The First Commandment

[Chu Gai]

I'm a little puzzled by the wording of the 1st Commandment. To paraphrase, it says 'thou shalt have no other gods before me'. Since this goes back to the Old Testament are people to take the wording that there are a bunch of gods in existence and always have been?

 

[Steve81]

Since this goes back to the Old Testament are people to take the wording that there are a bunch of gods in existence and always have been?

This might shed a little light on your query:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh

Yahweh (/ˈjɑːhweɪ/, or often /ˈjɑːweɪ/ in English; Hebrew: יהוה‎) is the national god of the ancient kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) and Judah.[2] His origins are mysterious, although they reach back to the early Iron Age and even the Late Bronze:[3] his name may have begun as an epithet of El, head of the Bronze Age Canaanite pantheon,[4] but the earliest plausible mentions are in Egyptian texts that place him among the nomads of the southern Transjordan.[5]

In the oldest biblical literature, Yahweh is a typical ancient Near Eastern "divine warrior" who leads the heavenly army against Israel's enemies;[6] he later became the main god of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and of Judah,[7] and over time the royal court and temple promoted Yahweh as the god of the entire cosmos, possessing all the positive qualities previously attributed to the other gods and goddesses.[8][9] By the end of the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE), the very existence of foreign gods was denied, and Yahweh was proclaimed as the creator of the cosmos and the true god of all the world.[9]

 

[j_garcia]

Unless I misunderstand the question, I'm going to guess that contextually what is meant is 2. rather than 1.

be·fore
bəˈfôr/
preposition, conjunction, & adverb

1. 1.
   during the period of time preceding (a particular event, date, or time).
   "she had to rest before dinner"
   synonyms: prior to, previous to, earlier than, preparatory to, in preparation for,preliminary to, in anticipation of, in expectation of; More
2. 2.
   in front of.
   "Matilda stood before her, panting"

 

[shadyJ]

I'm a little puzzled by the wording of the 1st Commandment. To paraphrase, it says 'thou shalt have no other gods before me'. Since this goes back to the Old Testament are people to take the wording that there are a bunch of gods in existence and always have been?

From what I have read, for their early history, the Isrealites were polytheistic for the most part, as with the rest of the ancient world. Only the educated priest class adhered to monotheism, but the regular people looked to many deities. That would change over time, of course. Something else to help understand what is occurring is the difference in the first commandment between the King James version of the bible and the Torah. It seems that some Hebrew scholars think that the bible does not convey the meaning of the first commandment correctly. A google search turns up some interesting commentary. Wikipedia also has a very good entry on this commandment.

 

[Chu Gai]

This might shed a little light on your query:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh

I'm not sure, Steve. In that link you provided they write...

"By the end of the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE), the very existence of foreign gods was denied, and Yahweh was proclaimed as the creator of the cosmos and the true god of all the world."
​

Denying it doesn't make it so. It just sort of simplifies matters. The Hindu faith has multiple gods as do other belief systems. I'm just wondering from a Christianity or Hebrew POV, what would be the current interpretation of that commandment?

 

[Steve81]

I'm not sure, Steve. In that link you provided they write...

"By the end of the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE), the very existence of foreign gods was denied, and Yahweh was proclaimed as the creator of the cosmos and the true god of all the world."
​

Denying it doesn't make it so. It just sort of simplifies matters. The Hindu faith has multiple gods as do other belief systems.

Here's the takeaway from that as I see it: at the time the commandments would have been handed down (~1,300BC), the Hebrews were not monotheistic. As such, at the time, it could have reasonably been interpreted as you suggest. It was only hundreds of years later that things evolved to the point where Yahweh was proclaimed to be the one and only true God.

I'm just wondering from a Christianity or Hebrew POV, what would be the current interpretation of that commandment?

Presumably that the Christian/Jewish deity is the one true God, with the various other religions/gods being false.