YAHWEH
And The Gods And Goddesses Of Canaan
John Day
290 Pages, ISBN 978 0 82646 830 7
Published by Sheffield Academic Press, 2002
This important 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.
John Day is Professor of Old Testament Studies in the University of Oxford,
and Fellow & Tutor of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. He has written or
edited numerous books and articles.
(The text above comes from the back of the book)
