I. Name
In Deut. 6.4 it is asserted that “the Lord is our (i.e. the Israelites’) God, the Lord is One (ʾeḥād)”. Though the epithet can also mean ‘first’, it is usually understood to mean ‘(only) one’. In both Akkadian and Ugaritic texts, the equivalent epithet (Akk. ištēn, Ug. aḥd) can be used in connection with gods. It has sometimes been assumed that Heb. אחד in Isa. 66.17 conceals the name of a foreign god or goddess (Stenhouse 1913:298).
II. Identity
The use of ‘One’ as a divine name or epithet of God is no…