Heb: elim or elohim), but use this title to refer to angels and lesser spiritual beings, both those subordinate and opposed to God. [15] Like the LXX, the DSS replaces “sons of God” in the Hebrew Bible with “angels of God” (11QtgJob 30:5; 4Q180).
Other second-Temple texts refer to the mythological motif of the most high god dividing the nations among the gods. However, in these texts, the lower gods are “angels” and/or “spirits,” who may be opposed to God and his angels (Dan. 10:20-21), or may have been sent by God to deceive the nations (Jub. 15:31-32) or to punish Israel (1 En. 89:59-60). These angels may overstep their bounds and themselves be punished severely (1 En. 89:61-70; 90:22, 25).
Conclusion
The Hebrew Bible doesn’t present a single, unified view of YHWH’s relationship with the other gods. The history of Israelite religion can be divided into a few stages or groups, starting with the religion of the patriarchs:
- The earliest Israelite religion was worship of the Canaanite high god El, creator of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:17-22; 28:19; 31:13; 33:20; 35:7, 15; 46:3; 49:24-25). This is where the name “Isra-El” (“El contends”) comes from in the first place. The patriarchs never even knew the name “YHWH,” a fact explained in Exodus 6:3.
- YHWH was introduced to Israelite religion, most likely from the south (in the region of Sinai and Edom), some time in the late 2nd millennium BC. Based on the very earliest Israelite texts that we have (preserved in Exodus 15:1-18 and Judges 5:2-31), it appears that YHWH began as a deity associated with storms and war.
- After YHWH was introduced, he was seen as the national god of Israel, and as such subordinate to the high god El who assigned the gods to their nations (Deut. 32:8-9). He could be worshipped only on Israelite soil (1 Sam. 26:16-20; 2 Kgs. 5:15-19; 17:24-28; Ps. 137:1-4), and could be defeated by other national gods like Chemosh in battle (2 Kgs. 3:17-27).
- YHWH was distinguished from the high god El in some circles of Israelite religion until at least the 8th century BC, perhaps as late as the exilic period (if that’s when Psalm 82 was composed). On the other hand, the J source of the Pentateuch, which most likely dates to the monarchic period, clearly conflates YHWH and El. The earliest clearly datable conflation of YHWH with El comes from the prophets of YHWH, Hosea and Isaiah, in the 8th century BC (Isa. 12:1-2; Hos. 12:2-5).
- In the late exilic and post-exilic periods, the status of other divine beings in Israelite religion was degraded from “gods” (second-tier deities) to merely angels (fourth-tier deities), making YHWH into the only true god (Isa. 40-55; LXX; DSS). This final step marks the transition from polytheism to monotheism.
How can we reconcile this with faith in God? Can we do so? I believe it’s possible to be a consistent Christian while also accepting where this evidence leads. Rather than assuming that God directly revealed everything about himself to Israel, we can see the history of Israelite religion as a history of discovery and realization about their god. Perhaps God originally revealed himself to the patriarchs within the framework of their religion, as the most high god El, creator of heaven and earth. He also revealed himself to Israel as YHWH at a later date (the same solution proposed in Exodus 6:3). Some Israelites thought that YHWH, as the god of Israel, was subordinate to El and able to be defeated by other national gods. Others (notably, YHWH’s prophets) saw him as the highest god and the same as El. Finally, with the tragedy of the exile, the Israelites realized that YHWH was completely unique and sovereign over world events.
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[1] Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism, 42-49.
[2] As late as the 1st century BC, it was recognized that “Elohim” and “El” refer to two different figures in Psalm 82:1. However, in order to reconcile it with Jewish monotheism, “Elohim” was reinterpreted as the angelic figure Melchizedek, and “El” was reinterpreted as YHWH himself (11QMelch 2:9-14).
[3] Thom Stark, “The Most Heiser.”
[4] David Frankel, “El as the Speaking Voice in Psalm 82:6-8,” JHS 10 (2011), 3-12.
[5] Daniel McClellan, “The Gods-Complaint: Psalm 82 as a Psalm of Complaint,” JBL 137, no. 4 (2018), 833-851; however, a pre-exilic date and setting are also possible, see David Frankel, “El as the Speaking Voice,” 12-14.
[6] Joel S. Baden, The Composition of the Pentateuch: Renewing the Documentary Hypothesis (London: Yale, 2012), 129-132. It’s long been recognized that there are two introductions to Deuteronomy, both of which begin with the convening of all Israel (1:1; 5:1), a historical prologue about the defeat of Sihon and Og (1:4; 4:46-49), and a statement about the exposition of the law (1:5; 4:44-45). The second introduction (4:44-11:32) primarily focuses on the events of the giving of the law at Horeb, whereas the first introduction (1:1-4:43) complements it by adding details about the wilderness events, showing that it was written later.
[7] Aren Wilson-Wright, “Yahweh’s Kin,” 51-53. On the existence of the J source, see Joel S. Baden, The Composition of the Pentateuch, 45-81. If the J source didn’t exist, and something like the supplementary hypothesis is true instead (with D as the original form of the Pentateuch), then a linear development of Israelite religion would be more plausible.
[8] Aren Wilson-Wright (“Yahweh’s Kin,” 54-55) notes that Job 38:8-9 describes the birth of “Sea” (Heb: yam) in surprisingly naturalistic terms, which suggests that the author viewed the “sons of God” as a true familial relationship, similarly to Ugaritic literature about the children of El.
[9] B. A. Mastin, “The Inscriptions Written on Plaster at Kuntillet ’Ajrud,” Vetus Testamentum 59, no. 1 (2009), 110-113. However, see Ryan Thomas, “Plaster Wall Inscription 4.2: El, Baal, and YHWH,” who argues that El and Ba’al refer to the head of the pantheon (“holy one over the gods”), a separate deity from YHWH at Kuntillet ’Ajrud.
[10] Ryan Thomas, “Reconstructing the Pantheon of Judaean Elephantine,” Ugarit-Forschungen 51 (2020), 225-297.
[11] Saul M. Olyan, “Is Isaiah 40-55 Really Monotheistic,” JANER 12, no. 2 (2012), 197; Stephen O. Smoot, “An Egyptian View of the Monotheism of Second Isaiah,” CBQ 86, no. 1 (2024). For example, consider the Middle Egyptian Hymn to Amun-Re, which describes Amun as “sole one, unique among the gods... sole image who made everything that exists... single one, without his equal.”
[12] Nathaniel B. Levtow, Images of Others: Iconic Politics in Ancient Israel (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2008), 108, 124, 168-169.
[13] Saul M. Olyan, “Is Isaiah 40-55 Really Monotheistic?”
[14] Daniel McClellan, “What is Deity in LXX Deuteronomy,” Studia Antiqua 10, no. 1 (2011), 67-79.
[15] John J. Collins, “Powers in Heaven: God, Gods, and Angels in the Dead Sea Scrolls,” in Religion in the Dead Sea Scrolls (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 11-19; Cecilia Wassen, “Angels in the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Yearbook (2007), 500-501.
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