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[Onion]

In the Canaanite religions they used the some of the same names for their gods and as the Hebrews used for their god. Why then do we not believe that the Hebrews where also polytheistic (at least in the beginning)? I understand that later writings use just one name, but earlier writings use different names, with different personalities, that match up with some of the canaanite gods.

[jimwalton]

In English we have a generic term for God, namely, uh, God. Whether you're talking about Brahman, Allah, YHWH, or Baal, the term for that being is "GOD". But that doesn't mean all of these gods are the same. They (obviously) have individual names as well. So also in the ancient language. Their term was "el". In essence, it meant "the deity." But that's not to assume that they were all the same deity."

In Genesis 2.4, we start to see the differentiation. "The God YHWH..." That name persists through the rest of the Bible. There's no reason to think that Adam, Seth, Enoch, or Noah were anything but monotheist. The Bible gives no other indication.

To be honest, though, Abraham was initially a polytheist (Joshua 24.2—his father Terah was a polytheist, so it's sensible to assume Abe was raised as one). Walton, Matthews, & Chavalas (in the Bible Background Commentary of the Old Testament) say, When YHWH first speaks to Abes in Gn. 12.1, YHWH is not portrayed as a God that Abraham already worshipped. When he appears to Abraham he does not give him a doctrinal statement or require rituals or issue demands; he makes an offer. YHWH doesn't tell Abraham that he is the only God there is, and he doesn't ask him to stop worshipping whatever gods his family was worshipping. He doesn't tell him to get rid of his idols, nor does he proclaim a coming Messiah or salvation. Instead, he says that he has something to give Abraham if Abraham is willing to give up some things first.

In the massive polytheistic systems of the ancient Near East, the great cosmic deities, while respected and worshipped in national and royal contexts, had little personal contact with the common people. Individuals were more inclined to focus their personal or family worship on local or family deities. We can best understand this through an analogy to politics. Though we respect and recognize the authority of our national leaders, if we have a problem in our community we would pursue it with our local government rather than write a letter to the President. In Mesopotamia, in the first part of the 2nd millennium, an important religious development can be observed that parallels this common sense approach to politics. The people began to relate to "personal gods" who were often then adopted as family gods from generation to generation. This was usually the function of minor deities and was at times no more than a personification of luck. The personal god was one that was believed to have taken special interest in the family or an individual and became a source of blessing and good fortune in return for worship and obedience. While the personal god was not worshipped exclusively, most of the worship by the individual and his family would be focused on him.

It is possible that Abraham's first responses to YHWH may have been along these lines—that Abraham may have viewed YHWH as a personal god that was willing to become his "divine sponsor". Though we are given no indication that YHWH explained or demanded a monotheistic belief, nor that Abraham responded with one, it is clear that the worship of YHWH dominated Abraham's religious experience. By making a break with his land, his family and his inheritance, Abraham is also breaking all of his religious ties, because deities would be associated with geographical, political and ethnic divisions. In his new land Abraham would have no territorial gods; as a new people he would have brought no family gods; having left his country he would have no national or city gods; and it was Yahweh who filled this void becoming the "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob".

In the course of time, YHWH continued to progressively reveal himself, eventually telling that all other gods (Baal, Asherah, Molech) were not even real, as people assumed, but just made up. YHWH was the only true God and could prove it by his responses of miracles in space/time history where there were eyewitnesses to verify it.

So, in ancient Sumer or Mesopotamia the generic name for the deity was el, so also in ancient Israel. The deity was "el". But right from the start there was a separation: In Hebrew: El YHWH, El Olam, El Shaddai, YHWH Jireh, etc. In Canaan El Baal, Asherah, Molech. In Egypt Re, On, etc.

[Onion]

El YHWH, El Olam, El Shaddai, YHWH

these were also gods in the canaanite religion too. and they used those terms before the hebrews did.

[jimwalton]

It's a matter of academic perspective whether or not they find their source in Egypt, the southern Levant, or somewhere else. Tracing these etymologies is very difficult, rather uncertain, and a matter of scholarly interpretation. From the viewpoint of the Bible, the name Yahweh is the name of the true God, which has always been around, and so it's no surprise to see the name popping up in various, on our oldest records, in various locations. Tracing such things with accuracy is a most uncertain business, so you're walking on thin ice to claim what you are with confidence and certainty.

As far as El Olam, you'll find the same concept in surrounding cultures, but not the same name.

As far as El Shaddai, there again are speculations that it was also the name of a Canaanite deity, but since it means "God Almighty" (well, that's what they think it means; definitions are tough to be certain about, though there is some scholarly unity about the possibilities of this one) is a moniker common to all pantheons, it again is no surprise to find out that the Canaanites had an almighty god, and so did the Babylonians, and so did the Hebrews. Most of that part of the world spoke Akkadian, so I would expect similar names for similar concepts.

Your question, though, was pertaining to "Why do we not believe that the Hebrews were, at the beginning, polytheistic?" The current trend of scholarship is that they were, but I'm not so convinced. We have no information on pre-Abrahamic worship, but the Bible only mentions Elohim and YHWH as the same ONE God. As I said, Abraham was polytheistic, but after that we're not aware that Isaac, Jacob, Jacob's sons, or any of the rest of the genealogy worshipped anything but one God, known by a variety of different names, some of which are unique and some of which are common in the vernacular.