Was early Israel polytheistic and did polytheism evolve into monotheism for the Israelites? Is there any evidence of monotheism or belief in one God in the Old Testament period?
Greek philosophical monotheism is not expressly identified in the Old Testament. Texts such as Isaiah 40-46 effectively describe such a view by negating any worth to idols and images. Other gods are recognized elsewhere but never as equal to or superior to the LORD God of Israel (Hebrew letters YHWH). Certainly, spiritual beings, commonly referred to as angels and demons, were regarded as real. In this sense there is a hierarchy but not one where the LORD God is ever seen as anything other than qualitatively different and distinct as the Creator of all. Evolution or De-evolution in various societies does occur in terms of movement through various types of belief in multiple deities to arriving at belief in a single deity. The reverse also happens. See, e.g., the Amarna revolution led by pharaoh Akhenaton of 14 th century BC Egypt. He was monotheistic in terms of his worship and that of his family, but later generations of the royal family (or dynasty) returned to Egyptian polytheism. There is both biblical and extra-biblical evidence that Israel included believers in a single deity from its beginning in the thirteenth century BC. Especially significant outside the Bible is the Mt. Ebal cult site of c. 1200 BC. For more on my views on this matter see my discussion in Israelite Religions: An Archaeological and Biblical Survey (Baker, 2007), pp. 163-167, 216-221.
