Bible Books: Three Gods in One

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This is not the book I was expecting. From the title The Hebrew God, I envisioned something akin to Mark Smith’s Early History of God, Ziony Zevit’s The Religions of Ancient Israel or Richard Friedman’s The Hidden Face of God. And from the subtitle Portrait of an Ancient Deity, I anticipated discussions of artifacts like the ancient sketch of Yahweh found on a clay pot at Kuntillet ‘Ajrud, in northern Sinai. I was wrong. A better name for this book would be God of Wisdom, War and Life: Dumézil’s Tripartite Functional Analysis and the Religion of the Hebrew Bible. But for this we can certainly forgive author Bernhard Lang and Yale University Press, as their title will no doubt sell more books.

A professor of Old Testament at the University of Paderborn, in Germany, Lang writes that this project was inspired by the work of the French scholar Georges Dumézil (1898–1986), an expert in Indo-European folklore and religion, and a major contributor to the modern discipline of comparative mythology. Dumézil argued that every Indo-European civilization could be functionally divided into three parts: The first function was wisdom, which was the responsibility of sages and priests. The second was war, performed by soldiers. The third was wealth, brought about by farmers and hunters. (Dumézil used the term “function” rather than “class” or “caste” because individuals can fulfill more than one function. A soldier, for example, might farm during times of peace.) Dumézil claimed that Indo-European religions mirrored this tripartite society in that the pantheon was similarly divided among gods of sovereignty, gods of war and gods of wealth and sustenance. In Greek religion, for example, Zeus represents the first function; Ares the second; and Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter and Dionysus the third function. (Typically, third function deities are the most common.)

Dumézil claimed that only Indo-Europeans formalized this tripartite ideology; Lang argues that Semitic peoples too knew a tripartite division and that it is reflected in the religion of the Hebrew Bible. This occurs, he claims, either because this ideology is universal or because Indo-Europeans and Semites long ago shared a common culture.

In the Hebrew Bible, Lang argues, one God embodies all three functions. Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, is the Lord of Wisdom, the Divine Warrior and the Provider of Life. For Lang, the biblical God can best be understood by examining him in terms of these three categories.

The Lord of Wisdom—the sovereign god who disseminates knowledge—is a common figure in ancient religions. Lang credits ancient scribes with formulating this idea of God. Royal scribes, who were responsible for recording secular law, diplomacy and wisdom, simply transferred their own experiences in earthly palaces to the divine realm. The scribes pictured the gods assembling in a divine council and making decisions about future events; the scribal god then recorded the proceedings on the tablets of destiny. Kings, priests, prophets and magicians would attempt to discover what the future had in store by communicating with the Lord of Wisdom. Thus, in the Hebrew Bible, God is said to keep a written record (called the “book of life” in Psalm 69:29); he knows what the future holds; and the people constantly seek his divine wisdom—before battles (Isaiah 7:14), during times of illness (2 Kings 1:2), in preparing sacrifices (Leviticus 16:8), when dividing land (Joshua 18:10) and when investigating crimes (Joshua 7:18). Sometimes, God graciously bestows wisdom on Israel: he gives the Law at Sinai; he offers Solomon wisdom in a dream (1 Kings 3:5–15).

The Israelite deity Yahweh is also a God of War (though this comes as a surprise to many Bible readers). Yahweh is called a “man of war” in Exodus 15:3 and a “warrior” in 046Psalm 24:8. Moreover, God often fights alongside the Israelite army. Like other ancient Near Eastern war deities, the biblical God predicts victory before the war, he is present and active during the battle and, after the fight, the military leaders acknowledge God’s victory. This popular formula is seen in the conquest of Jericho, where before the battle even begins God tells the Israelites that he has “handed over Jericho” to them (Joshua 6:2); the Ark represents God’s presence in battle (Joshua 6:8–21); and, just before the walls come tumblin’ down, Joshua gives Yahweh full credit, telling the Israelites to “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city” (Joshua 6:16). And though the point is missed by Lang, God’s first earthly home, the Tabernacle, can best be understood in a military context.^a

Lang divides God’s third function—provider of wealth and sustenance—into three categories: Lord of Animals, Lord of the Individual Human and Lord of the Harvest. The Lord of Animals created the beasts and birds, commanded that they multiply and gave permission to Noah and his descendants to eat meat (Genesis 9:3). The Lord of Mankind created human beings “in the image of God.” (For Lang, this has nothing to do with physical appearance, but rather, function. God is responsible for all creation, and human beings reflect the divine image when they exercise dominion over God’s creation.) The Lord of Mankind offers special protection and closeness to his human followers; this role is influenced by Mesopotamian and Egyptian thought, according to Lang. Finally, as Lord of the Harvest, God controls the land’s fertility, including the production of rain.

The Hebrew God is interesting and provocative. Yet, in keeping with the spirit of tripartite analysis, I must comment on three things that trouble me.

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First, Lang refuses to say anything concerning the period of Israelite history known as Iron Age I (1200 to 900 B.C.E). Indeed, he says remarkably little about anything in Iron Age II (900 to 586 B.C.E.) prior to the middle of the seventh century B.C.E. For Lang, ancient Israel’s religion first drew on “archaic” Bronze Age concepts. These archaic concepts include prophetic journeys to the divine realm and Yahweh’s assistance in particular battles. Lang claims that these archaic elements were banned under the religious reforms of the Judahite king Josiah in 622 B.C.E. In Josiah’s day, the Law was recorded in writing (an early form of Deuteronomy); prophets no longer needed to journey to the divine realm to receive guidance. Judah now had a book religion based on the idea of covenant. Further, Yahweh no longer helped the Israelites with isolated battles; rather, God fought all their wars.

According to Lang, this shift in the view of God determined how the biblical stories were recorded. For example, Lang writes that Genesis 28 was originally an unsophisticated archaic tale of Jacob erecting a stone at Bethel after dreaming of a ladder with angels going up and down. Then, after Josiah’s reforms and the Exile, Yahweh was added to the story. Jacob now says that Yahweh would be his God, and Yahweh promises Jacob many offspring. But Lang’s end product is far too binary: His reconstruction of Israelite religion is either archaic (Bronze Age) or late (Post-Josiah); nothing lies in-between.

Second, The Hebrew God suffers from sweeping statements. For example, when arguing that the entire book of Genesis was written about 500 B.C.E. (that is, shortly after the Babylonian Exile), Lang writes that, in Genesis, “royal, administrative, priestly and military authority are all conspicuously absent.” But we find all of these authorities in Genesis 14, where several kings engage in military exploits and Abraham meets the priest Melchizedek. A short footnote informs the reader: “There seem to be exceptions to this rule, but all of them can be explained.” How? Genesis 14, Lang tells us, was “not part of the original book.”

Third, not only the portrait of God, but the entire, complicated story of ancient Israel, suffers from being forced into a tripartite formula. It seems no matter what the issue, Lang initially divides the matter into three, and then often subdivides these categories into two or three subsections. For example, Lang argues that the Hexateuch (Genesis through Joshua) is really about three things, each representing a function: a divine promise of descendants and land (function three—wealth), a divinely ordained Exodus and conquest (function two—war) and the giving of divine law at Mt. Sinai (function one—wisdom). Lang simply discounts those elements that don’t fit into this formula. The Primeval History (Genesis 1–11) and the Wilderness Wanderings (Numbers), he writes, have little to do with Israelite tradition. With this I strongly disagree.

The God of the Bible and the history of Israel are far more complicated than a tripartite formula allows. Nevertheless, I’m certain many readers of BR will find The Hebrew God both informative and enjoyable to read. Lang’s writing is well crafted and clear. One of his strongest assets is his ability to place biblical passages in the context of ancient Near Eastern texts and art. Lang also draws on Indo-European parallels and invokes the psychology of religion. Just be cautious when he tries to force square passages into three round holes.

This is not the book I was expecting. From the title The Hebrew God, I envisioned something akin to Mark Smith’s Early History of God, Ziony Zevit’s The Religions of Ancient Israel or Richard Friedman’s The Hidden Face of God. And from the subtitle Portrait of an Ancient Deity, I anticipated discussions of artifacts like the ancient sketch of Yahweh found on a clay pot at Kuntillet ‘Ajrud, in northern Sinai. I was wrong. A better name for this book would be God of Wisdom, War and Life: Dumézil’s Tripartite Functional Analysis and the Religion of the Hebrew Bible. […]