It's a living

[dreamer_easy]

I assume Yahweh is referred to as "the living god" to contrast Him with lifeless idols. Now, my understanding is that the Hebrews were henotheists: their neighbours' gods existed, but were not to be worshipped, and in any case were subordinate to Yahweh. However, quick search turns up the first use of "the living god" in Deuteronomy. So now I'm wondering - did "living god" have a different meaning, for example, a deity without idols or images?

Comments

[drhoz.livejournal.com]

could be - it seems Abraham came up with a lot of it after deciding idols etc really didn't cut it compared to the real world he saw every day.. and then there's the whol "Yahweh as war-god, trying to prove he can cut it with every other job too"

[cedara]

And what about Ashera? She was supposed to be Yahweh's wife.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

FTR, as early as Deuteronomy 32:17 (and I think there is an earlier reference as well, though I can't recall where it is), the gods of the surrounding nations are referred to as "demons" (oh, there it is: Leviticus 17:7). The sentiment is repeated later in the book of Psalms (David), and in the New Testament book of 1 Corinthians (Paul). So rather than believing that YHWH was just the most powerful or "special" of the gods and that the gods of the surrounding nations were lesser or subordinate, the Law of Moses taught that YHWH was the only God, period, and that the other "gods" were demonic impostors.

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

You got it right the first time - the term "the Living God" is very much a swipe at the various idolotrous groups. c.f. multiple psalms which talk about "they have eyes which cannot see, legs but cannot walk" referring to the idols of the Canaanites.

You could make a pretty decent sermon out of your second point...

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

I wonder if you're reading David Plotz' column Blogging the Bible (http://www.slate.com/id/2150150/) on Slate. I'm finding it an amusing read (he's not a biblical scholar, by any stretch of the imagination, and he makes some very funny connections and observations). I think you might enjoy it, if you haven't already found it.

[adrian-middle.livejournal.com]

It almost certainly has its origins in the En?lish - the term daiwa comes from Sanskrit, and the practice seen throughout Mesopotamian myth, though rarely explicitly. Daiwa- has the same root as daeva- or div-, which originally meant "God" but was later used to mean "God tainted by evil".

I think the primary example is Marduk's slaying of Tiamat, which paralleled Hammurabi's rise to power. Outside of Marduk's many, many conquests, the practice is implicit rather than explicit.

Any good examination of Persian conquest and religion should discuss it. I think I first came across it in a biography of Alexander the Great, who adopted a similar practice.

Its not been used in fiction much, and its rare for me to cite Anne Rice as a source for anything, but ISTR that her stand-alone novel Servant of the Bones touched on it as well.