u/LambDaddyDev

I recently heard that it is a commonly understood belief from Bible scholars that ancient Israelites *did* believe in many deities, but that theirs was the greatest of all. That the verses “have no other gods before me” and “besides me there is no god” was not meant to say no other gods exist, rather that the Lord was the greatest god.

This was surprising to me to hear and I was curious what your opinions are on the matter. I always assumed the ancient Israelites were staunchly monotheistic.