Customer Reviews

The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel (Biblical Resource Series)

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This book is not an introduction to ancient Israel's religion or history, or to the Hebrew Bible. It shouldn't be your first book on the topic. (For your first book, try Who Wrote the Bible? by Friedman. In this book Smith will not review or attempt to prove source theory, Israel's Canaanite origins, and so on.) But it is about the evolution of Yahweh through his encounters with Canaanite deities on his way to becoming the "One God" of post-exhilic Judaism.

Smith's thesis is that the development of monolatry (which preceeded monotheism) in Israel began with a process of convergence and differentiation. "Covergence," he writes, "involved the coalescence of various deities and/or some of their features into the figure of Yahweh" (7). And differentiation was the process of Israel rejecting its Caananite heritage, creating a separate identity (8).

So, he writes, "The issue is not one of identifying the earliest instances of monolatry; rather, the old question of explaining monotheism becomes a new issue of accounting for the phenomenon of convergence, a stage in Israelite religion older than the appearance of monolatry" (197).

The deity Yahweh apparently came to Israel from Edom or another southern location (Smith discusses this in another book, "The Origins of Biblical Monotheism"). He was incorporated into Israel's pantheon, which was Canaanite: it featured the deities El, Baal, Anat and Asherah prominently. Smith has a lot of experience with the Ugaritic texts, which record Canaanite religion similar to what Israel must have inherited, so he has the ability to find ways that Yahweh has taken over the features of Canaanite gods. (Unfortunately, no one knows what Yahweh was like before he came to Israel.)

Smith naturally begins with Yahweh's convergence with El, which must have been complete by the time of the earliest texts: "there is no distinct cult attested for El except in his identity as Yahweh (35)." Then Smith examines the similarites between Ugaritic El and Biblical Yahweh, such as descriptions (aged patriarchal god with a heavenly court and a kindly disposition to humanity, and so on), epithets (Berit, Shaddai, Elyon), and iconography (bearded, enthroned).

Next Smith turns to Baal. There was a transition at some point from Baal being worshipped alongside Yahweh without controversy, to a struggle between their cults, to the final emergence of Yahweh's cult alone. This transition included Yahweh's taking over Baal's imagery as storm god (which may not have been part of his Edomite character), bull, warrior and fertilizing deity. Smith analyzes material in Judges and the historical texts, concluding that the conflict must have arisen (or at least intensified) because of Ahab's and Jezebel's attempt to elevate a foreign god, Baal Shamem of the Phoenicians (distinct from Baal of Canaanite/Israelite heritage). Smith covers the ways that Yahweh's cult adopted Baal's epithets, iconography, descriptions and mythology in the process of replacing him. However, Smith admits that all the evidence indicates that Baal remained a popular deity to the end of the southern kingdom.

In this chapter, Smith also looks at Yahweh's acquiring of Anat's martial imagery.

Next, he turns to Asherah, where his analysis is probably most controversial. Smith acknowledges that most scholars believe some goddess, probably Asherah, was worshipped during the period of the monarchy; but he believes she may have been forgotten already by the period of the judges. Her symbolism was obviously incorporated into Yahweh's cult (and later purged from it). Smith focuses on textual analysis, not on the ubiquitous figurines that most scholars believe demonstrate popular Asherah worship. He points to various forms of plausible uncertainty--"Yet scholars have long suspected that these figurines represent Astarte, and given the maternal imagery for her in Phoenician, this is as plausile an identification as that with Asherah. Moreover, these figurines may not represent any deity (111)."

A few scholars agree with Smith, but most continue to believe that Asherah was worshipped during that period. Moving on, Smith examines the ways that Yahweh's cult absorbed Asherah's. He analyzes gender language for Yahweh and comparison in this respect to other near eastern deities. He looks at the decline of anthropomorphic imagery in general for Yahweh. Finally, he also considers the figure of Wisdom as a continuation of many of Asherah's features in a way acceptable to monolatrous Yahwism.

Smith next briefly looks at solar imagery applied to Yahweh, concluding that on the whole it was an inovation of the monarchy of Judah, under the influence of Egypt's New Kingdom. He also looks at the rejection of this imagery by some Biblical authors.

A final chapter looks at transitions in some prominent Israelite cultic practices: the high places, practices associated with the dead, and the Molech sacrifice.

All in all: a fine coverage of the covergence of Canaanite deities and Yahweh. The presentation of evidence in some places could be more well-structured, but that is only my opinion. Here is a good book on Israelite religion, suitable for undergraduate students with a little experience, or armchair scholars. (For serious scholars, of course, it is essential.)

In addition to this book, Smith himself recommends Zevit's "The Religions of Ancient Israel." If you are considering this book or Smith's "The Origins of Biblical Monotheism," I recommend this one first.

This is one book on ancient Israel that actually delivers what its title promises. In "The Early History of God" Mark Smith systematically sifts through archaelogical and literary data from Bronze and Iron Age Palestine, the Mediterranean, and Mesopotamia to find the earliest evidence for YHWH, his cult, and his context. Chapters include discussions of YHWH and El, YHWH and Baal, Asherah and asherahs, cultic practices, such as communication with the dead and child sacrifice, at the sites where YHWH was worshiped, as well as a brief discussion of the beginnings of monotheism during the late monarchy. Refreshingly for me, Smith frames his argument on available evidence, not on wishful thinking, and the result is provocative and stimulating. The long introduction to this new edition covers the debate that has gone on since the book was originally published over ten years ago, and the extensive footnotes are a wealth of information on every side of the discussion. This is the kind of book that helps keep scholarship in good repute. Don't wait to read it!

_The Early History of God_ by Mark S. Smith traces the origins of the cult of Yahweh (YHWH) in ancient Israel based on archeological and textual material. Mark S. Smith focuses upon the rise of Yahweh and Israelite monotheism (monolatry) in ancient Israel. The cult of Yahweh is opposed to that of the cults of other Canaanite and Mesopotamian deities including El, Baal, and Asherah. Separate chapters are devoted to Yahweh and Baal and Yahweh and Asherah (an early Canaanite goddess, contrasted with YHWH). The origins of Yahweh are revealed in cultic practices as related to solar worship, family worship and cultic veneration of the dead ("feeding the dead" and "communing with the dead"), as well as with the asherah (symbolized by the sacred tree) and the moloch (MLK) sacrifice (a sacrifice of the children to appease the deity). The development of the Yahweh cult through the monarchic period and as mentioned in the prophets and exilic period is fully worked out. The book comes to reveal how Yahweh gained supremacy so as to be before all other deities (indeed, supreme deity and One as the Godhead of the entire universe). Whether the conclusions that are reached in this book can be trusted in the light of Holy Tradition is of course a different matter entirely. Nevertheless, the book is a useful look at the origins of Yahweh-supremacy within the religious millieu of ancient Israel (the ancient Near East) based on evidence from Stone Age and Iron Age material as well as from early textual (biblical) sources.

This is a fantastic synthesis of 20th Century scholarship on the religion of Israel in the period of the Judges and early monarchy. The Smith surveys the literature and provides his own theory of the the relationship between Israelite religion and that of other Canaanites. (One thing you will learn is that contrary to the way the situation is portrayed in the Bible, there is little to distinguish between the Israelites and Canaanites.) It deals with the issue of monolatry versus monotheism, did God have a wife?, are there various names of God in the Bible because originally they stories were about different gods?, and what of the ritual and cult in early Israelite religion.

Smith definitely draws heavily on the scholarship of Frank Moore Cross, Jr. and Marvin H. Pope, and their students, such as John Day (e.g., Molech: a god of human sacrifice in the Old Testament) and W.R. Garr (e.g., Dialect Geography of Syria-Palestine: 1100-586BC).

The book is extremely well footnoted, making it valuable even if you don't buy all his arguments.

If you're looking for a "History Channel" presentation for the general public, this isn't your book. But, if you're in need of a readable but stil extremely well-sourced, densely footnoted, and comprehensive history of the archaeology and textual evidence on the subject of the "Yahwist Cult" and its interaction with other Canaanite religious cults, this is just what you need. It is most effective in showing how "Yahweh" engulfed and devoured his competition, one by one, similar to the way in which the texts have him "eating Death." First he absorbed the cult of "El," the creator-sky god who was original "King of the Elohim" or gods; and as we know, in the early books of the Old Testament God is as often called "Elohim" (plural) as he is "Yahweh." Then "Yahweh" absorbed elements of "Baal" (the storm god and new King of the gods in Canaan), Baal's wife "Anat," El's wife "Asherah," and others. The point is that rather than "God" being the death of evolution, it's clear from this book that "Yahweh" is the product of centuries of conflict, accomodation, borrowing, and above all evolution. A triumph of evidence and reason! Review by W. Ron Hess (BeornsHall@earthlink.net)

excellent disclosure of the evolution of the understanding of God in early Israelite history. book assumes a high degree of previous knowledge of early Israelite history within an historical / critical understanding of biblical studies. If you are a "literalist," save your money ... you won't like it!

The author does not start with the premise that there is no god, or there never was a such thing as the Israelites. This makes it user friendly to Christians.
I believe the author is of a very high stature in knowledge and judgment concerning that which he writes of. I feel confident in his recommendations for who he thinks are good sources that the reader can use to do further study. I respect his opinion enough to be able to use names of books and authors I find in this book to guide me through subsequent book purchases.

This book is chock full of excellent references to both biblical and non-biblical texts. The combined references make a convincing case that the Isrealite tradition was originally steeped in the early canaanite polytheism. Smith's book would be an excellent reference but is not itself a satisfying read. Smith frequently sites verses in books as old as Psalms (written in the 11th century bce? Smith doesn't say) in the same paragraph with verses in books as new as the Talmud (written in the 3rd centry ce?). That is, he gives us no historical context to understand how people in the time the Psalms were writen would have understood the polytheistic references vs. how poeple in the time when the Talmud began to form would have understood polytheistic references.

A large percentage of the pages have only a few lines of text with small-print reference notes, albeit good ones, occupying the remainder of the page. Smith supplies ample biblical references throughout this book, often dozens in a single paragraph, but he rarely includes any quotes from the references. The reader has to look them up if he is to understand the argument.

This book certainly gave me much to think about.

What I did not like is the layout of the book, I am a fairly fast reader and dislike footnotes. It disrupts my reading particularly when these footnotes are references to books and articles. I much prefer them in the back out of the way.

However the contents are interesting. What the author does is discuss several issues on God and his practice in ancient Israel and discusses some of the evidence. I particularly found the discussion of Yahweh and Asherah fascinating.

A tip for any reader for this book is read the introduction and then the conclusion at the end of each chapter first. Then absorb it. Then read the chapter. Otherwise you may like me get confused about the discussion in the chapter.

With copious footnotes referring to a great number of scholarly articles, Smith's book could be a University course study guide. EHG is a must read for anyone wishing to learn about Israel's early religions.