Exalting Jesus—Did Early Christians Abandon Monotheism?

[1] Bible translations follow NRSV (updated edition) with modifications. This account of Solomon’s coronation as an elaborate, massively attended public celebration in 1 Chronicles 29 is noticeably different from the rushed crowning of Solomon in 1 Kings 1, which was precipitated by Adonijah’s attempt to seize the crown for himself. In Chronicles, the account of the political court intrigue behind Solomon’s taking the throne and the violent manner in which he secured his kingship in 1 Kings 1-3 is absent. Also missing from Chronicles is the account of Solomon’s taking many foreign wives and committing apostasy (1 Kings 11).

[2] The verb שָׁחָה (most often used in the hitpa‘el) refers primarily to prostration, the act of bowing down before someone or something, although it is sometimes translated into English using the broader term “worship.” Prostration was, at that point in history, a generally accepted way of showing respect to a human authority, and this was extended to YHWH. On this topic, see the helpful article by Marty Lockshin, “Prostration to God and Humans—A Biblical Practice”. TheTorah (2024). On the New Testament practice in its historic context see Matthew L. Bowen, “‘They Came and Held Him by the Feet and Worshipped Him’: Proskynesis Before Jesus in Its Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Context,” Studies in the Bible & Antiquity 5 (2013): 63–89.

[3] It is this action that is explicitly prohibited towards images of deities in the second commandment:

^{שמות כ:ד} לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה לְךָ פֶסֶל וְכׇל תְּמוּנָה אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וַאֲשֶׁר בָּאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת וַאֲשֶׁר בַּמַּיִם מִתַּחַת לָאָרֶץ.‏ ^כ:ה לֹא תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה לָהֶם וְלֹא תׇעׇבְדֵם כִּי אָנֹכִי יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֵל קַנָּא פֹּקֵד עֲוֺן אָבֹת עַל בָּנִים עַל שִׁלֵּשִׁים וְעַל רִבֵּעִים לְשֹׂנְאָי.‏

^{Exod 20:4} You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. ^20:5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I YHWH your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me.

[4] There are several examples of people prostrating themselves before King David, including Mephibosheth (2 Sam 9:6); Bathsheba (1 Kgs 16, 31); and Nathan (1 Kgs 1:23). Adonijah prostrates himself before Solomon once he has become king (1 Kgs 1:53). There is, on the other hand, a form of worship that is said in the account to be offered to YHWH alone, namely animal sacrifice:

^{דברי הימים א כט:כא} וַיִּזְבְּחוּ לַיְ־הֹוָה זְבָחִים וַיַּעֲלוּ עֹלוֹת לַיְ־הֹוָה לְמׇחֳרַת הַיּוֹם הַהוּא פָּרִים אֶלֶף אֵלִים אֶלֶף כְּבָשִׂים אֶלֶף וְנִסְכֵּיהֶם וּזְבָחִים לָרֹב לְכׇל יִשְׂרָאֵל.‏

^{1 Chr 29:21} On the next day they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings to YHWH, a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their libations, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.

We see the same pattern in first century C.E. eschatological Jewish works (such as 1 Enoch, discussed later) in which the authority of God’s messianic agent is recognized through prostration, but there is no indication that animal sacrifice was offered to that figure.

[5] Editor’s note: For more on this, and a consideration of what kind of relationship biblical references to the king as God’s son envision, see Marc Zvi Brettler and Amy-Jill Levine, "Psalm 2: Is the Messiah the Son of God?" The Torah (2020).

[6] On the dating of Chronicles see Sara Japhet, I and II Chronicles: A Commentary (Westminster John Knox, 1993), 25-28, and Gary N. Knoppers, 1 Chronicles 1-9, A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AB 12 (Doubleday, 2003), 101-117.

[7] Chronicles opens with a genealogy that traces David’s line all the way back to Adam, implying that Davidic kingship was part of the divine plan since the beginning of humankind. None of the incidents in Samuel and Kings that reflect poorly on David, such as the episode with Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Sam 12), his mishandling of the Amnon’s rape of Tamar (2 Sam 13), the weakness he displayed during Absalom’ rebellion (2 Sam 15), and his physical and mental feebleness towards the end of his reign (1 Kings 1), appear in Chronicles. Instead, the reigns of David and Solomon are depicted in Chronicles as a peaceful, prosperous golden age. Editor’s note: For more on the depiction of David in Samuel and Kings, see Richard Lederman, “King David and Oedipus Rex,” TheTorah (2015).

[8] The book of Enoch is a Jewish apocalyptic work that was originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic, but the only complete version of 1 Enoch that we have today is in Ge’ez (ancient Ethiopic), preserved by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The Parables (or Similitudes) of Enoch cover 1 Enoch 37-71. For more on the book of Enoch, see the essays in Parables of Enoch: A Paradigm Shift, ed. Darrell L. Bock and James H. Charlesworth (Bloomsbury, 2013).

[9] Translations of Enoch are from George W. E. Nickelsburg and James C. VanderKam, 1 Enoch: The Hermeneia Translation (Fortress, 2012). The son of man is described in the previous verses:

^{1 Enoch 48:2} And in that hour that son of man was named in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, and his name, before the Head of Days. ^48:3 Even before the sun and the constellations were created, before the stars of heaven were made, his name was named before the Lord of Spirits.

The same figure is also referred to as “the elect one” (61:1) “who will sit on a throne of glory” (45:3-4). In 1 Enoch 71, the son of man is revealed to be Enoch himself. For more on the conception of the “son of man” in the Parables of Enoch, see John J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature, 3rd ed. (Eerdmans, 2016); Frederick J. Murphy, Apocalypticism in the Bible and Its World: A Comprehensive Introduction (Baker, 2012).

[10] For more on understanding Paul within the context of Judaism, see Paula Fredriksen, “Paul and Judaism,” The Jewish Annotated New Testament, ed. Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, 3^rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2026), 722-727.

[11] Paul founded the Christian community in Philippi, a city in northeaster Greece, during his first visit there (ca. 50 C.E.; see Acts 16:12-40). He wrote this letter to the community while he was in prison (ca. 60-62 C.E., if it was during his time imprisoned in Rome, or ca. 54-56 C.E., if it was when he was imprisoned in Ephesus). Editor’s note: For more on Paul’s role in the early Jesus movement, see Thomas R. Blanton IV and Noah Benjamin Bickart, “Observance or Faith? Jews and Christians Contend Over Abraham’s Legacy,” TheTorah (2015).

[12] The term translated as “lord” is the Greek term kyrios, which is the same term used to render God’s name YHWH in the Septuagint and New Testament. Paul’s usage of kyrios here reflects Jesus’s exalted status as God’s supreme agent, who shares in God’s rule and authority, but is still distinct from and subordinate to God. See James F. McGrath, The Only True God: Early Christian Monotheism in Its Jewish Context (University of Illinois Press, 2009), 49-50.

[13] The Greek reads:

^{Phil 2:9} διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν, καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα, ^2:10 ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων, ^2:11 καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός.

[14] For a discussion of the nature of Jewish monotheism in this period, which entailed exclusive allegiance to and worship of the supreme God, and how it differs from monotheism as we think of as today, see McGrath, The Only True God, 23-37.

[15] In fact, we find the oneness of God affirmed repeatedly in the New Testament. See, e.g., 1 Cor 8:4-6; Gal 3:20; Eph 4:6; 1 Tim 1:17; 2:5; James 2:19; Mark 12:29-31; John 17:3. See further Ferdinand Hahn, "The Confession of the One God in the New Testament," Horizons in Biblical Theology 2.1 (1980): 69-84.

[16] Romans 14:11 reads:

^{Rom 14:11} γέγραπται γάρ · Ζῶ ἐγώ, λέγει κύριος, ὅτι ἐμοὶ κάμψει πᾶν γόνυ, καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται ⸃ τῷ θεῷ.

^{Rom 14:11} For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

[17] Despite frequent claims to the contrary, Trinitarian thought is a post-New Testament development. See in particular R. P. C. Hanson, The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy 318-381 (T & T Clark, 2005).

[18] Paul founded the Christian community in Corinth, a city in Greece, ca. 50-51 C.E. Two of his letters to this community are preserved in the New Testament. He wrote this letter to the community ca. 53-54 C.E.

[19] The Greek reads:

^{1 Cor 15:24} εἶτα τὸ τέλος, ὅταν παραδιδῷ τὴν βασιλείαν τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί, ὅταν καταργήσῃ πᾶσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ πᾶσαν ἐξουσίαν καὶ δύναμιν, ^15:25 δεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν βασιλεύειν ἄχρι οὗ θῇ πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. ^15:26 ἔσχατος ἐχθρὸς καταργεῖται ὁ θάνατος,

[20] This is the same type of monotheism that we see reflected in Job 1-2, where הַשָּׂטָן, ha-satan, the adversary, is given a lot of power, but is subject to God.

[21] Paul’s quote is from Ps 8:7, which in the Septuagint reads:

^{Ps 8:7} καὶ κατέστησας αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου· πάντα ὑπέταξας ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ

^{Ps 8:7} and you [God] have set him [humankind] over the works of your hands: you [God] have put all things under his [humankind’s] feet

More on this later.

[22] The Greek reads:

^{1 Cor 15:27} πάντα γὰρ ὑπέταξεν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. ὅταν δὲ εἴπῃ ὅτι πάντα ὑποτέτακται, δῆλον ὅτι ἐκτὸς τοῦ ὑποτάξαντος αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα. ^15:28 ὅταν δὲ ὑποταγῇ αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα, τότε αὐτὸς ὁ υἱὸς ὑποταγήσεται τῷ ὑποτάξαντι αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα, ἵνα ᾖ ὁ θεὸς πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν.

[23] Many later Christian interpreters treated ben adam, “son of man” as though it were a title and were misled to find a direct reference to Jesus in the Psalm as a result. On this see Susan Gillingham, Psalms Through the Centuries: A Reception History Commentary on Psalms 1–72, Volume Two (Wiley Blackwell, 2018), 72-82. But the expression was a very common way of referring to a person, and thus it could not have functioned meaningfully as a title. Assuming Paul knew that, the explanation for his use of this language here must lie elsewhere.

[24] Verse numbers 4-6 in the NRSV. In the Hebrew, the suffix for רַגְלָיו , raglayw, is singular (lit. “his feet”).

[25] This is something we also see in Genesis 1. Both Psalm 8 and Genesis 1 refer to the highly elevated status of humans in God’s creation and God’s granting them dominion over all other living things in the created world. Jerome Creach, “Commentary on Psalm 8,” Working Preacher, May 26, 2013, suggests this was in response to the end of the monarchy during or after the Babylonian exile.

[26] The term אֱלֹהִים, elohim, the plural form of ‘el, is used in the Bible both to refer to God and to refer to gods more generally.

[27] See, also, e.g., Heb 2:6-9 and Eph 1:22.

[28] The verse reads:

^{1 Cor 15:45} οὕτως καὶ γέγραπται · Ἐγένετο ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος Ἀδὰμ εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν · ὁ ἔσχατος Ἀδὰμ εἰς πνεῦμα ζῳοποιοῦν.

^{1 Cor 15:45} Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

See also 1 Cor 15:21-22.

[29] This letter was written ca. 55-57 C.E. while Paul was in Corinth.

[30] See the discussion of Paul’s exploration of this in Mark D. Nanos’ commentary on Romans in The Jewish Annotated New Testament, ed. Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, 3^rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2026), 320-357. Jesus in his role as “last Adam” also takes on the role Adam was intended for, to be God’s viceroy ruling all creation, while still subject to God. For Adam himself being envisaged as a royal figure in the Genesis story, see Michael LeFebvre, “Adam Reigns in Eden: Genesis and the Origins of Kingship,” Bulletin of Ecclesial Theology 5.2 (2018): 25-57, esp. 30-31, 34. On the Adamic background of Philippians 2:6-11, see in particular James D. G. Dunn, Christology in the Making: A New Testament Inquiry Into the Origins of the Doctrine of the Incarnation, 2^nd ed. (Eerdmans, 1996), xix, 107-121.

[31] The idea of the “parting of the ways” is explored in James D. G. Dunn, The Partings of the Ways Between Christianity and Judaism and Their Significance for the Character of Christianity (SCM, 1991). The very concept has been problematized, including famously in Adam H. Becker and Annette Yoshiko Reed (eds.), The Ways that Never Parted: Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Mohr Siebeck, 2003).

[32] Esther 3:1-5 may provide a classic example of the latter.

[33] The later view of Jesus as what might be termed a “divine messiah” is the key historic point of difference between Jews and Christians. See Brettler and Levine, "Psalm 2: Is the Messiah the Son of God?" who write, “A central difference between Judaism and Christianity is the Christian belief in Jesus of Nazareth as both messiah and ‘the only begotten’ son of God. Jews, in contrast, not only deny that Jesus is the messiah, but, more fundamentally, view the very concept of a divine ‘son of God’ as contradicting the core principle of monotheism.”

[34] For discussion of other relevant Jewish and Christian texts, and factors that ultimately led to starkly different conceptions of God among most Christians over against most Jews, see McGrath, The Only True God.