text: I've heard that when Judaism originated, the Israelites regarded their god as their national god and recognised that other peoples had their own gods, but I'm not sure how true that is. I do find it interesting that in Genesis, when Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit, god says, "Now he has become like one of US!" So it's possible that the Jews originally thought of pagan gods as real rivals to their god, rather than non-existent beings.