The Gods of the Nations: Studies in Ancient Near Eastern National Theology

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“First, none depicts a deity wresting territory from another deity or gaining it by military victory. On the contrary, in each instance the allotment appears to have proceeded under peaceful circumstances. Where the procedure is noted, the allocations are made either by lot¹⁴ or as outright grants.¹⁵ Second, in several the highest deity appears to have played the leading role.¹⁶ Third, and most important for our discussion, in each case the relationships established are between deities and lands, without respect to the inhabitants of the land. The texts all portray the lands as the realms of the gods.” (Page 25)

“The primary concern of deities was the land ascribed to them; the identity of the inhabitants of those lands seems to have been relatively immaterial.” (Page 32)

“Phoenicia, if by ‘nation’ we mean, ‘An extensive aggregate of persons, so closely associated with each other by common descent, language, or history, as to form a distinct race or people, usually organized as a separate state and occupying a definite territory.’” (Page 18)

“Eusebius provides the most important extrabiblical source for the origins of the territorial claims of the gods” (Page 24)

“The role of the people in this tripartite relationship was to fulfill the will of the deity” (Page 151)