The Birth of Monotheism: The Rise and Disappearance of Yahwism (review)

Hebrew Studies 49 (2008) 331 Reviews Christianity, medieval Jewish culture, and Mizrahi Judaism in particular receive less attention than ideal. Furthermore, the sociological approach and emphasis on intellectual history and key (male) historical figures results in a neglect of cultural and anthropological material. Finally, while Satlow explicates a certain quantity of important primary sources in each chapter, a course based on this book would need significant supplementation. As a textbook, however, the volume is sufficiently slender that its use would allow—or, rather, require—instructors to supplement Satlow’s presentation of Judaism with more detailed presentations of specific primary texts, approaches, and topics, according to individual preferences. In general, the chapters of the book cohere around Satlow’s thesis, which is in and of itself engaging and thought provoking for undergraduates. The author’s combination of a sociological approach and intellectual history promises to engage students at a sophisticated level, and in a way that reflects contemporary approaches to Religious Studies and not simply Jewish Studies. The writing is free of jargon and presents the historical diversity of Judaism in a way that students will likely find clear and approachable. Each chapter contains numerous openings for deeper discussion, inviting the instructor who chooses this book for a course to use it as a springboard, if not a definitive text. Laura Lieber Duke University Durham, NC 27708 laura.lieber@duke.edu THE BIRTH OF MONOTHEISM: THE RISE AND DISAPPEARANCE OF YAHWISM. By André Lemaire. Pp. 160. Washington, D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society, 2007. Cloth, $24.95. This small book by André Lemaire, known primarily as an epigrapher, is directed at a sophisticated, popular audience not necessarily composed of professional Biblicists or religionists, but not excluding them. Consequently, it can be used by many readers of Hebrew Studies whose professional focus is not in these fields but who are curious about what a person of Lemaire’s caliber has to say, as well as by graduate students and undergraduates as well. Lemaire wrote this book for an inquisitive audience interested in religion but not necessarily comfortable with thinking historically about Judaism or Christianity. In a short introduction he eases readers into the idea that the story that will unfold in subsequent chapters is about the discovery of truth Hebrew Studies 49 (2008) 332 Reviews and the birth of an idea. He likens it to Newton and Kepler who gave “birth to the laws of nature” through discoveries that provided a coherent picture of forces governing the physical world. “The birth of monotheism is something like that, an idea about the nature of the universe that was born during the Israelite captivity in Babylon” (p. 7). The significance of this introduction lies in that it creates a rapport between the author and religious readers, inviting them to read on so as to discover something interesting about what they consider important. At the same time, it does not pander. It does not advance truth claims or theology or deal with metaphysics because these are not the provinces of the historian qua historian. Lemaire states that his book asks, “How and under what circumstances did the monotheism of the biblical tradition appear in human history?” (p. 7). In fact, it asks and answers many more questions than that. The title contains the narrative line in nux: Yahwism rose and disappeared , replaced by monotheism. The Birth of Monotheism narrates how a religion focused on the deity YHWH first emerged—possibly near or in ancient Midian—and developed, sometime after the fourteenth century B.C.E., how it became part of Israelite lore, and how it metamorphosed gradually under describable historical conditions into universal monotheism and later into Judaism. Near the end of the process, the deity addressed for centuries by some vocalized form of the tetragrammaton YHWH came to be known as the “God of Heaven” as the older name dropped out of use. The new appellation marked the transition from local to universal. Lemaire tells the story in sixteen short chapters whose titles outline the narrative: (1) Before YHWH; (2) The Origins of Yahwism; (3) Early Yahwism in Israel’s Central Hill Country; (4) YHWH the God of Israel; (5) Yahwism of the First Temple...