The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel

Mark S. Smith's standard scholarly treatment of the emergence of Israelite monotheism out of a West Semitic polytheistic background. Smith traces the convergence of El and Yahweh, the absorption of Canaanite deities into the Yahweh figure, and the gradual transition from a divine-council pantheon to mono-Yahwism through the Iron Age and Second Temple period. Second edition (Eerdmans) is the standard reference.