Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies, 265)

Absolutely fascinating! I'd love to buy a copy for everyone I know.

John Day does not beat around the bush with florid writing! From the very first sentence he is summarizing and interpreting the work of a centuries worth of bible scholars. This work is not a narrative or a history, as such, but a compilation or summary of the influences that ancient Canaanite religion had on the beliefs of the earliest Hebrews, from El and Baal to Moon and Sun cults.It's hard to find a page that doesn't have it's bottom third dedicated to references. If nothing else, this book is well researched, but it may be hard for the casual reader to appreciate.

Good info

This is a must own for anyone interested in early Judaic thoughts and concepts regarding Yahweh and how the relationship between the Israelites and their neighbors the Canaanites left a profound effect not only on the concept of Yahweh but many other aspects of early Judaic belief/s. The title of the book kind of says it all regarding what the subject matter entails. It shows the dramatic similarities between Yahweh and the Canaanite god El, as well as gets into detail regarding Yahweh's relationships with Baal, Asherah, as well as astral deities such as Lucifer and underworld deities such as Molech, Mot, and the Rephaim. And concludes with a brilliant chapter regarding the rise of monotheism. This book is very complex and painstakingly thourough. So keep that in mind when considering purchasing this book. It is not meant to be an easy read (although the author does an excellent job of breaking everything down), but is rather a very comprehensive study book. This book belongs in the hands anyone seriously interested in a religious study or anyone in general interested in understanding specifically the primitive belief systems regarding the Canaanites and the Israelites, and the break to early monotheism. But I also highly recommend this book for anyone interested in cultural anthropologist as well that may have an interest in understanding these peoples ancient belief systems.Happy reading.

this review is for the kindle version which is total garbageover 5 years this book has been 40$ + will it ever come down? will someone make a kindle version of it?update *bought the kindle version Warning don't do it! the kindle version is messed up its just 40 or so pages and in not in any order and its a total mess. as in half the book is missing in the kindle version. DON'T BUY THE KINDLE VERSION YOU WILL WASTE YOUR MONEY .who ever made the kindle version is charging 50 bucks for it. & didn't finish the job and put the pages in random order.

A well presented an excellent account of Yaweh and its relationship to contemporary Canaanite gods and godesses

Excellent book