Negative Theology as an Expression of God’s Freedom in the Torah of the Book of Deuteronomy and Wisdom Literature of the Hebrew Bible

Abstract

This paper traces the history of the negative theology of YHWH from the beginning of the integration of YHWH into the Canaanite pantheon to the post-exilic period in the Torah through the interpretation of the Shema’ Israel from its mono-Yahwistic understanding to monotheism as an expression of God’s freedom. In the second step, the development of negative theology is traced from the pre-exilic proverbs, which understand God as a limit of knowledge, to negative theology in the Book of Job and Qohelet, as well as the overcoming of negative theology in the paradise-narrative in Genesis 2–3 through the freedom of choice granted to man by God.

Keywords

• negative theology
• monotheism
• mono-Yahwism
• monolatry
• henotheism
• biblical epistemology