Statement
The catalyst for this change may have been Mesopotamian imperialism: Assyrians and Babylonians were polytheistic but flirted with quasi-monotheistic ideas. An Assyrian text describes the body of the god Ninurta as a composite of all the other gods, as if they were extensions of a single supreme god, and the monotheism of Isaiah 44 may reflect such ideas. Alternatively, monotheism may have developed as a reaction to Mesopotamian dominance, a way to resist subordinating Yahweh to the conqueror's gods by denying their existence. The authors acknowledge they do not know how monotheism took root.
References
p. 31
supports · main text · ch. 1
Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman. The Jews: A History. 3rd edition. New York and Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.
Verification anchor recorded · checked against the page text
p. 31
supports · main text · ch. 1
Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman. The Jews: A History. 3rd edition. New York and Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.
Verification anchor recorded · checked against the page text
Scholarly debate
When and why did Israelite monotheism arise?
3 positions · no single answer · take a seat →
- A
Remote origin
Theories linked to Akhenaten or Moses
Some scholars see a possible influence from the pharaoh Akhenaten, which would take belief in one God back to the second millennium BCE.
- B
Imperial age
Hypothesis favored in the chapter
Exclusive worship would have matured under Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian domination.
- C
Theological resistance
The authors' alternative explanation
Denying the conquerors' gods could preserve Yahweh's supremacy despite political defeat.