The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts (review)

Hebrew Studies 46 (2005) 397 Reviews information in one place, which has not been done previously. But one would have hoped to have more information on the most recent finds at Emar, Qatna, and elsewhere, which shed light on biblical material. However, there are few, if any, scholars who are able to traverse such a large corpus of material in such an authoritative and informative way. This work will no doubt fuel many a discussion (and many arguments) about the historical nature of the biblical narratives. In part, it is a summation of Kitchen’s work over the past few generations, and whether one agrees with his polemics or not, all can gratefully acknowledge his erudite research. However, his insulting tone will not encourage scholars to be dispassionate about evaluating his arguments. I am disappointed that such an honored and reputable scholar has resorted to such language. Mark W. Chavalas University of Wisconsin-La Crosse La Crosse, WI 54601 chavalas.mark@uwlax.edu THE ORIGINS OF BIBLICAL MONOTHEISM: ISRAEL’S POLYTHEISTIC BACKGROUND AND THE UGARITIC TEXTS. By Mark S. Smith. Pp. xviii + 325. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Cloth, $60.00. It is hard not to be impressed by Mark S. Smith. Study after study, indeed monograph after monograph—technical studies and technical monographs—seem to flow off his pen with ease and at an amazing rate of speed. The Origins of Monotheism, recently released in paperback (2003), is just one of the latest installments. (Note his most recent book, The Memoirs of God: History, Memory, and the Experience of the Divine in Ancient Israel [Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004].) Smith envisions The Origins of Biblical Monotheism as a sequel to his earlier monograph, The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990). Indeed, in the second edition of the latter book (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans and Dearborn, Mich.: Dove, 2002), he explicitly states that the new monograph builds on the earlier one “in an effort to develop a more sustained analysis of the development of monotheism in the seventh and sixth centuries” (p. xxxvii). Despite this explanation, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism actually covers much ground that, on the face of it, does not seem directly pertinent to the main title of the book. Here is where the subtitle with its emphasis on polytheism and the Ugaritic materials enters the picture. It is with these topics Hebrew Studies 46 (2005) 398 Reviews and in these texts that one finds what Smith believes was missing from his earlier book and what he intends to accomplish in the new one: namely, to take up “the fundamental question of what divinity is” and to address “the categories, structures, [and] characteristics of deities” (p. vii). He is not interested in specific deities per se (though some, especially Baal, get much ink), but instead “on the concepts that the ancients used to understand them” (p. 5). After an introduction (pp. 3–26) that helpfully overviews the plan of the study, the book contains three parts. Each is described in turn below. Part 1 covers the structures of divinity and comprises four chapters. First, Smith treats anthropomorphic deities and divine monsters (chap. 1). Next, he covers the divine council and the divine family (chaps. 2–3), before offering a chapter on “Pluralities, Pairings, and Other Divine Relations” (chap. 4). In this first unit, Smith discusses organizational principles that apply to the divine realm, including categories such as center, periphery, and beyond the periphery ; geography and topography; and how a deity’s location on such mappings impacts their understanding and reception (e.g., demonic forces are located on the periphery or beyond and do not receive cult like “homegods ”). Smith also revisits his earlier work on the four tiers of the Ugaritic pantheon and its (reduced) reflex in Israel (see below). He advocates the family as the dominant structuring device and metaphor for divinity, relying heavily on the dissertation of J. David Schloen (now published as The House of the Father as Fact and Symbol: Patrimonialism in Ugarit and the Ancient Near East [Studies in the Archaeology and History of the Levant 2; Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2001]). In particular, Smith argues...