Were the First Monotheists Really Monotheistic?
The title is an odd question, I know, but it's worth asking. The Hebrew Bible is full of lines that suggest that the Israelites were being cajoled and threatened into choosing Yahweh from among multiple possible alternatives. According to My Jewish Learning , the second commandment states in Exodus 20:3-6 is "You shall have no other gods beside Me.... You shall not bow down to [graven images], nor serve them, for I, the Lord Your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." Does this sound like a deity claiming to be the one and only? I don't think so. It sounds more like a claim against other deities. And who could Yahweh be jealous of? This sort of idea can be found throughout what is known in Judaism as the Five Books of Moses. In Exodus 6:6-8, we "hear" Yahweh telling Moses, "I will take you [Israelites] as my own people, and I will be your God." Why wouldn't The One