More than one god of the Old Testament

I dont know why we are talking about the levites and priests(Kohanim in Hebrew). As a Jew, and relatively learned one at that, I am very frustrated with people who make idiotic generalizations on subjects of which they know nothing. By the way, the levites, of which I am one, were to take care of the Temple and the holy objects. The also sang and played instruments in the Temple. The job of the Kohanim was to do the sacrifices and do any other ceremonial practices. As for more than one God in the Bible, that is complete rubbish. There are extensive commentaries by Jewish scholars from the very early middle ages to the present. All you have to do is a little research.

Originally posted by eslag90
I dont know why we are talking about the levites and priests(Kohanim in Hebrew). As a Jew, and relatively learned one at that, I am very frustrated with people who make idiotic generalizations on subjects of which they know nothing. By the way, the levites, of which I am one, were to take care of the Temple and the holy objects. The also sang and played instruments in the Temple. The job of the Kohanim was to do the sacrifices and do any other ceremonial practices. As for more than one God in the Bible, that is complete rubbish. There are extensive commentaries by Jewish scholars from the very early middle ages to the present. All you have to do is a little research.

So you're saying the levites and the priests are not the same? And the verse in Deut 17:9 which reads: "And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:" is wrong? Or how about verse 18 there, "And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:" And then again, how about Deut 18:1 "The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance." Are all these just wrong?

Not sure if that is what you're saying but your irritation is certainly evident. As with many other Jews encountered on discussion forums in speaking on the OT, your Torah, it seems you are more interested in displaying your irascibility and your own understanding than in bringing anything to the discussion table. If you just needed a place to vent some spleen, that's ok, I guess, oh, Lightbringer to the nations

" As for more than one God in the Bible, that is complete rubbish. There are extensive commentaries by Jewish scholars from the very early middle ages to the present. All you have to do is a little research."

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would love to hear their explanations as to why god is talking to himself suggesting that..."Let US make man in our own image...."

it seems to me, that "making man" would be more like a God thing, and not so much an angel thing. which is why I discount the idea that he's talking to the angels. just don't think they have the power of creation bestowed upon them....

so, who is the us???

Originally posted by curiousity

So you're saying the levites and the priests are not the same? And the verse in Deut 17:9 which reads: "And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:" is wrong? Or how about verse 18 there, "And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:" And then again, how about Deut 18:1 "The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance." Are all these just wrong?

Not sure if that is what you're saying but your irritation is certainly evident. As with many other Jews encountered on discussion forums in speaking on the OT, your Torah, it seems you are more interested in displaying your irascibility and your own understanding than in bringing anything to the discussion table. If you just needed a place to vent some spleen, that's ok, I guess, oh, Lightbringer to the nations

I'm sorry if I sound irritated, but I hate it when people with create stupid theorys on a subject that they have never researched. I'm just bringing to the discussion what I know, nothing more. The Kohanim are descendents of Aaron. He was a descendent of Levi, the priestly tribe. In reality what you have is a hierarchical society where there is the israelite and the levite. Within the levites are the Kohanim who are the "priests." Whithin them is the high priest. I also notice you left out an important comma between the words priests and the levites. It tends to make much more sense with correct punctuation. I do not confess to know all the answers. I'm just saying do a little more research before stating your opinions.

Originally posted by dawnstar
would love to hear their explanations as to why god is talking to himself suggesting that..."Let US make man in our own image...."

it seems to me, that "making man" would be more like a God thing, and not so much an angel thing. which is why I discount the idea that he's talking to the angels. just don't think they have the power of creation bestowed upon them....

so, who is the us???

According to what i have found God is consulting the angels.
There is a Jewish legend in which Moses is writing the Torah and when he came to this verse he asked God why He gave a reason for heretics to maintain that there is pulrality of divinities. God replied, "Whoever wishes to err will err...Instead let them learn from their creator who created all, yet when He came to create man, He took counsel with the ministering angels." This is meant to teach that even the wisest of people must consult others before biginning new ventures. God's reply teaches that one who sincerely seeks the truth will see it;one who looks for an excuse to blaspheme will find it.

Originally posted by eslag90I'm sorry if I sound irritated, but I hate it when people with create stupid theorys on a subject that they have never researched. I'm just bringing to the discussion what I know, nothing more. The Kohanim are descendents of Aaron. He was a descendent of Levi, the priestly tribe. In reality what you have is a hierarchical society where there is the israelite and the levite. Within the levites are the Kohanim who are the "priests." Whithin them is the high priest. I also notice you left out an important comma between the words priests and the levites. It tends to make much more sense with correct punctuation. I do not confess to know all the answers. I'm just saying do a little more research before stating your opinions.

Believe me I totally sympathize with the sentiment. I've never heard before of a separation of the "priests" and the "levites", it's always been my understanding from reading the OT that they are one and the same. certainly I am aware there were other tribes, but at the time of the OT, I think all of them were called Israelites after Jacob/Israel, true?

I won't know which of my opinions you feel need more research if you don't tell me, now will I? I was attempting to the best of my limited Gentile ability to answer the other posters' outrageous onslaught against Biblical records. Here are a few examples if you want to see some true non-researched statements:

originally posted by darkmind I think I remember reading somewhere that the early Hebrew faith included a female consort to god, who was edited out in later years. I'll have to look it up though.

Care to respond to that?

Or how about this one from the author of the thread:

originally posted by point So he punishes man for denying the ignorance of good and evil. It seems this knowledge is a threat to this self proclaimed 'jealous god' who would wish to keep his subjects in 'blissful ignorance' and under his thumb.

Sound like any "research" to you? In fact, come to think of it, I think that exact sentiment was expressed someplace before? Could it be? Yes, it is! Gen 3:1-5, there it is, by george!

By the way, I didn't neglect the commas, and as you know, there were none in the original language, so I guess the KJV version I copied and pasted from didn't have any.

Peace, elder brother

[edit on 26-6-2006 by curiousity]

Originally posted by point
Does this one and only god have company? Is he merely one of many gods?
Who are these other gods he speaks of, that know good and evil?

The god doing the talking is Yadalbaoth, or Saklas, the false, insane entity who thinks he's the real, top-god, but ain't. So he naturally has a bit of paranoia and inferiority brewing.

Probably his biggest competition at the time was Ba'al, who is sometimes represented by a golden calf. Ba'al (Hadad) is a holdover from the Semitic pantheon, and generally considered to be the son of El. "El" was the head honcho of the gods before Zoroastrian and Egyptian influences (particularly via Moses aka Tutmosis) narrowed the field down to just one, Yahweh, who is roughly the equivalent of Zeus.

Anyway, the conversion from a bunch of gods to just one didn't happen overnight, and there were still some holdouts who wanted to stick with "that old time religion." So for a while there, there were all kinds of gods still hanging around and it was pretty tempting for the Hebrews to backslide. So this nutty god was in the habit of drowning people and killing them off by the thousands if they didn't obey him. That's the tip-off to let you know that he's not the real deal, but rather an impostor.

No way a loving, creative force, omnipotent and infinitely powerful, encompassing and surpassing space and time would get mixed up with all that petty nonsense.

Originally posted by Enkidu
The god doing the talking is Yadalbaoth, or Saklas, the false, insane entity who thinks he's the real, top-god, but ain't. So he naturally has a bit of paranoia and inferiority brewing.

He/they have gone by many names including:
Saklas -Aramic for "the Fool"
Samael -God of the Blind
Demiurge
Yadalbaoth
Yahweh
Jehovah

The "I am the one and only god" propaganda has been very successful in fusing this insanely jealous entity with a truely good god in the minds of many.