Are There Other Gods in the Bible?: James Duguid on Divine Council (James Duguid) Ep. #253

The "Divine Council" worldview, popularized by Michael Heiser, hinges on the interpretation of the phrase "sons of God" (*Bnei Elohim*) in Deuteronomy 32:8. Ancient Near Eastern and Hebrew Bible scholar Dr. Jamie Duguid examines how this specific phrase determines whether the text depicts God as the sole deity or as a ruler presiding over a council of created divine beings. Textual evidence from the Masoretic Text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Septuagint reveals significant variations in how these manuscripts translate the passage, suggesting that the "sons of God" reading may be the original. While these supernatural beings appear throughout the Old Testament, their nature and origin remain ambiguous. Ultimately, the discussion highlights the tension between maintaining a strict monotheistic framework and acknowledging the biblical authors' frequent, non-polemical references to other divine entities.