2003/01/01 by Gary Beckman, John Day · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · #Ancient history #Archaeology #Archaeology and Historical Studies #Art #Biblical Studies and Interpretation #Classics #Cult #History #Islam #Literature #Magnum opus #Monotheism #Mormonism, Religion, and History #Mythology #Old Testament #Philosophy
paper · doi:10.2307/3217888
openalex publication_date 2003/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
This masterly book is the climax of over twenty-five years of study of the impact of Canaanite religion and mythology on ancient Israel and the Old Testament. It is John Day's magnum opus in which he sets forth all his main arguments and conclusions on the subject. The work considers in detail the relationship between Yahweh and the various gods and goddesses of Canaan, including the leading gods El and Baal, the great goddesses (Asherah, Astarte and Anat), astral deities (Sun, Moon and Lucifer), and underworld deities (Mot, Resheph, Molech and the Rephaim). Day assesses both what Yahwism assimilated from these deities and what it came to reject. More generally he discusses the impact of Canaanite polytheism on ancient Israel and how monotheism was eventually achieved.