According to Goldstein (1 Maccabees
and 2 Maccabees), the Hebrews weren't the only ancient people who believed that a powerful god, superior to all other foreign deities, created and protected them. The Babylonians and the Egyptians, he contends, were also "peoples of an almighty god" whose history and literature reflects their quasi-monotheistic belief. Using historical detail that is rich, exhaustive and often overwhelming, Goldstein demonstrates that Hebrew literature, from the Torah to the Prophets, chronicles the people's belief in Yahweh's sovereignty—even when Yahweh seems to suffer defeat at the hands of another almighty god, Marduk of Babylon, and the Babylonians drive the Jews into exile. He painstakingly reconstructs the intertwined histories of Israel and Babylon according to this thesis. He provides provocative readings of the book of Daniel, which he argues is really about Babylonian divine succession, and Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55), which he contends does not, as is usually thought, focus on Cyrus of Persia's liberation of the Jews from Babylonian exile. Although his ideas are not startling or new, Goldstein succeeds in showing the ways that two monotheistic religions vied for power in the ancient world by convincing their followers of their god's superiority. However, his constant use of italics and the scholarly "we" are annoying and distracting conventions. Moreover, only the most stalwart will make it through Goldstein's densely argued theories, turgid prose and staggering detail, evident in the copious endnotes that are sometimes as lengthy as the chapters themselves. (Feb.)
