A Response to Catholics on Deuteronomy 32:7-9

There has been a controversy among Filipino religious apologist about sa sinabi ni Pastor Ed Lapiz (whom I would say, isang liberal pastor) sa Deuteronomy 32:7-9 showing na si El at si YHWH ay magkaibang mga deities at hindi identified as isa lamang na Deity. To make my point, I would say na si Pastor Lapiz is correct here, and much criticism na kanyang natatanggap mula sa mga Filipino Catholic and Protestant apologist ay bunga ng kakulangan ng information from current scholarship in Biblical Studies and Ancient Near Eastern studies.
             If ever anyone will read this, it is an invitation to get the facts straight first before making a conclusion. Ang ilang mga podcast and bloggers kagaya ng Veritas846: Ang Radyo ng Simbahan, made a response, saying na ang kanyang conclusion na "opinion niya lang" na ang ancient Israel ay naniniwala sila na madaming diyos, at na si El at si YHWH ay magkaibang deities at na ang "conflation" ni El at YHWH ay nadevelop lamang sa later periods ng Israelite history. I do not write this dahil ako ay isang Latter-day Saint na may belief sa divine council at non-Nicene na view sa Trinity, but as a fellow brother in Christ who wants to invite to re-consider ang data at hindi ipa-iral kaagad ang personal beliefs at dogmas. I samely do not believe sa kanyang views na mayroong different Gods governing Israel sa Old Testament at sa New Testament.
Pastor Ed Lapiz cites Deuteronomy 32:7-9 sa Names of God Bible (NOG), which reads:

“Remember a time long ago. Think about all the past generations. Ask your fathers to remind you, and your leaders to tell you. When Elyon gave nations their land, when he divided the descendants of Adam, he set up borders for the tribes corresponding to the number of the sons of Israel.” (Deut. 32:7-8, NOG)

Ang particular na Bible version na ginamit ni Pastor Ed Lapiz ay based Sa Masoretic Text (MT), and uses it to say na El-Elyon at si Yahweh ay different beings. Pastor Lapiz later cites ang ilang mga references that reflect what the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) have chosen as the best reading:

“Remember the days of old, consider the years long past; ask your father, and he will inform you; your elders, and they will tell you. When the  High apportioned the nations, when he divided humankind, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods . . .” (Deut. 32:7-9, NRSV)

Ang general consensus ng Old Testament scholars accept ang reading na "sons of God" o "gods" (בני אלוהים, benê ‘elohîm), as a better reading kaysa sa "sons of Israel" ( בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל, bēney yiśrā'ēl, MT, KJV, NKJV, NASB). We have support for this reading mula sa Qumran scrolls, ala the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QDeut. 32:7-8). Ang reading na "sons of Israel" is seen by scholars bilang isang scribal emmendation: e.g. Tina Dykesteen Nilsen, The Origins of Deuteronomy 32: Intertextuality, Memory, Identity (New York: Peter Lang, 2018): 26-27.; Paul Sanders, The Provenance of Deuteronomy 32, Oudtestamentische Studiën series, vol. 37 (Leiden: Brill, 1996): 157. Pastor Ed Lapiz acknowledges ang textual evidence mula sa Dead Sea Scrolls when he quoted Annette Yoshiko's Demons, Angels, and Writing in Ancient Judaism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020).
             Ang Greek Septuagint uses ang ἀγγέλων θεοῦ (angelōn theou), at ito ang best chosen reading throughout tradition. Some however reads υιόν θεόυ (huion theou). Some will conclude na ang "sons of God" as we see it sa 4QDeutq, together with the LXX, refers simply sa mga "angels" at hindi mga "deities." It must be noted na sa translation methods ng mga LXX translators, according kay John William Wevers, ang ἀγγέλων θεοῦ ay interpretative, saying na ang majority reading ay ". . . clearly a later attempt to avoid any notion of lesser deities in favor of God's messengers" (John William Wevers, notes on the Greek Text of Deuteronomy, 513). 
             Saying na "angels lang" ang tinutukoy sa Deuteronomy 32:7-8 ignores  ang Near Eastern use ng phrase na "sons of God" as a reference to the divine council. Isa itong "softening" sa text ng Old Testament rather than taking the data as we have it. Michael Heiser points out “. . . the heavenly host, the pantheon of divine beings who administer the affairs of the cosmos. All ancient Mediterranean cultures had some conception of a divine council." Michael S. Heiser, “Divine Council,” in Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings, ed. Tremper Longman III, Peter Enns (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008): 112. Ang  בני אלוהים,  (benê ‘elohîm) ay isang Semitic idiom, that is when we say na one is a "son of God" sa Old Testament identifies ang individual being to be of the same class of beings sa "God;" samely sa Hebrew phrase na "son of Man" implies one is a human being (depending on the context). Hindi view ng mga critical scholars ng Old Testament na simply mga "anghel" lamang ang tinutukoy na "sons of God" sa Old Testament. 

For more on the "sons of God" sa Old Testament, see:

Marvin H. Pope, Job: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, The Anchor Bible Commentary, vol. 15 (New York: Doubleday, 1965, 1973): 9.
—El in the Ugaritic Texts, Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, 2 (Leiden: Brill, 1955): 47-49.

Critics must also be aware sa "Table of the Nations" sa Genesis 10-11. Ang Deuteronomy 32:7-8 is also where si El divides the nations "according to the number of the gods/sons of God" (as we see in the textual evidence above): with El giving ang portion of Israel kay YHWH. Ang "Table of the Nations" catalogs ang bawat nations, that is 70 (cf. sons of El in the Ras Shamra tablets),  pero hindi nito ini-include ang nation ng Israel dahil it already belonged to YHWH. There is clear distinction between kay Yahweh at kay El (El Elyon) according sa text na ito. Again, strict monotheism ay hindi ang primary view of God ng Israelite religion and we should not be imposing modern ideas sa Hebrew Bible.