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Diana Vikander Edelman (ed.), The Triumph of Elohim: From Yahwisms to Judaisms (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996).

Abstract

In this edited volume all of the contributors strive to reassess the process by which monotheistic belief emerged in the ancient Near East among people living in Yehud/Judea. In contrast to the scholarship of a previous generation and in line with many of their peers, these authors push the emergence of exclusive monotheism to a much later time period. Through their collective writings, they delimit four possible stages: 1) First Temple 'National Yahwism' (ca. 960 - 586 BCE), 2) 'Intertemple Yahwisms' (ca. 587-515 BCE), 3) 'Second Temple Yahwisms' (ca. 515 - 143 BCE), and 4) 'Early Judaism' (ca.143 BCE - 70 CE). It is only in this last stage of Early Judaism, with the rise of the Hasmoneans, that exclusive monotheism can be confirmed. As the essays of Handy, Niehr, and Schimdt suggest, during the First Temple Period the royal couple of Yahweh and Asherah likely ruled over a pantheon of other deities in the state of Judah. Then, at some time in the Persian period, as Thompson and Bolin demonstrate, inclusive monotheism began to emerge in Yehud. Finally, only when the Hasmoneans come to power is there clear evidence for exclusive monotheism. By drawing upon new developments in biblical studies, Jewish studies, ancient Near Eastern history, and archaeology, these authors propose a bold, and well-argued position for the late emergence of monotheism in Israel. ~Deborah Forger

Contents

• The appearance of Pantheon in Judah / Lowell K. Handy

• The rise of YHWH in Judahite and Israelite religion: methodological and religio-historical aspects / Herbert Niehr

• The aniconic tradition: on reading images and viewing texts / Brian B. Schmidt

• The intellectual matrix of early biblical narrative: inclusive monotheism in Persian period Palestine / Thomas L. Thomspson

• The temple of YHW at Elephantine and Persian religious policy / Thomas M. Bolin

• Scenes from the early history of Judaism / Philip R. Davies

• Tracking observance of the aniconic tradition through numismatics / Diana V. Edelman.

External links

• [ Google Books]