Polytheism Found in Old Testament? Help!

[sea_oat]

I recently heard that there are several references in the Old Testament that suggest monolatry rather than monotheism.

A few examples:

Psalm 82:

1 A psalm of Asaph. 1 God rises in the divine council, gives judgment in the midst of the gods. 2 “How long will you judge unjustly and favor the cause of the wicked? Selah 3 Defend the lowly and fatherless; render justice to the afflicted and needy. 4 Rescue the lowly and poor; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” 5 The gods neither know nor understand, wandering about in darkness, and all the world’s foundations shake. 6 I declare: “Gods though you be, offspring of the Most High all of you, 7 Yet like any mortal you shall die; like any prince you shall fall.” 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth, for yours are all the nations.

Deut. 32: 8-9:

8 When the Most High assigned the nations their heritage, when he parceled out the descendants of Adam, He set up the boundaries of the peoples after the number of the sons of God *9 While the LORD’S own portion was Jacob, His hereditary share was Israel. *

Genesis 3:22:

*Then the LORD God said: “See! The man has become like one of us, knowing what is good and what is bad! Therefore, he must not be allowed to put out his hand to take fruit from the tree of life also, and thus eat of it and live forever.” *

Can someone please help me make sense of these verses?

 

[Kuriakos]

The divine council is not really other gods, but angels. It is a reference to exactly what happened in Job. In the Deut. passage I believe they are talking merely about Adam’s descendents, and in Gen. the plural is not a cause for concern among Christians, as we may interpret this as the Persons of the Trinity. For further proof of the monotheism of the OT, look in Isaiah. He sets up a series of tests that prove that other gods are false.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

I recently heard that there are several references in the Old Testament that suggest monolatry rather than monotheism.

A few examples:

Psalm 82:

1 A psalm of Asaph. 1 God rises in the divine council, gives judgment in the midst of the gods. 2 “How long will you judge unjustly and favor the cause of the wicked? Selah 3 Defend the lowly and fatherless; render justice to the afflicted and needy. 4 Rescue the lowly and poor; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” 5 The gods neither know nor understand, wandering about in darkness, and all the world’s foundations shake. 6 I declare: “Gods though you be, offspring of the Most High all of you, 7 Yet like any mortal you shall die; like any prince you shall fall.” 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth, for yours are all the nations.

Deut. 32: 8-9:

8 When the Most High assigned the nations their heritage, when he parceled out the descendants of Adam, He set up the boundaries of the peoples after the number of the sons of God *9 While the LORD’S own portion was Jacob, His hereditary share was Israel. *

Genesis 3:22:

*Then the LORD God said: “See! The man has become like one of us, knowing what is good and what is bad! Therefore, he must not be allowed to put out his hand to take fruit from the tree of life also, and thus eat of it and live forever.” *

Can someone please help me make sense of these verses?

Gen. 3.22 is possibly to be understood as a “plural of deliberation”, used by a single speaker - we use the same construction; unless it’s more a feature of British English than of American English ​

OTOH, it seems more natural to take it as either a linguistic relic from a time before the uniqueness of God was fully realised (as in Isaiah 40-55 it is); or, to take it as a reference to the “Assembly of the gods/sons of god/sons of God”. The reference in 82 may be both to this assembly, and to human judges (who are called elohim in the Torah; Elohim was not used only as a desigation of the god of Israel: it could refer to human beings too).

The “assembly of the gods” occurs in the texts found at Ugarit (Ras Shamra) in 1929 and the years following - these texts have brought the meaning of the OT into much clearer focus. ##

 

[Tantum_ergo]

What about the fact that God is a Triune God? “One of us”–there are, of course, THREE divine persons in ONE God–

 

[Paleolutheran]

What about the fact that God is a Triune God? “One of us”–there are, of course, THREE divine persons in ONE God–

Using a trinitarian mindset in context with the Genesis passage…if we are created in the image of the Triune God, could this refer to three aspects to us rather than just the soul? Could it be the soul, heart, and mind? Possibly strength? In Western Christianity, the fall affected all 3, so perhaps there is something to this (I’m sure it’s been thought of by someone…can someone say who?).

Pax,

Paleolutheran

 

[sea_oat]

What about the fact that God is a Triune God? “One of us”–there are, of course, THREE divine persons in ONE God–

That interpretation is often used for the Genesis passages, but not for the Psalms, and Deuteronomy ones.