First Isaiah and the Disappearance of the Gods

Isaiah 1-39 uses the unique term אלילים--usually translated as "idols"-- more than anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Using this linguistic phenomenon as a point of departure, Matthew J. Lynch reexamines the rhetorical strategies of First Isaiah, revealing a stronger monotheizing rhetoric than previously recognized.

Standard accounts of Israelite religion frequently insist that monotheism reached its apex during the exile, and especially in Deutero-Isaiah. By contrast, Lynch's study brings to light an equally potent mode of monotheizing in First Isaiah. Lynch identifies three related rhetorical tendencies that emphasize yhwh's supreme uniqueness: a rhetoric of avoidance, referring to other deities as idols (אלילים) to avoid conferring on them the status of gods (אלוהים); a rhetoric of exaltation, emphasizing yhwh's truly exalted status in opposition to all that which exalted itself; and a rhetoric of abasement, fully subjugating all other claimants to absolute power--whether human or divine--before the divine king.

Succinctly and persuasively argued, Lynch's book will change how biblical scholars understand the nature and development of Israelite monotheism.