Monotheism and Divine Aggression

Collin Cornell

doi:10.1017/9781009067171

Series: Elements in Religion and Monotheism

Monotheism and Divine Aggression

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 December 2023

Collin Cornell

Show author details

Collin Cornell: Affiliation:
Fuller Theological Seminary, California

Summary

The aggression of the biblical God is notorious. The phrase 'Old Testament God' conjures up images of jealousy and wrath, smiting and judging. But is it only an accident that this god became capital-G God, the unique creator and sustainer of three world religions? Or is there a more substantive connection between monotheism and divine aggression? This Element proposes exactly this causal connection. In three case studies, it showcases ways that literarily treating one god alone as god amplifies divine destructiveness. This happens according to two dynamics: God absorbs the destructive power of other divine beings-and God monopolizes divinity such that other beings, even special ones like God's beloved king or the people of God, are rendered vulnerable to divine aggression. The Element also attends to the literary contexts and counterbalances within which the Hebrew Bible imagines divine aggression.

Element contents

Summary
References

Get access

Keywords

monotheism biblical theology Hebrew Bible ancient Near East divine wrath

Type: Element
Information: Series: Elements in Religion and Monotheism

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009067171 [Opens in a new window]

Online ISBN: 9781009067171

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication: 01 February 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Bibliography

Aaron, David H. Etched in Stone: The Emergence of the Decalogue. London: T&T Clark, 2006.Google Scholar

Aberbach, Moshe and Smolar, Levi. “Aaron, Jereboam, and the Golden Calves.” JBL 86 (1967): 129–140.Google Scholar

Angel, Hayyim. “The Eternal Davidic Covenant in II Samuel Chapter 7 and Its Later Manifestation in the Bible.” JBQ 44 (2016): 83–90.Google Scholar

Baloian, Bruce. Anger in the Old Testament. AUS 99. New York: Peter Lang, 1992.Google Scholar

Berges, Ulrich. “Der Zorn Gottes in der Prophetie und Poesie Israels auf dem Hintergrund altorientalischer Vorstellungen.” Bib 85 (2004): 305–340.Google Scholar

Blum, Erhard. “Urgeschichte.” TRE 34 (2002): 436–445.Google Scholar

Brock, Sebastian, ed. Isaac of Nineveh (Isaac the Syrian), The Second Part; Chapters IV–XLI. Corpus scriptorum christianorum orientalium 554–555/Scriptores Syri 224–225. Leuven: Peeters, 1995.Google Scholar

Carr, David M. The Formation of Genesis 1–11: Biblical and Other Precursors. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.CrossRef Google Scholar

Chapman, Stephen B. The Law and the Prophets: A Study in Old Testament Canon Formation. FAT 27. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000.Google Scholar

Chapman, Stephen B. “Miqreh and YHWH: Fate, Chance, Simultaneity, and Providence.” In Divine Doppelgängers: YHWH’s Ancient Look-Alikes, edited by Cornell, Collin, 181–200. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns/Penn State University Press, 2020.Google Scholar

Childs, Brevard S. The Book of Exodus: A Critical, Theological Commentary. OTL. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1974.Google Scholar

Clifford, Richard J. “Psalm 89: A Lament over the Davidic Ruler’s Continued Failure.” HTR 73 (1980): 35–47.CrossRef Google Scholar

Clines, David. “Noah’s Flood I: The Theology of the Flood Narrative.” Faith and Thought 100 (1972–3): 128–142.Google Scholar

Considine, Patrick. “The Theme of Divine Wrath in Ancient East Mediterranean Literature.” SMEA 8 (1969): 85–109.Google Scholar

Cornell, Collin. Divine Aggression in Psalms and Inscriptions: Vengeful Gods and Loyal Kings. SOTS. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.Google Scholar

Cornell, Collin. “The Royal Psalms, or: The King in the Psalms.” In Cambridge Companion to the Psalms, edited by Brent A. Strawn, and LeMon, Joel M.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.Google Scholar

Cornell, Collin. “The Value of Egyptian Aramaic for Biblical Studies.” Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies 7 (2022): 3–19.Google Scholar

Davies, Philip R. “And Enoch Was Not, for Genesis Took Him.” In Biblical Traditions in Transmission: Essays in Honour of Michael A. Knibb, edited by Charlotte Hempel, , 97–107. JSJSup 111. Leiden: Brill, 2006.Google Scholar

Day, John. “Comparative Ancient Near Eastern Study: The Genesis Flood Narrative in Relation to Ancient Near Eastern Flood Accounts.” In Biblical Interpretation and Method: Essays in Honour of John Barton, edited by Dell, Katharine J. and Joyce, Paul M., 74–88. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.Google Scholar

deClaissé-Walford, Nancy, ed. The Shape and Shaping of the Book of Psalms: The Current State of Scholarship. AIL 20. Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2014.Google Scholar

Draffkorn Kilmer, Anne. “The Mesopotamian Concept of Overpopulation and Its Solution As Reflected in the Mythology.” Or 41 (1972): 160–177.Google Scholar

Fox, Everett. The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy: A New Translation with Introductions, Commentary, and Notes. Schocken Bible 1. New York: Schocken, 1995.Google Scholar

Frankena, Rintje. “The Vassal-Treaties of Esarhaddon and the Dating of Deuteronomy.” In Kaf-Hē: 1940–1965 Jubilee Volume, Published on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Dutch O. T. Society, edited by de Boer, Pieter Arie Hendrik, 122–154. OtSt 14. Leiden: Brill, 1965.Google Scholar

Fredriksen, Paula. “Mandatory Retirement: Ideas in the Study of Christian Origins Whose Time Has Come to Go.” SR 35 (2006): 231–246.Google Scholar

George, Andrew, trans. The Epic of Gilgamesh. London: Penguin Press, 1999.Google Scholar

Goldenberg, Robert. “Why Should the Look-Alikes Be a Problem?” In Divine Doppelgängers: YHWH’s Ancient Look-Alikes, edited by Collin Cornell, , 88–96. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns/Penn State University Press, 2020.Google Scholar

Grant, Deena A. Divine Anger in the Hebrew Bible. CBQMS 52. Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2014.Google Scholar

Green, Douglas J. “I Undertook Great Works”: The Ideology of Domestic Achievements in West Semitic Royal Inscriptions. FAT 2.41. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010.Google Scholar

Greenberg, Moshe. “Hebrew segulla: Akkadian sikiltu.” JAOS 71 (1951): 172–174.Google Scholar

Hay, David M. Glory at the Right Hand: Psalm 110 in Early Christianity. SBLMS 18. Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1973.Google Scholar

Hayes, Christine E. “Golden Calf Stories: The Relationship of Exodus 32 and Deuteronomy 9–10.” In The Idea of Biblical Interpretation: Essays in Honor of James L. Kugel, edited by Najman, Hindy and Newman, Judith, 45–93. JSJSup 83. Leiden: Brill, 2004.Google Scholar

Henze, Matthias. Mind the Gap: How the Jewish Writings between the Old and New Testament Help Us Understand Jesus. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2017.Google Scholar

Hryrniewicz, Wacław. “Universalism of Salvation: St, Isaac The Syrian.” In Die Wurzel aller Theologie: Sentire Cum Ecclesia, Festschrift zum 60 Geburstag von Urs Von Arx, edited by Gerny, Hans, Rein, Harald, and Weyermann, Maja, 139–150. Bern: Stämpfli, 2003.Google Scholar

Humphreys, W. Lee. The Character of God in the Book of Genesis. Louisville, KT: Westminster John Knox, 2001.Google Scholar

Jacobsen, Thorkild. “The Eridu Genesis.” In I Studied Inscriptions from Before the Flood: Ancient Near Eastern, Literary, and Linguistic Approaches to Genesis 1–11, edited by Hess, Richard S. and Tsumura, David Toshio, 129–142. SBTSOTS 4. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1994.Google Scholar

Käsemann, Ernst. “The Theological Problem Presented by the Motif of the Body of Christ.” In Perspectives on Paul, 102–121. Translated by Kohl, Margaret. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress, 1971.Google Scholar

Keel, Othmar. “Yahweh as Mother Goddess.” Theology Digest 36 (1989): 233–236.Google Scholar

Kratz, Reinhard G. and Spieckermann, Hermann, eds. Divine Wrath and Divine Mercy in the World of Antiquity. FAT 33. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008.Google Scholar

Kugler, Gili. “Metaphysical Hatred and Sacred Genocide: The Questionable Role of Amalek in Biblical Literature.” Journal of Genocide Research 23 (2021): 1–16.Google Scholar

Kugler, Gili. When God Wanted to Destroy the Chosen People: Biblical Traditions and Theology on the Move. BZAW 515. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2019.Google Scholar

Lam, Joseph. “Psalm 2 and the Disinheritance of Earthly Rulers: New Light from the Ugaritic Legal Text RS 94.2168.” VT 64 (2014): 34–46.Google Scholar

Lambert, Wilfred G. Babylonian Creation Myths. Mesopotamian Civilizations 16. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2013.Google Scholar

Lambert, Wilfred G. and Millard, Alan R., Atra-Hasis: the Babylonian Story of the Flood. Oxford: Clarendon, 1970.Google Scholar

Lang, Martin. “Floating from Babylon to Rome: Ancient Near Eastern Flood Stories in the Mediterranean World.” Kaskal 5 (2008): 211–231.Google Scholar

Lawson, Jack N. The Concept of Fate in Ancient Mesopotamia of the First Millennium: Toward an Understanding of Šīmtu. Orientalia Biblica et Christiana 7. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1994.Google Scholar

Mendenhall, George E. “Covenant Forms in Israelite Tradition.” BA 17 (1954): 49–76.Google Scholar

Miles, Jack. God: A Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.Google Scholar

Milik, J. T. The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumrân Cave 4. Oxford: Clarendon, 1976.Google Scholar

Moberly, R. W. L. “How Appropriate Is ‘Monotheism’ as a Category for Biblical Interpretation?” In Early Jewish and Christian Monotheism, edited by Stuckenbruck, Loren T. and Wendy, E. S. North, 216–234. JSNTSup 263. London: T&T Clark, 2004.Google Scholar

Moberly, R. W. L. The God of the Old Testament: Encountering the Divine in Christian Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2020.Google Scholar

Nicholson, Ernest W. God and His People: Covenant and Theology in the Old Testament. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.Google Scholar

Nickelsburg, George W. E. and VanderKam, James C.. 1 Enoch: The Hermeneia Translation. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2012.Google Scholar

Novenson, Matthew V. The Grammar of Messianism: An Ancient Jewish Political Idiom and Its Users. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.Google Scholar

Olyan, Saul M. “Is Isaiah 40–55 Really Monotheistic?” JANER 12 (2012): 190–201.Google Scholar

Otto, Eckart. Das Deuteronomium: Politische Theologie und Rechtsreform in Juda und Assyrien. BZAW 284. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1999.Google Scholar

Parpola, Simo and Watanabe, Kazuko. Neo-Assyrian Treaties and Loyalty Oaths. SAA 2. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1988.Google Scholar

Payne, Annick. Iron Age Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions. WAW 29. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2012.Google Scholar

Pettinato, G. “Die Bestrafung des Menschengeschlechts durch die Sintflut: Die erste Tafel des Atramḫasīs-Epos eröffnet eine neue Einsicht in die Motivation dieser Strafe.” Or 37 (1968): 165–200.Google Scholar

Prinsloo, Gert T. M. “Reading the Masoretic Psalter as a Book: Editorial Trends and Redactional Trajectories.” CurBR 19 (2021): 145–177.Google Scholar

Römer, Thomas C. “Yhwh, the Goddess, and Evil: Is ‘Monotheism’ an Adequate Concept to Describe the Hebrew Bible’s Discourses about the God of Israel?” Verbum et Ecclesia 34 (2013): 1–5.Google Scholar

Sanders, James A. The Monotheizing Process: Its Origins and Development. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2014.Google Scholar

Schlimm, Matthew R. From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis. Siphrut 7. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011.Google Scholar

Schlimm, Matthew R. Review of Deena Grant, Divine Anger in the Hebrew Bible. JHS 15 (2015). https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs.2015.v15.r8 Google Scholar

Sommer, Benjamin D. “Yehezkel Kaufmann and Recent Scholarship: Toward a Richer Discourse of Monotheism.” In Yehezkel Kaufmann and the Reinvention of Jewish Biblical Scholarship, ed. Jindo, Job Y., Sommer, Benjamin D., and Staubli, Thomas, 204–239. OBO 283. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017.Google Scholar

Sonnet, Jean-Pierre. “God’s Repentance and ‘False Starts’ In Biblical History (Genesis 6–9; Exodus 32–34; 1 Samuel 15 And 2 Samuel 7).” In Congress Volume Ljubljana 2007, ed. Lemaire, André, 469–494. VTSup 133. Leiden: Brill, 2009.Google Scholar

Starbuck, Scott R. A. “Theological Anthropology at a Fulcrum: Isaiah 55:1–5, Psalm 89, and Second Stage Traditio in the Royal Psalms.” In David and Zion: Biblical Studies in Honor of J. Roberts, J. M., ed. Bernard F. Batto, and Roberts, Kathryn L., 247–265. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2004.Google Scholar

Strawn, Brent A. “Yhwh’s Poesie: The Gnadenformel, the Book of Exodus, and Beyond.” In The Incomparable God: Readings in Biblical Theology, ed. Collin Cornell, and Walker, M. Justin, 26–44. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2023.Google Scholar

Suriano, Matthew J. “The Apology of Hazael: A Literary and Historical Analysis of the Tel Dan Inscription.” JNES 66 (2007): 163–176.Google Scholar

Thompson, John Arthur. The Ancient Near Eastern Treaties and the Old Testament. London: Tyndale, 1964.Google Scholar

Thompson, Thomas L. “A Testimony of the Good King: Reading the Mesha Stele.” In Ahab Agonistes: The Rise and Fall of the Omri Dynasty, ed. Grabbe, Lester L., 236–292. LHBOTS 421/ESHM 6. London: T&T Clark, 2007.Google Scholar

Tolan, Patrick H. “Understanding Violence.” In The Cambridge Handbook of Violent Behavior and Aggression, ed. Flannery, Daniel J., Vazsonyi, Alexander T., and Waldman, Irwin D., 5–18. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.Google Scholar

Tropper, Josef. Die Inschriften von Zincirli: Neue Edition und vergleichende Grammatik des phönizischen, sam’alischen und aramäischen Textkorpus. Abhandlungen zur Literatur Alt-Syrien-Palästinas 6. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 1993.Google Scholar

Volf, Miroslav. “Divine Violence?” ChrC 116 (1999): 972.Google Scholar

Von Soden, Wolfram. “Der Mensch bescheidet sich nicht Überlegungen zu Schöpfungserzählungen in Babylonien und Israel.” In Bibel und Alter Orient: Altorientalische Beiträge zum Alten Testament, edited by Müller, Hans-Peter. BZAW 162. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1995.Google Scholar

Wälchli, Stefan H. Gottes Zorn in den Psalmen: eine Studie zur Rede vom Zorn Gottes in den Psalmen im Kontext des Alten Testaments. OBO 244. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; Academic Press, 2012.Google Scholar

Walker, Justin. The Power of Images: The Poetics of Violence in Lamentations 2 and Ancient Near Eastern Art. OBO 297. Leuven: Peeters, 2022.Google Scholar

Wasserman, Nathan. The Flood: The Akkadian Sources – A New Edition, Commentary, and a Literary Discussion. OBO 290. Leuven: Peeters, 2020.Google Scholar

Weinfeld, Moshe. “Traces of Assyrian Treaty Formulae in Deuteronomy.” Bib 46 (1965): 417–427.Google Scholar

Wilson, Gerald H. The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter. SBLDS 76. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985.Google Scholar

Wilson, Gerald H. “King, Messiah, and the Reign of God: Revisiting the Royal Psalms and the Shape of the Psalter.” In The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception, edited by Flint, Peter W. and Miller, Patrick D. Jr. 391–406. VTSup 99. Leiden: Brill, 2005.Google Scholar

Wyatt, Nicolas. “The Evidence of the Colophons in the Assessment of Ilimilku’s Scribal and Authorial Role.” UF 46 (2015): 399–446.Google Scholar

Element contents

Monotheism and Divine Aggression

Summary

Keywords

Access options

Bibliography

Save element to Kindle

Save element to Dropbox

Save element to Google Drive