Mark S. Smith is a scholar of ancient Near Eastern and biblical religion, and this Eerdmans book, revised into a second edition from its 1990 original, is the standard scholarly treatment of how the Canaanite deity El and other regional gods converged into the figure of Yahweh, and how Israelite religion subsequently differentiated itself from its Canaanite context. Its strength is that it works directly from the epigraphic and textual evidence, Ugaritic texts alongside the Hebrew Bible, to reconstruct this historical-critical picture rather than assuming any one tradition's later theology as a starting point. Its limit, and the reason it should be read carefully, is exactly that historical-critical reconstruction, it is not what Judaism, Christianity or Islam themselves teach about the nature of God, so a claim about any of the three traditions' own theology needs a source speaking from within that tradition.
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Published by William B. Eerdmans Publishing, a leading academic press for biblical and religious studies, Mark S. Smith's standard scholarly study, peer reviewed university-level scholarship. NotesSecond edition, revised from the 1990 first edition. The standard treatment of the convergence of El and other Canaanite deities into Yahweh and the subsequent differentiation of Israelite religion. Cited here for the historical-critical reconstruction only, which is not what any of the three traditions teaches about itself.
Citation
AuthorMark S. Smith
PublisherWilliam B. Eerdmans Publishing
Publication Year2002
Source TypeScholarly work
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Canaanites directly: "Mark S. Smith is a scholar of ancient Near Eastern and biblical religion, and this Eerdmans book, revised into a second edition from its 1990 original, is the standard scholarly treatment of how the..."
This source names Israelites directly: "Mark S. Smith is a scholar of ancient Near Eastern and biblical religion, and this Eerdmans book, revised into a second edition from its 1990 original, is the standard scholarly treatment of how the..."
Claims Backed By This Source (31 claims)
This source backs 31 claims across the atlas. As facts: 21 well-attested. As cited relationships: 3 holds. Plus 7 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 9 claims: 7 well-attested, 2 holds.
- Articles, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.
- Subcategories, 5 claims: 4 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Deities, 4 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
- Cultures, 2 claims: 2 general references.
- Regions, 2 claims: 2 general references.
- Empires & Polities, 1 claims: 1 general references.
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