There is no text from Ugarit (or Ebla*) that predicts or teaches that Yahweh would evolve into the only active deity. What we do see is a gradual theological shift inside Israelite religion, not a foreseen outcome in earlier West-Semitic texts.
Below is the careful, evidence-based picture scholars agree on.
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1. What the Ugaritic texts actually show (c. 1300 BCE)
The Ugaritic tablets describe a fully polytheistic system:
El / Elyon – the Most High, aged creator god, head of the divine council
Asherah – his consort
Baʿal – storm/war god, very active
70 sons of El – national or cosmic deities (each linked to peoples/lands)
This structure is clear and stable.
There is no Yahweh supremacy narrative in Ugarit.
> Yahweh does not appear in the Ugaritic pantheon as king of the gods.
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2. Where Yahweh fits historically
Yahweh appears to originate outside Ugarit, likely from:
Edom / Midian / Seir (southern regions)
Early biblical poetry preserves this memory:
“Yahweh came from Seir… from Mount Paran” (Judg 5:4; Deut 33:2)
This suggests Yahweh began as:
A regional warrior-storm deity
Later adopted by Israel
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3. Elyon and the 70 gods — still visible in the Bible
Deuteronomy 32:8–9 (older textual form, preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls) says:
> “When Elyon divided the nations,
he fixed their boundaries according to the number of the sons of God;
Yahweh’s portion was Israel.”
This is directly parallel to Ugaritic theology:
Elyon = supreme god
70 divine sons = nations
Yahweh = one of those sons, assigned Israel
➡ This is not monotheism. It is divine allotment.
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4. So what happened to Elyon?
Over time in Israelite theology:
1. El / Elyon and Yahweh were merged
Yahweh absorbs El’s titles:
Creator
Most High
King
2. This is visible in texts like:
“Yahweh, God Most High (Elyon)”
3. Eventually:
El disappears as a separate figure
Yahweh becomes El by identity
This is theological fusion, not replacement.
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5. What happened to the 70 gods?
They were not suddenly denied. Instead, they were:
Stage 1 — Acknowledged
Called elohim, sons of God, holy ones
Psalm 82 explicitly depicts Yahweh judging them
Stage 2 — Demoted
Recast as:
Angels
Watchers
Heavenly princes
Or later, hostile spirits
Stage 3 — Reinterpreted
By Second Temple Judaism:
Other gods = powerless or corrupt beings
By late biblical texts:
“All the gods of the nations are nothing”
➡ This is monolatry → henotheism → philosophical monotheism
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6. Is there proof this outcome was intended?
No.
Ugaritic texts show no trajectory toward exclusivity
They assume eternal plurality
Yahweh’s rise is an Israelite theological development, not a pan-Semitic one
Monotheism emerges:
After political collapse
After exile
As a response to trauma, identity loss, and reform
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7. Summary (clear and direct)
❌ No Ugaritic or Ebla text predicts Yahweh becoming the only god
✅ Yahweh starts as one deity among many
✅ Elyon was originally higher than Yahweh
✅ The 70 gods were national deities
🔁 Israel later merged Yahweh with El
🔽 Other gods were demoted, not erased
🕊 Monotheism is historical evolution, not original doctrine
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