Yahweh And The Gods And Goddesses Of Canaan (journal For The Study Of The Old Testament. Supplement Series, 265)

This masterly book is the climax of over twenty-five years of study of the impact of Canaanite religion and mythology on ancient Israel and the Old Testament. It is John Day's magnum opus in which he sets forth all his main arguments and conclusions on the subject. The work considers in detail the relationship between Yahweh and the various gods and goddesses of Canaan, including the leading gods El and Baal, the great goddesses (Asherah, Astarte and Anat), astral deities (Sun, Moon and Lucifer), and underworld deities (Mot, Resheph, Molech and the Rephaim). Day assesses both what Yahwism assimilated from these deities and what it came to reject. More generally he discusses the impact of Canaanite polytheism on ancient Israel and how monotheism was eventually achieved. "The divine promises to Abraham have long been recognized as a key to the book of Genesis as a whole. But their variety, often noted, also raises literary and theological problems. Why do they differ each time, and how are they related to each other and to the story of Abraham? Williamson focuses on the promises in Genesis 15 and 17 and concludes that they are concerned with two distinct but related issues. Genesis 15 guarantees God's promise to make Abraham into a great nation, while Genesis 17 focuses chiefly on God's promise to mediate blessing (through Abraham) to the nations. The two chapters are connected, however, by the theme of an individual, royal descendant who will come from the nation (Israel) and mediate blessing to all the nations of the earth."--Jacket Yahweh And El -- Yahweh And Asherah -- Yahweh Versus Baal -- Yahweh's Appropriation Of Baal Imagery -- Yahweh And The Goddesses Astarte And Anat (and The Queen Of Heaven) -- Yahweh And The Astral Deities (sun, Moon And Lucifer) -- Yahweh And The Underworld Deities (mot, Resheph, Molech And The Rephaim) -- Conclusion: The Canaanite Gods And Goddesses And The Rise Of Monotheism. John Day. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [234]-263) And Indexes.