The Hebrew God: Portrait of an Ancient Deity
Originally worshiped by the people of a small and politically insignificant eastern Mediterranean community, the Hebrew God rose to become the monotheistic deity of the entire Western tradition. Indeed, the God of Israel ranks as the most distinguished deity in human history. In this absorbing book, well-known biblical scholar Bernhard Lang provides for the first time a full portrait of the ancient Hebrew God. Drawing on all available evidence, including ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian...
Search in google:
Originally worshiped by the people of a small and politically insignificant eastern Mediterranean community, the Hebrew God rose to become the monotheistic deity of the entire Western tradition. Indeed, the God of Israel ranks as the most distinguished deity in human history. In this absorbing book, well-known biblical scholar Bernhard Lang provides for the first time a full portrait of the ancient Hebrew God. Drawing on all available evidence, including ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian texts and art, Lang offers a comprehensive view of the Hebrew God that is both fascinating and surprising. Lang's portrait shows the Hebrew God in five images. He appears as lord of wisdom, lord of war, lord of the animals, lord of the individual and lord of the harvest -- a God whose rule extends to all areas of life. Lang illuminates the completeness of this God's leadership with insights derived from modern religious, anthropological, and cultural studies, and he argues that Israel's monotheistic God, far from being simply opposed to other gods, actually echoes and incorporates much of the ancient polytheistic experience of the divine. The worldview of the ancient Semites did not differ from that of the Indo-European peoples as dramatically as others have assumed, Lang contends. Written in an accessible and non-technical style, this appealing volume stores a wealth of information for general reader and religious historian alike.Bruce ChiltonLang's brilliant book sheds more,as well as new,interesting light on the origins of the God of Israel than any work I know.
PrefaceIntroduction: Lord of Three Gifts: A New Approach to the Hebrew God11Dumezil, the Deluge, and the Dream of Solomon32The Thesis of the Present Book12The First Image: Lord of Wisdom153The Lord of Esoteric Wisdom174Mythology Associated with the Lord of Wisdom245An Alternative View: God as Lawgiver and Scribe34The Second Image: Lord of War456God as Lord of War477The Warrior's Initiation and God's Battle with the Monster538From Exodus to Apocalyptic Drama63The Third Image: Lord of the Animals759God as Lord of the Animals7710Human Authority over Animals9111The Rediscovery of the Lord of the Animals, ca. 500 B.C.E.99The Fourth Image: Lord of the Individual - the "Personal God"10912The Discovery of Personal Piety11113God as Lord of the Individual: The Egyptian Contribution11514God as Lord of the Individual: The Mesopotamian Contribution126The Fifth Image: Lord of the Harvest13915The Fertile Crescent14116Lord of the Harvest: Archaic Natural Theologies14617Lord of the Harvest: Theologies Shaped by Historical Experience159Epilogue: The Hebrew God: Fragments of a History17118Manifestations of the Divine and Historical Beginnings17319The "Sacred Story" and Monotheism17920Christ as Second God189App. IThe Names of the Hebrew God198App. IIThe Ancient Near East, ca. 3400-500 B.C.E.: A Brief Guide to Its Cultural History209Abbreviations216Notes217Illustration Credits and Museum Locations228Bibliography230Index240
\ Bruce ChiltonLang’s brilliant book sheds more,as well as new,interesting light on the origins of the God of Israel than any work I know.\ \
