• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Bizarre wording regarding monotheism in OT

David J

Member
If there's only one God , why is it mentioned that this God is "jealous" and "there shall be no other Gods before me ? I believe it's in Exodus and maybe Genesis too.

Why doesn't God simply say there are no other Gods?
 

Left Coast

This Is Water
Staff member
Premium Member
If there's only one God , why is it mentioned that this God is "jealous" and "there shall be no other Gods before me ? I believe it's in Exodus and maybe Genesis too.

Why doesn't God simply say there are no other Gods?

Jewish theology appears to have slowly developed over time from henotheism to monotheism. Earlier texts like the ones in Exodus reflect the earlier understanding.
 

leov

Well-Known Member
If there's only one God , why is it mentioned that this God is "jealous" and "there shall be no other Gods before me ? I believe it's in Exodus and maybe Genesis too.

Why doesn't God simply say there are no other Gods?
hierarchy of spiritual beings is forgotten today....
 

leov

Well-Known Member
So the writings in Exodus are misleading and incorrect?
Anyone agreed on translation ? Except literal level, old sages say it has other 48 levels of understanding. It was written by initiated for initiated or about to be initiated.
 

steveb1

Member
If there's only one God , why is it mentioned that this God is "jealous" and "there shall be no other Gods before me ? I believe it's in Exodus and maybe Genesis too.

Why doesn't God simply say there are no other Gods?

The oldest strata of the Jewish Bible say that El Elyon - the Most High - was the original God.

It also says that Yahweh was an angel - one of "the sons of God" - to whom El Elyon, when he was distributing nations to his angels - gave Israel to Yahweh as his portion.

So El Elyon was the first high God, with Yahweh replacing him over a long stretch of years.
 

sealchan

Well-Known Member
If there's only one God , why is it mentioned that this God is "jealous" and "there shall be no other Gods before me ? I believe it's in Exodus and maybe Genesis too.

Why doesn't God simply say there are no other Gods?

In looking at Genesis it is clear that descriptions of God took place in a context in which the authors were aware that their audience was most familiar with a pantheon of gods. The goal was to describe the only god that mattered to this audience. Sometimes the language even entered into that perspective to speak "as if" there were other gods to consider.

Recent archaeology suggests that the Jewish monotheism gradually emerged from the Canaanite pantheon in the time around David I believe. Perhaps Israel formed a relatively strong nation whlle the neighboring empires lessened their impact and a king arose with a monotheistic ideal.

I believe that the authors of the Bible knew that their God was an emerging god and they tried to tie in their god to older beliefs but also characterize Him as the one true God who, for whatever undisclosed reasons, made himself known gradually through a particular people. The stories in the Bible are very much a revisionist history with this goal in mind. Their effort in this regard is often very subtle and sophisticated leaving many to easily believe that there literally was only this one god. What is not explained clearly, however, is why so many gods seemed to arise to cloud the reality of the one God. This is a plot hole that is often overlooked.
 

1213

Well-Known Member
If there's only one God , why is it mentioned that this God is "jealous" and "there shall be no other Gods before me ? I believe it's in Exodus and maybe Genesis too.

Why doesn't God simply say there are no other Gods?

It is about not keeping someone else as one’s god. For example, people have kept golden calf as their god. It probably existed, but people should not keep such things as their God.
 

Hawkins

Well-Known Member
If there's only one God , why is it mentioned that this God is "jealous" and "there shall be no other Gods before me ? I believe it's in Exodus and maybe Genesis too.

Why doesn't God simply say there are no other Gods?

Because it does no harm to worship something which doesn't exist. However by the contents of the covenant granted to the Jews, worshiping other gods will affect their salvation.

In contrary, speaking in a human tone by saying that "God is jealous", it means that worshiping other gods, even though they don't exist, is offending God. This is important for the Jews who on and off are ignorant, to stick to the covenantal bonding with God.
 

74x12

Well-Known Member
If there's only one God , why is it mentioned that this God is "jealous" and "there shall be no other Gods before me ? I believe it's in Exodus and maybe Genesis too.

Why doesn't God simply say there are no other Gods?
Because there are others called gods. (Psalm 82:6) They just aren't the only True God. They are His children. But some of God's children have set themselves up as to be worshiped as the gods of the nations. They're called archons or princes. This means they will be destroyed by the most High God when the time comes. And God Himself will inherit all nations.

(Psalm 82:6-8) I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.
 

74x12

Well-Known Member
The oldest strata of the Jewish Bible say that El Elyon - the Most High - was the original God.

It also says that Yahweh was an angel - one of "the sons of God" - to whom El Elyon, when he was distributing nations to his angels - gave Israel to Yahweh as his portion.

So El Elyon was the first high God, with Yahweh replacing him over a long stretch of years.
What is this strata? Which book of the Bible? Because that's clearly wrong. From Genesis on it's Yah (The tetragrammaton). And even in the book of Job(considered the oldest by many) it is Yah.

Noah and Abraham worshiped Yah as El Elyon. El Elyon was always called Yah.
 

74x12

Well-Known Member
If there's only one God , why is it mentioned that this God is "jealous" and "there shall be no other Gods before me ? I believe it's in Exodus and maybe Genesis too.

Why doesn't God simply say there are no other Gods?
It's the same thing when a man is jealous over his wife. Look at the story of Odysseus in the Odyssey. He returns after years and finds a group of so called suitors "courting" his wife. This causes their death. So when God returns for His bride He will destroy the ones who have tried to seduce her and who have destroyed the earth.
 
Top