Is John 1:1 meant to correct the Second Temple teaching of monotheism?

Question

Old Testament scholar Bernard M. Levenson says that to regard the Shema as an assertion of monotheism is "a view that is anachronistic. In the context of ancient Israelite religion, it served as a public proclamation of exclusive loyalty to YHVH as the sole LORD of Israel..."¹

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.^b (Deuteronomy 6:4) [NJPS]
_{Note b: Cf. Rashbam and Ibn Ezra; see Zechariah 14:9. Others “The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” [And the LORD shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one LORD with one name.d Zechariah 14:9]}

Of the NJPS rendering of Deuteronomy 6:4 Levenson states:

NJPS correctly departs from the more familiar translation, “The LORD [YHVH] our God, the LORD is one” (see translators’ note b). Each of the two interpretations is theoretically possible because, in Hebrew, it is possible to form a sentence by simply joining a subject and a predicate, without specifying the verb “to be.” The Hebrew here thus allows either “YHVH, our God, YHVH is one” or “YHVH, is our God, YHVH alone.” The first, older translation, which makes a statement about the unity and the indivisibility of God, does not do full justice to this text (though it makes sense in a later Jewish context as a polemic against Christianity). The verse makes not a quantitative argument (about the number of deities) but a qualitative one, about the nature of the relationship between God and Israel. Almost certainly, the original force of the verse, as the medieval Jewish exegetes in translators’ note b recognized, was to demand Israel show exclusive loyalty to our God, YHVH – but not thereby to deny the existence of other gods! In this way, it assumes the same perspective as the first commandment of the Decalogue, which, by prohibiting the worship of other gods, presupposes their existence.²

Levenson notes the similarly of meaning with the First Commandment:

You shall have no other gods besides Me. (Deuteronomy 5:7)

This first commandment takes for granted the existence of other gods; its concern is only to ensure Israel’s exclusive loyalty to YHVH. This perspective, called “monolatry,” is found frequently within Deuteronomy (see 6.4; 32.8-9, 43; 33.2-3, 27). The idea of monolatry is often expressed by representing YHVH as the ruler of the divine council (see 32.8 n.; Psalm 82; 89.6-8; cf. Exodus 15.11). That perspective almost certainly represents an earlier form of Israelite religion. Ancient Near Eastern sources similarly envision a chief god ruling over a council of other gods. During the Babylonian exile, perhaps under the influence of Second Isaiah, a very different understanding developed. Radical “monotheism” affirms God’s greatness, not by portraying Him as more powerful than other gods but, instead, by denying the existence of other gods altogether (see 4.15-31 n; Isaiah 43.10-12; 44.6-8, 45.5-6, 14, 18-19, 22).³

In other words, where the Torah states there are gods (plural) and Israel is to worship only YHVH, under the Rabbinic teachings of the Second Temple period, the existence of any god other than YHVH was denied.

If this is so, then it seems the Fourth Gospel's statement "...the Word was God" is meant to serve as a correction to this wrong understanding of monotheism and the nature of God.

Is John 1:1 meant to correct what Levenson calls radical monotheism and to restore a proper understanding of the qualitative nature of God?

---

<sub>1. Bernard M. Levenson, The Jewish Study Bible, Edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 380
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid., p. 375</sub>

Answer 1

Here, I will assume that "radical monotheism" means "extreme monotheism" or the equivalent of Unitarianism; that is, God/YHWH is a single God, indivisible and one person, AND that YHWH is the ONLY God.

There are thus, two matters here:

• Is God a single person?
• Are there other gods, lesser, false or otherwise.

The second question is easier than the first. The NT recognizes that there are gods other than Jehovah, for example:

• 1 Cor 8:5, Paul talks about "many gods" and "many lords"
• Phil 3:19, Paul talks about people who make a god of their stomach

However, these references also say that such gods are false gods and that there is only one true God, the Father, 1 Cor 8:6.

In the OT, YHWH is spoken about in plural or manifold terms. Here is a sample:

• Zech 2:6-12 – the LORD (= YHWH) claims three times that He has been sent by the LORD.
• Isa 48:11-16 – again, the LORD has been sent by the LORD.
• Isa 63:7-16 – the LORD (described as a Father) sends His divine servant (the angel of His presence) and His Holy Spirit who is grieved (compare Ps 78:40).
• Ex 23:20 – the angel of the LORD’s presence has the power to forgive sin (but will not). This and the previous reference clearly make the angel of the presence the pre-incarnate Jesus.
• Hos 1:7 – the LORD saves by the LORD their God.
• Prov 30:1-4 – the Son of God is as unfathomable as God Himself.
• Ps 45 (quoted by Heb 1) talks about the “Son” being God in addition to God the Father.
• Isa 9:6 - a prophecy about Messiah who would be, " ... mighty God, everlasting Father ... " (compare Isa 10:21 where YHWH is also called "mighty".)

This data is despite numerous OT statements that there is one and one only God, namely YHWH, Deut 4:35, 6:4, 32:39, Isa 44:6, 45:5, 6. However, none of these precludes the theoretical possibility that while YHWH is one ("echad" as per Deut 6:4) that YHWH is more than one person.

Thus, I appear to agree with Bernard M. Levenson. So, what are we to make of John 1:1? The simplest and safest conclusion, in my judgement is:

John 1:1 - "The Word was god" - grammatically, this is a Greek logic category statement equivalent to saying, "My house is single story", or, "My car is a Ford". That is, Jesus is pronounced according to the later (somewhat confusing) doctrinal statements as composed of the same "substance" as God the Father because Jesus is in the category of God. [For a lengthier discussion about this see Daniel B Wallace, "Greek Grammar beyond the Basics", page 266-270, where he concludes that John 1:1c is a predicate qualitative statement, ie, a category statement.] This is consistent with other NT statements as well:

• Matt 1:23, … and they will call Him Immanuel, which means, “[the] God with us”. (This declares Jesus as ὁ Θεός.)
• John 1:18, “…but God the one and only who is at the Father’s side has made him known”
• John 5:23, “so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
• John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.” (Compare Deut 6:4.)
• John 20:28, “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God.’” (This declares Jesus as ὁ Θεός.) [Compare this statement with Ps 35:23, “Contend for me, my God and Lord.” See also V24.]
• Phil 2:5-8, “…Jesus Christ: who, being in very nature God…”
• 2 Thess 1:12, “…according to the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
• 1 Tim 3:16, “Who was revealed in flesh …” [The antecedent of “who” is God in v15, according to NA28/UBS5, etc. The Byzantine text makes this explicit: “God was revealed in flesh …”.]
• Titus 2:13, “…our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
• Heb 1:8, “About the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last forever’”.
• Heb 1:9, “therefore O God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.”
• 2 Peter 1:1, “…righteousness of our God [= ὁ Θεός] and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
• 1 John 5:20, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He (οὗτός) is the true God and eternal life.” [Note: οὗτός never refers to the Father in John’s writings and nearly always refers to the Son.]

Answer 2

John 1:1 is not to correct anything. Hebrew bible reads:

“Worship no god but me. “Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. Exodus 20:3‭-‬5 GNT

this passage is very clear that, if you worship ANY other god(s) that has any form is considered idolatry.

Tell them how the Lord spoke to you from the fire, how you heard him speaking but did not see him in any form at all. Deuteronomy 4:12 GNT

“When the Lord spoke to you from the fire on Mount Sinai, you did not see any form. For your own good, then, make certain that you do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all—whether man or woman, animal or bird, reptile or fish. Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, and the stars. The Lord your God has given these to all other peoples for them to worship. Deuteronomy 4:15‭-‬19 GNT

repeated again and expand further on characteristics of God of the Hebrew.

God is not like people, who lie; He is not a human who changes his mind. Whatever he promises, he does; He speaks, and it is done. Numbers 23:19 GNT

There are i think more than 50 verses that clearly state God of Israel is ONE, ALONE, NO OTHER which qualify Jewish faith is monotheism. No to mention over thousands of years, Hebrew having relationships with their ONLY God, in their holy scripture, never hinted there is any other God family members.