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JOHN DAY, Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan (JSOTSup 265; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000). Pp. 282. (pound)46, $73.
John Day's publications are consistently erudite, reveal a fine command of the primary sources as well as recent and seminal secondary sources, and are characterized by judicious conclusions. The present volume reflects those standards and is intended as a synthetic summary of the field of study announced by the title-which is, of course, reminiscent of W. F Albright's Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan (London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1968).
Day begins with an analysis of the original relationship of Yhwh and El, positing the influence of concepts pertaining to Canaanite El on the portrayal of Yhwh (e.g., Yhwh was described as aged, because this was a characteristic of El; and the notion of Yhwh's wisdom was "appropriated" from EI). In a related discussion, D. addresses the origins of the divine name "Yahweh," concluding that it should be understood as derived from the simple (qal) stem of the verb hyh. Albright (Yahweh and...