Yahweh, as "Speaker" and Further Considerations on the Council of the Gods
By Kerry A. Shirts
It is a well known phenomena that the Book of Abraham has captured the ancient Near Eastern concept of the Council of the Gods. Here the conception was one of God the Almighty alongside his sons known as the Mylo)i ynb (Bene Elohim) the Sons of God.
What is less known is this Council idea is found in the ancient Hebrew Bible. The scattered few references have been connected only through decades of scholarship, which now says this idea was an Ancient Near Eastern Concept in many other nations as well. Israel did not live in a vacuum after all.
The divine name of hwhya has been analyzed by serious scholarship for centuries. But an idea concerning its meaning and how this connects to the Council of the Gods has not been examined in relation to the Book of Abraham and Mormon ideas on this Council of the Gods. This paper discusses some of the ramifications and possibilities.
hwhya has been analyzed and shown to be known as early as Gen. 4:26. Yet Exodus 6:2-3 says this name was not known until hundreds of years later! A translation showing how this discrepancy can be understood says
"I am Yahweh. And I showed myself to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob in the character of El Shaddai, but in the character expressed by my name Yahweh I did not make myself known to them." (Charles R. Gianotti, "The Meaning of the Divine Name YHWH," in Bibliotecha Sacra, Vol. 142/No. 565, (Jan-Mar, 1985): 38).
So the name hwhya existed before the time of Moses, but apparently the character meaning of the name was not totally revealed.
Now the meaning of the translation of the description God gave Moses "I AM THAT I AM" in Exodus 3:14 has a range of meanings with the Hebrew hyh(hayah) all the way from to "fall out," "come to pass" or to "become," or simply "be". (Gianotti, p. 42). Simply put, the term hyh does not mean to be essentially, but to be phenomenally. "He is the God who is haya… but his being is not the abstract Greek, the mere existence per se. To the Hebrew ‘to be’ does not mean just to exist – as all other beings and things do as well – but to be active, to express oneself in active being." (Gianotti, p. 42).
There have been many ways this I AM THAT I AM has been translated and understood
1. God is unknowable. This really means say to them I simply am. However, the I AM, hyh) seems to be used as a name. The hyh) parallels YHWH in verse 15. Moses was to give them , hyh) or YHWH as God’s name. This is not to say the name fully explains or makes a total statement about God’s character however.
2. The Ontological view states that God reveals himself as the Being who is absolutely self-existent, and who, in Himself, possesses essential life and permanent existence. However, as pointed out, in Hebrew to be means to be active, to express activity, not an ontological static Being as with the Greek Philosophers view.
3. The Causative view states translates the term hyh) r#$) hyh) (Ehyhe asher Ehyhe) as "I cause to be what comes into existence." Or "I am He who sustains." This can also mean "He who causes the hosts to come into existence." The problem here is that the verb hyh has no evidence that it was used in the hiphil, the causitive being expressed by the piel.
4. The Covenantal view links the name YHWH with the Covenant at Sinai (Exo. 20:1; Lev. 18:2, 4, 21, 30). This is the redeeming name the heart of the Mosaic revelation of YHWH was that he was going to redeem his people. This idea has further support since the verb hyh to which YHWH is connected occurs often in covenantal formulas (e.g., Deut. 26:17-18; Jer. 7:23; 11:4, 24; 24:7; 31:33; 32:38; Ezek. 36:28; 37:27).
5. The Phenomenological view states that the divine name YHWY means that God will reveal himself in His actions through history. This is the active manifestation of existence. The use of hyh at Gen 1:3, 5-6, demonstrates God’s active manifestation in the beginning of history. This view declares that God says I am the God who is and who will be active in whatever situations you are called to face. And in fact, YHWH declares and identifies himself in connection with redemption (Exo. 29:46; Lev 11:45; 19:36; 25:38; 26:13; Judg 6:8-10; Hosea 12:9; 13:4; Ezek 20:5-7).
Raymond A. Bowman has discussed the etymology of the divine name and has come up with an interesting perspective which I believe sheds light onto the Mormon understanding better in relation to the Council of the Gods in the Book of Abraham and Mormon Theology.
Bowman shows that Yahu, Yeho, are by forms of Yahweh, quoting Albright (Raymond A. Bowman, " Yahweh the Speaker," in Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Jan (1944): 1). The name occurs from the imperfect triconsonantal verbal root form hwy which could mean "to fall" (cf. Arabic haway), hence "The Faller." This brings to mind the idea of crashing down or falling down from heaven, as a meteor does. (p. 2). It could also be "The Feller," the destroyer of his foes, felling them as they oppose him.
The Arabic root hwy also could mean "to blow" hence "The Blower," in the sense of the storm god. In conjunction with this, it is most interesting that in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Interpreter of the Law is considered a Messianic figure, by being called a harash, that is a craftsman. This craftsman will blow the fire of coals. In Succah, 52b, a Tannaitic tradition text, the four craftsmen, My#rx h(br), in the vision of Zechariah 2:3 are associated with four messianic figures: Messiah ben David, Messiah ben Joseph, Elijah, and Melchizedek. The word harash, means any who are great expounders of the Law, (Torah) who is said to blow fire of coals. This signifies the teaching of Torah and expounding of the same. In connection with this, and YHWH’s name as "blower", we read "’To blow fire’ is thus a picturesque idiom for teaching and expounding the Torah. It should be noticed that the verb to blow bears already in the Bible the metaphorical meaning of to speak, to utter." (N. Wieder, "The ‘Law Interpreter’ of the Sect of the Dead Sea Scrolls: The Second Moses," in Journal of Jewish Studies, Vol. 4-5 (1953-54): 163. More on this speaking idea below.
The majority of scholars link the name to the root hhy, "to Be," depending of whether it is accepted as the qal form or the causitive hiphil idea, which would render the name as meaning something like "He causes to come into existence," or "The Giver of Existence," etc.
Interestingly, the pre-Islamic divine name Ya’uq, "Protector" and Yaguth, "Helper," do parallel Yahweh, "Declarer." There is a probable existence of Yaguth in its equivilant Hebrew form Ye’ush, (Gen. 36:18). (Bowman, p. 3).
Bowman then demonstrates from the Ras Shamra texts found in Syria in 1929, the meaning of several related words. These are:
Word (rgm)
Command (hwt)
Message (thm)
Seemingly showing they have similar meanings. The word rgm could derive from the Akkadian root ragamu, "to speak, complain."
The word Hwt from the Akkadian root awat, amat, was widely used for "word," or "command."The root of the feminine noun awatu or hwt is hwy which is written in Hebrew as hawa(h). This use of hawah in Isa 47:11 is indeed seen as a curse or an incantation, which involves the organs of speech or with a verb denoting utterance so that an incantation or curse is implied. So the root means "To Speak."
This brings us back full circle to the Arabic root hwy "to blow," and the root hwy with its meaning to speak, since the Arabic root was once used not only of wind, but of breath also, like Hebrew Nephesh and ruach, the Greek pneuma, and Latin Spiritus. (Bowman, p. 4f).
Hence Yahweh can mean "He Declares," or it is "He Who Speaks." This is certainly in line with the idea that it is Yahweh who speaks to his people through his Prophets (Amos 3:7). He declares his commands and word to the people. The prophets stood ready to carry on as Yahweh commanded them, even from His divine Council. They heard his word (dabhar) and were ready to present his declaration (ne’um). "The name Yahweh is particularly associated with the idea of revelation." (Bowman, p. 8).
And it is precisely here that the Council of the Gods comes directly into play. E. Theodore Mullen, Jr, has demonstrated how the Prophets are the messengers of Yahweh directly from his heavenly Council. (Mullen, The Divine Council in Canaanite & Hebrew Literature, Scholars Press, reprint, 1986: 215). The messenger of the Council was the haruach, designated also as the mal’al YHWH, the phrase occuring frequently in the Old Testament (Exo. 3:2; 14:19; Num. 22:31; Josh 5:13-15; 2 Sam 24:16-17; Zech 3:1. Notice the Mal’ake ha’elohim of Gen 32:2-3).The verb, "to send," (shalah) in reference to the commissioning of the divine messengers by Yahweh also occur in his dispatching the Prophets (Exo. 3:10, 15; 7:16; Deut. 34:11; Josh 24:5; Micah 6:4; Ps 105:26). Haggai is explicitly called the "Messenger of Yahweh," (Mal’ak YHWH) (Mal1:13; cf. also Malachi 3:1).
"The very designation Nabi "one who is called," (Cf. Akkadian Nabi’um) implies the background of the council, for the prophet was called to proclaim the will of the deity which was issued from the assembly"[of the bene Elohim, the Sons of the Gods]. (Mullen, p. 216). What is interesting is that Nabi and Malak are terms used interchangeably in Haggai, the nabi, being, of course, a prophet. Rashi in his commentary of Isa. 44:26 declares prophets and angels themselves are equated. "One malak (angel) said to Jacob, "Your name will be Israel (Gen 32:29,
l)r#y M) yk Km# dw( rm)y bq(y )l rm)yw), and I fulfilled his words Here too I will fulfil the council of my nabi (= prophet) who says that Jerusalem will be inhabited." (in Naomi G. Cohen, "From Nabi to Mal’ak to ‘Ancient Figure’" in Journal of Jewish Studies, Vol. 36/1 (Spring 1985): 18, note 21. It is intriguing to note that in the Apocalypse of Abraham, the angel is sent to Abraham from God (his assembly) to strengthen Abraham and he interviews him constantly saying "Look!" in James H. Charlesworth, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 2 Vols., Doubleday, Vol. 1: 693-94. Cf. Nephi’s vision and interview with the angel as he also kept telling Nephi "Look!", e.g. 1 Nephi 12:11; 13:1; 14:9, 18, )
Isaiah 40:1-8 is "a parade example of this literary form in Second Isaiah." Here Yahweh addresses his herald in vs. 1: nahamu nahamu ammi ("Comfort ye! Comfort ye my people!"). In vs. 2 the imperatives continue "Speak!" (dabberu), "Declare!" (qir’u). Verse 3 recounts the announcement by the herald:
)rwq lwq
hwhy Krd wnp rvbdmb
wnyhl)l hlsm hbr(b wr#y
qol qore
bammidbar pannu derek YHWH
yassheru ba’arabah mesillah le’lohenu
The voice cries:
In the desert prepare the way of Yahweh,
Make straight a highway for our God in the wilderness.
The proclamation is made with plural imperatives. It is in vs. 6a that the prophet is addressed by the herald:
)rq rm)lwq
)rq) hm rm)w
qol ‘omer qera
wa’omar mah ‘eqra’
The voice cries, "Proclaim!"
And I said "What should I proclaim?"
As in vs. 3 the herald delivers his address via an imperative. The response of the prophet is similar to that of Isaiah in Isa. 6:11. (Mullen, p. 217).
The texts in addition to Isa 6 show that the prophet was in the council of YHWH: Jer 23:18 and Amos 3:7. Consider Jeremiah:
hwhy dwsb dm(ym yk
wrbd t) (m#yw )ryw
(m#yw yrbd by#qh ym
ki mi ‘amad besod YHWH
weyere’ weyishma’ ‘et debaro
mi hiqshib debaro wayyishma’
Who has stood in the council of Yahweh
And seen and heard his decree (lit. word)?
Who has carefully obeyed his decree (lit. "word")?
This is the true prophet’s claim to authority. From the pronouncement of the council he receives the decree that he is to deliver. The prophets who have not participated in the council are unable to proclaim the divine decree.
we’im ‘amedu besodi
weyashmi’u debaray ‘et ‘ammi
But if they had stood in my council
They would proclaim my decrees (words) to my people!
The prophet serves as more than a messenger. He is the herald and courier of the council. The word that he is to proclaim is placed in his mouth by Yahweh (cf. Num. 12:6-8; Deut 18: 15-18). The prophet is privy to the actions of the assembly.
rbd hwhy ynd) h#(y )l yk
My)ybnh wydb( l) wdws hlg -M) yk
ki lo’ ya’aseh ‘adonay YHWH dabar
ki ‘imgalah sodo ‘el abadaw hannebim (Amos 3:7)
For the Lord God does not issue a decree
Unless he has revealed his counsel unto his
Servants, the prophets!
Job is asked: (Job 15:8)
(m#t hwl) dwsbh
hmkx Kyl) (rgtw
habsod ‘eloah tishma’
wetigra’ ‘eleka hokmah
Do you overhear the council of God (i.e. the divine council)?
Or do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
In this passage sod ‘eloah " (hwl) dws) "the council of God" is paralleled by hokmah (hmkx) "wisdom." This is the source of the authority of the prophet. He is called by Yahweh and receives the word of Yahweh directly from the council. (Mullen, p. 220)
The technical term "to stand" (i.e. participate as a member), in the court is used both in Accadian - "uzuzzu" and in Hebrew - "ha'omedim" in Zechariah 3:3, which compares well with "'omed" in 1 Kings 22:19.8 The "Puhrum" - "assembly" of the gods
Interestingly, Abraham, who was also in that council in heaven among the gods, also had the Urim and Thummim (Abraham 3: 1). This idea is nowhere found in the Bible, yet the Masechet Soferim indicates that Abraham had stones which shone, while the Babba Bathra says Abraham wore a shining stone around his neck which healed the sick as they gazed on it.15 Interestingly, a miraculous light was associated with the ancient oracular lot, the Urim and Thummim, which ties in with Numbers 27:21, "the judgment of the Urim" [that is, the "light" Myr)h] could conceivably have been given.16 More interesting still is the Peshitta's rendition of Ezra 2:63 (Nehemiah 7:65) which says a priest who can ask, and who can see [hz']. This term, Van Dam notes, "is used of prophets (seers) in the Old Testament."17 The significance of this for the council in heaven is seen with a few examples from the Bible. Micah claims he "saw" (hwhy -t) yty)r) Yahweh on his throne, "and (I saw) all the host of heaven standing around him..." (1 Kings 22:19-23). Isaiah "saw" Yahweh sitting on his throne
()sk -l( b#y ynd) -t) h)r)w) with the heavenly creatures standing around him, (Isa. 6:1-13). And Ezekiel's vision culminated in his "seeing" ()r)w) "one "in the likeness as it were of human form, and sitting upon a throne propelled by heavenly beings, living creatures, or Cherubim," (Ezekiel 1:26; 10:15. One of Jeremiah's complaints was the false prophets had never stood in the heavenly council, (Jeremiah 23:18). The idea here is clear. "The prophet standing in the council heard Yahweh speak and relayed the oracle of the fates to the waiting congregation." Their "seeing" Yahweh and hearing his counsel could easily have been through the Urim and Thummim as "seers" giving the congregation the counsels of the council of Yahweh. The examples are from Edwin C. Kingsbury, "The Prophets and the Council of Yahweh," JBL, 83(1964): quote on p. 285; John Bright, Jeremiah, Anchor Bible, (Doubleday, NY, 1965): 152, "The phrase at Jeremiah 23:18, "who has stood in Yahweh's council," means the "heavenly court." H. W. Saggs, The Encounter with the Divine in Mesopotamia and Israel, University of London, (London, 1978): 145, where he shows the Hebrew term for "seer" and "prophet" could have been one, two, or three types of functionary, along with prophecy, "the word of Yahweh came spontaneously to a prophet was another form...[of communication]"
Conrad L'Heureux demonstrated that the marzeah, or symposium (feast, gathering, banquet, assembly) of El that is found in the Rephaim Texts of Ugarit "must be a reflex in the divine world of the symposium celebrated by the members of the earthly marzeah of El...each guild apparently had a divine patron." (Conrad L'Heureux, "The Ugaritic and Biblical Rephaim," Harvard Theological Review, 67(1974): 270-271.)
The heavenly marzeah had participants called rp'm, which we also find in the earthly marzeah, e.g., "May Krt be greatly exalted among the rp'm of the earth...the rp'm constitute an aristocracy of which the Canaanite kings were a part." (Conrad L'Heureux, Rephaim, 271. Cf. 272, footnote 25, the authority of El is ordinarily exercised through the younger generation of gods whom we could call the executive deities. It is also possible to understand the term rp'm as "the assembly of the gods." The entire premise of Jacobsen's article "Primitive Democracy," is that the groups and assemblies on earth reflected what the gods had done in heaven.)
Moses, and the prophets following him were proclaimed as "Speakers for Yahweh," showing the people that "they are sent from the divine king, the suzerain of treaties, to reprove and to pronounce judgment upon Israel..." (James Muilenburg, "The 'Office' of the Prophet in Ancient Israel," in J. Philip Hyatt, ed., The Bible in Modern Scholarship, Abingdon Press, (Nashville, 1965): 96-97; Henry Frankfort, John Wilson, Thorkild Jacobsen, William A. Irwin, The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man, University of Chicago Press, (Chicago, 1957): 136, where the assembly of the gods decided all decisions of the course of all things and the fates of all beings. Cf. pp. 181-183; 194-197.)
The assembly of gods were rather frequently assembled at the Ubshuukkinna, that is, a large court, where they met friends and relatives who had come from afar to participate in the assembly as important business was to be transacted, usually beginning with an embrace as a welcome into the company of the gods. (Thorkild Jacobsen, "Primitive Democracy in Ancient Mesoptamia," JNES (July 1943):167)
The leadership of the gods was usually headed by the head god of the gods, who began the discussion which was "largely in the hands of the so-called 'ilu rabiutum', the 'great gods,' or better yet, the 'senior gods.'" (Jacobsen, "Primitive Democracy", 168; Cf. Mitchell Dahood, Psalms II, Anchor Bible, (Doubleday, NY, 1968): 269, "the divine council, adat 'el, is highly reminiscent of Ugaritic 'dt il, the council of El... the picture of God in the midst of the assembly of the gods recurs again and again in the Psalter; Cf. Pss. 29:1-2; 77:14; 89:6-9; 95:3; 96:4; 97:7; 148:2." Cf. p. 230 where Dahood notes the holy ones at Ps. 77:14 are the gods comprising Yahweh's divine council. See also p. 313, for the Psalmist Yahweh has no peers in the divine assembly; See Dahood Psalms, Vol. 1:175-76 where he notes that the phrase Myhl)h ynb (beni Elohim) should be read at Deut. 32:8 instead of the Sons of Israel (l)r#y ynb). This is confirmed by Emanuel Tov where he notes the Song of Moses referred to an assembly of the gods and says to look at Ps. 82; 1 Kings 22:19 as well. This is where the Most High (Nwyl() God Elyon fixed the boundaries of the nations according to the numbers of the Sons of God, El. He also notes that whoever changed this verse "did not feel at ease with this possibly polytheistic picture and replaced l) ynb beni El, "Sons of El," with l)r#y ynb beni Israel, "Sons of Israel, thus giving the text a different direction by the change of one word." )Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, Fortress Press, 1992: 269. This is also discussed in detail by Ronald S. Hendel, "When the Sons of God Cavorted with the Daughters of Men," in Herschel Shanks, Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls, Random House, 1992: Ch. 13, where he actually shows a Dead Sea Scroll fragment of Deuteronomy 32:8 the Hebrew characters being Myhl) ynb "beni Elohim," "Sons of God," on p. 171.
Cf. Moshe Weinfeld, "Feminine Features in the Imagery of God in Israel: The Sacred Marriage and the Sacred Tree," in Vetus Testamentum, 49(1996), p. 527, El's council of gods were called "the holy ones," who are usually associated with his consort as well. "Thus we find in Ugarit alongside "ilm/bn qdsh," - "the gods/holy sons," "ilm bn atrt,", "the gods, the sons of Athirat," which seems to indicate that the sons of the mother-goddess Asherah are identical with the sons of El, "the holy ones." Cf. Raymond E. Brown, "The Pre-Christian Semitic Concept of ‘Mystery’", in Catholical Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 20 (1958): 424, note 33, where Wisdom herself opens her mouth at the Council of the Gods, and tells the story of her origin. See also Patrick W. Skehan, The Wisdom of Ben Sira, Anchor Bible Series, 1970: 331, where Wisdom is personified as coming from the Mouth of God, the idea of her opening her mouth deriving from Proverbs 8:6-8; 31:8-9).
This idea of God at the head of a Pantheon of Gods is strikingly similar to Joseph Smith's translation of Genesis 1:1 - "The head one of the Gods, brought forth the Gods." (Andrew F. Ehat & Lyndon W. Cook, Eds., The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph, BYU Religious Studies Center, (Provo, Utah, 1980): 341.)
Joseph Smith's translation of the Hebrew word "Bereshiyth" (ty#)rb) according to the Hebrew Dictionary in Strong's Concordance means "the first, in place, time, order or rank - beginning, chief, first (fruits, part, time), principal thing." (Ehat & Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 397, note 69; Cf. The Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, fully revised and corrected by John R. Kohlenberger III and James A. Swanson, Zondervan, 2001, Hebrew-Aramaic Dictionary-Index to the Old Testament, #7225 ty#)r (resheet) "what is first" The new cross reference is to # 7218 #)r (rosh)
which states, "high in status, or authority, leader, chief, source or origin.")
Joseph Smith's translation would come from "re' shiyth / bara' / 'elohiym / 'eth / hashamayim / v'eth / ha'arts," meaning - "The Head one of the Gods organized the heaven and the earth." (Ehat & Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 397, note 70. Cf. Theodor H. Gaster, The Dead Sea Scriptures, 3rd Revised, Enlarged edition, (Doubleday, NY, 1976): 76, where we read "the chief [Hebrew ro'sh #)r] of the Grecian king...." See also Louis Zucker, "Joseph Smith as a Student of Hebrew," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 3/2(Summer 1968): 51-52 for discussing of Joseph Smith being influenced by his Hebrew studies to denote Elohim meaning a plurality of gods. Cf. Kevin L. Barney, "Joseph Smith's Emendation of Hebrew Genesis 1:1," Dialogue, 30/4(Winter 1997): 103-135.)
Gesenius' Lexicon notes that the "beth" (b:) means "When it refers to a multitude, in the midst of...among in." The lexicon shows that it can mean "among" as in "among the nations" (2 Ki. 18:5) It can also mean "before, in the presence of..." (Gesenius' Hebrew And Chaldee Lexicon, Baker Book House, (Grand Rapids, MI, 1979): 97. Cf. Brown, Briggs, Driver, A Hebrew and English Lexicon, (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1951): 88-89.)
It is important to understand that even in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as Eugene Seaich has noted, that El Elyon presided over the seventy sons of God (bene ha’el). Yahweh was one of the Sons of God who received his people Jacob as his special inheritance. Seaich also notes that the Hebrew word Nahal means "to give, " or to "bestow," i.e. something handed down from the fathers (a patrimony). Seaich quotes H. Forshey’s Ph.D Dissertation showing that the Hebrew root NHL means the bestowal of property upon a faithful servant, such as the territory won by a god in battle. (Eugene Seaich, Ancient Texts and Mormonism: Discovering the Roots of the Eternal Gospel in Ancient Israel and the Primitive Church, 2nd revised and enlarged edition, SLC, Utah, 1995: 183)
Morgenstern comments that in post-exilic biblical writings and apocalyptic literature, there was considered to be many troops or hosts of heaven (Cf. Ps. 148:2) each under its own leader or sar, i.e., "the God or Lord of all the hosts or troops of angels and therefore the Lord of their "princes," the sar sarim, as he is called in Daniel 8:25.57 In the 3rd tablet of the Enuma Elish (the Babylonian Creation Story) Marduk is given the command of the Assembly of gods, elevated to chief among the leading ranks. (Morgenstern, "Mythological Background," 41, footnote 25. Simo Parpola, "The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the Origins of Jewish Monotheism and Greek Philosophy," JNES, 52/3(1993): 184.)
Anu was called the first(reshtu, Hebrew rosh!) god, father of the gods. Isaac Mendelsohn, ed., Religions of the Ancient Near East: Sumero Akkadian Religions Texts and Ugaritic Epics, Liberal Arts Press, (New York, 1955): 28. Cf. S. H. Hooke, Babylonian and Assyrian Religion, Hutchinson's University Library, (New York, 1953): 24, where Anu's abode is in the third heaven, and his rank among the others in the assembly is "Father, and King of the Gods"; Robert C. Denton, The Knowledge of God in Ancient Israel, Seabury Press, (NY, 1968): 137 noted Egypt, Babylon and Canaan's gods, due to various political changes in the environment, became either kings of the gods or members of the celestial council. Cf. p. 147 where he notes Yahweh's council was called into session only when dealing with human affairs (1 Kings 22:19-20; Job 1:6-8).
When the discussion began, we are told, "the intrinsic merit of a proposal" was given due process and consideration, with "wise council" and a "testifying of intelligence." The gods were constantly "asking one another," all manner of things in the discussions eventually with the result that "issues were clarified and the gods had opportunity to voice their opinions for or against, at times espousing proposals they later bitterly regretted." Jacobsen, "Primitive Democracy", 168. Cf. Leo Jung, "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature," Jewish Quarterly Review, 16(1925-1926): 54, "Numb. Rabba 19.3 - Gen. Rabba 17.5 "When the Holy One blessed be He desired to create man, He took counsel with the ministering angels. He said to them: "Let us make man in our image." Also Theodor H. Gaster, The Oldest Stories in the World, Beacon Press, (Boston, 1958): 53, where the gods are conversing about what to do about the noisy humans they have created.
This is precisely what we find in the Book of Abraham Chapter three. "These two facts exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they...I am more intelligent than they all." The Gods then make proposals, "We will go down for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell... Whom shall I send? And one answered...Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first. And the second was angry and kept not his first estate..." (Abr. 3: 19, 24, 27, 28, etc.,).
As we have seen "the function of this divine assembly were in part those of a court of law," as well as understanding that "the assembly is the authority which grants kingship." Jacobsen, "Primitive Democracy", 169.
It is the same picture we find in the Book of Abraham, Ch. 3. Once the head god is chosen to carry out a particular function (Abr. 3:27) the god is clothed in a garment and having been armed, then carries out the battle against the gods who disagreed with him (Abr. 3:28) The war in heaven where the hosts of one side "fight against Belial and his angels." (Van Der Woude, "Melchisedek als Himmlische Erlosergestalt", 365. On the god being clothed with the royal insignia, Jacobsen, "Primitive Democracy", 170; Leo Oppenheim's study shows that by the end of the first millenium B.C. the kusitu garment "shifted from secular to ceremonial use. From then on, gods, kings, and priests are clad in it... the Neo-Assyrian texts refer to the kusitu as to the exclusive royal dress." Esarhaddon gave his son this garment, showing the people who the future king was to be, "you have girt your son with the kusitu and (thus) you have endowed him with the kingship over Assyria." A. Leo Oppenheim, "The Golden Garments of the Gods," in JNES, 8(1949): 179. Cf. the generality of status symbols in antiquity, Meyer Reinhold, "On Status Symbols in the Ancient World," Classical Journal, 64/7(April 1969): 300-304. )
We know this is the case because at Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-7 we find Yahweh assembled with his heavenly host, designated as the "Bene Elohim", (Myhl)h ynb) literally "the sons of God", and "One among their number, although one obviously discharging a particular and constant function, is hasatan." Namely that of "the adversary" or "the accuser" taking on a "role of fixed hostility to mankind."
Morgenstern notes that the important thing in this picture, is not so much Satan as Yahweh, "the graphic picture of Yahweh, seated upon his throne, surrounded by His heavenly host, the 'bene elohim,' divine beings of rank inferior to Yahweh Himself, his personal attendants and ministers of his Will and purpose, gathered together as the ''adat 'el' to pronounce judgment." (Morgenstern, "Mythological Background": 43.)
This is the same picture of events we find in the Book of Abraham. Morgenstern is using a composite picture of Old Testament and Ugaritic, Sumerian, and Akkadian lore to come up with all this scenario. "The picture here is identical with that in Isaiah 6; 1 Kings. 22:19-23 and Zecheriah 3," though it "unhesitatingly designates Yahweh's heavenly attendants as 'elohim', 'gods' obviously identical with 'bene ha'elohim' of Job 1:6 and 2:1. The tie in with Mormonism is more obvious when we see Satan was cast out of heaven incurring God's wrath, "but only some, and these impliedly only a small group, of the great hosts of angels. The rest, it says explicitly, restrained themselves." (Morgenstern, "Mythological Background": 93.)
So this idea of Yahweh as "Speaker" makes powerful connections in conjunction with the idea of the assembly of the Gods, the prophet himself, whoever it is who is called, being beqereb ‘elohim, literally "in the midst of the Gods."