This is admittedly a very controversial issue. But he who seeks the truth occasionally has to also offend. This 4 min read sheds light on the matter…
El has many sons
So, Deuteronomy 32:8-9 is one of those Bible verses that’s a little tricky to interpret, and frankly has caused a lot of controversy. The part that stands out talks about how, when God (called El Elyon here) divided the nations, He gave them to the "sons of God" (or "sons of El"), and JAcob was the portion of Yahweh. Here it is in the KJV version:
Deut 32:8-9 (brackets and emphasis added)
8 When the most High (Elyon) divided to the nations their inheritance,
when he separated the sons of Adam,
he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
9 For the LORD's (YHWH) portion is his people;
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
Now, when we look at the ancient texts, here’s where it gets interesting:
The Dead Sea Scrolls (from around 200–100 BCE) and the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from around 250 BCE) both have "sons of God," instead of “sons of Israel” which seems to imply some kind of divine council of the sons of El, divine beings themselves.
But later on, the Masoretic Text (the standard Hebrew Bible text that was finalized around 700–1000 CE, translated into our Bibles) changes it to "sons of Israel," likely to make it clear that Israel is unique and set apart for Yahweh alone.
Dividing up the sons of Adam and setting the boundaries according to the number of the children of Israel, is a very strange concept that is hard to make sense of. but this verse makes much better sense when we read it in its ancient context.
Now, in the context of the ancient world—around 1500–1200 BCE—this idea wasn’t as strange as it sounds. Other ancient cultures, like the Canaanites, believed in a high god (El) who had a divine council (El had 70 sons according to the Ugaritic literature) of lesser gods who helped rule over the nations. Some scholars think that Israel’s early beliefs might’ve reflected something similar, with Yahweh initially being seen as one of these divine beings who was given the special role of caring for Israel.
Another Biblical reference to this idea can be found in PS 89:
Psalm 89:6 ((brackets and emphasis added)
For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD (YHWH)?
who among the sons of the mighty (El) can be likened unto the LORD (YHWY)?
Secondary references
This ancient context can help us make more sense of the ancient view of Gen 6:2, realising that we are not dealing with angels or demons here, but an ancient view of a kind of family of the High God.
Genesis 6:2
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
The Book of Job has the same concept reflected in its opening verses:
Job 1:6
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD (YHWH), and Satan came also among them.
Here the sons of God come for their, whats seems to be, regular meeting with the high God. by the time of the writing of Job, YWHY had assume the position of High God. Promoted (discussed below), if you like by the later writers of Job (c. 6th-5th century BCE). But he still has a family of sons that come to present themselves before him. (Interestingly the adversary is amoung them - to to be addressed by this post.Suffice to say that whatever the satan is, he is not an enemy of God in Job, but amoungst the sons as an agent and a servant of God.)
YHWH becomes El
Over time, though, Israel’s understanding of God changed. They moved toward a belief in one God only, rejecting the idea of multiple gods. This is what we see later in the Bible, especially after the exile and during the Second Temple period (around 500 BCE–70 CE). By this time, Israel had fully embraced the idea that Yahweh was the one true God, and any mention of other "gods" was reinterpreted to mean angels or spiritual beings, not actual gods.
This shows the evolution of Israel’s understanding of God. By the time of the New Testament, Christians embraced the full monotheism with the sons of god beleived to be angels and/or demons.
So what?
So, while this passage might seem confusing, it’s really just a glimpse into Israel’s more ancient beliefs, illustrating the evolution of their view of YHWH over time, moving from a contemporary divine council of the sons of God to the later worship of Yahweh as the one true and only God.