The Lord God of Gods : : Divinity and Deification in Early Judaism / / Silviu Bunta.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Plus PP Package 2021 Part 2
• VerfasserIn: Bunta, Silviu,
• Place / Publishing House: Piscataway, NJ : : Gorgias Press, , [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures and its Contexts ; 35
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (357 p.)

The investigation of this book into early Jewish experiences of God begins with calls to discard any categorical and definitional approaches to the literature of early Judaism, and several enduring preconceptions about its mysticism and theology (particularly the relegation of its mysticism to particular texts and themes, and the molding of its theology in the image of medieval and post-medieval Jewish and Christian monotheisms). With this abandonment, the symbolic language of early Jewish texts gives sharper contours to a pre-formal theology, a theology in which God and divinity are more subjects of experience and recognition than of propositions. This clarity leads the investigation to the conclusion that early Judaism is thoroughly mystical and experiences a theology which is neither polytheistic, nor monotheistic, but deificational: there is only one divine selfhood, the divinity of “God,” but he shares his selfhood with “gods,” to varying degrees and always at his discretion. With some important differentiations which are also introduced here, this theology undergirds almost the entirety of early Judaism—the Bible, post-biblical texts, and even classical rabbinic literature. The greatest development over time is only that the boundaries between God and gods become at once clearer and less rigid.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- TABLE OF CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Chapter One. Introduction -- PART ONE: DIVINITY AND DEIFICATION BEFORE THE EXILE -- Chapter Two. The Biblical Features of Divinity -- Chapter Three. The Ancient Near Eastern Context of Judahite Theologies -- Chapter Four. The Other Gods—Inclusion and Exclusion in the Godhead -- PART TWO: THE EMERGENCE OF THEOMORPHIC ANTHROPOLOGIES AND THE EXCLUSION OF HUMANITY FROM DIVINITY IN THE EXILIC AND PERSIAN PERIOD -- INTRODUCTION -- Chapter Five. Exilic and Postexilic Reassessments of the Divine Presence -- Chapter Six. The Emergence of Theomorphism and the Exclusion of Humanity from the Godhead in Ezekiel 28 and 31 -- Chapter Seven. (Non-)divine “Mediators” and the Angelification of YHWH’s Council -- PART THREE: EZEKIEL THE TRAGEDIAN, DANIEL 2–4, PSEUDO-ORPHEUS, AND THE MERGING OF THE WAYS -- INTRODUCTION -- Chapter Eight. Hellenization and the (Re)definition of Jewishness -- Chapter Nine. The Deified Moses in Ezekiel the Tragedian’s Exagoge -- Chapter Ten. The Deified Daniel in Daniel 2-4 -- Chapter Eleven. Boundaries and Crossings in Pseudo- Orpheus: Moses as a God -- Chapter Twelve. Crossing the Divine Borders in 4Q491c and 4Q427 7 I -- PART FOUR: DEIFICATION IN LATE ANTIQUITY JUDAISM: CONTINUITIES AND DEVELOPMENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- Chapter Thirteen. The Inclusion and Exclusion of Humanity and Angels in the Divine in Rabbinic Judaism -- Chapter Fourteen. Adam and the Kabod -- Chapter Fifteen. Adam-Light Speculations -- Chapter Sixteen. The Enormous Body of Adam -- Chapter Seventeen. Adam’s Body of Knowledge -- Chapter Eighteen. The Angelic Veneration of Adam -- Chapter Nineteen. Conclusions -- Select Bibliography -- Indices