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The Invention of God
Who invented God? When, why, and where? Thomas Römer seeks to answer these questions about the deity of the great monotheisms—Yhwh, God, or Allah—by tracing Israelite beliefs and their context from the Bronze Age to the end of the Old Testament period in the third century BCE.
That we can address such enigmatic questions at all may come as a surprise. But as Römer makes clear, a wealth of evidence allows us to piece together a reliable account of the origins and evolution of the god of Israel. Römer draws on a long tradition of historical, philological, and exegetical work and on recent discoveries in archaeology and epigraphy to locate the origins of Yhwh in the early Iron Age, when he emerged somewhere in Edom or in the northwest of the Arabian peninsula as a god of the wilderness and of storms and war. He became the sole god of Israel and Jerusalem in fits and starts as other gods, including the mother goddess Asherah, were gradually sidelined. But it was not until a major catastrophe—the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah—that Israelites came to worship Yhwh as the one god of all, creator of heaven and earth, who nevertheless proclaimed a special relationship with Judaism.
A masterpiece of detective work and exposition by one of the world’s leading experts on the Hebrew Bible, The Invention of God casts a clear light on profoundly important questions that are too rarely asked, let alone answered.
That we can address such enigmatic questions at all may come as a surprise. But as Römer makes clear, a wealth of evidence allows us to piece together a reliable account of the origins and evolution of the god of Israel. Römer draws on a long tradition of historical, philological, and exegetical work and on recent discoveries in archaeology and epigraphy to locate the origins of Yhwh in the early Iron Age, when he emerged somewhere in Edom or in the northwest of the Arabian peninsula as a god of the wilderness and of storms and war. He became the sole god of Israel and Jerusalem in fits and starts as other gods, including the mother goddess Asherah, were gradually sidelined. But it was not until a major catastrophe—the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah—that Israelites came to worship Yhwh as the one god of all, creator of heaven and earth, who nevertheless proclaimed a special relationship with Judaism.
A masterpiece of detective work and exposition by one of the world’s leading experts on the Hebrew Bible, The Invention of God casts a clear light on profoundly important questions that are too rarely asked, let alone answered.
296 pages, Hardcover
First published March 27, 2014
53 people are currently reading
720 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Römer
110 books14 followersThomas Römer is Professor of the Hebrew Bible at the Collège de France and Professor at the University of Lausanne.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
November 30, 2016
Very good coverage of the transition from polytheism to monotheism in Judah and Israel over the years from 1300 to 300. Evidence cited includes edits of various biblical books, histories of neighboring regions and modern archaeological finds. Particularly fascinating to me were the origins of YHWH (a southern mountain god of storms and war) and the phasing out of Asherah. The introduction also provides an excellent political history of this era, and the conclusion continues that history a bit further.
Other reviewers have said the text goes into too much depth and is correspondingly dry; I did not find that to be the case - though I didn't linger over the italicized (and foreign to me) words. The sparse illustrations add to the text, but the occasional maps do little to help the authors narrative. While reading, I wished I had a relief map showing the movements of tribes and political changes.
A good read which would become great with better supplementary materials.
Other reviewers have said the text goes into too much depth and is correspondingly dry; I did not find that to be the case - though I didn't linger over the italicized (and foreign to me) words. The sparse illustrations add to the text, but the occasional maps do little to help the authors narrative. While reading, I wished I had a relief map showing the movements of tribes and political changes.
A good read which would become great with better supplementary materials.
September 23, 2020
The first chapter was on ways to pronounce "YWHW" It was only eleven pages but seemed like thirty. The next chapter was on possible geogaphic origins of YWHW - another thirty pages, fit into fourteen. Then there were a couple of chapters on the Cult of YWHW. That might have been a better title, then I would not have read the book.
I thought it was going to be an interesting discussion on how the notion of God (or Creator) arose around the world in different places and whether these notions were were top down, from God; or bottom up, as a propensity of humans to manifest a diety.
A reason I didn't give this book one star was the Introduction which provided two interesting mentions:
· P2 An examination... allows us to retrace the path of a god who probably had his origin somewhere in the "South" between the Negev and Eygypt. Originally he was a god of the wilderness, of war and storms, but gradually through a series of small steps he became the god of Israel and Jerusalem. Then eventually after a major catastrophe - he established himself as the one god, creator of heaven and earth, invisible and transcendent, ...
· P8 Each time recopying took place, it was possible to add or surpress material, or to introduce modifications. The prophetic books have a complex history of redaction, and many of the texts we now find... derive not from the "historical" prophet... but from more recent editors.
Another reason, for giving it two stars, is I didn't want to admit that I finished reading a book when it was only a one star read for me. You may note other reviewers got more out of the book, so don't rely on my take.
I thought it was going to be an interesting discussion on how the notion of God (or Creator) arose around the world in different places and whether these notions were were top down, from God; or bottom up, as a propensity of humans to manifest a diety.
A reason I didn't give this book one star was the Introduction which provided two interesting mentions:
· P2 An examination... allows us to retrace the path of a god who probably had his origin somewhere in the "South" between the Negev and Eygypt. Originally he was a god of the wilderness, of war and storms, but gradually through a series of small steps he became the god of Israel and Jerusalem. Then eventually after a major catastrophe - he established himself as the one god, creator of heaven and earth, invisible and transcendent, ...
· P8 Each time recopying took place, it was possible to add or surpress material, or to introduce modifications. The prophetic books have a complex history of redaction, and many of the texts we now find... derive not from the "historical" prophet... but from more recent editors.
Another reason, for giving it two stars, is I didn't want to admit that I finished reading a book when it was only a one star read for me. You may note other reviewers got more out of the book, so don't rely on my take.
March 19, 2017
The best way to describe this book would be to call it an etymological investigation. The author traces the origins of the tetragrammaton (YHWH), the Hebrew language's consonantal identifier for the God of Israel. He tentatively concludes, among other things, that YHWH was initially a god of wind and storms hailing from the desert regions to the south of modern Israel. This god was merely one deity among many others before it gradually displaced the cults of the other Canaanite gods and the people who became known as the Israelites transitioned from polytheism to henotheism, and finally, to monotheism. At times, the author is compelled to make intuitive leaps where the archaeological evidence comes up short, but to my mind he does so in a responsible manner.
June 6, 2016
A remarkable feat of fine-grained scholarship about a topic strangely absent from most contemporary discussions of religion, it's impact on society, and its relation to politics. Thomas Romer, a biblical scholar of staggering erudition, takes us back to the beginnings of Jewish and other notions of "god" (the term had many names and meanings) in the second millennium BC. Without disrespecting biblical accounts in any way, Romer shows how they were built up, edited, and put together over centuries, even millennia, from the storm gods, fertility gods, and especially war gods of peoples in Egypt, the "Middle East," and of course the Levant, which is where Palestine and later the state of Israel developed.
The early parts of The Invention of God are thick with linguistics and geography, making it slow going for the non-specialist reader. Romer shows how people who became the Judeans, later the Jews, were themselves divided, particularly between north and south regions of Palestine. There was ongoing, back and forth polytheism and what Romer calls monolatry or aniconism, which worked toward making El, or God, or Yhwh (Ancient Hebrew lacks vowels) whatever he was called in the second millennium BCE and well into the first millennium BCE. The Judeans were always a kind of buffer people between the two great power centers, Egypt in the west and what was called Babylonia or Phoenicia or Assyria at different historical points. Later, these powers would yield to the Persians and the Hellenists and eventually the Romans, but the Judeans always appear to have been in the same position: holding onto their own sliver of land, clinging to the temple in Jerusalem as their center, continually dispersed or deported then brought back, influenced by and in turn influencing the bigger, more militant states that surrounded them. The book might better be called The Evolution of God, because it details the slow, uneven process of how the war god who protected this small group of people eventually became the Universal God that in many ways created the world of the post-Roman empire, and that we still deal with today.
One myth Romer explodes is that religion and politics are necessarily separate, and religion's alliance with politics is a corruption. To the contrary, what we call religion (which has little to do with spirituality) is a kind of stepchild of politics, with the various gods used as weapons on whichever side they were conscripted. How the Judean god became the Yhwh whose name we dare not speak (G-d in the terminology of modern orthodox and conservative Jews) is a story too complex to be even hinted at here. It's why The Invention of God is well worth a careful read. The relevance of the Israelites and their enemies in ancient times to the Israelis and their enemies today is astonishing and sobering. We really, really, REALLY do learn nothing from history. Romer spells this out better than anyone I've read.
The early parts of The Invention of God are thick with linguistics and geography, making it slow going for the non-specialist reader. Romer shows how people who became the Judeans, later the Jews, were themselves divided, particularly between north and south regions of Palestine. There was ongoing, back and forth polytheism and what Romer calls monolatry or aniconism, which worked toward making El, or God, or Yhwh (Ancient Hebrew lacks vowels) whatever he was called in the second millennium BCE and well into the first millennium BCE. The Judeans were always a kind of buffer people between the two great power centers, Egypt in the west and what was called Babylonia or Phoenicia or Assyria at different historical points. Later, these powers would yield to the Persians and the Hellenists and eventually the Romans, but the Judeans always appear to have been in the same position: holding onto their own sliver of land, clinging to the temple in Jerusalem as their center, continually dispersed or deported then brought back, influenced by and in turn influencing the bigger, more militant states that surrounded them. The book might better be called The Evolution of God, because it details the slow, uneven process of how the war god who protected this small group of people eventually became the Universal God that in many ways created the world of the post-Roman empire, and that we still deal with today.
One myth Romer explodes is that religion and politics are necessarily separate, and religion's alliance with politics is a corruption. To the contrary, what we call religion (which has little to do with spirituality) is a kind of stepchild of politics, with the various gods used as weapons on whichever side they were conscripted. How the Judean god became the Yhwh whose name we dare not speak (G-d in the terminology of modern orthodox and conservative Jews) is a story too complex to be even hinted at here. It's why The Invention of God is well worth a careful read. The relevance of the Israelites and their enemies in ancient times to the Israelis and their enemies today is astonishing and sobering. We really, really, REALLY do learn nothing from history. Romer spells this out better than anyone I've read.
October 12, 2016
The Invention of God by Thomas Römer gives an extensive history of the development of the concept of God in ancient Israel. It focuses on the development of Yahweh, from a warlike thunder god who exists in a pantheon of many local deities, to the omnipotent God that rules over all, whose name cannot be mentioned. Römer relies upon the earliest translations of texts such as Exodus, Deuteronomy, Kings, Chronicles, and Isaiah, among others, to compare the descriptions of the developing Jewish deity, citing critical times, such as the fall of Israel in 722, to the rule of King Josiah in 602, to the Babylonian exile in 587, to show how each event helped to alter the conception of Yahweh. The ultimate innovation of those who brought Yahweh back to Jerusalem after the exile is the concept of a single, universal god not tied to any specific region, king, or empire. The wrap up shows how this conception of God went on to influence the three major religions. Definitely worth a read for anyone with an interest in the development of religion throughout history.
March 22, 2017
Je conseille de lire la Bible ou La bible pour les nuls afin de savourer pleinement ce livre. Thomas Romer, académicien et grand spécialiste de l’Ancien testament, place la figure de Yahvé dans son contexte historique et géographique, sa mission, mettre en exergue la construction d’un Dieu unique. Malgré la volonté des religieux qui font remonter le culte du Dieu unique à l’origine de l’humanité, Yahvé était un Dieu parmi d’autres, à qui était même associé une parèdre, puis il est devenu une sorte de chef parmi les Dieux, comme Zeus, jusqu’à éclipser définitivement les autres Dieux. Ainsi, on passe d’un polythéisme ouvrant son panthéon même aux influences étrangères, comme l’étaient les romains pré-chrétiens, à un monothéiste dénonçant et réprimant le culte à d’autres Dieux. Une analyse fine, érudite, qui se base sur des sources historiques et archéologiques des divers peuples contemporains (hebreux, égyptiens, assyriens, perses…).
April 24, 2016
The first half is a slog. Some of the ideas are poorly developed and require at least some citation for further reading, such as Assyrian ideas of conquest incorporated into the Joshua narrative. The conclusion is an awesome 5 pages on the development of biblical monotheism, as currently viewed by academics. I would propose reading the conclusion and then working your way back through the book on topics of interest. There are more than a few gems in the heap, but it requires some sifting.
July 22, 2023
I have read through the reviews for this book - once before I purchased the book and once after reading the book. I agree with those who felt the book was dry/difficult and that the first part of the book was tedious reading.
But: it felt like a reward to get to the final 1/3 and the Conclusion. That's when the book truly starts to make sense and engage the reader. I was 'wowed.' That is if like me, you have a natural curiosity about how we came to live in a world where the belief in one god dominates human thought and why it seems taboo to dare to approach it historically. I began this book with little in the way of formal religious studies. I made timelines, I printed out maps, I highlighted and wrote all over my margins. But the work was worth it. The Invention of God is filled with knowledge that I didn't have before I read it. Römer filled in so many missing blanks for me and answered questions I didn't know I had.
I can't believe that I somehow missed knowing that at one time there was Israel (north) with Samaria as capital and Judah (south) with Jerusalem as its hub for its religious cult. I didn't know that the Old Testament was edited from the perspective and dislike of the north/Israel (because history is written by the ones left standing) and that one particular King, Josiah changed the course of the ancient Israelite/Judean religion more so than any other through his reforms. I didn't know much about the pantheon of gods that existed in Canaan. I didn't realize that not only did Yahweh have a multiple representation naming issue/confusion (Baal, El, various spellings, etc.) but that Yahweh had a female consort that managed to cling on much longer than one would imagine in the history of the ancient Palestinian world. I finally have a grasp of how today's Jews came to be the 'Chosen People' - it wasn't what I expected. The retributive, violent nature of Yahweh the war and storm god was eye-opening. The phrase "there shall be no other gods before me" takes on a whole new meaning when put into historical and biblical context.
This book would be an absolute challenge to those who dare not and do not, question their religious beliefs. Historians and scholars like Römer face criticisms from those who feel threatened by their knowledge. (Just google the question "what does 'redacted' mean in relation to the Old Testament.") But what the world needs is more books like The Invention of God and more study of the HISTORY of the Bible. You could study and memorize all the parts of the Old Testament (and New for that matter) and still not understand that what you are reading has a history, a place in history, that humans wrote these words and edited these words and had their own reasons for doing so, and that much was written from already knowing "what happened" and were redacted, edited, and that the stories, myths and motifs from the changing empires surrounding Palestine influenced the writers of the Bible. Römer, scholar that he is does not push any point of view. Just the facts as we know them along with theories shared between historians and scholars and Römer will tell the reader if he is in agreement or finds their point of view questionable. One wish - that the footnotes were at the bottom of each page rather than having to stop to flip to the back and that all footnotes written in French were translated for the English reader.
But: it felt like a reward to get to the final 1/3 and the Conclusion. That's when the book truly starts to make sense and engage the reader. I was 'wowed.' That is if like me, you have a natural curiosity about how we came to live in a world where the belief in one god dominates human thought and why it seems taboo to dare to approach it historically. I began this book with little in the way of formal religious studies. I made timelines, I printed out maps, I highlighted and wrote all over my margins. But the work was worth it. The Invention of God is filled with knowledge that I didn't have before I read it. Römer filled in so many missing blanks for me and answered questions I didn't know I had.
I can't believe that I somehow missed knowing that at one time there was Israel (north) with Samaria as capital and Judah (south) with Jerusalem as its hub for its religious cult. I didn't know that the Old Testament was edited from the perspective and dislike of the north/Israel (because history is written by the ones left standing) and that one particular King, Josiah changed the course of the ancient Israelite/Judean religion more so than any other through his reforms. I didn't know much about the pantheon of gods that existed in Canaan. I didn't realize that not only did Yahweh have a multiple representation naming issue/confusion (Baal, El, various spellings, etc.) but that Yahweh had a female consort that managed to cling on much longer than one would imagine in the history of the ancient Palestinian world. I finally have a grasp of how today's Jews came to be the 'Chosen People' - it wasn't what I expected. The retributive, violent nature of Yahweh the war and storm god was eye-opening. The phrase "there shall be no other gods before me" takes on a whole new meaning when put into historical and biblical context.
This book would be an absolute challenge to those who dare not and do not, question their religious beliefs. Historians and scholars like Römer face criticisms from those who feel threatened by their knowledge. (Just google the question "what does 'redacted' mean in relation to the Old Testament.") But what the world needs is more books like The Invention of God and more study of the HISTORY of the Bible. You could study and memorize all the parts of the Old Testament (and New for that matter) and still not understand that what you are reading has a history, a place in history, that humans wrote these words and edited these words and had their own reasons for doing so, and that much was written from already knowing "what happened" and were redacted, edited, and that the stories, myths and motifs from the changing empires surrounding Palestine influenced the writers of the Bible. Römer, scholar that he is does not push any point of view. Just the facts as we know them along with theories shared between historians and scholars and Römer will tell the reader if he is in agreement or finds their point of view questionable. One wish - that the footnotes were at the bottom of each page rather than having to stop to flip to the back and that all footnotes written in French were translated for the English reader.
March 1, 2022
The Invention of God by Thomas Romer
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This book recounts a textual/archeological exploration into the development of the Jewish idea of God. This book updates a previous book I read on the subject. It also adds insights that are oftentimes stunning. For example, it is commonplace to say that no one has known how to pronounce the name of God YHWH since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD when no one had any cause to enter the Holy of Holies and pronounce the name of God. Romer disputes this by pointing to theophoric names which end with "yah." In fact, the word "alleluja" incorporates a shortened form of the name of God in the last syllable in a word that means, essentially, "Praise Yah."
To make a long story short, Romer argues that YHWH started as a war god in the area of Sinai. Romer does not accept the notion that there was Moses who led the "exodus" from Egypt. He thinks that the ancient Israelites had been there all along, although there could have been some immigration from or through the Sinai. Romer sees archeological evidence for YHWH among the Shasu populations engaged in copper and gold mining. Romer notes that the Torah indicates that Moses did not know the name of the God of Israel until he learns the name in Midian and obtains the assistance of a priest of Midian. This plus various ambiguous references to "Yah" in Egyptian documents supports Romer's argument for an origin of YHWH outside of Israel.
Romer argues that tribes who were the precursor to the House of David brought YHWH into Israel as their house god. At that time, YHWH had the status of a "Baal" a local war god. The Most High God in Israel was El. YHWH was seen as a son of El. In Deuteronomy 32:8, El seems to a lot Israel to YHWH as his part of the world.
Romer next argues that El was displaced by, and eventually submerged into, YHWH when the House of David assumed power and made Jerusalem its capital. Romer believes that David and Solomon are also fictional creations. He accepts the historicity of the kings of the dual monarchy. In Romer's recounting, the stories of Israel backsliding into polytheism were not so much about backsliding as they were about the way things were, namely, YHWH had a wife goddess, Asterath: YHWH was worshipped in local cultic locations; there was no monotheism, and, certainly, no Pentateuch.
Romer believes that there was a statue to YHWH in the temple in Jerusalem. The commandment that there should be no other gods before him, meant that in the temple, no statue of another god should be located in the direction where the stature of YHWH faced. Romer finds evidence of the statue in the Temple in Isaiah:
"The text of Isaiah 6 suggests that the dĕḇîr (the part of the temple where the god resides) of the Temple of Jerusalem contained a throne with a statue of Yhwh, perhaps represented in the manner of El enthroned and surrounded by cherubim and seraphim.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
Read his argument. I found this persuasive since it explained what Isaiah was talking about in what is an otherwise incredibly psychedelic vision.
This statue was subsequently taken to Babylon as part of the spoils of Jerusalem. Romer explains:
"One can observe, though, that at the end of the books of Kings great emphasis is placed on the deportation of the “utensils (kĕlê) of the temple” to Babylon (2 Kings 25:14–15). One might speculate whether this very general term could not include one or several cult statues, all the more so given that the text of Isaiah 52:11 speaks of the return from Babylon of those who bear the kĕlê Yhwh: “Depart, depart, come out from there! Do not touch anything impure. Come out from the midst of Babylon! Purify yourselves, you who carry the utensils of Yhwh (kĕlê Yhwh)!” The expression used here is peculiar; the more usual formulation would have been “utensils of the house of Yhwh.” Further evidence in favor of the view that the statue of Yhwh had been deported along with other utensils can perhaps be found in the description given in Ezekiel 10:18–19 of the departure of the glory of Yhwh from the Temple and city of Jerusalem: “The glory of Yhwh departed from the threshold of the temple; it stood above the cherubim. So the cherubim opened their wings and raised themselves from the earth. Before my eyes the wheels came out at the same time.”44 This vision takes up again the motif of the deity standing on a cherub. Verse 4 in fact speaks of a single cherub (“the glory of Yhwh raised itself above the kĕrûḇ on the threshold of the House”),45 whereas verse 18 mentions cherubim in the plural and alludes perhaps to the throne flanked by cherubim on which the god is seated. The composition of Ezekiel 10 is a vexed question and we shall simply mention that it certainly does not have only one author.46 Suffice it to say that the two iconographic motifs just mentioned are traditionally associated with a statue of the god located above the cherubim. In Ezekiel and elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, the statue has been replaced by the kāḇôd, the glory of god. However, the text in Ezekiel retains some traces that point to a deportation of a statue of Yhwh by the Babylonians.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
That's pretty murky.
Romer argues for an understanding that there were substantial differences in the cult of YHWH in the northern and southern kingdoms.
"Some specialists in biblical studies think that the cult of Yhwh in Judah was in effect very different from that of Israel: the Yhwh of Israel was worshipped rather on the model of Baal, that is, as a god of storms and fertility, whereas in the south, he had incorporated the traits of the old sun god who was the tutelary deity of Jerusalem. This picture needs qualification—rather than strict opposition, it is more likely that there were differences in relative emphasis between the cult in the north and in the south.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
There is evidence in archeological remains - inscriptions and statues - and in the text of the Bible that suggests the statue of YHWH might have been the form of a bull:
"The same narrative then recounts that Jeroboam, after having founded his own kingdom among the tribes of the north, constructed two sanctuaries, at Bethel and at Dan, where he set up boviform statues representing the god who had led the Israelites out of Egypt. (28) The king Jeroboam took counsel and had made two calves of gold and said to the people: “You have gone up too often to Jerusalem; these are your gods, Israel, who have brought you out of the land of Egypt.” (29) He set up one in Bethel and one in Dan (30)—this was his sin. The people marched in procession before one [of the calves] as far as Dan.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
And:
"Similarly, in the book of Hosea, which criticizes the worship of the bull and of Yhwh as a baal, Yhwh is compared in chapter 6 to the rising of the sun: “(3) Let us know, let us seek to know Yhwh; his coming is established like that of the dawn.” And the original text of verse 5 compares the divine judgments of Yhwh to light itself.36 So we have in place a conception of Yhwh that combines the traits of a storm god with the attributes of a solar deity.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
In Jerusalem, it could have been in the form of a seated man:
"Although it would have been anathema to the editors of the Bible, and also is anathema to certain theologians, Yhwh had a parhedros, the goddess Asherah, who was also called the “Queen of Heaven.” It is also likely that there was a statue of Yhwh in the Temple of Jerusalem, perhaps of a Yhwh seated on a throne of cherubim, like El at Ugarit.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
If you have ever wondered, as I have, how the Israelites could have gone off the rails so quickly at Sinai to worship a "golden calf," this makes a lot of sense. The golden calf was a recollection at a later time - after the Babylonian Captivity - of earlier worship practices prior to the Captivity.
Of course, it was the Babylonian Captivity that changed everything. Jewish exiles constructed a monotheistic religion and wrote the texts we now call the Torah. To be fair, Romer gives due credit to King Josiah's reforms:
"Even though the reforms of Josiah, or rather of his counselors, were not lastingly established, they were one of the most historically important moments in the evolution of the cult of Yhwh. From that time on, Yhwh became “one” god (not yet unique, but singular), and Jerusalem became the only place in which his sacrificial cult could be legitimately practiced. This new vision of Yhwh also began to manifest itself in an abundant literature that became the origin of the biblical corpus, and that was edited by the members of groups who supported Josiah’s religious changes.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
It was Josiah, of course, who "discovered" the forgotten book of the law, apparently, Deuteronomy, which required the centralization of worship in Jerusalem. Romer points out that the rediscovery of lost texts have been a traditional way for reformers to justify their reforms. Romer also points out the ambiguities of Josiah's "monotheism:
"The original version of Deuteronomy was not found during works on the temple, but rather was written in order to promote the ideas behind Josiah’s reforms. It opened with the affirmation that can be found in chapter 6 of the version of the book that has come down to us: Šĕmaʿ yiśrāʾēl yhwh ʾĕlōhēnû yhwh ʾeḥād. After the call to listen (“Hear O Israel”) the rest of phrase can be translated in different ways: “Yhwh, our god, Yhwh is unique,” or “Yhwh, our god, Yhwh alone,” or “Yhwh, our god is the one Yhwh.” The most plausible way to read it is to take this nominal proposition as being comprised of two distinct assertions: “Yhwh is our god” and “Yhwh is ONE.” These two assertions are easily understandable in the context of the reforms of Josiah: Yhwh is the (only) god of Israel and he is one—that is, there is only the Yhwh of Jerusalem, but there is no Yhwh of Samaria, Yhwh of Temān, Yhwh of Bethel, and so on. The claim that Yhwh is “one” corresponds to the fact that there is only one place where he has a legitimate cult, as Deuteronomy goes on to explain, notably in chapter 12. The opening of the original version continued: “(4) Hear, Israel! Yhwh is our god, Yhwh is ONE. (5) You shall love Yhwh your god with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength.” These verses are clearly connected to the reforms of Josiah. First of all, the notice in 2 Kings 23:25 that gives a final appreciation of Josiah’s reign claims that he was the only king who exactly satisfied the prescriptions of Deuteronomy 6:4–5: “There was no king before him who came back to Yhwh as he did with all his heart, all his being and all his strength.”
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
So, the proclamation of the "oneness" of YHWH may have been intended as a denial of any YHWH outside of the YHWH of Jerusalem, rather than a statement that there is only one god.
Thus, far, Romer's arguments have been fairly strong. He supports his evidence with references to archeology and texts that seem solid. Sometimes it seems like he's making a leap from saying that something "might" be true to adopting it as the premise for later arguments. However, at this point, I have to wonder how this revolution happened. Did no one notice that an entire mythology about Moses, the Conquest, Abraham, etc. had been invented? Where did the stories of David and Solomon come from? Were there no dissenters from the imposition of monotheism on the country? No polytheist prophets? No prophets of the "YHWH is a storm god" variety left behind their prophecies condemning foreign novelties? That just doesn't seem likely.
This is an educational and fascinating read. If you are a believer, your understanding of the scriptures will grow as new insights are understood. But I still have a problem with a revolution that happened so quickly, so completely, so radically, and which left no evidence of a struggle behind. There's a lot to be said for Romer's version, but I think the truth is more complicated still.
A lot of what is going on here is that Romer knows the Canaanite background, which he reads onto the evidence. Sometimes this leads to some fascinating insights, but it will have the tendency to dissolve whatever was unique about the ancient Hebrew religion, assuming that its uniqueness did not appear virtually fully formed in the sixth century.
This is a readable and interesting book. If you fear to have your faith tested or your understanding of pre-Exilic Jewish history threatened, then it might not be a book for you.
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
This book recounts a textual/archeological exploration into the development of the Jewish idea of God. This book updates a previous book I read on the subject. It also adds insights that are oftentimes stunning. For example, it is commonplace to say that no one has known how to pronounce the name of God YHWH since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD when no one had any cause to enter the Holy of Holies and pronounce the name of God. Romer disputes this by pointing to theophoric names which end with "yah." In fact, the word "alleluja" incorporates a shortened form of the name of God in the last syllable in a word that means, essentially, "Praise Yah."
To make a long story short, Romer argues that YHWH started as a war god in the area of Sinai. Romer does not accept the notion that there was Moses who led the "exodus" from Egypt. He thinks that the ancient Israelites had been there all along, although there could have been some immigration from or through the Sinai. Romer sees archeological evidence for YHWH among the Shasu populations engaged in copper and gold mining. Romer notes that the Torah indicates that Moses did not know the name of the God of Israel until he learns the name in Midian and obtains the assistance of a priest of Midian. This plus various ambiguous references to "Yah" in Egyptian documents supports Romer's argument for an origin of YHWH outside of Israel.
Romer argues that tribes who were the precursor to the House of David brought YHWH into Israel as their house god. At that time, YHWH had the status of a "Baal" a local war god. The Most High God in Israel was El. YHWH was seen as a son of El. In Deuteronomy 32:8, El seems to a lot Israel to YHWH as his part of the world.
Romer next argues that El was displaced by, and eventually submerged into, YHWH when the House of David assumed power and made Jerusalem its capital. Romer believes that David and Solomon are also fictional creations. He accepts the historicity of the kings of the dual monarchy. In Romer's recounting, the stories of Israel backsliding into polytheism were not so much about backsliding as they were about the way things were, namely, YHWH had a wife goddess, Asterath: YHWH was worshipped in local cultic locations; there was no monotheism, and, certainly, no Pentateuch.
Romer believes that there was a statue to YHWH in the temple in Jerusalem. The commandment that there should be no other gods before him, meant that in the temple, no statue of another god should be located in the direction where the stature of YHWH faced. Romer finds evidence of the statue in the Temple in Isaiah:
"The text of Isaiah 6 suggests that the dĕḇîr (the part of the temple where the god resides) of the Temple of Jerusalem contained a throne with a statue of Yhwh, perhaps represented in the manner of El enthroned and surrounded by cherubim and seraphim.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
Read his argument. I found this persuasive since it explained what Isaiah was talking about in what is an otherwise incredibly psychedelic vision.
This statue was subsequently taken to Babylon as part of the spoils of Jerusalem. Romer explains:
"One can observe, though, that at the end of the books of Kings great emphasis is placed on the deportation of the “utensils (kĕlê) of the temple” to Babylon (2 Kings 25:14–15). One might speculate whether this very general term could not include one or several cult statues, all the more so given that the text of Isaiah 52:11 speaks of the return from Babylon of those who bear the kĕlê Yhwh: “Depart, depart, come out from there! Do not touch anything impure. Come out from the midst of Babylon! Purify yourselves, you who carry the utensils of Yhwh (kĕlê Yhwh)!” The expression used here is peculiar; the more usual formulation would have been “utensils of the house of Yhwh.” Further evidence in favor of the view that the statue of Yhwh had been deported along with other utensils can perhaps be found in the description given in Ezekiel 10:18–19 of the departure of the glory of Yhwh from the Temple and city of Jerusalem: “The glory of Yhwh departed from the threshold of the temple; it stood above the cherubim. So the cherubim opened their wings and raised themselves from the earth. Before my eyes the wheels came out at the same time.”44 This vision takes up again the motif of the deity standing on a cherub. Verse 4 in fact speaks of a single cherub (“the glory of Yhwh raised itself above the kĕrûḇ on the threshold of the House”),45 whereas verse 18 mentions cherubim in the plural and alludes perhaps to the throne flanked by cherubim on which the god is seated. The composition of Ezekiel 10 is a vexed question and we shall simply mention that it certainly does not have only one author.46 Suffice it to say that the two iconographic motifs just mentioned are traditionally associated with a statue of the god located above the cherubim. In Ezekiel and elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, the statue has been replaced by the kāḇôd, the glory of god. However, the text in Ezekiel retains some traces that point to a deportation of a statue of Yhwh by the Babylonians.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
That's pretty murky.
Romer argues for an understanding that there were substantial differences in the cult of YHWH in the northern and southern kingdoms.
"Some specialists in biblical studies think that the cult of Yhwh in Judah was in effect very different from that of Israel: the Yhwh of Israel was worshipped rather on the model of Baal, that is, as a god of storms and fertility, whereas in the south, he had incorporated the traits of the old sun god who was the tutelary deity of Jerusalem. This picture needs qualification—rather than strict opposition, it is more likely that there were differences in relative emphasis between the cult in the north and in the south.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
There is evidence in archeological remains - inscriptions and statues - and in the text of the Bible that suggests the statue of YHWH might have been the form of a bull:
"The same narrative then recounts that Jeroboam, after having founded his own kingdom among the tribes of the north, constructed two sanctuaries, at Bethel and at Dan, where he set up boviform statues representing the god who had led the Israelites out of Egypt. (28) The king Jeroboam took counsel and had made two calves of gold and said to the people: “You have gone up too often to Jerusalem; these are your gods, Israel, who have brought you out of the land of Egypt.” (29) He set up one in Bethel and one in Dan (30)—this was his sin. The people marched in procession before one [of the calves] as far as Dan.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
And:
"Similarly, in the book of Hosea, which criticizes the worship of the bull and of Yhwh as a baal, Yhwh is compared in chapter 6 to the rising of the sun: “(3) Let us know, let us seek to know Yhwh; his coming is established like that of the dawn.” And the original text of verse 5 compares the divine judgments of Yhwh to light itself.36 So we have in place a conception of Yhwh that combines the traits of a storm god with the attributes of a solar deity.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
In Jerusalem, it could have been in the form of a seated man:
"Although it would have been anathema to the editors of the Bible, and also is anathema to certain theologians, Yhwh had a parhedros, the goddess Asherah, who was also called the “Queen of Heaven.” It is also likely that there was a statue of Yhwh in the Temple of Jerusalem, perhaps of a Yhwh seated on a throne of cherubim, like El at Ugarit.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
If you have ever wondered, as I have, how the Israelites could have gone off the rails so quickly at Sinai to worship a "golden calf," this makes a lot of sense. The golden calf was a recollection at a later time - after the Babylonian Captivity - of earlier worship practices prior to the Captivity.
Of course, it was the Babylonian Captivity that changed everything. Jewish exiles constructed a monotheistic religion and wrote the texts we now call the Torah. To be fair, Romer gives due credit to King Josiah's reforms:
"Even though the reforms of Josiah, or rather of his counselors, were not lastingly established, they were one of the most historically important moments in the evolution of the cult of Yhwh. From that time on, Yhwh became “one” god (not yet unique, but singular), and Jerusalem became the only place in which his sacrificial cult could be legitimately practiced. This new vision of Yhwh also began to manifest itself in an abundant literature that became the origin of the biblical corpus, and that was edited by the members of groups who supported Josiah’s religious changes.
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
It was Josiah, of course, who "discovered" the forgotten book of the law, apparently, Deuteronomy, which required the centralization of worship in Jerusalem. Romer points out that the rediscovery of lost texts have been a traditional way for reformers to justify their reforms. Romer also points out the ambiguities of Josiah's "monotheism:
"The original version of Deuteronomy was not found during works on the temple, but rather was written in order to promote the ideas behind Josiah’s reforms. It opened with the affirmation that can be found in chapter 6 of the version of the book that has come down to us: Šĕmaʿ yiśrāʾēl yhwh ʾĕlōhēnû yhwh ʾeḥād. After the call to listen (“Hear O Israel”) the rest of phrase can be translated in different ways: “Yhwh, our god, Yhwh is unique,” or “Yhwh, our god, Yhwh alone,” or “Yhwh, our god is the one Yhwh.” The most plausible way to read it is to take this nominal proposition as being comprised of two distinct assertions: “Yhwh is our god” and “Yhwh is ONE.” These two assertions are easily understandable in the context of the reforms of Josiah: Yhwh is the (only) god of Israel and he is one—that is, there is only the Yhwh of Jerusalem, but there is no Yhwh of Samaria, Yhwh of Temān, Yhwh of Bethel, and so on. The claim that Yhwh is “one” corresponds to the fact that there is only one place where he has a legitimate cult, as Deuteronomy goes on to explain, notably in chapter 12. The opening of the original version continued: “(4) Hear, Israel! Yhwh is our god, Yhwh is ONE. (5) You shall love Yhwh your god with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength.” These verses are clearly connected to the reforms of Josiah. First of all, the notice in 2 Kings 23:25 that gives a final appreciation of Josiah’s reign claims that he was the only king who exactly satisfied the prescriptions of Deuteronomy 6:4–5: “There was no king before him who came back to Yhwh as he did with all his heart, all his being and all his strength.”
Römer, Thomas. The Invention of God . Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
So, the proclamation of the "oneness" of YHWH may have been intended as a denial of any YHWH outside of the YHWH of Jerusalem, rather than a statement that there is only one god.
Thus, far, Romer's arguments have been fairly strong. He supports his evidence with references to archeology and texts that seem solid. Sometimes it seems like he's making a leap from saying that something "might" be true to adopting it as the premise for later arguments. However, at this point, I have to wonder how this revolution happened. Did no one notice that an entire mythology about Moses, the Conquest, Abraham, etc. had been invented? Where did the stories of David and Solomon come from? Were there no dissenters from the imposition of monotheism on the country? No polytheist prophets? No prophets of the "YHWH is a storm god" variety left behind their prophecies condemning foreign novelties? That just doesn't seem likely.
This is an educational and fascinating read. If you are a believer, your understanding of the scriptures will grow as new insights are understood. But I still have a problem with a revolution that happened so quickly, so completely, so radically, and which left no evidence of a struggle behind. There's a lot to be said for Romer's version, but I think the truth is more complicated still.
A lot of what is going on here is that Romer knows the Canaanite background, which he reads onto the evidence. Sometimes this leads to some fascinating insights, but it will have the tendency to dissolve whatever was unique about the ancient Hebrew religion, assuming that its uniqueness did not appear virtually fully formed in the sixth century.
This is a readable and interesting book. If you fear to have your faith tested or your understanding of pre-Exilic Jewish history threatened, then it might not be a book for you.
April 14, 2020
Mais QUEL TITRE ! Si vous êtes curieux, vous avez fait comme moi, acheter l'ouvrage parce que le titre est vraiment intriguant.
Longue et détaillée réflexion du spécialiste Thomas Römer (que vous pouvez suivre en direct sur le site du Collège de France, quoique franchement, j'ai décroché au bout de deux vidéos de 40 min, on n'est pas tous des génies, dommage) sur le Dieu judéo-chrétien à partir de sources très variées. D'où vient-il ? Est-il seul dès le début ? Où son culte est-il célébré ? Comment ? Quels sont ses attributs ? Ses noms ? De quoi remettre en cause notre lecture de la Bible et attaquer l'angle historique. Chaque chapitre est organisé comme une enquête avec des remises en causes, des recherches de preuves/réflexions philologiques, archéologiques, historiques. On aime que l'auteur reste aux hypothèses quand les preuves ne sont pas suffisantes. On apprécie aussi les cartes qui permettent de mieux visualiser.
Mon chapitre préféré est le 9 : "Yhwh et son Ashérah". Je vous mets en extrait le début et vous comprendrez pourquoi : "Être le seul vrai dieu n'autorise guère de partenaire. Traditionnellement, Yhwh est donc considéré comme un dieu "célibataire" et les mentions des déesses dans la Bible, notamment d'Ashérah, ont été interprétées comme relevant d'un culte non yahwiste. C'est dans cette perspective que les rédacteurs bibliques ont en effet essayé de présenter les choses. Pour l'Historien, la situation se présente différemment". Voilà tout est dit, avec grand tact.
Petit bémol, sur mon édition, c'est vraiment écrit trop petit (et j'ai une bonne vue), donc pas vraiment pratique pour lire confortablement le soir. Et il faut quand même avoir un sacré bagage culturel (connaissance de la Bible) pour suivre (d'où les 3 étoiles seulement).
Longue et détaillée réflexion du spécialiste Thomas Römer (que vous pouvez suivre en direct sur le site du Collège de France, quoique franchement, j'ai décroché au bout de deux vidéos de 40 min, on n'est pas tous des génies, dommage) sur le Dieu judéo-chrétien à partir de sources très variées. D'où vient-il ? Est-il seul dès le début ? Où son culte est-il célébré ? Comment ? Quels sont ses attributs ? Ses noms ? De quoi remettre en cause notre lecture de la Bible et attaquer l'angle historique. Chaque chapitre est organisé comme une enquête avec des remises en causes, des recherches de preuves/réflexions philologiques, archéologiques, historiques. On aime que l'auteur reste aux hypothèses quand les preuves ne sont pas suffisantes. On apprécie aussi les cartes qui permettent de mieux visualiser.
Mon chapitre préféré est le 9 : "Yhwh et son Ashérah". Je vous mets en extrait le début et vous comprendrez pourquoi : "Être le seul vrai dieu n'autorise guère de partenaire. Traditionnellement, Yhwh est donc considéré comme un dieu "célibataire" et les mentions des déesses dans la Bible, notamment d'Ashérah, ont été interprétées comme relevant d'un culte non yahwiste. C'est dans cette perspective que les rédacteurs bibliques ont en effet essayé de présenter les choses. Pour l'Historien, la situation se présente différemment". Voilà tout est dit, avec grand tact.
Petit bémol, sur mon édition, c'est vraiment écrit trop petit (et j'ai une bonne vue), donc pas vraiment pratique pour lire confortablement le soir. Et il faut quand même avoir un sacré bagage culturel (connaissance de la Bible) pour suivre (d'où les 3 étoiles seulement).
March 7, 2019
Lots of interesting stuff in here, though it becomes clear pretty quickly this was not written for a general audience. If that's you and impatience strikes, don't feel bad about skipping to the Conclusion.
September 23, 2024
This is a fascinating book, and I found it hard to put down. Römer basically describes the evolution of belief in Yahweh, how that belief was eventually kindled in Israel, and how over time belief in one storm god among many grew into a belief that Yhwh was Israel's very special god, and from there into a more developed monolatry and finally (but not until the Persian era, and not popularly until sometime after that) monotheism. Along the way he describes the evolution of the Torah, the nature of religious belief in Israel/Judah, and the different strands of tradition that were eventually combined and edited into the Hebrew Scriptures as we know it today.
However, the book had one shortcoming that sometimes irritated me. Roughly, while Römer doesn't believe that the Hebrew Scriptures provide reliable historical information, he does often refer to "deep memories" that the texts reveal, and he does so without explaining why, in any particular case, this might be so. Naturally, these "deep memories," are very friendly to his argument. So, if you trust Römer's judgment, such assertions make perfect sense. But what if Römer is wrong about the nature of these texts and their supposed "deep memories?"
Still, his approach is plausible and has pushed me hard to dig deeper into Römer's ideas about how the Torah and the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures came together. In any case, this is certainly not John Bright's history of Israel!
I would add that this book will be a very tough read for people committed to the notion that scripture is somehow divinely inspired, or that it tells a single story, or that the stories in the OT have much historical worth (in the modern secular sense of a retelling of the past that at least strives for objectivity). Reading this book challenges such assumptions on almost every page--and shreds them, I'd say. So it is exactly the sort of book all aspiring theologians and Biblical scholars should read, no matter what theological commitments they have as they come to this book.
However, the book had one shortcoming that sometimes irritated me. Roughly, while Römer doesn't believe that the Hebrew Scriptures provide reliable historical information, he does often refer to "deep memories" that the texts reveal, and he does so without explaining why, in any particular case, this might be so. Naturally, these "deep memories," are very friendly to his argument. So, if you trust Römer's judgment, such assertions make perfect sense. But what if Römer is wrong about the nature of these texts and their supposed "deep memories?"
Still, his approach is plausible and has pushed me hard to dig deeper into Römer's ideas about how the Torah and the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures came together. In any case, this is certainly not John Bright's history of Israel!
I would add that this book will be a very tough read for people committed to the notion that scripture is somehow divinely inspired, or that it tells a single story, or that the stories in the OT have much historical worth (in the modern secular sense of a retelling of the past that at least strives for objectivity). Reading this book challenges such assumptions on almost every page--and shreds them, I'd say. So it is exactly the sort of book all aspiring theologians and Biblical scholars should read, no matter what theological commitments they have as they come to this book.
September 1, 2015
Enfin un regard historique (et donc neutre, malgré le titre du livre, qui pourrait paraître... un rien partial !) sur le passage progressif, sur le territoire de l'actuel état d'Israel, de différentes formes de polythéismes à différentes formes de monothéismes, jusqu'à la suprématie du dieu des 3 grands monothéismes d'aujourd'hui.
L'idée d'"invention de Dieu" découle très naturellement de la chronologie des faits et, en particulier, du fait que le dieu des monothéismes se révèle être l'un des dieux vénérés localement à l'époque des polythéismes... avant l'arrivée des écrits saints et/ou révélés associés.
Attention : le livre rentre vraiment dans le détail, et pourra paraître par moments austère et peu limpide à lire. Passionnant néanmoins !
L'idée d'"invention de Dieu" découle très naturellement de la chronologie des faits et, en particulier, du fait que le dieu des monothéismes se révèle être l'un des dieux vénérés localement à l'époque des polythéismes... avant l'arrivée des écrits saints et/ou révélés associés.
Attention : le livre rentre vraiment dans le détail, et pourra paraître par moments austère et peu limpide à lire. Passionnant néanmoins !
Read
January 6, 2016Very technical scholarship. Interesting conclusion. I didn't read every word of this one so won't rate it.
abandoned
February 16, 2016Why I abandoned it - in one sentence: Still slogging through the first half of entirely etymological history with no end in sight.
I probably would have given it: nearly four stars.
I probably would have given it: nearly four stars.
April 10, 2023
This book is aimed at an academic audience rather than the general reader (hence the price tag) but there is no reason why a general reader with some knowledge of the topic cannot enjoy it. The book looks at the origins of Yhwh, the Ancient Israelite god, asking where he came from and how he was transformed from a minor pagan god of storms and war to the transcendent all-powerful, all-knowing God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
One thing Römer stresses is the mutability of the early texts that were later incorporated into the Hebrew Bible. Under most circumstances, papyrus and vellum scrolls don’t remain legible for long and must be copied out again every few decades. This offers ample opportunity to edit, add and delete, and scholars have learned how to spot the tell-tale signs of interpolation.
Römer begins his survey by looking at the god’s name. He opts for Yhwh rather than the more common Yahweh, since we cannot actually be sure about the vowels, which were not written in early Hebrew. He then examines the evidence concerning Yhwh’s geographical origins, concluding that the area around the Negev desert, Sanai and northern Arabia is his most likely source.
How the Ancient Israelites came to adopt Yhwh is uncertain. Römer speculates that a nomadic tribe or clan may have taken him north with them around 1000 BCE. However, the religion of the Israelites and Judahites wasn’t very different from that of their neighbours. Yhwh was just one of the many gods they worshipped, and for a long time, he probably wasn’t their main god. He was also worshipped as a minor god by many of Israel and Judah’s near neighbours.
Römer sets out evidence that suggests Yhwh originally shared Solomon’s temple with other gods – it is likely that the temple’s most important god was in fact a sun god. He shows that the temple probably contained a statue of Yhwh, whilst the golden calves at Bethel and Dan were not seats of Yhwh, as many scholars suggest, but statues of him.
Over time, Yhwh was promoted to the status of the national god of Israel and Judah and began to take on features of other gods. There was nothing unusual about this: something similar happened to national gods in other countries in the region. What was unusual was the emergence in the eighth century BCE of a Yhwh-only party, prophets and priests who insisted that Israelites and Judahites should only worship Yhwh, to the exclusion of all other gods. This was not monotheism: merely a conviction that a covenant with Yhwh forbade the worship of other gods, even Yhwh’s wife Asherah.
In the decades after the fall of the Kingdom of Israel in 720 BCE, the Yhwh-only party came to power in Judah, first (perhaps) under King Hezekiah and later under the boy-King Josiah. Once in power, they tried and largely failed to suppress the worship of other gods. Römer shows that many Judahites would later blame the catastrophic Babylonian invasion of 586 BCE on their failure to give Asherah the devotion due to her.
For those Yhwh-worshipping notables carted off to exile in Babylon, two explanations were possible. Either the Babylonian god Marduk was stronger than Yhwh, or Yhwh himself had used the Babylonians to punish the Judahites for their failure to worship only him. If the latter is the case, then Yhwh becomes a far more powerful god, not merely a national god but one who can use other nations to execute his will. This was an important step on the way to monotheism.
However, Römer says that true monotheism didn’t develop until after the Persians had conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews (as the remnants of the Judahites were now known) to return home and restore their temple. He accepts the thesis that Zoroastrianism influenced both the development of monotheism and the emergence of Satan as God’s adversary, but he says that since we don’t actually know very much about Zoroastrianism in that period, it is difficult to say how this influence manifested itself or how important it was.
Römer briefly takes us through the Persian and Hellenistic eras and discusses the importance of the Jewish diaspora in Egypt and Mesopotamia. He notes the attraction of Jewish monotheism for many gentiles and the emergence of the apocalyptic ideas that would later give birth to Christianity.
This book is very readable, though occasionally I found myself wondering whether the translator should have gone for something like of “place name” rather than a word like “toponym”. Römer guides us through his argument step by step, always laying out his evidence clearly. Since he is aiming at an academic audience, he does assume greater familiarity with history and the Biblical text than many general readers may possess, but in the age of quick searches using Google and Wikipedia, this isn’t much of a problem. If you have some knowledge of the topic and want a cutting-edge understanding of what modern scholarship tells us about the origins of Jewish monotheism, this book is for you.
One thing Römer stresses is the mutability of the early texts that were later incorporated into the Hebrew Bible. Under most circumstances, papyrus and vellum scrolls don’t remain legible for long and must be copied out again every few decades. This offers ample opportunity to edit, add and delete, and scholars have learned how to spot the tell-tale signs of interpolation.
Römer begins his survey by looking at the god’s name. He opts for Yhwh rather than the more common Yahweh, since we cannot actually be sure about the vowels, which were not written in early Hebrew. He then examines the evidence concerning Yhwh’s geographical origins, concluding that the area around the Negev desert, Sanai and northern Arabia is his most likely source.
How the Ancient Israelites came to adopt Yhwh is uncertain. Römer speculates that a nomadic tribe or clan may have taken him north with them around 1000 BCE. However, the religion of the Israelites and Judahites wasn’t very different from that of their neighbours. Yhwh was just one of the many gods they worshipped, and for a long time, he probably wasn’t their main god. He was also worshipped as a minor god by many of Israel and Judah’s near neighbours.
Römer sets out evidence that suggests Yhwh originally shared Solomon’s temple with other gods – it is likely that the temple’s most important god was in fact a sun god. He shows that the temple probably contained a statue of Yhwh, whilst the golden calves at Bethel and Dan were not seats of Yhwh, as many scholars suggest, but statues of him.
Over time, Yhwh was promoted to the status of the national god of Israel and Judah and began to take on features of other gods. There was nothing unusual about this: something similar happened to national gods in other countries in the region. What was unusual was the emergence in the eighth century BCE of a Yhwh-only party, prophets and priests who insisted that Israelites and Judahites should only worship Yhwh, to the exclusion of all other gods. This was not monotheism: merely a conviction that a covenant with Yhwh forbade the worship of other gods, even Yhwh’s wife Asherah.
In the decades after the fall of the Kingdom of Israel in 720 BCE, the Yhwh-only party came to power in Judah, first (perhaps) under King Hezekiah and later under the boy-King Josiah. Once in power, they tried and largely failed to suppress the worship of other gods. Römer shows that many Judahites would later blame the catastrophic Babylonian invasion of 586 BCE on their failure to give Asherah the devotion due to her.
For those Yhwh-worshipping notables carted off to exile in Babylon, two explanations were possible. Either the Babylonian god Marduk was stronger than Yhwh, or Yhwh himself had used the Babylonians to punish the Judahites for their failure to worship only him. If the latter is the case, then Yhwh becomes a far more powerful god, not merely a national god but one who can use other nations to execute his will. This was an important step on the way to monotheism.
However, Römer says that true monotheism didn’t develop until after the Persians had conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews (as the remnants of the Judahites were now known) to return home and restore their temple. He accepts the thesis that Zoroastrianism influenced both the development of monotheism and the emergence of Satan as God’s adversary, but he says that since we don’t actually know very much about Zoroastrianism in that period, it is difficult to say how this influence manifested itself or how important it was.
Römer briefly takes us through the Persian and Hellenistic eras and discusses the importance of the Jewish diaspora in Egypt and Mesopotamia. He notes the attraction of Jewish monotheism for many gentiles and the emergence of the apocalyptic ideas that would later give birth to Christianity.
This book is very readable, though occasionally I found myself wondering whether the translator should have gone for something like of “place name” rather than a word like “toponym”. Römer guides us through his argument step by step, always laying out his evidence clearly. Since he is aiming at an academic audience, he does assume greater familiarity with history and the Biblical text than many general readers may possess, but in the age of quick searches using Google and Wikipedia, this isn’t much of a problem. If you have some knowledge of the topic and want a cutting-edge understanding of what modern scholarship tells us about the origins of Jewish monotheism, this book is for you.
July 17, 2024
A great and ambitious subject that was let down by some of the analysis and writing.
I found this book worthwhile, enjoyable, and intellectually stimulating read overall, but I had to work for this (and I suspect others will find themselves in a similar position).
My criticisms of the book are twofold: its lack of sufficient contextual background and exposition to easily lead the reader into the specific details being examined and argued with; and, secondly its methods of analysis that in places which left me feeling frustrated and unconvinced.
On the first point Römer jumps right into the details of the Hebrew bible, the ancient Levant and Near East and all of the various political, religious and military events happening at the time with little in the way of a broad introduction for the uninitiated. Having only a passing familiarity with the Bible and Biblical traditions I found myself frequently reaching for my phone to do some background reading on Moab, Edom, Aramea, the Pentateuch etc. Römer seems to have pitched this book squarely at his fellow Hebrew/Biblical scholars and not at a more general intellectually curious audience. Some general context on history, religious practices and the ethnic-cultural lay of the land would have gone a long way to both orienting the reader and making a more substantial basis for his arguments that follow.
Which leads me to my second criticism with the book. While overall Römer’s arguments are sound and convincing (on balance) the way in which he introduces evidence and more particular arguments is scattered, and at times fairly speculative. Römer rightly challenges other approaches that treat biblical sources with an undue level of credulity, taking them as more-or-less historiographic accounts of actual events with a bit of PR “spin” on them. In these moments of critique Römer is at his strongest. However, when lacking other lines of argument Römer himself leans far too heavily on reconstructive and speculative readings against the grain of Biblical texts without any critical comment. Having very convincingly argued that one cannot uncritically rely on the heavily edited, redacted, rewritten Biblical sources written by many unknown hands across hundreds of years (and with countless motivations) his own uncritical reliance on these sources to reach fairly speculative possible conclusions is a little hard to swallow. Even more so when he first makes these arguments on somewhat thin evidence, only to in later chapters rely on these points as if there were settled conclusions.
As an anthropologist and one who has worked in historical and reconstructive ethnographic accounts I found it especially frustrating that Römer took such a textual analysis heavy approach (perhaps this is because of his training and the methods of his discipline) and did not take a broader, more comparative “ethnographic” type approach. Having read widely on the ancient near east (except the Biblical sources until more recently) it was so abundantly clear to me that religion in the Levant was a local iteration and outgrowth of Mesopotamian religion with influences from Egypt at varying periods. The painstaking (at times bordering on painful) attempt at a philology and reconstructed etymology of the name Yahweh as an attempt to locate the source of the Israelite’s God was something of an unnecessary rabbit hole in my opinion as a comparative cultural/religious analysis would show quite convincingly that this Yahweh was simply a Negevian variation of a widely circulating War/Storm/Creator God archetype from the region who was variously known and worshipped as El, Shamash, Marduk or Baal.
To be fair Römer does mention this point, but only really in passing and doesn’t make it the central part of his argument which it really should be. Cultural themes and archetypes in all areas of social life tend to circulate fairly widely and gradually develop into local iterations, a phenomenon which can be seen all around the world in all periods of history. Think of Confucianism and its variants, or Rock and Roll today. Römer could have saved us all a lot of pedantic jousting over textual interpretations and engaged a much richer discussion about cultural diffusion (and its particular developments) if he’d both elaborated more of the general cultural and historical context and then mobilised this in service of his larger investigation.
Nevertheless an enlightening book with very detailed scholarship.
I found this book worthwhile, enjoyable, and intellectually stimulating read overall, but I had to work for this (and I suspect others will find themselves in a similar position).
My criticisms of the book are twofold: its lack of sufficient contextual background and exposition to easily lead the reader into the specific details being examined and argued with; and, secondly its methods of analysis that in places which left me feeling frustrated and unconvinced.
On the first point Römer jumps right into the details of the Hebrew bible, the ancient Levant and Near East and all of the various political, religious and military events happening at the time with little in the way of a broad introduction for the uninitiated. Having only a passing familiarity with the Bible and Biblical traditions I found myself frequently reaching for my phone to do some background reading on Moab, Edom, Aramea, the Pentateuch etc. Römer seems to have pitched this book squarely at his fellow Hebrew/Biblical scholars and not at a more general intellectually curious audience. Some general context on history, religious practices and the ethnic-cultural lay of the land would have gone a long way to both orienting the reader and making a more substantial basis for his arguments that follow.
Which leads me to my second criticism with the book. While overall Römer’s arguments are sound and convincing (on balance) the way in which he introduces evidence and more particular arguments is scattered, and at times fairly speculative. Römer rightly challenges other approaches that treat biblical sources with an undue level of credulity, taking them as more-or-less historiographic accounts of actual events with a bit of PR “spin” on them. In these moments of critique Römer is at his strongest. However, when lacking other lines of argument Römer himself leans far too heavily on reconstructive and speculative readings against the grain of Biblical texts without any critical comment. Having very convincingly argued that one cannot uncritically rely on the heavily edited, redacted, rewritten Biblical sources written by many unknown hands across hundreds of years (and with countless motivations) his own uncritical reliance on these sources to reach fairly speculative possible conclusions is a little hard to swallow. Even more so when he first makes these arguments on somewhat thin evidence, only to in later chapters rely on these points as if there were settled conclusions.
As an anthropologist and one who has worked in historical and reconstructive ethnographic accounts I found it especially frustrating that Römer took such a textual analysis heavy approach (perhaps this is because of his training and the methods of his discipline) and did not take a broader, more comparative “ethnographic” type approach. Having read widely on the ancient near east (except the Biblical sources until more recently) it was so abundantly clear to me that religion in the Levant was a local iteration and outgrowth of Mesopotamian religion with influences from Egypt at varying periods. The painstaking (at times bordering on painful) attempt at a philology and reconstructed etymology of the name Yahweh as an attempt to locate the source of the Israelite’s God was something of an unnecessary rabbit hole in my opinion as a comparative cultural/religious analysis would show quite convincingly that this Yahweh was simply a Negevian variation of a widely circulating War/Storm/Creator God archetype from the region who was variously known and worshipped as El, Shamash, Marduk or Baal.
To be fair Römer does mention this point, but only really in passing and doesn’t make it the central part of his argument which it really should be. Cultural themes and archetypes in all areas of social life tend to circulate fairly widely and gradually develop into local iterations, a phenomenon which can be seen all around the world in all periods of history. Think of Confucianism and its variants, or Rock and Roll today. Römer could have saved us all a lot of pedantic jousting over textual interpretations and engaged a much richer discussion about cultural diffusion (and its particular developments) if he’d both elaborated more of the general cultural and historical context and then mobilised this in service of his larger investigation.
Nevertheless an enlightening book with very detailed scholarship.
March 22, 2023
In "The Invention of God," Thomas Römer sets out to explore the development of monotheism in ancient Israel and the evolution of the concept of God throughout history. As a biblical scholar and professor at the Collège de France, Römer brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge to the subject, and he presents his arguments in a clear and engaging style that will appeal to both scholars and general readers.
The book is divided into four parts, each of which explores a different aspect of the development of monotheism. Part One looks at the origins of monotheism in ancient Israel and the emergence of the concept of a single, all-powerful God. Römer argues that this idea did not emerge fully-formed but developed gradually over several centuries, in response to historical, cultural, and political factors. He explores the evidence from the Hebrew Bible and other ancient texts to trace the evolution of the idea of God and the changing ways in which God was worshipped. Part Two focuses on the interaction between ancient Israel and other cultures, particularly the Babylonians and Persians. Römer shows how these interactions influenced the development of the concept of God, as the Israelites were exposed to new ideas and ways of thinking about religion. He argues that the Babylonian exile was a particularly significant moment in the development of monotheism, as it forced the Israelites to confront the question of why their God had allowed them to be defeated and taken into captivity. Part Three looks at the role of prophecy in the development of monotheism, and the ways in which the prophets challenged the traditional understanding of God. Römer shows how the prophets emphasized the ethical and moral dimensions of the concept of God, and how they challenged the idea that God was simply a national deity who protected and cared for Israel. He also explores the ways in which the prophets responded to the changing political and social context of their time, and how they used their message of monotheism to address contemporary issues. Finally, Part Four considers the legacy of monotheism and its impact on later history and culture. Römer argues that the idea of a single, all-powerful God has been one of the most influential ideas in human history, shaping the way we think about religion, ethics, and politics. He explores the ways in which monotheism has been both a force for good and a source of conflict, and how it continues to shape the world today.
Overall, "The Invention of God" is a fascinating and insightful book that offers a valuable perspective on the history of religion and the evolution of ideas. Römer's clear and engaging writing style, combined with his deep knowledge and expertise, makes this a book that will appeal to both scholars and general readers. Whether you are interested in the history of religion, the evolution of ideas, or the role of monotheism in shaping human history, this book is a must-read.
P.S. This review was entirely AI-generated, by way of ChatGPT ;)
The book is divided into four parts, each of which explores a different aspect of the development of monotheism. Part One looks at the origins of monotheism in ancient Israel and the emergence of the concept of a single, all-powerful God. Römer argues that this idea did not emerge fully-formed but developed gradually over several centuries, in response to historical, cultural, and political factors. He explores the evidence from the Hebrew Bible and other ancient texts to trace the evolution of the idea of God and the changing ways in which God was worshipped. Part Two focuses on the interaction between ancient Israel and other cultures, particularly the Babylonians and Persians. Römer shows how these interactions influenced the development of the concept of God, as the Israelites were exposed to new ideas and ways of thinking about religion. He argues that the Babylonian exile was a particularly significant moment in the development of monotheism, as it forced the Israelites to confront the question of why their God had allowed them to be defeated and taken into captivity. Part Three looks at the role of prophecy in the development of monotheism, and the ways in which the prophets challenged the traditional understanding of God. Römer shows how the prophets emphasized the ethical and moral dimensions of the concept of God, and how they challenged the idea that God was simply a national deity who protected and cared for Israel. He also explores the ways in which the prophets responded to the changing political and social context of their time, and how they used their message of monotheism to address contemporary issues. Finally, Part Four considers the legacy of monotheism and its impact on later history and culture. Römer argues that the idea of a single, all-powerful God has been one of the most influential ideas in human history, shaping the way we think about religion, ethics, and politics. He explores the ways in which monotheism has been both a force for good and a source of conflict, and how it continues to shape the world today.
Overall, "The Invention of God" is a fascinating and insightful book that offers a valuable perspective on the history of religion and the evolution of ideas. Römer's clear and engaging writing style, combined with his deep knowledge and expertise, makes this a book that will appeal to both scholars and general readers. Whether you are interested in the history of religion, the evolution of ideas, or the role of monotheism in shaping human history, this book is a must-read.
P.S. This review was entirely AI-generated, by way of ChatGPT ;)
June 21, 2022
(Version Francaise en bas)
This is on one hand a fascinating book, Thomas Römer, a first-class scholar in Old Testament Studies allows us a view over his should as a researcher. All along the book, which treats the passage from polytheism to monotheism in Israel in Judea, he presents archeological finds, expunged texts from the Bible, from manuscripts which did not make it into the Canon, and elements of mythology of other peoples in the fertile crescent between 1500 bc and 500 bc. He makes hypotheses, but is always honest to present counterarguments and give them credit(or occasionally discredit them).
Where the book lacks is that sometimes one looses the red line of the narrative. The reader is overwhelmed with facts and loses occasionally the grand picture. Römer, as a practicing university professor, gives summaries at each chapter and for the whole book, but the fleshing out of the big picture could be better.
Also sometimes arguments build on knowledge that I don't have, I am not a student of middle east ancient history, and a bit more introduction in some concepts would be welcome.
Anyway, I still recommend this book, if you read it with a Bible in parallel to look up the numerous references, you will be surprised of the many traces of a JUdean/Isrealite Pantheon with, behold, even a female partner to YHWH. !
(Version Francasie):
C'est d'une part un livre fascinant, Thomas Römer, un érudit de premier ordre dans les études de l'Ancien Testament, nous donne une vue par-dessus son épaule en tant que chercheur. Tout au long de l'ouvrage, qui traite du passage du polythéisme au monothéisme en Israël en Judée, il présente des trouvailles archéologiques, des textes expurgés de la Bible, des manuscrits qui n'entraient pas dans le Canon, et des éléments de mythologie d'autres peuples dans le croissant fertile entre 1500 avant JC et 500 avant JC. Il fait des hypothèses, mais il est toujours honnête pour présenter des contre-arguments et leur donner du crédit (ou parfois les discréditer).
Là où le livre manque, c'est que parfois on perd le fil rouge du récit. Le lecteur est submergé par les faits et perd parfois la vue d'ensemble. Römer, en tant que professeur d'université en exercice, donne des résumés à chaque chapitre et pour l'ensemble du livre, mais l'élaboration de la vue d'ensemble pourrait être meilleure.
De plus, parfois, les arguments s'appuient sur des connaissances que je n'ai pas, je ne suis pas étudiant en histoire ancienne du Moyen-Orient, et un peu plus d'introduction dans certains concepts serait la bienvenue.
Quoi qu'il en soit, je recommande toujours ce livre, si vous le lisez avec une Bible en parallèle pour rechercher les nombreuses références, vous serez surpris des nombreuses traces d'un panthéon judéen/israélite avec, surprise suprème, même une partenaire féminine de YHWH !
This is on one hand a fascinating book, Thomas Römer, a first-class scholar in Old Testament Studies allows us a view over his should as a researcher. All along the book, which treats the passage from polytheism to monotheism in Israel in Judea, he presents archeological finds, expunged texts from the Bible, from manuscripts which did not make it into the Canon, and elements of mythology of other peoples in the fertile crescent between 1500 bc and 500 bc. He makes hypotheses, but is always honest to present counterarguments and give them credit(or occasionally discredit them).
Where the book lacks is that sometimes one looses the red line of the narrative. The reader is overwhelmed with facts and loses occasionally the grand picture. Römer, as a practicing university professor, gives summaries at each chapter and for the whole book, but the fleshing out of the big picture could be better.
Also sometimes arguments build on knowledge that I don't have, I am not a student of middle east ancient history, and a bit more introduction in some concepts would be welcome.
Anyway, I still recommend this book, if you read it with a Bible in parallel to look up the numerous references, you will be surprised of the many traces of a JUdean/Isrealite Pantheon with, behold, even a female partner to YHWH. !
(Version Francasie):
C'est d'une part un livre fascinant, Thomas Römer, un érudit de premier ordre dans les études de l'Ancien Testament, nous donne une vue par-dessus son épaule en tant que chercheur. Tout au long de l'ouvrage, qui traite du passage du polythéisme au monothéisme en Israël en Judée, il présente des trouvailles archéologiques, des textes expurgés de la Bible, des manuscrits qui n'entraient pas dans le Canon, et des éléments de mythologie d'autres peuples dans le croissant fertile entre 1500 avant JC et 500 avant JC. Il fait des hypothèses, mais il est toujours honnête pour présenter des contre-arguments et leur donner du crédit (ou parfois les discréditer).
Là où le livre manque, c'est que parfois on perd le fil rouge du récit. Le lecteur est submergé par les faits et perd parfois la vue d'ensemble. Römer, en tant que professeur d'université en exercice, donne des résumés à chaque chapitre et pour l'ensemble du livre, mais l'élaboration de la vue d'ensemble pourrait être meilleure.
De plus, parfois, les arguments s'appuient sur des connaissances que je n'ai pas, je ne suis pas étudiant en histoire ancienne du Moyen-Orient, et un peu plus d'introduction dans certains concepts serait la bienvenue.
Quoi qu'il en soit, je recommande toujours ce livre, si vous le lisez avec une Bible en parallèle pour rechercher les nombreuses références, vous serez surpris des nombreuses traces d'un panthéon judéen/israélite avec, surprise suprème, même une partenaire féminine de YHWH !
July 21, 2023
Obra facil de leer con una sintesis bien completa de la investigación hecha por los historiadores y filologos de la religión Israelita sobre el origen del Dios del monoteismo, YHWH.
Su obra se enriquece de la arqueología, la filología, los estudios biblicos, antropología y la sociología de la religión.
La evolución YHWH como único Dios no es automatico ni absoluto sino que comienza progresivamente como un dios de la guerra y de la tormenta, principalmente como un dios nacional, con caracteristicas mas tribales de los reinos de Israely Judá, su transformación en un dios único se da bajo el reinado de Josías.
Personalmente, lo mas interesante sobre el analisis de Römer es la evolución del monoteismo biblico, lo que implica una mirada al pueblo de Israel y sus creencias, quienes creian que existían otros dioses, que podían hacer daño y pelear contra YHWH, sin embargo la adoración era exclusivamente dirigida al dios nacional.
Cito: "La Biblia hebrea, en la forma en que la tenemos hoy, se presenta en sus tres partes como un "documento monoteísta", pero los autores y redactores de los diversos textos que la componen también conservaron rastros de politeísmo, por ejemplo, en Job y en numerosos salmos, donde Yhwh aparece rodeado de su corte celestial."
"El monoteísmo bíblico, por tanto, no es realmente una doctrina filosófica cerrada: es pluralista, e invita a los lectores de sus textos a reflexionar sobre la difícil relación entre unidad y diversidad"
Este libro sin duda va a desafiar las preconcepciones de muchos cristianos, judios y musulmanes.
Aunque cabe notar que Thomases honesto al apuntar a paralelismos e influencias demostrando que muchas veces la evidencia es debil.
Hay ciertos analisis en los que el autor se balancea entre el analisis crítico de la Biblia y la teología, sin duda hay implicancias teologicas pero no debiese ser un campo en el que Römer deba indagar.
Su obra se enriquece de la arqueología, la filología, los estudios biblicos, antropología y la sociología de la religión.
La evolución YHWH como único Dios no es automatico ni absoluto sino que comienza progresivamente como un dios de la guerra y de la tormenta, principalmente como un dios nacional, con caracteristicas mas tribales de los reinos de Israely Judá, su transformación en un dios único se da bajo el reinado de Josías.
Personalmente, lo mas interesante sobre el analisis de Römer es la evolución del monoteismo biblico, lo que implica una mirada al pueblo de Israel y sus creencias, quienes creian que existían otros dioses, que podían hacer daño y pelear contra YHWH, sin embargo la adoración era exclusivamente dirigida al dios nacional.
Cito: "La Biblia hebrea, en la forma en que la tenemos hoy, se presenta en sus tres partes como un "documento monoteísta", pero los autores y redactores de los diversos textos que la componen también conservaron rastros de politeísmo, por ejemplo, en Job y en numerosos salmos, donde Yhwh aparece rodeado de su corte celestial."
"El monoteísmo bíblico, por tanto, no es realmente una doctrina filosófica cerrada: es pluralista, e invita a los lectores de sus textos a reflexionar sobre la difícil relación entre unidad y diversidad"
Este libro sin duda va a desafiar las preconcepciones de muchos cristianos, judios y musulmanes.
Aunque cabe notar que Thomases honesto al apuntar a paralelismos e influencias demostrando que muchas veces la evidencia es debil.
Hay ciertos analisis en los que el autor se balancea entre el analisis crítico de la Biblia y la teología, sin duda hay implicancias teologicas pero no debiese ser un campo en el que Römer deba indagar.
April 29, 2022
Ein wirklich tolles Sachbuch - so sollten alle sein! Das fängt damit an, dass die Fußnoten auf jeder Seite zu finden sind, und dennoch die Wissenschaftsprosa so formuliert ist, dass jede Person sie verstehen kann und es somit kein zu akademisches Buch ist. Auch in der Kompliziertheit der Darstellung werden keine populistischen Abstriche gemacht, und dennoch braucht Römer nur 280 Seiten, um quasi die gesamte Entstehung der Hebräischen Bibel inklusive der rekonstruierten Religions- und Politikgeschichte dahinter abzuhandeln. Beeindruckend. Anders als in anderen theologischen akademischen oder halbakademischen Texten wird außerdem nicht der Fehler gemacht, Bibelstellen nur anzugeben, sodass man sie immer quasi dabei haben muss (nur sehr wenige Menschen schlagen sowas nach, kaum jemand hat Lust darauf, dann quasi 2 Bücher zu lesen), sondern eben nur das Wichtigste zu zitieren.
Nun zum Inhalt selbst: Wo gab es auf der Welt den ersten Monotheismus? Auch bei wenigen anderen Möglichkeiten wird das wohl innerhalb der hebräischen Bibel sein. Doch die dort erzählte Zeit und der eigentliche religionsgeschichtliche Moment, in dem Monotheismus entstand, liegt auseinander, was man erkennen kann, wenn man sich die Redaktionsschichten des biblischen Textes anschaut. Da wird man nämlich allerhand Inkohärenzen finden, die darauf hindeuten, dass die Hebräische Bibel ein über Jahrhunderte zusammengeschusterter Text ist, der aus politischen oder theologischen Gründen immer mal wieder geändert wurde.
Die auffälligste Inkohärenz: die Schöpfung wird zweimal erzählt. Auch alles mögliche andere kommt zweimal vor (z.B. Moses Berufung). Das liegt daran, dass anscheinend zwei Quellen zusammengebaut wurden. Die eine nennt man "Priesterschrift" (weil in den ihr zuweisbaren Stellen "priesterliche" Themen, z.B. die Sabbatruhe, besonders wichtig sind.) Die andere nennt man "deuteronomistisch". Dies liegt daran, dass das fünfte Buch Mose Deuteronomium ein zweites (deutero=zwei) Mal Mose ein Gesetz geben lässt. Ein paar Formulierungen, die Mose dabei benutzt, kommen immer mal wieder in den folgenden biblischen Büchern, die (teilweise fiktiv) von der Geschichte Israels erzählen, wieder vor. Weil diese ganze Geschichte eine Linie verfolgt (zu beweisen, dass Israel selbst schuld an dem Untergang durch die Assyrer und dann Babylonier ist, weil sie nicht richtig an ihren Gott geglaubt haben), nennt man diese zweite wichtige Quelle "deuteronomistisches Geschichtswerk".
Sowohl in der Moseerzählung als auch im Deuteronomium werden die zehn Gebote aufgezählt. Deren wichtigster Inhalt ist das erste Gebot - dass man nur Jhwh verehren soll, nicht auch andere Götter. Aufmerksamen Forscher_innen fiel auf: So richtig monotheistisch ist das Gesetz ja nicht. Hier wird ja nicht gesagt, dass es keine Götter gibt, sondern nur, dass man die nicht verehren soll. Der religionsgeschichtliche Vergleich zeigte, dass es zur altorientalischen/antiken Zeit das Phänomen eines Henotheismus (ein Gott an oberster Stelle) und einer Monolatrie gab (nur ein Gott soll verehrt werden. Besonders oft in Staatskulten wurde der Glaube aus politischen Gründen zentalisiert: Der Gott, der uns unterstützt, ist dieser oder jener (z.B. Marduk in Babylonien), aber natürlich glauben Menschen an anderen Orten an andere. Ist das vielleicht bei den zehn Geboten auch so.
auch das Bilderverbot fiel auf: Warum darf man sich eigentlich keine Bilder von Gott machen? Das lässt sich natürlich theologisch beantworten, doch zunächst setzt das voraus, dass es mal Bilder von Jhwh, dem Gott der Hebräischen Bibel gab. Wie sahen die dann aus? Und würde das nicht auch bedeuten, dass Jhwh mal ein "normalerer" Gott war, der sich mit Figuren lokalisieren ließ, und somit auch eben nicht der eine und einzige Gott war (den man deswegen auch nicht mehr abbilden kann)? Beschreiben die 10 Gebote nicht ein Änderung.
Im Deuteronomium, also zweiten Gesetz, fällt auf, dass der Kontext der 10 Gebote anders ist. Hier hält Mose eine ewig lange Rede. Direkt nach den zehn Geboten wird das "jüdische Glaubensbekenntnis" genannt: Du sollst Gott lieben von ganzen Herzen, denn er ist einer." Auch hier kann man genau darauf schauen: Das klingt auch nicht so wirklich nach Monotheismus. Auch hier zeigt sich, dass man erst verstehen muss, wogegen sich diese Formel richtet: nämlich, dass an verschiedenen Orten verschiedene Jhwhs verehrt wurden, also lokale Manifestationen: Der Jhwh von Samaria z.B.
Ein paar Kapitel später heißt es dann: Ihr dürft ihn nur an einem Ort verehren (nämlich den Tempel in Jerusalem). Auch das setzt voraus, dass es vorher anders war. Im Exodusbuch, wo die zehn Gebote auch stehen, gibt es aber ein "Altargesetz", das beschreibt, wie man an verschiedenen Orten Jhwh verehren soll.
Das heißt also, dass man innerhalb der Hebräischen Bibel eine Entwicklung zum Monotheismus über die Verbote der Verbildlichung, die Kultzentralisation und Vereinheitlichung und Alleinverehrung beobachten kann. Explizit monotheistisch formuliert sind nur wenige Stellen, v.a. im Jesajabuch: Es gibt nur einen Gott und keine anderen Götter!
Rekonstruiert bedeutet das: Es gibt Stellen in der Bibel, die darauf verweisen, dass neben Jhwh auch noch seine "Frau" Aschera verehrt wurde oder eine Sonnengottheit. Andere Stellen verweisen auf eine Verbildlichung als Stier (die Geschichte vom goldenen Kalb) oder als anthropomorphe Statue (die über den "Cherubim", also Fabelwesen, thront). Wiederum andere verweisen darauf, dass Jhwh als Wetter- und Kriegsgott verehrt worden ist und dann erst zum Hauptgott wurde.
Das deuteronomistische Geschichtswerk ist wahrscheinlich nach der Zerstörung Judas und Jerusalems im Exil im 6. Jahrhundert v.Chr. entstanden. Hier findet man noch keinen Monotheismus, aber bereits die Idee einer Alleinverehrung (mit deutlicher Abwertung der Fremdgötter, die als schwächer und nicht für Israel bestimmt dargestellt werden).
Die Priesterschrift klingt da schon monotheistischer: Die Völker rund um Israel würden von dem einen Schöpfergott abstammen und wären auch alle irgendwie mit Abraham und Adam verwandt. Sie könnte aus dem 5. Jahrhundert, also der nachexilischen, persoischen Zeit stammen.
Der "echte" Monotheismus wäre dann zum Ende der persischen Zeit entstanden - Gott richtet alle Völker der gesamten Erde (und nicht nur die Nachbarvölker).
Nun zum Inhalt selbst: Wo gab es auf der Welt den ersten Monotheismus? Auch bei wenigen anderen Möglichkeiten wird das wohl innerhalb der hebräischen Bibel sein. Doch die dort erzählte Zeit und der eigentliche religionsgeschichtliche Moment, in dem Monotheismus entstand, liegt auseinander, was man erkennen kann, wenn man sich die Redaktionsschichten des biblischen Textes anschaut. Da wird man nämlich allerhand Inkohärenzen finden, die darauf hindeuten, dass die Hebräische Bibel ein über Jahrhunderte zusammengeschusterter Text ist, der aus politischen oder theologischen Gründen immer mal wieder geändert wurde.
Die auffälligste Inkohärenz: die Schöpfung wird zweimal erzählt. Auch alles mögliche andere kommt zweimal vor (z.B. Moses Berufung). Das liegt daran, dass anscheinend zwei Quellen zusammengebaut wurden. Die eine nennt man "Priesterschrift" (weil in den ihr zuweisbaren Stellen "priesterliche" Themen, z.B. die Sabbatruhe, besonders wichtig sind.) Die andere nennt man "deuteronomistisch". Dies liegt daran, dass das fünfte Buch Mose Deuteronomium ein zweites (deutero=zwei) Mal Mose ein Gesetz geben lässt. Ein paar Formulierungen, die Mose dabei benutzt, kommen immer mal wieder in den folgenden biblischen Büchern, die (teilweise fiktiv) von der Geschichte Israels erzählen, wieder vor. Weil diese ganze Geschichte eine Linie verfolgt (zu beweisen, dass Israel selbst schuld an dem Untergang durch die Assyrer und dann Babylonier ist, weil sie nicht richtig an ihren Gott geglaubt haben), nennt man diese zweite wichtige Quelle "deuteronomistisches Geschichtswerk".
Sowohl in der Moseerzählung als auch im Deuteronomium werden die zehn Gebote aufgezählt. Deren wichtigster Inhalt ist das erste Gebot - dass man nur Jhwh verehren soll, nicht auch andere Götter. Aufmerksamen Forscher_innen fiel auf: So richtig monotheistisch ist das Gesetz ja nicht. Hier wird ja nicht gesagt, dass es keine Götter gibt, sondern nur, dass man die nicht verehren soll. Der religionsgeschichtliche Vergleich zeigte, dass es zur altorientalischen/antiken Zeit das Phänomen eines Henotheismus (ein Gott an oberster Stelle) und einer Monolatrie gab (nur ein Gott soll verehrt werden. Besonders oft in Staatskulten wurde der Glaube aus politischen Gründen zentalisiert: Der Gott, der uns unterstützt, ist dieser oder jener (z.B. Marduk in Babylonien), aber natürlich glauben Menschen an anderen Orten an andere. Ist das vielleicht bei den zehn Geboten auch so.
auch das Bilderverbot fiel auf: Warum darf man sich eigentlich keine Bilder von Gott machen? Das lässt sich natürlich theologisch beantworten, doch zunächst setzt das voraus, dass es mal Bilder von Jhwh, dem Gott der Hebräischen Bibel gab. Wie sahen die dann aus? Und würde das nicht auch bedeuten, dass Jhwh mal ein "normalerer" Gott war, der sich mit Figuren lokalisieren ließ, und somit auch eben nicht der eine und einzige Gott war (den man deswegen auch nicht mehr abbilden kann)? Beschreiben die 10 Gebote nicht ein Änderung.
Im Deuteronomium, also zweiten Gesetz, fällt auf, dass der Kontext der 10 Gebote anders ist. Hier hält Mose eine ewig lange Rede. Direkt nach den zehn Geboten wird das "jüdische Glaubensbekenntnis" genannt: Du sollst Gott lieben von ganzen Herzen, denn er ist einer." Auch hier kann man genau darauf schauen: Das klingt auch nicht so wirklich nach Monotheismus. Auch hier zeigt sich, dass man erst verstehen muss, wogegen sich diese Formel richtet: nämlich, dass an verschiedenen Orten verschiedene Jhwhs verehrt wurden, also lokale Manifestationen: Der Jhwh von Samaria z.B.
Ein paar Kapitel später heißt es dann: Ihr dürft ihn nur an einem Ort verehren (nämlich den Tempel in Jerusalem). Auch das setzt voraus, dass es vorher anders war. Im Exodusbuch, wo die zehn Gebote auch stehen, gibt es aber ein "Altargesetz", das beschreibt, wie man an verschiedenen Orten Jhwh verehren soll.
Das heißt also, dass man innerhalb der Hebräischen Bibel eine Entwicklung zum Monotheismus über die Verbote der Verbildlichung, die Kultzentralisation und Vereinheitlichung und Alleinverehrung beobachten kann. Explizit monotheistisch formuliert sind nur wenige Stellen, v.a. im Jesajabuch: Es gibt nur einen Gott und keine anderen Götter!
Rekonstruiert bedeutet das: Es gibt Stellen in der Bibel, die darauf verweisen, dass neben Jhwh auch noch seine "Frau" Aschera verehrt wurde oder eine Sonnengottheit. Andere Stellen verweisen auf eine Verbildlichung als Stier (die Geschichte vom goldenen Kalb) oder als anthropomorphe Statue (die über den "Cherubim", also Fabelwesen, thront). Wiederum andere verweisen darauf, dass Jhwh als Wetter- und Kriegsgott verehrt worden ist und dann erst zum Hauptgott wurde.
Das deuteronomistische Geschichtswerk ist wahrscheinlich nach der Zerstörung Judas und Jerusalems im Exil im 6. Jahrhundert v.Chr. entstanden. Hier findet man noch keinen Monotheismus, aber bereits die Idee einer Alleinverehrung (mit deutlicher Abwertung der Fremdgötter, die als schwächer und nicht für Israel bestimmt dargestellt werden).
Die Priesterschrift klingt da schon monotheistischer: Die Völker rund um Israel würden von dem einen Schöpfergott abstammen und wären auch alle irgendwie mit Abraham und Adam verwandt. Sie könnte aus dem 5. Jahrhundert, also der nachexilischen, persoischen Zeit stammen.
Der "echte" Monotheismus wäre dann zum Ende der persischen Zeit entstanden - Gott richtet alle Völker der gesamten Erde (und nicht nur die Nachbarvölker).
September 8, 2025
This work tries to explain the origins of YHWH, the God of Israel and of the Abrahamic religions. Primarily using exegetical analysis of the (various) Bibles, references to non-Biblical attestations - both literary and archeological - Prof Romer walks us through the "possible Evolution" of YHWH from a Southern Canaan deity (likely one of the many sons of the god El) to becoming the one God (capital-G).
This is not an easy book to get into, especially if one does not have prior exposure to exegetical methodologies and it's heavy dependence on examination of grammar. For eg I quote the following fragment from the book where Prof Romer is explaining the origin of the name "Israel".
"Israel" contains the theophoric element el .... This is a verb in third-person singular of the preformative conjugation in the jussive form ....
Prof Romer speeds along refusing to take any prisoners. Everything happens very fast and laymen like me will likely struggle to unpack paragraphs and even individual lines. This book is a translation from the French original and maybe this is how French academics talk, or maybe this is an artifact of translation.
I would certainly recommend the book to the suitably motivated.
This is not an easy book to get into, especially if one does not have prior exposure to exegetical methodologies and it's heavy dependence on examination of grammar. For eg I quote the following fragment from the book where Prof Romer is explaining the origin of the name "Israel".
"Israel" contains the theophoric element el .... This is a verb in third-person singular of the preformative conjugation in the jussive form ....
Prof Romer speeds along refusing to take any prisoners. Everything happens very fast and laymen like me will likely struggle to unpack paragraphs and even individual lines. This book is a translation from the French original and maybe this is how French academics talk, or maybe this is an artifact of translation.
I would certainly recommend the book to the suitably motivated.
February 8, 2022
could’ve done with more explanation on his biblical dating system (it seems just an adjustment of documentary hypothesis dates, though he was quite emphatic the dh is rejected by european scholars), but the linguistics were fascinating, the history was engaging, and this book made me ask lots of questions about where faith is located if not in historical, ancestral certainty.
November 28, 2022
I had to read this for a history of monotheism class and it really helped to understand the topics. for a casual read, it’s hellish, but academically it’s very well written. romers arguments are well thought out and full of evidence. tbh this book did have me clawing my eyes out from time to time cause it felt like the same stuff over and over again, but that’s just me complaining about homework.
December 9, 2023
This is the true historical telling of a deity that was originally a small part of a larger pantheon who would eventually become the monotheistic Christian God, and how and why this transformation occurred. I was already pretty well read on the topic, yet still picked up and learned new facts surrounding this story for the ages. A solid 4 out of 5 star read!
January 3, 2021
6/10. Controversial one to start 2021. An analysis of the evolution from polytheism to monotheism. Part archeology, part theology, part history. Fascinating, but not the most exciting book I’ve ever read.
May 28, 2024
Well documented.
Many links between texts, traditions and archeology.
Recommended for whom wants to understand the global environment of the Bible and the history of the Jewish people.
Many links between texts, traditions and archeology.
Recommended for whom wants to understand the global environment of the Bible and the history of the Jewish people.
Want to read
November 17, 2017First, Thomas Christian Römer, is a Biblical scholar. (born 1955)
He discusses polytheism and monotheism in Judah and Israel over the years from 1300 to 300 and covers the political history of this era. He points out to the readers, the names of 'God' throughout early times and now. We hear about the storm gods, fertility gods, the war God, among others and the purposes of the existence of these Gods to the peoples.
Gosh, this book is good and informative; covering about a thousand years of history. it is very readable, a text that answers many questions. Don't be distracted by the title nor the most current definition of the word 'cult'.
What are the explanations of the names, Yhwh, Elohim or Yahweh; or "I am"?
He discusses polytheism and monotheism in Judah and Israel over the years from 1300 to 300 and covers the political history of this era. He points out to the readers, the names of 'God' throughout early times and now. We hear about the storm gods, fertility gods, the war God, among others and the purposes of the existence of these Gods to the peoples.
Gosh, this book is good and informative; covering about a thousand years of history. it is very readable, a text that answers many questions. Don't be distracted by the title nor the most current definition of the word 'cult'.
What are the explanations of the names, Yhwh, Elohim or Yahweh; or "I am"?
August 24, 2021
L’auteur est un expert de l’Ancien Testament. Cela se sent. Le livre ressemble un essai universitaire, certes étayé de nombreux exemples et d’une exigence scientifique exemplaire, mais par contre, c’est indigeste. Ce n’est pas à lire d’une traite (ce que j’ai fait).
Je suis déjà versée au language exégétique, donc la lecture n’a pas été trop laborieuse mais j’imagine que pour un néophyte cela serait difficile.
L’essai tente d’expliquer l’évolution du principe d’un Dieu « multiple » dans l’histoire du peuple hébreux jusqu’à le strict monothéisme observé actuellement. Avec des exemples tirés d’observations de texte, de documents iconographiques ou dès comparaison théologique, l’auteur nous montre donc l’historicité du dieu YWH.
Livre érudit mais qui pourra être lu en filigrane pour ne pas se sentir dépassé. Je suppose que cela peut également être un excellent support suite à l’écoute des cours de l’auteur au collège de France.
Je suis déjà versée au language exégétique, donc la lecture n’a pas été trop laborieuse mais j’imagine que pour un néophyte cela serait difficile.
L’essai tente d’expliquer l’évolution du principe d’un Dieu « multiple » dans l’histoire du peuple hébreux jusqu’à le strict monothéisme observé actuellement. Avec des exemples tirés d’observations de texte, de documents iconographiques ou dès comparaison théologique, l’auteur nous montre donc l’historicité du dieu YWH.
Livre érudit mais qui pourra être lu en filigrane pour ne pas se sentir dépassé. Je suppose que cela peut également être un excellent support suite à l’écoute des cours de l’auteur au collège de France.
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