The Divine Council

In this dissertation I est. a five criteria for determining a Council of Yahweh text: 1) Multiple gods are present; 2) The setting is Heaven; 3) There is judgment; 4) There is some form of discussion; and 5) Yahweh is the leader of the council. Using these criteria I determine that the Council of Yahweh texts are Isaiah 6, 1 Kings 22, Job 1-2, Zechariah 3, and Daniel 7. Then using the criteria of being named, a witness and involved, along with the literary context, I explore these texts to determine if the characters involved are members of the Council of Yahweh. After establishing a cast of members, I determine that there are three tiers of membership within the council. The first tier belongs to the chief god, in this case Yahweh. The second tier is called the Councilors and the two divisions are the Advisors and the Officers. The third tier is the Agents and the two divisions on this tier are the Commissioned and the Officials. Finally, I explore the potential for conceptual evolution, especially in relationship to monotheism and the participation of human beings within the Council of Yahweh. Here are some notes the "Uploader" found on Divine Councill language - The Psalm 82 states "God (אֱלֹהִ֔ים Elohim) stands in the divine assembly (בַּעֲדַת-אֵל ‘ăḏaṯ-’êl); He judges among the gods (אֱלֹהִ֔ים elohim)" (אֱלֹהִים נִצָּב בַּעֲדַת־אֵל בְּקֶרֶב אֱלֹהִים יִשְׁפֹּט). The meaning of the two occurrences of "elohim" has been debated by scholars, with some suggesting both words refer to Yahweh, while others propose that the God of Israel rules over a divine assembly of other gods or angels. Some translations of this passage render "God (elohim) stands in the congregation of the mighty to judge the heart as God (elohim)] (the Hebrew is "beqerev elohim", "in the midst of gods", and the word "qerev" if it were in the plural would mean "internal organs" Later in this Psalm, the word "gods" is used (in the KJV): Psalm 82:6 – "I have said, Ye [are] gods; and all of you [are] children of the most High." Instead of "gods", another version has "godlike beings",] but here again, the word is elohim/elohiym (Strong's H430).] This passage is quoted in the New Testament in John 10:34.[14] In the Books of Kings (1 Kings 22:19), the prophet Micaiah has a vision of Yahweh seated among "the whole host of heaven" standing on his right and on his left. He asks who will go entice Ahab and a spirit volunteers. This has been interpreted as an example of a divine council. The first two chapters of the Book of Job describe the "Sons of God" assembling in the presence of Yahweh. Like "multitudes of heaven", the term "Sons of God" defies certain interpretation. This assembly has been interpreted by some as another example of divine council. Others translate "Sons of God" as "angels", and thus argue this is not a divine council because angels are God's creation and not deities. "The role of the divine assembly as a conceptual part of the background of Hebrew prophecy is clearly displayed in two descriptions of prophetic involvement in the heavenly council. In 1 Kings 22:19–23... Micaiah is allowed to see God (elohim) in action in the heavenly decision regarding the fate of Ahab. Isaiah 6 depicts a situation in which the prophet himself takes on the role of the messenger of the assembly and the message of the prophet is thus commissioned by Yahweh. The depiction here illustrates this important aspect of the conceptual background of prophetic authority. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the membership and structure of the Council of Yahweh as it is portrayed in the Hebrew Bible. The phrase “divine council” is used to describe the government or royal court of the supreme deity. In order to justify a new study on this topic, one must question the underlying assumptions of divine council studies, including the way in which comparative study is usually conducted. I first became interested in the divine council while researching my Th.M. thesis on השטן ,as it was the setting for this character in - Job 1-2 and Zechariah 3.1 It was while doing this research that I became dissatisfied with the current scholarship on this topic. Most scholars begin with the texts found at Ugarit or Mesopotamia, outline a structure based on those religious traditions, and then explore the material in the Hebrew Bible in order to determine how it fits with the other religions. This process, while logical, has led to certain assumptions and even results that cannot be confirmed through the Hebrew Bible. Therefore, one purpose of this study is to question those assumptions. In doing so, I will develop the following points: firstly, there are multiple councils in the Hebrew Bible and not all of them belong to Yahweh; secondly, the Council of Yahweh negates a History of Scholarship Research on the divine council is not new. Early studies by Cross, Kingsbury, Lohfink, Pederson, Robinson, and Tsevat are helpful but most of them are neither detailed nor extensive. Moreover, most studies have either focused on one passage or one member of the council.3 Some samples of bibliographies of some fantastic books for further study . Tons more in book. Frank Moore Cross, "The Council of Yahweh in Second Isaiah," Journal of Near Eastern Studies XXII (1953), 274-77; E. C. Kingsbury, "The Prophets and the Council of Yahweh," Journal of Biblical Literature 83 (1964), 279-86; Norbert Lohfink, "Gott und die Götter im Alten Testament," Theologische Akademie 6 (1969), 50-71; J. Pedersen, "Canaanite and Israelite Cultus," Acta orientalia 18 (1939), 1-14; H. Wheeler Robinson, "The Council of Yahweh," Journal of Theological Studies 45 (1944); Matitahu Tsevat, "God and the Gods in Assembly: An Interpretation of Psalm 82," Hebrew Union College AnnualXL-XLI (1969-1970), 123-37.3 Studies of Gen 6:1-4 include L. Birney, "An Exegetical Study of Genesis 6:14," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 13 (1970), 43-52; Umberto Cassuto, "The Episode of the Sons of God and Daughters of Man (Genesis vi 1-4)," Biblical and Oriental Studies 1 (1973), 47-70; J. A. Clines, "The Significance of the 'Sons of God' Episode (Genesis 6:1-4) in the Context of the 'Primeval History'," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 3 (1979), 33-46; G. E. Closen, Die Sunde der 'Sohne Gottes', Gen 6, 1-4 (Rome: Papstliches Bibelinstitut, 1937); J. E. Coleran, "The Sons of God in Genesis 6, 2," Theological Studies 2 (1941), 488-509; L. Eslinger, "A Contextual Identification of the bene haʾelohim and benoth haʾadam in Genesis 6:14," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 13 (1979), 65-73; R. S. Hendel, "When the Sons of God Cavorted with the Daughters of Men," Bible Review 3 (1987), 8-13, 37; Paul Joüon, "Les unions entre les 'fils de Dieu' et les 'filles des hommes' Genèse, 6, 1-4," Religious Studies Review 29 (1939), 108-14; Meredith G. Kline, "Divine Kingship and Genesis 6:1-4," Westminster Theological Journal 24 (1962), 187-204; W. A. van Gemeren, "The Sons of God in Gen 6:1-4," Westminster Theological Journal 43 (1981), 320-48.For Psalm 82 see C. H. Gordon, "History of Religion in Psalm 82," in Biblical and Near Eastern Studies (ed. G. A. Tuttle; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), 129-31; H. W. Jüngling, Der Tod der Götter: Eine Untersuchung zu Psalm 82 (Stuttgarter Bibelstudien 39; Stuttgart: Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1969); J. Morgenstern, "The Mythological Background of Psalm 82," Hebrew Union College Annual XIV (1939), 29-126; R. J. O'Callaghan, "The Canaanite Background of Psalm 82," Catholic Biblical Quarterly15 (1953), 311-14; Simon B. Parker, "The Beginning of the Reign of God—Psalm 82 as Myth and Liturgy," Revue Biblique 102 (1995), 532-59; W. S. Prinsloo, "Psalm 82: Once Again, Gods or Men?," Biblica 76 (1995), 219-28; R. B. Salters, "Psalm 82, 1 and the Septuagint," Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 103 (1991), 225-39; Konrad Schmid, "Gibt es 'Reste hebräischen Heidentums' im Alten Testament? Methodische Überlegungen anhand von Dtn 32, 8f und Ps 82," in Primäre und sekundäre Religion als Kategorie der Religionsgeschichte des Alten Testaments (ed. Andreas Wagner, Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 364; Berlin/New York: De On the divine council in Prophetic books see D. E. Biarritz, "Les Structures Symboliques d'Esäie 6, une Hypothèse," FoiVie 83 (1984), 16-24; David E. Bokovoy, "יעקב בבית והעידו שמעו : Invoking the Council as Witnesses in Amos 3:13,” Journal of Biblical Literature 127 (2008), 37-51; Cross, "The Council of Yahweh in Second Isaiah," 274-77; Robert P. Gordon, "Standing in the Council: When Prophets Encounter God," in The God of Israel (ed. Robert P. Gordon, University of Cambridge Oriental Press Publications 64; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 190-204;

This paper illustrates the value of applied Biblical Theology. Imagery conveys theology. The Hebrew Bible depiction of the divine council of God and his court becomes a key image of the Ancient of Days and David, his attendant King–Messiah–Lord. The imagery then fills the pages of the New Testament. (13 pages)

The traditional Christian viewpoint is that there is only one real spiritual being presented in the Old Testament (OT) who can be labeled "God" (Hebrew elohim). This viewpoint, therefore, entails that all other references to "god" or "gods" in the OT cannot refer to real spiritual beings. This paper presents an alternative view that even though there is only one uncreated God presented in the OT, the OT also refers to some other created spiritual beings as “gods,” “sons of God,” and members of the divine council.

2017

Pharos Journal, 2020

A Divine Council could pose puzzling question in the mind of a layman with the understanding that humans are the best understood to practice assemblies or gatherings to make decisions. But an understanding of the council of Yahweh in the Old Testament, though not clearly written verbatim which such inscription, come to play and is discovered across the Old Testament in which vital decisions are being made for or against an individual and for the larger populace of humanity. As such an examination of the concept of "council of Yahweh" is the focus of this piece in practically deducing from the operations of the Divine Council as a paradigm for traditional and political rulers in executing their various responsibilities for the betterment of humanity.

If the concept and imagery of YHVH's heavenly council were so important to biblical Jews and if throne visions were so powerful a method of conveying theological truth, were they also vital to later generations in Israel? This paper suggests an affirmative answer to the question.

#Introduction into this work after this brief thank message below , To skip go to 2nd paragraph# All credit and all writing from the Title to the very last word is Authored by the Great Dr.. Michael Heiser! Im uploading to share the content that's it! Go check out his books Unsean Realm , Demons and Supernatural to get a 100% fuller context of a ton of topics in this paper he wrote!! Dr. Michael Heisers i owe all the credit to that has lead me to this Deuteronomy 32 , Genesis 6. Tower of Babel and Ugaritic text and Ancient near eastern Occult gods and worship which are to learn from to have a better 2nd temple period worldview not a 2021st one like most!! Thanks Michael you are anointed By God !! THE DIVINE COUNCIL IN LATE CANONICAL AND NON-CANONICAL SECOND TEMPLE JEWISH LITERATURE Michael S. Heiser Under the supervision of Professor Michael V. Fox At the University of Wisconsin-Madison Biblical scholarship has reached a consensus with respect to the presence of a divine assembly of gods in Israel’s faith. Prior to the sixth century B.C.E., Israelite religion underwent an evolution from an initial polytheism to a firm monolatry, where the other gods of the divine council were tolerated but not worshipped. The religious crisis of Israel’s early sixth century B.C.E. exile prompted the scribes to obscure the council in the canonical texts and compose new material declaring that Yahweh had punished Israel for her sins, brought her out of bondage, and put the other gods to death. This historical turnabout and its literary response marked the birth of true monotheism in Israel, where no other gods existed except Yahweh. This reconstruction is plagued by numerous difficulties. There are hundreds of references to other gods in a divine council in exilic and post-exilic canonical texts and the non-canonical writings of Judaism’s Second Temple period. The context for these references disallows the conclusion that the writers are speaking of idols or of the beliefs of pagans. Rather, they reflect the worldview of late Israelite religion and Second Temple Judaism. This worldview included the belief in a deified vice-regent who ruled the gods at the behest of the high God. So transparent was this divine vice regency that Second Temple Jewish authors wrote of a deified second power in heaven. The rhetoric of Deuteronomy and Deutero-Isaiah that there are no other gods besides Yahweh fails as proof of the consensus view, since the same language is used in monolatrous pre-exilic texts and fails to account for the plethora of references to other gods in late Jewish writings. This dissertation calls the consensus view of the development of monotheism in Israel into question by demonstrating that belief in a divine council survived the exile. As a result, this dissertation posits that the survival of Israel’s pre-exilic divine council has greater explanatory Chapter one Introduction to Study - The discovery of the tablets of ancient Ugarit in 1929 and their subsequent translation marked a watershed in the study of the religious worldview of the Hebrew Bible. One of the most significant revelations produced by the comparative investigation of the religion of ancient Israel and Ugarit was that the Hebrew Bible contained tantalizing hints of a pantheon. The "divine assembly" or "divine council" soon became a focus of biblical scholars, beginning in 1939 with J. Morgenstern’s lengthy article on Psalm 82, likely the clearest biblical attestation to an Israelite divine assembly.1 During the 1940s and 1950s, prominent studies emerged examining the striking and unmistakable correspondences between the god of Israel and two of Ugarit's most important deities, El and Baal.2 The seminal work on the divine council as a motif throughout the Hebrew Bible, however, was a 1944 article by H. Wheeler Robinson.3 Robinson's early study was followed in the next two decades by detailed analyses of the council and its members by a number of scholars.4 The first book-length study of the divine council was published in 1980,5 and was followed by significant works detailing various XX aspects of the divine council throughout the extant literature of Canaan.6 Most recently, an important book by Mark S. Smith has brought scholarship on the divine council up to date.7 All the scholarship to date on the divine council has focused on Israel’s religion prior to the sixth century B.C.E., since it is commonly believed that after Israel emerged from exile, the idea of a pantheon of gods headed by Yahweh had been abandoned in favor of an intolerant monotheism. This dissertation challenges this consensus view of the development of monotheism in Israelite religion and Judaism by examining late canonical texts of the Hebrew Bible and non-canonical Second Temple period literature to discern whether or not the belief in a divine council that included other gods continued after the exile.8 This task also necessarily involves interaction with several broad issues addressed in the scholarly study of Israelite religion and Second Temple period Judaism and the related academic literature. The result encompasses a new orientation with respect to the texts and the issue of monotheism in Israel and the creation of new conceptual bridges connecting the religions of pre-exilic Canaan, Israel and Second Temple Judaism. Hence, this study suggests new perspectives on certain issues involving these areas and proposes an alternative paradigm for understanding their connections. Due to the sweeping religious questions and voluminous scholarly literature dealing with ancient religions of Canaan, Israel, and first century Judaism, boundaries must be placed on such a study. Since the religions of Canaan and pre-exilic Israel are foundational to what follows, the Second Temple period more conveniently lends itself to limitations for the sake of this study. For this reason the terminus ad quem of this study is Jewish literature prior to 70 C.E. This effectively excludes the New Testament, but the study lays the foundation for future inquiry into the presence and religious role of the divine council in the New Testament. The number of areas of New Testament study related to the divine council is extensive. An examination of the New Testament in light of the divine council paradigm proposed by this study would necessitate consideration The books of the Apocrypha are (1) Esdras (alias Greek Book of *Ezra); (2) *Tobit; (3) *Judith; (4) additions to *Esther; (5) Wisdom of *Solomon; (6) Ecclesiasticus (Wisdom of Ben *Sira); (7) *Baruch, with the Epistle of Jeremiah; (8) The *Song of the Three Holy Children; (9) *Susanna; (10) *Bel and the Dragon; (11) The Prayer of *Manasseh; (12) i*Maccabees; (13) ii*Maccabees. Esdras is a compilation from ii Chronicles 35, 37, Book of Ezra, and Nehemiah 8–9, in an order differing from that of the traditional Bible text and with the addition of a popular story of a competition between youths, the most prominent of whom was Zerubbabel who waited upon Darius i. Tobit tells of a member of one of the ten tribes who was exiled to Assyria, where, because of his merit in burying Sennacherib's victims, he was cured of the blindness which had afflicted him for many years, and saw his son married to one of his kin. Judith tells of a woman of Samaria who ventured into the camp of the soldiers besieging her city, and decapitated their commander, Holofernes, after making him drunk. The Wisdom of Solomon discusses the fate of the righteous and the wicked, with examples from the early history of Israel. Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah – additions to the Book of Jeremiah – attack idol worship and are in the form of letters addressed by the putative authors to the exiles in Babylonia. Susanna and the Elders, an addition to the Book of Daniel, is the popular story of a righteous woman who successfully resists the enticements of the city elders and is saved by the youthful Daniel from the death which, on the strength of their slander, had been decreed against her. Bel and the Dragon, which in the Septuagint is another addition to Daniel, is an account of Daniel's ministrations to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and Darius the Mede, and of his success in demonstrating to them by various devices the futility of idol worship. The Prayer of Manasseh, an addition to ii Chronicles 34:18, is a prayer supposedly recited by King Manasseh while in exile. From the historical point of view, the most important book of the Apocrypha is i Maccabees, the historical account of the *Hasmoneans from the uprising of Mattathias to the death of *Simeon, the first of the Hasmoneans to establish the independence of Judea. ii Maccabees confines itself to the wars of *Judah the Maccabees The Divine Council is the view that Yahweh; The God of Israel is the Master of a pantheon

Psalm 82 is a brief text, attributed to the psalmist Asaph that is rich with mythological imagery. Exegetical studies of pre-critical scholarship interpreted the “gods” (elohim) of this passage as human judges. Modern post-critical scholars have undermined that previous interpretation based upon coterminous textual discoveries and linguistic advances. There are few scholars presently that would interpret the “gods” of Psalm 82 as human judges. However, many if not most traditional interpreters take the pedantic, non-supernatural view that the “sons of God” of Psalm 82 are human beings. The implications of a post-critical, alternate translation have led to more confusion and more difficulty. Trying to understand who the “sons of God” and/or “gods” are as well as what their function and relevance are within the larger biblical corpus have conceived various interpretations. There are numerous differing opinions as to how this data should be interpreted and thought of theologically in light of such technical and linguistic advancements. This paper will argue that sound biblical theology is hermeneutically relevant and essential to interpreting the data. Evangelical theologians, therefore, need to engage this material and contemplate how and if the newer, more critical data attributes to or undermines traditional and Evangelical doctrines and views of Scripture. The goal of this paper is to address the key syntactic and grammatical issues of Psalm 82 and discuss the text’s broader literary and historical contexts to consider those doctrinal implications. The thesis of this paper will propose that paralleling Psalm 82 with the ANE worldview of Israel and other ancient Near Eastern literature provides support for this passage’s relevance in biblical theology as they highlight the supernatural worldview of the biblical authors. After examination, the discoveries will shed a brighter light on the interpretation of other biblical texts as well. This paper will argue for the benefit of interpreting Scripture with a more robust supernatural worldview of the Bible and its original authors. Also, traditional Evangelical scholarship and theologians should teach the church to adopt a more supernatural worldview of Scripture than she has previously supposed. Interpreting this passage does not come without its difficulties as there are many different doctrinal implications to contemplate as well as some views that need to be changed. There are some pre-conceived views that have led to exegetical fallacies. This paper will interpret Psalm 82 by closely and critically engaging the correlating scholarship of this passage to contemplate its use for biblical theology as well as consider its relevant expression in the context of modern missions, ministry, and biblical hermeneutics. Three important areas of concern for the church that should go hand in hand together, but unfortunately rarely do. Each section will propose questions to consider as they arise and will present them at the closing of each section. There will be an attempt to properly answer each question as thorough as possible in the following sections and revisit some of the remaining questions that are not answered at conclusion. The words printed in English below (that are in bold) are the keywords that this paper will need to examine as they hold the formula for interpreting the whole passage. Psalm 82 GOD has taken his place in the DIVINE COUNCIL; in the MIDST OF THE GODS he holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are GODS, sons of the MOST HIGH, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” Arise, O GOD, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations! O GOD, Do Not Keep Silence A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.