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Is it true that there was a time when Jews believed in the existence of several Gods instead of just One? Somebody told me that there was a time when they even worshiped different Gods - even after Moses. Is that true?

msh210
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brilliant
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3 Answers3

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Throughout the Bible, many Jews keep veering into idolatry, such as the examples seen in Yaakov's answer. (Fascinatingly the whole idolatry thing comes to a screeching halt right around the Jews' return from Babylon to Israel around 2500 years ago. The Talmud says there was some "itch" that idol-worship seemed to "scratch" that dissipated then.)

But the "proper Jewish belief and practice" was clearly in one God -- just that lots of Jews kept having problems following it, apparently.

Community
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Shalom
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This is clearly depicted in numerous locations in the bible. To name a few major pagan cults, you have the Golden Calf worship in Exodus, Baal Peor worship in Numbers, and Baal worship in Kings.

Yaakov Kuperman
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You have to make a distinction between believing in the existence of multiple gods (which is clearly accepted in the Tanach - see God on the Egyptian Gods) and worshiping them. Only when the Jewish people turned to idolatry did they actually worship other Gods, but they were certainly 'aware' of their 'existence', and believed them to exist. This is why Aseret Ha'dibrot says "You shall have no other gods…" - that is, you will worship no other gods, and not "there are no other gods".

However, I believe it was accepted by the Jews that God was the King/Lord/Greatest among all the deities. I'm reminded of Ramban's (I think) commentary where he instructs on how to call on the deities that are in charge of celestial bodies to curse people. Source is commentary on D'varim 18:10-11

EDIT:

See this wikipedia article on monolatry for a more complete explanation.

Daniel
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    This seems close to the view of "אלוקא דאלוקיא" which is idolatry. – ertert3terte Apr 18 '12 at 05:11
  • @ShmuelBrin Could you expound on that - I'm not familiar with the phase? – Daniel Apr 18 '12 at 05:37
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    This answer seems to be dependent on a very specific understanding of the questioner's word-choice: God. – Double AA Apr 18 '12 at 05:37
  • @DoubleAA What other understanding of Gods (pl) could one have? God by nature is infinite in all respects - to discuss multiple things of that nature doesn't mean anything... – Daniel Apr 18 '12 at 05:41
  • see Maimonides on this subject. He says clearly that – ertert3terte Apr 18 '12 at 06:19
  • During the times of Enosh, mankind made a great mistake, and the wise men of that generation gave thoughtless counsel. Enosh himself was one of those who erred. – ertert3terte Apr 18 '12 at 06:19
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    Their mistake was as follows: They said God created stars and spheres with which to control the world. He placed them on high and treated them with honor, making them servants who minister before Him. Accordingly, it is fitting to praise and glorify them and to treat them with honor. [They perceived] this to be the will of God, blessed be He, that they magnify and honor those whom He magnified and honored, just as a king desires that the servants who stand before him be honored. Indeed, doing so is an expression of honor to the king. – ertert3terte Apr 18 '12 at 06:19
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    After conceiving of this notion, they began to construct temples to the stars and offer sacrifices to them. They would praise and glorify them with words, and prostrate themselves before them, because by doing so, they would - according to their false conception - be fulfilling the will of God. – ertert3terte Apr 18 '12 at 06:20
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    @ShmuelBrin What's your point? Daniel is not endorsing worshiping them, just noting their existence. – Double AA Apr 18 '12 at 06:46
  • @ShmuelBrin Your basic point is correct, but I'm not sure that Rambam is the greatest proof of that. – HodofHod Apr 18 '12 at 07:28
  • @ Daniel, G-d being infinite doesn't contradict Torah using the term "gods" any more than it contradicts Torah saying "the finger of G-d". That being said, you should know that most understand that when the Torah says the "the Egyptian gods" it means "the Egyptian 'gods'", i.e. so-called gods. See avi's answer here, for example. – HodofHod Apr 18 '12 at 07:49
  • @HodofHod a very interesting answer you cite. I will only note that even if "the Egyptian gods" refer to so-called gods, that still means they accepted the existence of other autonomous powerful beings, which is the only thing we need to be concerned with. A so-called god is still a 'god', in any sense it is meaningful to discuss. – Daniel Apr 18 '12 at 14:18
  • @ Daniel, No, if I start calling my teddy bear "my god", you could still refer to it as "HodofHod's so-called 'god'" without acknowledging it's autonomy. That being said, even if it was an object of power (imbued with the hopes and dreams of a child or some such ;D), it wouldn't make it a god, since it was still created by, and is subject to, G-d. – HodofHod Apr 18 '12 at 19:04
  • @HodofHod good point, although I think all that is meant by 'god' in the Biblical sense is superhuman being, whatever that may entail - more a god in the greek sense rather then a God as we conceive of it. – Daniel Apr 18 '12 at 19:49
  • @ Daniel, "Superhuman being" is pretty vague. Does that include giants? Sorcerers? Angels? – HodofHod Apr 18 '12 at 19:51
  • @HodofHod Angels - No. Angels are essentially vessels for God's will. They have no initiative of their own. Sorcerers: No. There is a difference between humans with superhuman abilities (beseeched from others) and superhuman beings, although if their power is innate then maybe. Giants: Hmmm... Maybe..? If they're just humans scaled up, then probably not. – Daniel Apr 18 '12 at 21:58
  • @ Daniel, the general idea being that G-d has dominion over all, and therefore, there can not be two "gods". (G-d's infiniteness is a whole other issue.) – HodofHod Apr 18 '12 at 22:03
  • let us continue this discussion in chat – Daniel Apr 18 '12 at 22:09