Makes me wonder just how drastically different things would've gone if Ashera worship had remained. How much would that have impacted later tradition, Christianity (if it developed at all), and all the doctrines that resulted in oppressing women if there'd been a popular goddess alongside a popular god?
I definitely wonder how the birth of Jesus would have been handled. The ideas of "Biblical" marriage would almost certainly be composed comparing people to YHWH and Asherah.
@@poisontango The existence of a female deity in the Israelite pantheon did not result in anything like equity at that time. Though one could certainly argue her retention would have made progress towards recognizing men and women as legal and social equals easier.
We can make some educated guesses. Roman and Greek pantheons had powerful Goddesses (Hera, Aphrodite, Athena...), but their societal norms were mostly unaffected. Women didn't vote in Greece, and roman society was very patriarchal. I think the influence goes the other way around: social norms come first, and those norms configure how people picture their gods.
@@juanausensi499 Another very influential movement was toward the Egyptian goddess Isis, who became a major goddess in the Greco-Roman world. Interestingly, if I'm not mistaken, the power of women in EGYPTIAN society was significantly greater than it was in other major societies around the Mediterranean.
Arabs had worshipped three very popular Goddesses: AlLat, AlUzza, and Menat. But that didn't stop them from treating women like objects, and killing their first born if it happened to be female, because it was shameful for them to have a first born daughter.
Ashereth is vilified in evangelical circles as a false god. Your insights on Josiah grabbing power resonate. Sadly, many charismatic Christians use the false god "purge" to accuse and smear popular culture icons as false gods, even people in their congregation. In other words, Josiah's actions have trickled down in a toxic way.
I think you're mixing up Asherah and Ashtoreth. They may be historically related, but Ashtoreth is the Goddess Ishtar / Astarte changed to sound like Bosheth, which is Hebrew for shame. Baal and Ashtoreth are referred to together frequently, and names with Baalistic theophoric element were also changed to have bosheth. The prime example is Jonathan's son Mephibosheth. His name would have been something like Mephibaal. I do wonder why they didn't change Jezebel to Jezebosheth, but maybe she was too well known.
Umm have you ever thought that maybe there were actually false Gods? And someone who is acting on behalf of the true God would appear like a dictator to those who are following the evil side?
Whenever I hear King Josiah be brought up in biblical scholarship, it doesn't really seem to paint him in a good light. Then when you go read the bible, it's nothing but glowing praise. I guess if you're in charge of the book, there's little reason to not think highly of yourself.
@@CB66941 The same could be said of David. He was a terrible person, and an even worse king. But fortunately, for the priests and biblical authors, he backed the right God. Now he's seen as the Bible's Main Man. Sound like a certain presidential candidate we know...? 🤔
The lines between religion, law, politics, science, and philosophy are at best blurry among ancient Mediterranean societies. See how quickly pagan or indigenous religions practiced for thousands of years fade away after the rulers of those nations convert to Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc. There was a high level of integration between the religion, the society, and the law that we in our more secular times have trouble grasping.
@@cedarwaxwing3509 Religions have also been involved with political control/power. Although I'm not sure that should be considered separate to their business activities.
@@sigmaoctantis1892 Great point. The further you go back into the past, the harder it becomes to separate political control from what we would consider “business.” In times before commerce or industry became the chief means of accumulating wealth, there was always religion to fill the coffers. And of course, both roads led to the accumulation and concentration of power, as you point out.
When he brought up the temple of Arad, it sounded like he just said it had a standing stone, but I believe the point is that it had two, and you can see both in the picture. (One is smaller than the other.)
Fascinating. This could therefore mark the beginning, the seed of the medieval concept of "sacred kingship": The political centralisation of the King as the earthly representative of the one, unique god of his choice. Thanks, Dan. I'd always wondered when this might have started.
The centralization of YHWH worship to Jerusalem is explained, but why the removal of the Divine Consort? Couldn't that have been maintained, while also centralizing to one city?
Many early trinitarian Christians referred to the Holy Spirit in feminine terms-you could say that in "some sense", the consort still survived in Christianity
@@bob45 I'm not sure worshipping YWH ALONE began with Josiah, as there isn't the faintest evidence that the worship of other gods alongside him in the Temple of Elephantine was ever frowned upon during the period it stood (do with that what you will)
Would it be fair to say King Jusiah is the father of the monotheism seen in modern day Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? Or would he only count as a bringer of monolatry?
Couldn’t Josiah have centralized the worship in Jerusalem AND still kept Asherah as YHWH’s consort? Why did Asherah get suppressed by the deuteronomist project? Thanks! Love all the content!
It could have been as simple as layoffs and centralizing the worship/priesthood. Maybe, and I'm no scholar or even a layperson, Asherah teachings were used by dissenters or had problematic themes for kings or rulers. It could have been a useful tool for kings to target potential enemies by associating them with Asherah worship. And it's not so strange. think of why marijuana laws are/were this onerous. People in power in the US found it useful to demonize this drug and thus, win their true objective.. attacking hippies and black people who were a threat to the conservative American power base. Nothing is preserved or protected if it does not provide some benefit. Everything is a tool. Effective leaders understand how to use those tools to manage large people and balance enemies both within and without their territory. I find it interesting that the Deuteronomists were so intent on erasing Asherah. It feels political, not religious or cultural. But again, I'm no expert. It could be that Josiah had a girlfriend who worshiped Asherah and she cheated on him. I mean.. imagine if a certain German guy had been more successful with his art. It could be just that mundane.
I didn't get a chance to respond to this the other day, but it's been kind of been tiptoeing around in my head. It strikes me that there are clear parallels between Adonai and Ashera on the one hand and Red Green and Bernice on the other. We get to see Red banging around the Lodge, in Handyman's Corner, and during "The Experts" portion of the show, but we never see Bernice. We know that Red KNOWS better than do something StUPID that would upset Bernice -- though it's implied that he's done so in the past -- and we never see Adonai doing anything to perturb HIS partner. But we DO see Adonai banging around in the celestial equivalent of The Handyman's Corner -- or "If It Ain'T Broke, You Ain't Tryin'," -- with LOTS of The Handyman's Secret Weapon (tm). And if the parallels I see hold true, then it's NO WONDER our universe is so . . . well, what can I say? I've come to the conclusion that the best explanation is that, like Red trying to keep the Possum Lodge from disintegrating, Adonai is doing His best to keep things together despite constant distractions.
Two questions, one about before and one about after Josiah: 1 If centralization and monolatrism starts with Josiah due to Assyrian conquest, why are basically the same reforms attributed to Hezekiah in the Bible and that seems to accepted by most historians? 2 If centralization and monolatrism is as early as Josiah (or even Hezekiah), how come Elephantine Jews are unfamiliar with it around 420bce when they sent a letter to Jerusalem temple to ask support for their Elephantine temple where they worship Yahweh alongside two other deities, doesnt this suggest that centralization and monolatrism actually came much later?
Just an off hand thought. Perhaps the removal of "God's wife" also had something to do with implementing the subservience mandates of women to their fathers and husbands. It's a bit difficult to sell the idea that women are half that of men when there is a female god.
I am curious there is no extra biblical mention of Josiah's reign, so why do scholars think he was a historical ruler? Curious if there is evidence or something else that points towards his reign?
So what you're saying is that God got a divorce around the 7th century, and then spent the next few thousand years bad-mouthing his ex to anyone who would listen...?
Does anybody know why Asherah mattered to Josiah? Seems like he could still have had the benefits of the centralization in Jerusalem whether or not Asherah was still part of their pantheon.
I think it's a bit too hyper-cynical to say Josiah "just did it solely because he wanted all the money & power associated with a centralized cult"; I think it was more because of a radical NEW anti-Asherah theological DOCTRINE that Josiah believed in (Kings in antiquity were never in the business of desecrating cults sites simply just for money ALONE), and this new theological doctrine disagreed with earlier kings that wanted to do the more "natural" thing of restoring old cult sites (despite the comparatively better financial benefits of doing what Josiah would later come to do). Evidence of a radical new theological tradition is expressed by the fact that on a timeline correlating with Josiah's reforms - people of the Northern kingdom who spelled/pronounced the tetragrammaton as "Yo-" instead of the Southern Judahite "Yaw-" found their pronunciation practice being radically ABOLISHED-with even theophoric PERSONAL NAMES being changed to adopt the Southern Judahite spelling!
In Torah Judaism G-d is 1 one Achad only all everyone everywhere always. We have no " man God idol human s" . Northern kingdom was destroyed for Idolatry
This sounds all very reasonable but why not ban the worship of YHWH and enforce the worship of Asherah instead? Wouldn’t this also accomplish cult centralization? 😮
What DATA or EVIDENCE do you have to back up your claim that the reason Josiah engaged in his reforms was that it was a pure political power move and that he just liked everyone bringing their money to him? What justification can you give for disregarding what the biblical text says about the reasons for Josiah's reforms and instead making up your own narrative about what really happened?
Since Abraham the true believers worshipped Yahweh. If the archeological finds that you have stated are true , it does not mean that the isrealites always worshipped multiple gods. It simply shows that they sometimes did go after strange gods. The holy bible says thats what they did time and time again. Thats why God would put them into slavery and bondage
According to the general consensus of scholarship *(even critical Christian scholars),* YHWH was originally incorporated into the Canaanite pantheon as a son of the Canaanite high god El before inheriting the top spot in the pantheon and El's wife Athirat (Asherah) before religious reforms "divorced" them. El's pantheon in Ugarit (modern day Ras Shamra in Syria) is called the *Elohim,* literally the plural of El. Interestingly, the Biblical god is also referred to numerous times as Elohim. If you want to see if El is fictional, just read his mythology in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts. "The mysterious Ugaritic text Shachar and Shalim tells how (perhaps near the beginning of all things) *El* came to shores of the sea and saw two women who bobbed up and down. *El* was sexually aroused and took the two with him, killed a bird by throwing a staff at it, and roasted it over a fire. He asked the women to tell him when the bird was fully cooked, and to then address him either as husband or as father, for he would thenceforward behave to them as they called him. They saluted him as husband. He then lay with them, and they gave birth to Shachar ("Dawn") and Shalim ("Dusk"). Again *El* lay with his wives and the wives gave birth to "the gracious gods", "cleavers of the sea", "children of the sea". The names of these wives are not explicitly provided, but some confusing rubrics at the beginning of the account mention the goddess *Athirat (Asherah),* who is otherwise *El's* chief wife, and the goddess Raḥmayyu ("the one of the womb"), otherwise unknown." *"First, a god named El predates the arrival of the Israelites into Syria-Palestine.* Biblical usage shows El was not just a generic noun, but often a proper name for Israel’s God (e.g., Gen 33:20: “El, the God of Israel”)." "I should add here that it is very clear from the grammar that the noun nachalah in v. 9 should be translated “inheritance.” *Yahweh receives Israel as his “inheritance” (nachalah), just as the other sons of El received their nations as their inheritance (nachal, v. 8).* With this verb, especially in the Hiphil, the object is always what is being given as an inheritance. Thus, Israel is given to Yahweh as his inheritance. ((Here I’m indebted to Dan McClellan.)) It would make no sense for Elyon to give himself an inheritance. Moreover, as I’ve argued elsewhere, it is not just the Gentile nations that are divided up according to the number of the *sons of El.* It is all of humankind, i.e., “the sons of Adam.” This clearly includes Israel. And the sons of Adam are not divided up according to the number of the *sons of El,* plus one (i.e., plus Elyon). They are divided up, according to the text, *solely* according to the number of the *sons of El.* *Thus, that Yahweh receives Israel as his inheritance makes Yahweh one of the sons of El mentioned in v. 8. Any other construal of the text would constitute its rewriting.* A Sumerian hymn speaks to the goddess: “Nanshe, your divine powers are not matched by any other divine powers.” *Does this mean that Nanshe was the high goddess, that there were no gods above her? No, it does not.* Nanshe was the daughter of Enki, the high god. *In Sumerian mythology, as with Ugaritic, Israelite, Babylonian, and others, in the ancient past, the high god (Enki, in this case) divided up the world and assigned his children certain domains.* Nanshe was given a limited domain (the modern Persian Gulf) and was tasked with maintaining social justice there. *This is exactly what we see in Deuteronomy 32 with Yahweh. Yahweh is given a limited domain (Israel) and is given authority over his people, to punish them, as well as to protect and defend them against foreign enemies.* That Yahweh, like Nanshe, is said to have incomparable divine power *does not* mean that he is not subordinate to the high god who gave him his domain. *It is also of note that Nanshe, like Baal, Yahweh, and so many other deities, evolved over time. Her domain increased, and she was promoted in the pantheon (although she never became the high goddess)."* *"The Most Heiser: Yahweh and Elyon in Psalm 82 and Deuteronomy 32 - Religion at the Margins"* based on the *majority scholarly consensus.* (Written by Thom Stark who is a Christian) *"Michael Heiser: A Unique Species? - Religion at the Margins"* (A second response to Michael Heiser) *"Excerpt from “Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan” by John Day - Lehi's Library."* *"The Table of Nations: The Geography of the World in Genesis 10"* - TheTorah.com (Excluding the short narrative on Nimrod (vv. 8-12), *which appears to be a later addition,* Genesis 10 contains *70* names of nations or cities, a number that was symbolic of totality. Similarly, the descendants of Jacob were *70* in number (Gen 46:37; Exod 1:5), *as were the sons of the supreme Canaanite god El, with whom YHWH became equated.)* *"Polytheism and Ancient Israel’s Canaanite Heritage. Part V | theyellowdart"* (Of course, much of this [i.e., that Israel worshiped El and Asherah alongside YHWH] is really to be expected given that recent syntheses of the *archaeological, cultural, and literary data* pertaining to the emergence of the nation of Israel in the Levant *show that most of the people who would eventually compose this group were originally Canaanite. As the Hebrew Bible notes, the Hebrew language itself is a Canaanite language, literally the “lip of Canaan” (שְׂפַת כְּנַעַן; Is. **19:18**), and so it cannot often be distinguished by modern scholars from other Canaanite inscriptions on purely linguistic grounds.)* *"Ugarit - New World Encyclopedia"* (Ugaritic religion centered on the chief god, Ilu or El, whose titles included "Father of mankind" and "Creator of the creation." The Court of El was referred to as the (plural) 'lhm or ***Elohim,*** a word ***later used by the biblical writers to describe the Hebrew deity*** and translated into English as "God," in the singular. El, which was ***also the name of the God of Abraham,*** was described as an aged deity with white hair, seated on a throne.) *"Mark Smith: Yahweh as El’s Son & Yahweh’s Ascendency - Lehi's Library"* (Mark Smith is a Catholic) *"God, Gods, and Sons (and Daughters) of God in the Hebrew Bible. Part III | theyellowdart"* *"02 | December | 2009 | Daniel O. McClellan - Psalm 82"* (Daniel McClellan is a Mormon) *"Elohim | Daniel O. McClellan"* (Refer to the article "Angels and Demons (and Michael Heiser)") *"God's Wife Edited Out of the Bible - Almost."* (Pay attention to whose wife Asherah (Athirat) is in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts and how she became the wife of YHWH/Yahweh) *"Yahweh's Divorce from the Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden - Mythology Matters."* *"Asherah, God's Wife in Ancient Israel. Part IV - theyellowdart"* *"The Gates of Ishtar - El, was the original god of the bible."* *"The Gates of Ishtar - Anath in the Elephantine Papyri"* (In addition to Asherah (Athirat) being the consort of Yahweh, it appears some Israelites also viewed the Canaanite goddess Anat(h) as Yahweh's consort) *"Canaanite Religion - New World Encyclopedia"* (Refer to the section "Relationship to Biblical Religion") *"The Syncretization of Yahweh and El : reddit/AcademicBiblical"* (For a good summary of all of the above articles) Watch Professor Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University. Watch lecture 2 from 40:40 to 41:50 minutes, lecture 7 from 30:00 minutes onwards, lecture 8 from 12:00 to 17:30 minutes and lecture 12 from 27:40 minutes onwards. Watch *"Pagan Origins of Judaism"* by Sigalius Myricantur and read the description in the video to see the scholarship the video is based on. Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur and watch up to at least 21:40. Watch *"Atheism - A History of God (The Polytheistic Origins of Christianity and Judaism)"* (By a former theist) Watch *"The Origins of Yahweh"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica.
Sorry to raise such a basic question, but how does this square with the 10 Commandments, specifically the 1st one that declares the Israelites shall have no other gods before Him?
Yahweh evolved over time from one of many tribal gods and patron deities before becoming "God of the universe". In ancient times each city or group of people had a patron deity. Yahweh was the patron deity of the Israelites, while Chemosh was the patron deity of the Moabites for example. The prohibition was to stop the Israelites from worshipping the gods of other nations. Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the LORD our God has given us, we will possess. - Judges 11:24 Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur.
Those commandments were formulated later and then retrojected into the past so as to make believe that Israelite religion was always YHWH-only and any worship of other gods was "rebellion". Propaganda is the word here.
Exodus never happened. There never were even small amounts of Hebrews in Egypt, although there were a couple nomadic small Jewish tribes that YHWH is supposed to have originated in, as a Pharaoh wrote a line about one tribe of Jews around 1400BCE that worshipped and references a similar to YHWH named god. Even Jewish scholars generally agree Exodus is fiction.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3-5 Some / lots of Isrealites at the time had no problem worshipping many 'Gods'. Josiah removed all/most worship to other Gods and brought the people back to worshipping the one true God. This is common knowledge to anyone who read the bible. Just because they did it doesnt mean it was correct or true.
There is no evidence of worshipping a single God previously. The archeological record shows more gods the farther back you go. The Torah is revisionist history.
This is bogus The cult of yah or ia was a seperate pagan sect that went on simultaneously with judaism and early Christianity but had nothing to do with either.
The idea that God had a wife is not supported by mainstream Jewish or Christian theology. However, some ancient Near Eastern texts and archaeological findings have led to discussions about the worship of a goddess named Asherah, who was sometimes associated with Yahweh in certain ancient Israelite contexts. In the Hebrew Bible, particularly in passages like 2 Kings 21:7 and Jeremiah 7:18, there are references to Asherah poles, which were objects of worship that indicate the presence of polytheistic practices among some Israelites. These references suggest that some people may have worshiped Asherah alongside Yahweh, but this was not sanctioned by the biblical authors, who consistently emphasized the oneness of God (Deuteronomy 6:4). The biblical narrative presents God as a singular, sovereign being without a consort. The worship of Asherah and other deities was condemned by the prophets and leaders of Israel, emphasizing the call to exclusive devotion to Yahweh.
That's the problem. The Bible doesn't tell the real story. --------------------------------------------------------- According to the general consensus of scholarship *(even critical Christian scholars),* YHWH was originally incorporated into the Canaanite pantheon as a son of the Canaanite high god El before inheriting the top spot in the pantheon and El's wife Athirat (Asherah) before religious reforms "divorced" them. El's pantheon in Ugarit (modern day Ras Shamra in Syria) is called the *Elohim,* literally the plural of El. Interestingly, the Biblical god is also referred to numerous times as Elohim. If you want to see if El is fictional, just read his mythology in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts. "The mysterious Ugaritic text Shachar and Shalim tells how (perhaps near the beginning of all things) *El* came to shores of the sea and saw two women who bobbed up and down. *El* was sexually aroused and took the two with him, killed a bird by throwing a staff at it, and roasted it over a fire. He asked the women to tell him when the bird was fully cooked, and to then address him either as husband or as father, for he would thenceforward behave to them as they called him. They saluted him as husband. He then lay with them, and they gave birth to Shachar ("Dawn") and Shalim ("Dusk"). Again *El* lay with his wives and the wives gave birth to "the gracious gods", "cleavers of the sea", "children of the sea". The names of these wives are not explicitly provided, but some confusing rubrics at the beginning of the account mention the goddess *Athirat (Asherah),* who is otherwise *El's* chief wife, and the goddess Raḥmayyu ("the one of the womb"), otherwise unknown." *"First, a god named El predates the arrival of the Israelites into Syria-Palestine.* Biblical usage shows El was not just a generic noun, but often a proper name for Israel’s God (e.g., Gen 33:20: “El, the God of Israel”)." "I should add here that it is very clear from the grammar that the noun nachalah in v. 9 should be translated “inheritance.” *Yahweh receives Israel as his “inheritance” (nachalah), just as the other sons of El received their nations as their inheritance (nachal, v. 8).* With this verb, especially in the Hiphil, the object is always what is being given as an inheritance. Thus, Israel is given to Yahweh as his inheritance. ((Here I’m indebted to Dan McClellan.)) It would make no sense for Elyon to give himself an inheritance. Moreover, as I’ve argued elsewhere, it is not just the Gentile nations that are divided up according to the number of the *sons of El.* It is all of humankind, i.e., “the sons of Adam.” This clearly includes Israel. And the sons of Adam are not divided up according to the number of the *sons of El,* plus one (i.e., plus Elyon). They are divided up, according to the text, *solely* according to the number of the *sons of El.* *Thus, that Yahweh receives Israel as his inheritance makes Yahweh one of the sons of El mentioned in v. 8. Any other construal of the text would constitute its rewriting.* A Sumerian hymn speaks to the goddess: “Nanshe, your divine powers are not matched by any other divine powers.” *Does this mean that Nanshe was the high goddess, that there were no gods above her? No, it does not.* Nanshe was the daughter of Enki, the high god. *In Sumerian mythology, as with Ugaritic, Israelite, Babylonian, and others, in the ancient past, the high god (Enki, in this case) divided up the world and assigned his children certain domains.* Nanshe was given a limited domain (the modern Persian Gulf) and was tasked with maintaining social justice there. *This is exactly what we see in Deuteronomy 32 with Yahweh. Yahweh is given a limited domain (Israel) and is given authority over his people, to punish them, as well as to protect and defend them against foreign enemies.* That Yahweh, like Nanshe, is said to have incomparable divine power *does not* mean that he is not subordinate to the high god who gave him his domain. *It is also of note that Nanshe, like Baal, Yahweh, and so many other deities, evolved over time. Her domain increased, and she was promoted in the pantheon (although she never became the high goddess)."* *"The Most Heiser: Yahweh and Elyon in Psalm 82 and Deuteronomy 32 - Religion at the Margins"* based on the *majority scholarly consensus.* (Written by Thom Stark who is a Christian) *"Michael Heiser: A Unique Species? - Religion at the Margins"* (A second response to Michael Heiser) *"Excerpt from “Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan” by John Day - Lehi's Library."* *"The Table of Nations: The Geography of the World in Genesis 10"* - TheTorah.com (Excluding the short narrative on Nimrod (vv. 8-12), *which appears to be a later addition,* Genesis 10 contains *70* names of nations or cities, a number that was symbolic of totality. Similarly, the descendants of Jacob were *70* in number (Gen 46:37; Exod 1:5), *as were the sons of the supreme Canaanite god El, with whom YHWH became equated.)* *"Polytheism and Ancient Israel’s Canaanite Heritage. Part V | theyellowdart"* (Of course, much of this [i.e., that Israel worshiped El and Asherah alongside YHWH] is really to be expected given that recent syntheses of the *archaeological, cultural, and literary data* pertaining to the emergence of the nation of Israel in the Levant *show that most of the people who would eventually compose this group were originally Canaanite. As the Hebrew Bible notes, the Hebrew language itself is a Canaanite language, literally the “lip of Canaan” (שְׂפַת כְּנַעַן; Is. **19:18**), and so it cannot often be distinguished by modern scholars from other Canaanite inscriptions on purely linguistic grounds.)* *"Ugarit - New World Encyclopedia"* (Ugaritic religion centered on the chief god, Ilu or El, whose titles included "Father of mankind" and "Creator of the creation." The Court of El was referred to as the (plural) 'lhm or ***Elohim,*** a word ***later used by the biblical writers to describe the Hebrew deity*** and translated into English as "God," in the singular. El, which was ***also the name of the God of Abraham,*** was described as an aged deity with white hair, seated on a throne.) *"Mark Smith: Yahweh as El’s Son & Yahweh’s Ascendency - Lehi's Library"* (Mark Smith is a Catholic) *"God, Gods, and Sons (and Daughters) of God in the Hebrew Bible. Part III | theyellowdart"* *"02 | December | 2009 | Daniel O. McClellan - Psalm 82"* (Daniel McClellan is a Mormon) *"Elohim | Daniel O. McClellan"* (Refer to the article "Angels and Demons (and Michael Heiser)") *"God's Wife Edited Out of the Bible - Almost."* (Pay attention to whose wife Asherah (Athirat) is in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts and how she became the wife of YHWH/Yahweh) *"Yahweh's Divorce from the Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden - Mythology Matters."* *"Asherah, God's Wife in Ancient Israel. Part IV - theyellowdart"* *"The Gates of Ishtar - El, was the original god of the bible."* *"The Gates of Ishtar - Anath in the Elephantine Papyri"* (In addition to Asherah (Athirat) being the consort of Yahweh, it appears some Israelites also viewed the Canaanite goddess Anat(h) as Yahweh's consort) *"Canaanite Religion - New World Encyclopedia"* (Refer to the section "Relationship to Biblical Religion") *"The Syncretization of Yahweh and El : reddit/AcademicBiblical"* (For a good summary of all of the above articles) Watch Professor Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University. Watch lecture 2 from 40:40 to 41:50 minutes, lecture 7 from 30:00 minutes onwards, lecture 8 from 12:00 to 17:30 minutes and lecture 12 from 27:40 minutes onwards. Watch *"Pagan Origins of Judaism"* by Sigalius Myricantur and read the description in the video to see the scholarship the video is based on. Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur and watch up to at least 21:40. Watch *"Atheism - A History of God (The Polytheistic Origins of Christianity and Judaism)"* (By a former theist) Watch *"The Origins of Yahweh"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica.
@@epicofatrahasis3775 Both our positions take faith. It requires faith to believe that God inspired men to write with accuracy the 66 books, 39 authors, written over a 1500 year period. It takes faith to believe that the Holy Spirit guided sinful men to get the story correct. I was a hopeful agnostic and as I examined the evidence including Dan’s material I have come to believe the Bible is accurate, that the Bible is the story of reality. My definition of faith is ‘active trust based on reason’. You have placed your faith that the Bible is a fairy tale based on your examination of the evidence. Reasonable folks offer come to different conclusions. I enjoy Dan and remain open to new ideas and information. I also enjoy the comments of folks like you who disagree with me.
Asherah was not Gods wife Before he know God Abram had multiple Gods one of them was Asherah I know In the Bible, Asherah is the Hebrew name of a pagan fertility goddess. that was in the form of a wooden cult object dedicated to her. from what i have read I know Nearly all instances of “Asherah” in the Bible refer to a sacred pole constructed by human hands and erected in honor of the fertility goddess. Scripture also references carved images of Asherah Abrham abandon the worship of Asherah when he found God
Please take the time to familiarise yourself with the scholarship properly. El was the god of patriarchs. YHWH was the god of Moses. The two became conflated. Both are fictional. --------------------------------------------------------- According to the general consensus of scholarship *(even critical Christian scholars),* YHWH was originally incorporated into the Canaanite pantheon as a son of the Canaanite high god El before inheriting the top spot in the pantheon and El's wife Athirat (Asherah) before religious reforms "divorced" them. El's pantheon in Ugarit (modern day Ras Shamra in Syria) is called the *Elohim,* literally the plural of El. Interestingly, the Biblical god is also referred to numerous times as Elohim. If you want to see if El is fictional, just read his mythology in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts. "The mysterious Ugaritic text Shachar and Shalim tells how (perhaps near the beginning of all things) *El* came to shores of the sea and saw two women who bobbed up and down. *El* was sexually aroused and took the two with him, killed a bird by throwing a staff at it, and roasted it over a fire. He asked the women to tell him when the bird was fully cooked, and to then address him either as husband or as father, for he would thenceforward behave to them as they called him. They saluted him as husband. He then lay with them, and they gave birth to Shachar ("Dawn") and Shalim ("Dusk"). Again *El* lay with his wives and the wives gave birth to "the gracious gods", "cleavers of the sea", "children of the sea". The names of these wives are not explicitly provided, but some confusing rubrics at the beginning of the account mention the goddess *Athirat (Asherah),* who is otherwise *El's* chief wife, and the goddess Raḥmayyu ("the one of the womb"), otherwise unknown." *"First, a god named El predates the arrival of the Israelites into Syria-Palestine.* Biblical usage shows El was not just a generic noun, but often a proper name for Israel’s God (e.g., Gen 33:20: “El, the God of Israel”)." "I should add here that it is very clear from the grammar that the noun nachalah in v. 9 should be translated “inheritance.” *Yahweh receives Israel as his “inheritance” (nachalah), just as the other sons of El received their nations as their inheritance (nachal, v. 8).* With this verb, especially in the Hiphil, the object is always what is being given as an inheritance. Thus, Israel is given to Yahweh as his inheritance. ((Here I’m indebted to Dan McClellan.)) It would make no sense for Elyon to give himself an inheritance. Moreover, as I’ve argued elsewhere, it is not just the Gentile nations that are divided up according to the number of the *sons of El.* It is all of humankind, i.e., “the sons of Adam.” This clearly includes Israel. And the sons of Adam are not divided up according to the number of the *sons of El,* plus one (i.e., plus Elyon). They are divided up, according to the text, *solely* according to the number of the *sons of El.* *Thus, that Yahweh receives Israel as his inheritance makes Yahweh one of the sons of El mentioned in v. 8. Any other construal of the text would constitute its rewriting.* A Sumerian hymn speaks to the goddess: “Nanshe, your divine powers are not matched by any other divine powers.” *Does this mean that Nanshe was the high goddess, that there were no gods above her? No, it does not.* Nanshe was the daughter of Enki, the high god. *In Sumerian mythology, as with Ugaritic, Israelite, Babylonian, and others, in the ancient past, the high god (Enki, in this case) divided up the world and assigned his children certain domains.* Nanshe was given a limited domain (the modern Persian Gulf) and was tasked with maintaining social justice there. *This is exactly what we see in Deuteronomy 32 with Yahweh. Yahweh is given a limited domain (Israel) and is given authority over his people, to punish them, as well as to protect and defend them against foreign enemies.* That Yahweh, like Nanshe, is said to have incomparable divine power *does not* mean that he is not subordinate to the high god who gave him his domain. *It is also of note that Nanshe, like Baal, Yahweh, and so many other deities, evolved over time. Her domain increased, and she was promoted in the pantheon (although she never became the high goddess)."* *"The Most Heiser: Yahweh and Elyon in Psalm 82 and Deuteronomy 32 - Religion at the Margins"* based on the *majority scholarly consensus.* (Written by Thom Stark who is a Christian) *"Michael Heiser: A Unique Species? - Religion at the Margins"* (A second response to Michael Heiser) *"Excerpt from “Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan” by John Day - Lehi's Library."* *"The Table of Nations: The Geography of the World in Genesis 10"* - TheTorah.com (Excluding the short narrative on Nimrod (vv. 8-12), *which appears to be a later addition,* Genesis 10 contains *70* names of nations or cities, a number that was symbolic of totality. Similarly, the descendants of Jacob were *70* in number (Gen 46:37; Exod 1:5), *as were the sons of the supreme Canaanite god El, with whom YHWH became equated.)* *"Polytheism and Ancient Israel’s Canaanite Heritage. Part V | theyellowdart"* (Of course, much of this [i.e., that Israel worshiped El and Asherah alongside YHWH] is really to be expected given that recent syntheses of the *archaeological, cultural, and literary data* pertaining to the emergence of the nation of Israel in the Levant *show that most of the people who would eventually compose this group were originally Canaanite. As the Hebrew Bible notes, the Hebrew language itself is a Canaanite language, literally the “lip of Canaan” (שְׂפַת כְּנַעַן; Is. **19:18**), and so it cannot often be distinguished by modern scholars from other Canaanite inscriptions on purely linguistic grounds.)* *"Ugarit - New World Encyclopedia"* (Ugaritic religion centered on the chief god, Ilu or El, whose titles included "Father of mankind" and "Creator of the creation." The Court of El was referred to as the (plural) 'lhm or ***Elohim,*** a word ***later used by the biblical writers to describe the Hebrew deity*** and translated into English as "God," in the singular. El, which was ***also the name of the God of Abraham,*** was described as an aged deity with white hair, seated on a throne.) *"Mark Smith: Yahweh as El’s Son & Yahweh’s Ascendency - Lehi's Library"* (Mark Smith is a Catholic) *"God, Gods, and Sons (and Daughters) of God in the Hebrew Bible. Part III | theyellowdart"* *"02 | December | 2009 | Daniel O. McClellan - Psalm 82"* (Daniel McClellan is a Mormon) *"Elohim | Daniel O. McClellan"* (Refer to the article "Angels and Demons (and Michael Heiser)") *"God's Wife Edited Out of the Bible - Almost."* (Pay attention to whose wife Asherah (Athirat) is in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts and how she became the wife of YHWH/Yahweh) *"Yahweh's Divorce from the Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden - Mythology Matters."* *"Asherah, God's Wife in Ancient Israel. Part IV - theyellowdart"* *"The Gates of Ishtar - El, was the original god of the bible."* *"The Gates of Ishtar - Anath in the Elephantine Papyri"* (In addition to Asherah (Athirat) being the consort of Yahweh, it appears some Israelites also viewed the Canaanite goddess Anat(h) as Yahweh's consort) *"Canaanite Religion - New World Encyclopedia"* (Refer to the section "Relationship to Biblical Religion") *"The Syncretization of Yahweh and El : reddit/AcademicBiblical"* (For a good summary of all of the above articles) Watch Professor Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University. Watch lecture 2 from 40:40 to 41:50 minutes, lecture 7 from 30:00 minutes onwards, lecture 8 from 12:00 to 17:30 minutes and lecture 12 from 27:40 minutes onwards. Watch *"Pagan Origins of Judaism"* by Sigalius Myricantur and read the description in the video to see the scholarship the video is based on. Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur and watch up to at least 21:40. Watch *"Atheism - A History of God (The Polytheistic Origins of Christianity and Judaism)"* (By a former theist) Watch *"The Origins of Yahweh"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica.
Watch it again. That's not what he said. It's far more accurate if still framed in modern terms that Josiah basically rooster-blocked YHWH. Also, the cultic temples were for both YHWH and Asherah. You can't wreck one without the other.
@@lysanamcmillan7972 Uhm. I am not saying he said that though. I am saying it seems like this. But in your case, no, there were no cultic association with Yahweh. Asherah was with the Canaanites, and its place were destroyed among other false idols which were practiced among the rebellious Israelites.
@@juanausensi499 Nope. The divorce was a joke on my part but on a serious note, there is no such thing as retcon on the scriptures. This is not fictional works.
When you say "we discovered" who are you referring to? You were there when they made these discoveries? You helped in these discoveries? You showed the actual archeologist where to dig? You took part in digging up the ground?
😂 hilarious to call yourself a Biblical scholar, just because you got a degree in some college doesn’t mean you have access to the wisdom of the Bible. ‘Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father in heaven’ Matt 16:17-18 As for God having a wife(which will go in line with your Mormon beliefs/doctrine) you are shamelessly clueless. Please make a video on Lucifer being Jesus brother next 😂😂😂
What & where are the Hebrew texts that actually formally support the worship of Asherah? Obviously you are going to find non-scriptural evidence of pagan beliefs & practices in ancient Israel, they are famous for their frequent turning away from the God of the scriptures to paganism. Just what do you think you are proving here, exactly?
You are a bit slow on the uptake, Glenny boy and are obviously not familiar with the scholarship. Take your blinders off and learn. --------------------------------------------------------- Nevertheless, the historical reconstruction that El was the chief god of the Israelites is not indebted only to the testimony of the (rather late) biblical witness of P. *Numerous biblical texts attest to the fact that the titles, functions, and the imagery associated with the Canaanite god El, as revealed by the Ugaritic texts and the Canaanite myth of Elkunirša, were assimilated into the profile of the deity YHWH.* According to the Ugaritic texts, El was known for his *wisdom* (e.g., KTU2 1.4.V.65[6]) and *great age* (’ab šnm, *“Father of Years,”* and drd, *“Ageless One,”* in KTU2 1.4.IV.24 and 1.10.III.6, respectively),[7] his *compassionate nature* (lţpn il dp’id, *“Kind El, the Compassionate One,”* e.g., KTU2 1.16.IV.9), his role as *father of the gods and humanity* (’ab ’adm, *“father of humanity,”* KTU2 1.14..III.47, and bny bnwt, *“creator of creatures,”* KTU2 1.17.I.24) and *creator of the cosmos.* [8] El was the *divine King* (e.g., KTU2 1.2.III.5-6) and the *head of the pantheon or divine council* (referred to variously as the dr ’il, *“circle of El/Family of El,”* KTU2 1.15.III.19; mpħrt bn ’il, *“the assembly of the sons of El,”* KTU2 1.65.3; bn ’il, *“the sons of El,”* KTU2 1.40.33, 41; pħr kbbm, *“assembly of the stars,”* KTU2 1.10.I.3-4; ‘dt ’ilm, *“assembly of the gods,”* KTU2 1.15.II.7; cf. KTU2 1.2.I; 1.3V; 1.4 IV-V) which met at the sacred mountain. *His consort was the goddess Athirat who bore him seventy sons* (šb‘m bn ’atrt, *“the seventy sons of Athirat,”* KTU2 1.4.VI.46). El was also known for his *divine patronage and blessing of progeny to humans* (as in the Epic of Kirta; see, for example, KTU2 1.14.III.46-51), for his *appearances to humans in dreams* (e.g., KTU2 1.14.I.35-37), as *being a healer* (KTU2 1.16.V-VI), and for his *dwelling at the sacred mountain* (e.g., KTU2 1.2.III.5-6) at the *sources of the mythical rivers* (KTU2 1.2.III.4; 1.3.V.6; 1.4.IV.20-22; 1.17.V.47-48) in a *tent* (KTU2 1.2.III.5; 1.3.V.8; 1.4.IV.24; 1.17.V.49; c.f. the Canaanite myth Elkunirša which *describes El’s abode as a tent[9]).[10]* *To underscore the fact that terminology and imagery originally used for the god El was adopted by the Israelites in their descriptions of YHWH,* the following brief summary might be placed in comparison to the discussion of El above: YHWH is an *aged, patriarchal deity* (Ps. 102:28; Job 36:26; Is. 40:28; Dan. 7.9-14, 22), *a father* (Deut. 32:6; Is. 63:16; 64:7; Jer. 3:4, 19; 31:9, etc.), *merciful and gracious* (Ex. 34:6; Jon. 4:2; Joel 2:13; Ps. 8615; 103:8; 145:8, etc.), *a divine patron who bestows the blessing of progeny upon Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,* often manifesting himself in *dreams or visions, a healer* (Gen. 20:17; Num. 12:13; 2 Kgs. 20:5, 8; Ps. 107:20, etc.), who *dwells in a tent* (Ps. 15:1; 27:6; 91:10; 132:3) *amidst the heavenly waters* (Ps. 47:5; 87; Is. 33: 20-22; Ez. 47:1-12, etc.), the *creator of the cosmos,* who is enthroned as *heavenly King* in the *divine council* (1 Kgs. 22:19; Is. 6:1-8; cf. Ps. 29:1-2; 82; 89: 5-8, etc.) on the *sacred mount of assembly* (e.g., Is. 14:13). Additionally, in much Israelite religious practice throughout the monarchic period, *YHWH had a divine consort, the goddess Asherah, the Hebrew equivalent of Ugaritic Athirat.[11]* (Originally the wife of El) *"When Jehovah Was Not the God of the Old Testament. Part II - theyellowdart"* Watch Professor Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University. Watch lecture 2 from 40:40 to 41:50 minutes, lecture 7 from 30:00 minutes onwards, lecture 8 from 12:00 to 17:30 minutes and lecture 12 from 27:40 minutes onwards. Watch *"Pagan Origins of Judaism"* by Sigalius Myricantur and read the description in the video to see the scholarship the video is based on. Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur and watch up to at least 21:40. ------------------------------------------------------------------ In addition, look up the below articles. *"Jews and Arabs Descended from Canaanites - Biblical Archaeology Society."* ("The study in Cell not only establishes that the ancient Israelites were ***descended from the Canaanites,*** but also establishes that the Canaanite people across the separate city-states of the southern Levant, and over a period of 1,500 years, were a genetically cohesive people.") *"The Canaanites weren't annihilated, they just 'moved' to Lebanon - The Times of Israel."* *"Ancient Canaanite religion explained* - everything.explained.today" *"Archeology of the Hebrew Bible - NOVA - PBS"* ("Many scholars now think that *most of the early Israelites were originally Canaanites, displaced Canaanites,* displaced from the lowlands, from the river valleys, displaced geographically and then displaced ideologically.") *"Origins of Judaism explained* - everything.explained.today" ("According to the current academic historical view, the origins of Judaism lie in the Bronze Age amidst polytheistic ancient Semitic religions, ***specifically evolving out of Ancient Canaanite polytheism,*** then co-existing with Babylonian religion, and syncretizing elements of Babylonian belief into the worship of Yahweh as reflected in the early prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. (The Torah)". *Refer to the bibliography at the bottom of the page)* *"Canaanite languages - Britannica"* ("Group of Northern Central or Northwestern Semitic languages including ***Hebrew,*** Moabite, Phoenician, and Punic.") *"El - New World Encyclopedia"* (Refer to the section "El Outside the Bible" and the fact that *most of the early Israelites were originally indigenous or displaced Canaanites)* *"El (deity) explained* - everything.explained.today" (Refer to section "Ugarit and the Levant" and the fact that *most of the ancient Israelites were originally indigenous or displaced Canaanites* and see how Yahweh, later conflated with El (Yahweh-El(ohim)) is fictional) *"The Gods and Goddesses of Canaan - Essay - The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History"* *"Canaanite Phoenician Origin of the God of the Israelites."* *"The Phoenician (Canaanite) God Resheph in the Bible - Is That in the Bible?"* *"How the Jews Invented God and Made Him Great- Archaeology - Haaretz."* *"When the Jews believed in other gods - Archaeology - Haaretz"* *"The Invention of God - Maclean's"* *"How Did the Bible’s Editors Conceal Evidence of Israelite Polytheism - Evolution of God by Robert Wright."* *"A Theologically Revised Text: Deuteronomy 32:8-9 - Ancient Hebrew Poetry."* *"Biblical Contradiction #3: Which God is the Creator of the Heavens and Earth: Yahweh or El?"* - Dr Steven DiMattei *"Biblical Contradiction #27. Are Yahweh and El the Same God or Not?"* - Dr Steven DiMattei *"Biblical Contradiction **#294**, **#295**, **#296**. Which god liberated Israel from Egypt: Yahweh or El?"* - Dr Steven DiMattei *"Quartz Hill School of Theology - B425 Ugarit and the Bible."* *"The Origins of Yahweh and the Revived Kenite Hypothesis - Is That in the Bible?"* *"Yahweh, god of metallurgy - Fewer Lacunae."* *"Polytheistic Roots of Israelite Religion - Fewer Lacunae."* *"Yahweh was just an ancient Canaanite god. We have been deceived! - Escaping Christian Fundamentalism"* *"Religious Studies: El, Yahweh and the Development of Monotheism in Ancient Israel."* *"Yhwh, God of Edom - Daniel O. McClellan."*
@@unicorntamer2207 Yes Unicorn, that's a fair point & I agree. The thing with Epic is, that all he ever does is present a long reference list. Nothing wrong with that in principal, except perhaps for who is going to bother wading through it all? However, when you do read some and get back to Epic with questions, he simply never responds. He can present other peoples ideas but can not produce any of his own in support or clarification. So there is no point in responding to Epic other than in the way I did.
@glenwillson5073 "What & where are the Hebrew texts that actually formally support the worship of Asherah?" And when you're presented with resources, you don't want to read them. You don't want to learn. You just want to tell others that you're right and they are wrong. But it doesn't take very long to see your ignorance.
According to the general consensus of scholarship *(even critical Christian scholars),* YHWH was originally incorporated into the Canaanite pantheon as a son of the Canaanite high god El before inheriting the top spot in the pantheon and El's wife Athirat (Asherah) before religious reforms "divorced" them. El's pantheon in Ugarit (modern day Ras Shamra in Syria) is called the *Elohim,* literally the plural of El. Interestingly, the Biblical god is also referred to numerous times as Elohim. If you want to see if El is fictional, just read his mythology in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts. "The mysterious Ugaritic text Shachar and Shalim tells how (perhaps near the beginning of all things) *El* came to shores of the sea and saw two women who bobbed up and down. *El* was sexually aroused and took the two with him, killed a bird by throwing a staff at it, and roasted it over a fire. He asked the women to tell him when the bird was fully cooked, and to then address him either as husband or as father, for he would thenceforward behave to them as they called him. They saluted him as husband. He then lay with them, and they gave birth to Shachar ("Dawn") and Shalim ("Dusk"). Again *El* lay with his wives and the wives gave birth to "the gracious gods", "cleavers of the sea", "children of the sea". The names of these wives are not explicitly provided, but some confusing rubrics at the beginning of the account mention the goddess *Athirat (Asherah),* who is otherwise *El's* chief wife, and the goddess Raḥmayyu ("the one of the womb"), otherwise unknown." *"First, a god named El predates the arrival of the Israelites into Syria-Palestine.* Biblical usage shows El was not just a generic noun, but often a proper name for Israel’s God (e.g., Gen 33:20: “El, the God of Israel”)." "I should add here that it is very clear from the grammar that the noun nachalah in v. 9 should be translated “inheritance.” *Yahweh receives Israel as his “inheritance” (nachalah), just as the other sons of El received their nations as their inheritance (nachal, v. 8).* With this verb, especially in the Hiphil, the object is always what is being given as an inheritance. Thus, Israel is given to Yahweh as his inheritance. ((Here I’m indebted to Dan McClellan.)) It would make no sense for Elyon to give himself an inheritance. Moreover, as I’ve argued elsewhere, it is not just the Gentile nations that are divided up according to the number of the *sons of El.* It is all of humankind, i.e., “the sons of Adam.” This clearly includes Israel. And the sons of Adam are not divided up according to the number of the *sons of El,* plus one (i.e., plus Elyon). They are divided up, according to the text, *solely* according to the number of the *sons of El.* *Thus, that Yahweh receives Israel as his inheritance makes Yahweh one of the sons of El mentioned in v. 8. Any other construal of the text would constitute its rewriting.* A Sumerian hymn speaks to the goddess: “Nanshe, your divine powers are not matched by any other divine powers.” *Does this mean that Nanshe was the high goddess, that there were no gods above her? No, it does not.* Nanshe was the daughter of Enki, the high god. *In Sumerian mythology, as with Ugaritic, Israelite, Babylonian, and others, in the ancient past, the high god (Enki, in this case) divided up the world and assigned his children certain domains.* Nanshe was given a limited domain (the modern Persian Gulf) and was tasked with maintaining social justice there. *This is exactly what we see in Deuteronomy 32 with Yahweh. Yahweh is given a limited domain (Israel) and is given authority over his people, to punish them, as well as to protect and defend them against foreign enemies.* That Yahweh, like Nanshe, is said to have incomparable divine power *does not* mean that he is not subordinate to the high god who gave him his domain. *It is also of note that Nanshe, like Baal, Yahweh, and so many other deities, evolved over time. Her domain increased, and she was promoted in the pantheon (although she never became the high goddess)."* *"The Most Heiser: Yahweh and Elyon in Psalm 82 and Deuteronomy 32 - Religion at the Margins"* based on the *majority scholarly consensus.* (Written by Thom Stark who is a Christian) *"Michael Heiser: A Unique Species? - Religion at the Margins"* (A second response to Michael Heiser) *"Excerpt from “Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan” by John Day - Lehi's Library."* *"The Table of Nations: The Geography of the World in Genesis 10"* - TheTorah.com (Excluding the short narrative on Nimrod (vv. 8-12), *which appears to be a later addition,* Genesis 10 contains *70* names of nations or cities, a number that was symbolic of totality. Similarly, the descendants of Jacob were *70* in number (Gen 46:37; Exod 1:5), *as were the sons of the supreme Canaanite god El, with whom YHWH became equated.)* *"Polytheism and Ancient Israel’s Canaanite Heritage. Part V | theyellowdart"* (Of course, much of this [i.e., that Israel worshiped El and Asherah alongside YHWH] is really to be expected given that recent syntheses of the *archaeological, cultural, and literary data* pertaining to the emergence of the nation of Israel in the Levant *show that most of the people who would eventually compose this group were originally Canaanite. As the Hebrew Bible notes, the Hebrew language itself is a Canaanite language, literally the “lip of Canaan” (שְׂפַת כְּנַעַן; Is. **19:18**), and so it cannot often be distinguished by modern scholars from other Canaanite inscriptions on purely linguistic grounds.)* *"Ugarit - New World Encyclopedia"* (Ugaritic religion centered on the chief god, Ilu or El, whose titles included "Father of mankind" and "Creator of the creation." The Court of El was referred to as the (plural) 'lhm or ***Elohim,*** a word ***later used by the biblical writers to describe the Hebrew deity*** and translated into English as "God," in the singular. El, which was ***also the name of the God of Abraham,*** was described as an aged deity with white hair, seated on a throne.) *"Mark Smith: Yahweh as El’s Son & Yahweh’s Ascendency - Lehi's Library"* (Mark Smith is a Catholic) *"God, Gods, and Sons (and Daughters) of God in the Hebrew Bible. Part III | theyellowdart"* *"02 | December | 2009 | Daniel O. McClellan - Psalm 82"* (Daniel McClellan is a Mormon) *"Elohim | Daniel O. McClellan"* (Refer to the article "Angels and Demons (and Michael Heiser)") *"God's Wife Edited Out of the Bible - Almost."* (Pay attention to whose wife Asherah (Athirat) is in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts and how she became the wife of YHWH/Yahweh) *"Yahweh's Divorce from the Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden - Mythology Matters."* *"Asherah, God's Wife in Ancient Israel. Part IV - theyellowdart"* *"The Gates of Ishtar - El, was the original god of the bible."* *"The Gates of Ishtar - Anath in the Elephantine Papyri"* (In addition to Asherah (Athirat) being the consort of Yahweh, it appears some Israelites also viewed the Canaanite goddess Anat(h) as Yahweh's consort) *"Canaanite Religion - New World Encyclopedia"* (Refer to the section "Relationship to Biblical Religion") *"The Syncretization of Yahweh and El : reddit/AcademicBiblical"* (For a good summary of all of the above articles) Watch Professor Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University. Watch lecture 2 from 40:40 to 41:50 minutes, lecture 7 from 30:00 minutes onwards, lecture 8 from 12:00 to 17:30 minutes and lecture 12 from 27:40 minutes onwards. Watch *"Pagan Origins of Judaism"* by Sigalius Myricantur and read the description in the video to see the scholarship the video is based on. Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur and watch up to at least 21:40. Watch *"Atheism - A History of God (The Polytheistic Origins of Christianity and Judaism)"* (By a former theist) Watch *"The Origins of Yahweh"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica.
![Megan Thee Stallion - Mamushi (Remix) [feat. TWICE] [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5c0_u9PsrsQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Makes me wonder just how drastically different things would've gone if Ashera worship had remained. How much would that have impacted later tradition, Christianity (if it developed at all), and all the doctrines that resulted in oppressing women if there'd been a popular goddess alongside a popular god?
I definitely wonder how the birth of Jesus would have been handled. The ideas of "Biblical" marriage would almost certainly be composed comparing people to YHWH and Asherah.
@@poisontango The existence of a female deity in the Israelite pantheon did not result in anything like equity at that time. Though one could certainly argue her retention would have made progress towards recognizing men and women as legal and social equals easier.
We can make some educated guesses. Roman and Greek pantheons had powerful Goddesses (Hera, Aphrodite, Athena...), but their societal norms were mostly unaffected. Women didn't vote in Greece, and roman society was very patriarchal.
I think the influence goes the other way around: social norms come first, and those norms configure how people picture their gods.
@@juanausensi499 Another very influential movement was toward the Egyptian goddess Isis, who became a major goddess in the Greco-Roman world. Interestingly, if I'm not mistaken, the power of women in EGYPTIAN society was significantly greater than it was in other major societies around the Mediterranean.
Arabs had worshipped three very popular Goddesses: AlLat, AlUzza, and Menat. But that didn't stop them from treating women like objects, and killing their first born if it happened to be female, because it was shameful for them to have a first born daughter.
"Whatever happened to God's Wife" sounds like a Dateline episode.
Unsolved Mysteries
Ashereth is vilified in evangelical circles as a false god. Your insights on Josiah grabbing power resonate. Sadly, many charismatic Christians use the false god "purge" to accuse and smear popular culture icons as false gods, even people in their congregation. In other words, Josiah's actions have trickled down in a toxic way.
I think you're mixing up Asherah and Ashtoreth. They may be historically related, but Ashtoreth is the Goddess Ishtar / Astarte changed to sound like Bosheth, which is Hebrew for shame. Baal and Ashtoreth are referred to together frequently, and names with Baalistic theophoric element were also changed to have bosheth. The prime example is Jonathan's son Mephibosheth. His name would have been something like Mephibaal. I do wonder why they didn't change Jezebel to Jezebosheth, but maybe she was too well known.
So you accept christians are closet jws.
Umm have you ever thought that maybe there were actually false Gods? And someone who is acting on behalf of the true God would appear like a dictator to those who are following the evil side?
Wow this is fantastic! Learning about the history behind the books in the Bible is super interesting. Thanks my main man Dan!
Whenever I hear King Josiah be brought up in biblical scholarship, it doesn't really seem to paint him in a good light. Then when you go read the bible, it's nothing but glowing praise. I guess if you're in charge of the book, there's little reason to not think highly of yourself.
Good point
@@CB66941 The same could be said of David. He was a terrible person, and an even worse king. But fortunately, for the priests and biblical authors, he backed the right God. Now he's seen as the Bible's Main Man.
Sound like a certain presidential candidate we know...? 🤔
It's very easy to have a different opinion of a character in a book because of their actions than the book itself has of the character.
YHWH: Take my wife...please! [Ba-dum-bum] 🥁🤣
"I tell you I get no respect" - God
😂
My wife, she is number 4 prostitute in Ancient Near East
Gary Larson: Take my wife’s…fleas! [Ba-dum-bum] 🥁 🐶
YHWH - telling the first Boomer joke
You're saying a temporal ruler might manipulate religious doctrines and practices to benefit themselves?
(Clutches pearls)
Same as Constantine
Same as Constantine
The lines between religion, law, politics, science, and philosophy are at best blurry among ancient Mediterranean societies. See how quickly pagan or indigenous religions practiced for thousands of years fade away after the rulers of those nations convert to Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc. There was a high level of integration between the religion, the society, and the law that we in our more secular times have trouble grasping.
Say it isn’t so!
A greedy bastard ruining the party for everyone. History truly rhymes 😂
Thanks again for such a fantastic concise history lesson!
There’s a really good mom joke in here somewhere.
Yo(hova) mama?
This was Beautiful. Thank you. Nothing but the facts. Not surprising, though. They did the exact same thing to Jesus.
What exactly?
Sooo...
Josiah was a smart marketing guy
Who saw away to corner the Tourist Trade ( Pilgrimages )
Some of the Medieval Crusades were like that too
Religion has always been a business throughout history, apparently.
@@cedarwaxwing3509
The Second Oldest Profession
@@cedarwaxwing3509 Religions have also been involved with political control/power. Although I'm not sure that should be considered separate to their business activities.
@@sigmaoctantis1892 Great point. The further you go back into the past, the harder it becomes to separate political control from what we would consider “business.” In times before commerce or industry became the chief means of accumulating wealth, there was always religion to fill the coffers. And of course, both roads led to the accumulation and concentration of power, as you point out.
I feel sad about the ruined sacred groves to Asherah. They would’ve been nicer than a temple if you like nature.
They are still around, she is the breath and spirit of every tree.
@@AsherahsOrchardthank you.❤ lovely idea. Killing trees and unhoming their creatures breaks my heart.
Sounds like the had a rough divorce. Lol
When he brought up the temple of Arad, it sounded like he just said it had a standing stone, but I believe the point is that it had two, and you can see both in the picture. (One is smaller than the other.)
Divorces are messy things.
Great video. A clear concise explanation. I have a book called “When God Was A Woman” which looks at female gods primarily in ancient civilizations.
And conveniently discovered the "Book of the Law" at that point
Fascinating. This could therefore mark the beginning, the seed of the medieval concept of "sacred kingship": The political centralisation of the King as the earthly representative of the one, unique god of his choice. Thanks, Dan. I'd always wondered when this might have started.
So friggin cool. Thanks for the history lesson!
Apparently she made a deal with Netherrealm Studios and is now licensing her image for Mortal Kombat One...
I guess you never heard of Shin Megami Tensei.
❤❤❤❤❤❤ thanks Dan!!!
Another excellent video. Thanks.
The Bible is God’s break up album
The centralization of YHWH worship to Jerusalem is explained, but why the removal of the Divine Consort? Couldn't that have been maintained, while also centralizing to one city?
Many early trinitarian Christians referred to the Holy Spirit in feminine terms-you could say that in "some sense", the consort still survived in Christianity
There is also the push toward worshipping only YHWH. Both things were part of Josiah's reforms.
@@bob45 I'm not sure worshipping YWH ALONE began with Josiah, as there isn't the faintest evidence that the worship of other gods alongside him in the Temple of Elephantine was ever frowned upon during the period it stood (do with that what you will)
are you afraid to type yahweh that he will sheeit his clothes if you put complete name in sentences? F0kin superstitious religon of savage retrds.
@@tsemayekekema2918 How much power did Josiah have over Elephantine?
Would it be fair to say King Jusiah is the father of the monotheism seen in modern day Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?
Or would he only count as a bringer of monolatry?
Couldn’t Josiah have centralized the worship in Jerusalem AND still kept Asherah as YHWH’s consort? Why did Asherah get suppressed by the deuteronomist project?
Thanks! Love all the content!
It could have been as simple as layoffs and centralizing the worship/priesthood. Maybe, and I'm no scholar or even a layperson, Asherah teachings were used by dissenters or had problematic themes for kings or rulers. It could have been a useful tool for kings to target potential enemies by associating them with Asherah worship.
And it's not so strange. think of why marijuana laws are/were this onerous. People in power in the US found it useful to demonize this drug and thus, win their true objective.. attacking hippies and black people who were a threat to the conservative American power base.
Nothing is preserved or protected if it does not provide some benefit. Everything is a tool. Effective leaders understand how to use those tools to manage large people and balance enemies both within and without their territory. I find it interesting that the Deuteronomists were so intent on erasing Asherah. It feels political, not religious or cultural. But again, I'm no expert. It could be that Josiah had a girlfriend who worshiped Asherah and she cheated on him. I mean.. imagine if a certain German guy had been more successful with his art. It could be just that mundane.
Always fascinating
I believe in the Divine Feminine or a Heavenly Mother.
I didn't get a chance to respond to this the other day, but it's been kind of been tiptoeing around in my head. It strikes me that there are clear parallels between Adonai and Ashera on the one hand and Red Green and Bernice on the other. We get to see Red banging around the Lodge, in Handyman's Corner, and during "The Experts" portion of the show, but we never see Bernice. We know that Red KNOWS better than do something StUPID that would upset Bernice -- though it's implied that he's done so in the past -- and we never see Adonai doing anything to perturb HIS partner. But we DO see Adonai banging around in the celestial equivalent of The Handyman's Corner -- or "If It Ain'T Broke, You Ain't Tryin'," -- with LOTS of The Handyman's Secret Weapon (tm). And if the parallels I see hold true, then it's NO WONDER our universe is so . . . well, what can I say? I've come to the conclusion that the best explanation is that, like Red trying to keep the Possum Lodge from disintegrating, Adonai is doing His best to keep things together despite constant distractions.
And IIRC some scholars have read parts of Jeremiah as alluding to a "divorce" themes that they attribute to Asherah.
She didn't even get half.
Two questions, one about before and one about after Josiah:
1 If centralization and monolatrism starts with Josiah due to Assyrian conquest, why are basically the same reforms attributed to Hezekiah in the Bible and that seems to accepted by most historians?
2 If centralization and monolatrism is as early as Josiah (or even Hezekiah), how come Elephantine Jews are unfamiliar with it around 420bce when they sent a letter to Jerusalem temple to ask support for their Elephantine temple where they worship Yahweh alongside two other deities, doesnt this suggest that centralization and monolatrism actually came much later?
Just an off hand thought.
Perhaps the removal of "God's wife" also had something to do with implementing the subservience mandates of women to their fathers and husbands. It's a bit difficult to sell the idea that women are half that of men when there is a female god.
I am curious there is no extra biblical mention of Josiah's reign, so why do scholars think he was a historical ruler? Curious if there is evidence or something else that points towards his reign?
Because critical scholars are not irrationally sceptical
So what you're saying is that God got a divorce around the 7th century, and then spent the next few thousand years bad-mouthing his ex to anyone who would listen...?
LMAO
Well Isaiah and Jeremiah both say that God divorced the Northern Kingdom of Israel...
Asherah is Jesus' step-mom?
More like God-Mother
I'm wondering if there is a collection of only the parts of the Torah that are believed to have been written before the 7th C BCE?
Does anybody know why Asherah mattered to Josiah? Seems like he could still have had the benefits of the centralization in Jerusalem whether or not Asherah was still part of their pantheon.
I think it's a bit too hyper-cynical to say Josiah "just did it solely because he wanted all the money & power associated with a centralized cult"; I think it was more because of a radical NEW anti-Asherah theological DOCTRINE that Josiah believed in (Kings in antiquity were never in the business of desecrating cults sites simply just for money ALONE), and this new theological doctrine disagreed with earlier kings that wanted to do the more "natural" thing of restoring old cult sites (despite the comparatively better financial benefits of doing what Josiah would later come to do).
Evidence of a radical new theological tradition is expressed by the fact that on a timeline correlating with Josiah's reforms - people of the Northern kingdom who spelled/pronounced the tetragrammaton as "Yo-" instead of the Southern Judahite "Yaw-" found their pronunciation practice being radically ABOLISHED-with even theophoric PERSONAL NAMES being changed to adopt the Southern Judahite spelling!
In Torah Judaism G-d is 1 one Achad only all everyone everywhere always.
We have no " man God idol human s" .
Northern kingdom was destroyed for Idolatry
Asherah was like any other woman of the day... expendable.
Nice spawn shirt
So if you're a theist you believe in the El pantheon?
But Samaria fell nearly a century Josiah.
You’re missing a word here.
I had understood it as Ashera being Elyons wife and Jehovas mother, am I partly right?
the annunaki
How many times a day does Dan change his t-shirt?
Mormons right again
This sounds all very reasonable but why not ban the worship of YHWH and enforce the worship of Asherah instead? Wouldn’t this also accomplish cult centralization? 😮
I'm under the impression that Jerusalem was already primarily a Yahwistic region. I could be wrong though.
Mrs. God disavows all this religious crap.
I finally got here first!
Bad enough that people worship imaginary friends. Worse when they get all patriarchal about it.
What DATA or EVIDENCE do you have to back up your claim that the reason Josiah engaged in his reforms was that it was a pure political power move and that he just liked everyone bringing their money to him? What justification can you give for disregarding what the biblical text says about the reasons for Josiah's reforms and instead making up your own narrative about what really happened?
But why couldn't they centralize the cult of YHWH and Asherah in Jerusalem? Why dis Asherah have to go as well?
The birth of conservatism. Ewe
Not really, it's the birth of iconoclasm. A conservative model would have preserved what had been, not changed and erased.
Sounds pretty univocal, the divine concil should accomodate fundamental human rights and freedom?
Since Abraham the true believers worshipped Yahweh. If the archeological finds that you have stated are true , it does not mean that the isrealites always worshipped multiple gods. It simply shows that they sometimes did go after strange gods. The holy bible says thats what they did time and time again. Thats why God would put them into slavery and bondage
According to the general consensus of scholarship *(even critical Christian scholars),* YHWH was originally incorporated into the Canaanite pantheon as a son of the Canaanite high god El before inheriting the top spot in the pantheon and El's wife Athirat (Asherah) before religious reforms "divorced" them. El's pantheon in Ugarit (modern day Ras Shamra in Syria) is called the *Elohim,* literally the plural of El. Interestingly, the Biblical god is also referred to numerous times as Elohim. If you want to see if El is fictional, just read his mythology in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts.
"The mysterious Ugaritic text Shachar and Shalim tells how (perhaps near the beginning of all things) *El* came to shores of the sea and saw two women who bobbed up and down. *El* was sexually aroused and took the two with him, killed a bird by throwing a staff at it, and roasted it over a fire. He asked the women to tell him when the bird was fully cooked, and to then address him either as husband or as father, for he would thenceforward behave to them as they called him. They saluted him as husband. He then lay with them, and they gave birth to Shachar ("Dawn") and Shalim ("Dusk"). Again *El* lay with his wives and the wives gave birth to "the gracious gods", "cleavers of the sea", "children of the sea". The names of these wives are not explicitly provided, but some confusing rubrics at the beginning of the account mention the goddess *Athirat (Asherah),* who is otherwise *El's* chief wife, and the goddess Raḥmayyu ("the one of the womb"), otherwise unknown."
*"First, a god named El predates the arrival of the Israelites into Syria-Palestine.* Biblical usage shows El was not just a generic noun, but often a proper name for Israel’s God (e.g., Gen 33:20: “El, the God of Israel”)."
"I should add here that it is very clear from the grammar that the noun nachalah in v. 9 should be translated “inheritance.” *Yahweh receives Israel as his “inheritance” (nachalah), just as the other sons of El received their nations as their inheritance (nachal, v. 8).* With this verb, especially in the Hiphil, the object is always what is being given as an inheritance. Thus, Israel is given to Yahweh as his inheritance. ((Here I’m indebted to Dan McClellan.)) It would make no sense for Elyon to give himself an inheritance. Moreover, as I’ve argued elsewhere, it is not just the Gentile nations that are divided up according to the number of the *sons of El.* It is all of humankind, i.e., “the sons of Adam.” This clearly includes Israel. And the sons of Adam are not divided up according to the number of the *sons of El,* plus one (i.e., plus Elyon). They are divided up, according to the text, *solely* according to the number of the *sons of El.* *Thus, that Yahweh receives Israel as his inheritance makes Yahweh one of the sons of El mentioned in v. 8. Any other construal of the text would constitute its rewriting.*
A Sumerian hymn speaks to the goddess: “Nanshe, your divine powers are not matched by any other divine powers.” *Does this mean that Nanshe was the high goddess, that there were no gods above her? No, it does not.* Nanshe was the daughter of Enki, the high god. *In Sumerian mythology, as with Ugaritic, Israelite, Babylonian, and others, in the ancient past, the high god (Enki, in this case) divided up the world and assigned his children certain domains.* Nanshe was given a limited domain (the modern Persian Gulf) and was tasked with maintaining social justice there. *This is exactly what we see in Deuteronomy 32 with Yahweh. Yahweh is given a limited domain (Israel) and is given authority over his people, to punish them, as well as to protect and defend them against foreign enemies.* That Yahweh, like Nanshe, is said to have incomparable divine power *does not* mean that he is not subordinate to the high god who gave him his domain. *It is also of note that Nanshe, like Baal, Yahweh, and so many other deities, evolved over time. Her domain increased, and she was promoted in the pantheon (although she never became the high goddess)."*
*"The Most Heiser: Yahweh and Elyon in Psalm 82 and Deuteronomy 32 - Religion at the Margins"* based on the *majority scholarly consensus.*
(Written by Thom Stark who is a Christian)
*"Michael Heiser: A Unique Species? - Religion at the Margins"*
(A second response to Michael Heiser)
*"Excerpt from “Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan” by John Day - Lehi's Library."*
*"The Table of Nations: The Geography of the World in Genesis 10"* - TheTorah.com
(Excluding the short narrative on Nimrod (vv. 8-12), *which appears to be a later addition,* Genesis 10 contains *70* names of nations or cities, a number that was symbolic of totality. Similarly, the descendants of Jacob were *70* in number (Gen 46:37; Exod 1:5), *as were the sons of the supreme Canaanite god El, with whom YHWH became equated.)*
*"Polytheism and Ancient Israel’s Canaanite Heritage. Part V | theyellowdart"*
(Of course, much of this [i.e., that Israel worshiped El and Asherah alongside YHWH] is really to be expected given that recent syntheses of the *archaeological, cultural, and literary data* pertaining to the emergence of the nation of Israel in the Levant *show that most of the people who would eventually compose this group were originally Canaanite. As the Hebrew Bible notes, the Hebrew language itself is a Canaanite language, literally the “lip of Canaan” (שְׂפַת כְּנַעַן; Is. **19:18**), and so it cannot often be distinguished by modern scholars from other Canaanite inscriptions on purely linguistic grounds.)*
*"Ugarit - New World Encyclopedia"*
(Ugaritic religion centered on the chief god, Ilu or El, whose titles included "Father of mankind" and "Creator of the creation." The Court of El was referred to as the (plural) 'lhm or ***Elohim,*** a word ***later used by the biblical writers to describe the Hebrew deity*** and translated into English as "God," in the singular.
El, which was ***also the name of the God of Abraham,*** was described as an aged deity with white hair, seated on a throne.)
*"Mark Smith: Yahweh as El’s Son & Yahweh’s Ascendency - Lehi's Library"*
(Mark Smith is a Catholic)
*"God, Gods, and Sons (and Daughters) of God in the Hebrew Bible. Part III | theyellowdart"*
*"02 | December | 2009 | Daniel O. McClellan - Psalm 82"*
(Daniel McClellan is a Mormon)
*"Elohim | Daniel O. McClellan"*
(Refer to the article "Angels and Demons (and Michael Heiser)")
*"God's Wife Edited Out of the Bible - Almost."*
(Pay attention to whose wife Asherah (Athirat) is in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts and how she became the wife of YHWH/Yahweh)
*"Yahweh's Divorce from the Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden - Mythology Matters."*
*"Asherah, God's Wife in Ancient Israel. Part IV - theyellowdart"*
*"The Gates of Ishtar - El, was the original god of the bible."*
*"The Gates of Ishtar - Anath in the Elephantine Papyri"*
(In addition to Asherah (Athirat) being the consort of Yahweh, it appears some Israelites also viewed the Canaanite goddess Anat(h) as Yahweh's consort)
*"Canaanite Religion - New World Encyclopedia"*
(Refer to the section "Relationship to Biblical Religion")
*"The Syncretization of Yahweh and El : reddit/AcademicBiblical"*
(For a good summary of all of the above articles)
Watch Professor Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University. Watch lecture 2 from 40:40 to 41:50 minutes, lecture 7 from 30:00 minutes onwards, lecture 8 from 12:00 to 17:30 minutes and lecture 12 from 27:40 minutes onwards.
Watch *"Pagan Origins of Judaism"* by Sigalius Myricantur and read the description in the video to see the scholarship the video is based on.
Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur and watch up to at least 21:40.
Watch *"Atheism - A History of God (The Polytheistic Origins of Christianity and Judaism)"*
(By a former theist)
Watch *"The Origins of Yahweh"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica.
Sorry to raise such a basic question, but how does this square with the 10 Commandments, specifically the 1st one that declares the Israelites shall have no other gods before Him?
Yahweh evolved over time from one of many tribal gods and patron deities before becoming "God of the universe".
In ancient times each city or group of people had a patron deity. Yahweh was the patron deity of the Israelites, while Chemosh was the patron deity of the Moabites for example. The prohibition was to stop the Israelites from worshipping the gods of other nations.
Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the LORD our God has given us, we will possess. - Judges 11:24
Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur.
Those commandments were formulated later and then retrojected into the past so as to make believe that Israelite religion was always YHWH-only and any worship of other gods was "rebellion". Propaganda is the word here.
Exodus never happened. There never were even small amounts of Hebrews in Egypt, although there were a couple nomadic small Jewish tribes that YHWH is supposed to have originated in, as a Pharaoh wrote a line about one tribe of Jews around 1400BCE that worshipped and references a similar to YHWH named god. Even Jewish scholars generally agree Exodus is fiction.
But doesn't that presuppose that there _are_ other gods?
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:3-5
Some / lots of Isrealites at the time had no problem worshipping many 'Gods'.
Josiah removed all/most worship to other Gods and brought the people back to worshipping the one true God.
This is common knowledge to anyone who read the bible.
Just because they did it doesnt mean it was correct or true.
There is no evidence of worshipping a single God previously. The archeological record shows more gods the farther back you go. The Torah is revisionist history.
This is bogus The cult of yah or ia was a seperate pagan sect that went on simultaneously with judaism and early Christianity but had nothing to do with either.
The idea that God had a wife is not supported by mainstream Jewish or Christian theology. However, some ancient Near Eastern texts and archaeological findings have led to discussions about the worship of a goddess named Asherah, who was sometimes associated with Yahweh in certain ancient Israelite contexts.
In the Hebrew Bible, particularly in passages like 2 Kings 21:7 and Jeremiah 7:18, there are references to Asherah poles, which were objects of worship that indicate the presence of polytheistic practices among some Israelites. These references suggest that some people may have worshiped Asherah alongside Yahweh, but this was not sanctioned by the biblical authors, who consistently emphasized the oneness of God (Deuteronomy 6:4).
The biblical narrative presents God as a singular, sovereign being without a consort. The worship of Asherah and other deities was condemned by the prophets and leaders of Israel, emphasizing the call to exclusive devotion to Yahweh.
That's the problem. The Bible doesn't tell the real story.
---------------------------------------------------------
According to the general consensus of scholarship *(even critical Christian scholars),* YHWH was originally incorporated into the Canaanite pantheon as a son of the Canaanite high god El before inheriting the top spot in the pantheon and El's wife Athirat (Asherah) before religious reforms "divorced" them. El's pantheon in Ugarit (modern day Ras Shamra in Syria) is called the *Elohim,* literally the plural of El. Interestingly, the Biblical god is also referred to numerous times as Elohim. If you want to see if El is fictional, just read his mythology in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts.
"The mysterious Ugaritic text Shachar and Shalim tells how (perhaps near the beginning of all things) *El* came to shores of the sea and saw two women who bobbed up and down. *El* was sexually aroused and took the two with him, killed a bird by throwing a staff at it, and roasted it over a fire. He asked the women to tell him when the bird was fully cooked, and to then address him either as husband or as father, for he would thenceforward behave to them as they called him. They saluted him as husband. He then lay with them, and they gave birth to Shachar ("Dawn") and Shalim ("Dusk"). Again *El* lay with his wives and the wives gave birth to "the gracious gods", "cleavers of the sea", "children of the sea". The names of these wives are not explicitly provided, but some confusing rubrics at the beginning of the account mention the goddess *Athirat (Asherah),* who is otherwise *El's* chief wife, and the goddess Raḥmayyu ("the one of the womb"), otherwise unknown."
*"First, a god named El predates the arrival of the Israelites into Syria-Palestine.* Biblical usage shows El was not just a generic noun, but often a proper name for Israel’s God (e.g., Gen 33:20: “El, the God of Israel”)."
"I should add here that it is very clear from the grammar that the noun nachalah in v. 9 should be translated “inheritance.” *Yahweh receives Israel as his “inheritance” (nachalah), just as the other sons of El received their nations as their inheritance (nachal, v. 8).* With this verb, especially in the Hiphil, the object is always what is being given as an inheritance. Thus, Israel is given to Yahweh as his inheritance. ((Here I’m indebted to Dan McClellan.)) It would make no sense for Elyon to give himself an inheritance. Moreover, as I’ve argued elsewhere, it is not just the Gentile nations that are divided up according to the number of the *sons of El.* It is all of humankind, i.e., “the sons of Adam.” This clearly includes Israel. And the sons of Adam are not divided up according to the number of the *sons of El,* plus one (i.e., plus Elyon). They are divided up, according to the text, *solely* according to the number of the *sons of El.* *Thus, that Yahweh receives Israel as his inheritance makes Yahweh one of the sons of El mentioned in v. 8. Any other construal of the text would constitute its rewriting.*
A Sumerian hymn speaks to the goddess: “Nanshe, your divine powers are not matched by any other divine powers.” *Does this mean that Nanshe was the high goddess, that there were no gods above her? No, it does not.* Nanshe was the daughter of Enki, the high god. *In Sumerian mythology, as with Ugaritic, Israelite, Babylonian, and others, in the ancient past, the high god (Enki, in this case) divided up the world and assigned his children certain domains.* Nanshe was given a limited domain (the modern Persian Gulf) and was tasked with maintaining social justice there. *This is exactly what we see in Deuteronomy 32 with Yahweh. Yahweh is given a limited domain (Israel) and is given authority over his people, to punish them, as well as to protect and defend them against foreign enemies.* That Yahweh, like Nanshe, is said to have incomparable divine power *does not* mean that he is not subordinate to the high god who gave him his domain. *It is also of note that Nanshe, like Baal, Yahweh, and so many other deities, evolved over time. Her domain increased, and she was promoted in the pantheon (although she never became the high goddess)."*
*"The Most Heiser: Yahweh and Elyon in Psalm 82 and Deuteronomy 32 - Religion at the Margins"* based on the *majority scholarly consensus.*
(Written by Thom Stark who is a Christian)
*"Michael Heiser: A Unique Species? - Religion at the Margins"*
(A second response to Michael Heiser)
*"Excerpt from “Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan” by John Day - Lehi's Library."*
*"The Table of Nations: The Geography of the World in Genesis 10"* - TheTorah.com
(Excluding the short narrative on Nimrod (vv. 8-12), *which appears to be a later addition,* Genesis 10 contains *70* names of nations or cities, a number that was symbolic of totality. Similarly, the descendants of Jacob were *70* in number (Gen 46:37; Exod 1:5), *as were the sons of the supreme Canaanite god El, with whom YHWH became equated.)*
*"Polytheism and Ancient Israel’s Canaanite Heritage. Part V | theyellowdart"*
(Of course, much of this [i.e., that Israel worshiped El and Asherah alongside YHWH] is really to be expected given that recent syntheses of the *archaeological, cultural, and literary data* pertaining to the emergence of the nation of Israel in the Levant *show that most of the people who would eventually compose this group were originally Canaanite. As the Hebrew Bible notes, the Hebrew language itself is a Canaanite language, literally the “lip of Canaan” (שְׂפַת כְּנַעַן; Is. **19:18**), and so it cannot often be distinguished by modern scholars from other Canaanite inscriptions on purely linguistic grounds.)*
*"Ugarit - New World Encyclopedia"*
(Ugaritic religion centered on the chief god, Ilu or El, whose titles included "Father of mankind" and "Creator of the creation." The Court of El was referred to as the (plural) 'lhm or ***Elohim,*** a word ***later used by the biblical writers to describe the Hebrew deity*** and translated into English as "God," in the singular.
El, which was ***also the name of the God of Abraham,*** was described as an aged deity with white hair, seated on a throne.)
*"Mark Smith: Yahweh as El’s Son & Yahweh’s Ascendency - Lehi's Library"*
(Mark Smith is a Catholic)
*"God, Gods, and Sons (and Daughters) of God in the Hebrew Bible. Part III | theyellowdart"*
*"02 | December | 2009 | Daniel O. McClellan - Psalm 82"*
(Daniel McClellan is a Mormon)
*"Elohim | Daniel O. McClellan"*
(Refer to the article "Angels and Demons (and Michael Heiser)")
*"God's Wife Edited Out of the Bible - Almost."*
(Pay attention to whose wife Asherah (Athirat) is in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts and how she became the wife of YHWH/Yahweh)
*"Yahweh's Divorce from the Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden - Mythology Matters."*
*"Asherah, God's Wife in Ancient Israel. Part IV - theyellowdart"*
*"The Gates of Ishtar - El, was the original god of the bible."*
*"The Gates of Ishtar - Anath in the Elephantine Papyri"*
(In addition to Asherah (Athirat) being the consort of Yahweh, it appears some Israelites also viewed the Canaanite goddess Anat(h) as Yahweh's consort)
*"Canaanite Religion - New World Encyclopedia"*
(Refer to the section "Relationship to Biblical Religion")
*"The Syncretization of Yahweh and El : reddit/AcademicBiblical"*
(For a good summary of all of the above articles)
Watch Professor Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University. Watch lecture 2 from 40:40 to 41:50 minutes, lecture 7 from 30:00 minutes onwards, lecture 8 from 12:00 to 17:30 minutes and lecture 12 from 27:40 minutes onwards.
Watch *"Pagan Origins of Judaism"* by Sigalius Myricantur and read the description in the video to see the scholarship the video is based on.
Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur and watch up to at least 21:40.
Watch *"Atheism - A History of God (The Polytheistic Origins of Christianity and Judaism)"*
(By a former theist)
Watch *"The Origins of Yahweh"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica.
@@epicofatrahasis3775 Both our positions take faith. It requires faith to believe that God inspired men to write with accuracy the 66 books, 39 authors, written over a 1500 year period. It takes faith to believe that the Holy Spirit guided sinful men to get the story correct. I was a hopeful agnostic and as I examined the evidence including Dan’s material I have come to believe the Bible is accurate, that the Bible is the story of reality. My definition of faith is ‘active trust based on reason’.
You have placed your faith that the Bible is a fairy tale based on your examination of the evidence. Reasonable folks offer come to different conclusions. I enjoy Dan and remain open to new ideas and information. I also enjoy the comments of folks like you who disagree with me.
Modern Theology no, archeology absolutely certainly.
Asherah was not Gods wife Before he know God Abram had multiple Gods one of them was Asherah I know In the Bible, Asherah is the Hebrew name of a pagan fertility goddess. that was in the form of a wooden cult object dedicated to her. from what i have read I know Nearly all instances of “Asherah” in the Bible refer to a sacred pole constructed by human hands and erected in honor of the fertility goddess. Scripture also references carved images of Asherah Abrham abandon the worship of Asherah when he found God
Please take the time to familiarise yourself with the scholarship properly. El was the god of patriarchs. YHWH was the god of Moses. The two became conflated.
Both are fictional.
---------------------------------------------------------
According to the general consensus of scholarship *(even critical Christian scholars),* YHWH was originally incorporated into the Canaanite pantheon as a son of the Canaanite high god El before inheriting the top spot in the pantheon and El's wife Athirat (Asherah) before religious reforms "divorced" them. El's pantheon in Ugarit (modern day Ras Shamra in Syria) is called the *Elohim,* literally the plural of El. Interestingly, the Biblical god is also referred to numerous times as Elohim. If you want to see if El is fictional, just read his mythology in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts.
"The mysterious Ugaritic text Shachar and Shalim tells how (perhaps near the beginning of all things) *El* came to shores of the sea and saw two women who bobbed up and down. *El* was sexually aroused and took the two with him, killed a bird by throwing a staff at it, and roasted it over a fire. He asked the women to tell him when the bird was fully cooked, and to then address him either as husband or as father, for he would thenceforward behave to them as they called him. They saluted him as husband. He then lay with them, and they gave birth to Shachar ("Dawn") and Shalim ("Dusk"). Again *El* lay with his wives and the wives gave birth to "the gracious gods", "cleavers of the sea", "children of the sea". The names of these wives are not explicitly provided, but some confusing rubrics at the beginning of the account mention the goddess *Athirat (Asherah),* who is otherwise *El's* chief wife, and the goddess Raḥmayyu ("the one of the womb"), otherwise unknown."
*"First, a god named El predates the arrival of the Israelites into Syria-Palestine.* Biblical usage shows El was not just a generic noun, but often a proper name for Israel’s God (e.g., Gen 33:20: “El, the God of Israel”)."
"I should add here that it is very clear from the grammar that the noun nachalah in v. 9 should be translated “inheritance.” *Yahweh receives Israel as his “inheritance” (nachalah), just as the other sons of El received their nations as their inheritance (nachal, v. 8).* With this verb, especially in the Hiphil, the object is always what is being given as an inheritance. Thus, Israel is given to Yahweh as his inheritance. ((Here I’m indebted to Dan McClellan.)) It would make no sense for Elyon to give himself an inheritance. Moreover, as I’ve argued elsewhere, it is not just the Gentile nations that are divided up according to the number of the *sons of El.* It is all of humankind, i.e., “the sons of Adam.” This clearly includes Israel. And the sons of Adam are not divided up according to the number of the *sons of El,* plus one (i.e., plus Elyon). They are divided up, according to the text, *solely* according to the number of the *sons of El.* *Thus, that Yahweh receives Israel as his inheritance makes Yahweh one of the sons of El mentioned in v. 8. Any other construal of the text would constitute its rewriting.*
A Sumerian hymn speaks to the goddess: “Nanshe, your divine powers are not matched by any other divine powers.” *Does this mean that Nanshe was the high goddess, that there were no gods above her? No, it does not.* Nanshe was the daughter of Enki, the high god. *In Sumerian mythology, as with Ugaritic, Israelite, Babylonian, and others, in the ancient past, the high god (Enki, in this case) divided up the world and assigned his children certain domains.* Nanshe was given a limited domain (the modern Persian Gulf) and was tasked with maintaining social justice there. *This is exactly what we see in Deuteronomy 32 with Yahweh. Yahweh is given a limited domain (Israel) and is given authority over his people, to punish them, as well as to protect and defend them against foreign enemies.* That Yahweh, like Nanshe, is said to have incomparable divine power *does not* mean that he is not subordinate to the high god who gave him his domain. *It is also of note that Nanshe, like Baal, Yahweh, and so many other deities, evolved over time. Her domain increased, and she was promoted in the pantheon (although she never became the high goddess)."*
*"The Most Heiser: Yahweh and Elyon in Psalm 82 and Deuteronomy 32 - Religion at the Margins"* based on the *majority scholarly consensus.*
(Written by Thom Stark who is a Christian)
*"Michael Heiser: A Unique Species? - Religion at the Margins"*
(A second response to Michael Heiser)
*"Excerpt from “Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan” by John Day - Lehi's Library."*
*"The Table of Nations: The Geography of the World in Genesis 10"* - TheTorah.com
(Excluding the short narrative on Nimrod (vv. 8-12), *which appears to be a later addition,* Genesis 10 contains *70* names of nations or cities, a number that was symbolic of totality. Similarly, the descendants of Jacob were *70* in number (Gen 46:37; Exod 1:5), *as were the sons of the supreme Canaanite god El, with whom YHWH became equated.)*
*"Polytheism and Ancient Israel’s Canaanite Heritage. Part V | theyellowdart"*
(Of course, much of this [i.e., that Israel worshiped El and Asherah alongside YHWH] is really to be expected given that recent syntheses of the *archaeological, cultural, and literary data* pertaining to the emergence of the nation of Israel in the Levant *show that most of the people who would eventually compose this group were originally Canaanite. As the Hebrew Bible notes, the Hebrew language itself is a Canaanite language, literally the “lip of Canaan” (שְׂפַת כְּנַעַן; Is. **19:18**), and so it cannot often be distinguished by modern scholars from other Canaanite inscriptions on purely linguistic grounds.)*
*"Ugarit - New World Encyclopedia"*
(Ugaritic religion centered on the chief god, Ilu or El, whose titles included "Father of mankind" and "Creator of the creation." The Court of El was referred to as the (plural) 'lhm or ***Elohim,*** a word ***later used by the biblical writers to describe the Hebrew deity*** and translated into English as "God," in the singular.
El, which was ***also the name of the God of Abraham,*** was described as an aged deity with white hair, seated on a throne.)
*"Mark Smith: Yahweh as El’s Son & Yahweh’s Ascendency - Lehi's Library"*
(Mark Smith is a Catholic)
*"God, Gods, and Sons (and Daughters) of God in the Hebrew Bible. Part III | theyellowdart"*
*"02 | December | 2009 | Daniel O. McClellan - Psalm 82"*
(Daniel McClellan is a Mormon)
*"Elohim | Daniel O. McClellan"*
(Refer to the article "Angels and Demons (and Michael Heiser)")
*"God's Wife Edited Out of the Bible - Almost."*
(Pay attention to whose wife Asherah (Athirat) is in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts and how she became the wife of YHWH/Yahweh)
*"Yahweh's Divorce from the Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden - Mythology Matters."*
*"Asherah, God's Wife in Ancient Israel. Part IV - theyellowdart"*
*"The Gates of Ishtar - El, was the original god of the bible."*
*"The Gates of Ishtar - Anath in the Elephantine Papyri"*
(In addition to Asherah (Athirat) being the consort of Yahweh, it appears some Israelites also viewed the Canaanite goddess Anat(h) as Yahweh's consort)
*"Canaanite Religion - New World Encyclopedia"*
(Refer to the section "Relationship to Biblical Religion")
*"The Syncretization of Yahweh and El : reddit/AcademicBiblical"*
(For a good summary of all of the above articles)
Watch Professor Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University. Watch lecture 2 from 40:40 to 41:50 minutes, lecture 7 from 30:00 minutes onwards, lecture 8 from 12:00 to 17:30 minutes and lecture 12 from 27:40 minutes onwards.
Watch *"Pagan Origins of Judaism"* by Sigalius Myricantur and read the description in the video to see the scholarship the video is based on.
Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur and watch up to at least 21:40.
Watch *"Atheism - A History of God (The Polytheistic Origins of Christianity and Judaism)"*
(By a former theist)
Watch *"The Origins of Yahweh"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica.
Lol. So God divorced his wife? The places of Asherah were consistently destroyed.
Watch it again. That's not what he said. It's far more accurate if still framed in modern terms that Josiah basically rooster-blocked YHWH. Also, the cultic temples were for both YHWH and Asherah. You can't wreck one without the other.
It wasn't a divorce, but a retcon.
@@lysanamcmillan7972 Uhm. I am not saying he said that though.
I am saying it seems like this.
But in your case, no, there were no cultic association with Yahweh. Asherah was with the Canaanites, and its place were destroyed among other false idols which were practiced among the rebellious Israelites.
@@juanausensi499 Nope. The divorce was a joke on my part but on a serious note, there is no such thing as retcon on the scriptures.
This is not fictional works.
@@Jaymastia
You do not appear to have listened to the video very well.
When you say "we discovered" who are you referring to? You were there when they made these discoveries? You helped in these discoveries? You showed the actual archeologist where to dig? You took part in digging up the ground?
Why so salty? We = We later humans.
😂 hilarious to call yourself a Biblical scholar, just because you got a degree in some college doesn’t mean you have access to the wisdom of the Bible.
‘Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father in heaven’ Matt 16:17-18
As for God having a wife(which will go in line with your Mormon beliefs/doctrine) you are shamelessly clueless.
Please make a video on Lucifer being Jesus brother next 😂😂😂
What & where are the Hebrew texts that actually formally support the worship of Asherah?
Obviously you are going to find non-scriptural evidence of pagan beliefs & practices in ancient Israel, they are famous for their frequent turning away from the God of the scriptures to paganism.
Just what do you think you are proving here, exactly?
You are a bit slow on the uptake, Glenny boy and are obviously not familiar with the scholarship.
Take your blinders off and learn.
---------------------------------------------------------
Nevertheless, the historical reconstruction that El was the chief god of the Israelites is not indebted only to the testimony of the (rather late) biblical witness of P. *Numerous biblical texts attest to the fact that the titles, functions, and the imagery associated with the Canaanite god El, as revealed by the Ugaritic texts and the Canaanite myth of Elkunirša, were assimilated into the profile of the deity YHWH.* According to the Ugaritic texts, El was known for his *wisdom* (e.g., KTU2 1.4.V.65[6]) and *great age* (’ab šnm, *“Father of Years,”* and drd, *“Ageless One,”* in KTU2 1.4.IV.24 and 1.10.III.6, respectively),[7] his *compassionate nature* (lţpn il dp’id, *“Kind El, the Compassionate One,”* e.g., KTU2 1.16.IV.9), his role as *father of the gods and humanity* (’ab ’adm, *“father of humanity,”* KTU2 1.14..III.47, and bny bnwt, *“creator of creatures,”* KTU2 1.17.I.24) and *creator of the cosmos.* [8] El was the *divine King* (e.g., KTU2 1.2.III.5-6) and the *head of the pantheon or divine council* (referred to variously as the dr ’il, *“circle of El/Family of El,”* KTU2 1.15.III.19; mpħrt bn ’il, *“the assembly of the sons of El,”* KTU2 1.65.3; bn ’il, *“the sons of El,”* KTU2 1.40.33, 41; pħr kbbm, *“assembly of the stars,”* KTU2 1.10.I.3-4; ‘dt ’ilm, *“assembly of the gods,”* KTU2 1.15.II.7; cf. KTU2 1.2.I; 1.3V; 1.4 IV-V) which met at the sacred mountain. *His consort was the goddess Athirat who bore him seventy sons* (šb‘m bn ’atrt, *“the seventy sons of Athirat,”* KTU2 1.4.VI.46). El was also known for his *divine patronage and blessing of progeny to humans* (as in the Epic of Kirta; see, for example, KTU2 1.14.III.46-51), for his *appearances to humans in dreams* (e.g., KTU2 1.14.I.35-37), as *being a healer* (KTU2 1.16.V-VI), and for his *dwelling at the sacred mountain* (e.g., KTU2 1.2.III.5-6) at the *sources of the mythical rivers* (KTU2 1.2.III.4; 1.3.V.6; 1.4.IV.20-22; 1.17.V.47-48) in a *tent* (KTU2 1.2.III.5; 1.3.V.8; 1.4.IV.24; 1.17.V.49; c.f. the Canaanite myth Elkunirša which *describes El’s abode as a tent[9]).[10]*
*To underscore the fact that terminology and imagery originally used for the god El was adopted by the Israelites in their descriptions of YHWH,* the following brief summary might be placed in comparison to the discussion of El above: YHWH is an *aged, patriarchal deity* (Ps. 102:28; Job 36:26; Is. 40:28; Dan. 7.9-14, 22), *a father* (Deut. 32:6; Is. 63:16; 64:7; Jer. 3:4, 19; 31:9, etc.), *merciful and gracious* (Ex. 34:6; Jon. 4:2; Joel 2:13; Ps. 8615; 103:8; 145:8, etc.), *a divine patron who bestows the blessing of progeny upon Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,* often manifesting himself in *dreams or visions, a healer* (Gen. 20:17; Num. 12:13; 2 Kgs. 20:5, 8; Ps. 107:20, etc.), who *dwells in a tent* (Ps. 15:1; 27:6; 91:10; 132:3) *amidst the heavenly waters* (Ps. 47:5; 87; Is. 33: 20-22; Ez. 47:1-12, etc.), the *creator of the cosmos,* who is enthroned as *heavenly King* in the *divine council* (1 Kgs. 22:19; Is. 6:1-8; cf. Ps. 29:1-2; 82; 89: 5-8, etc.) on the *sacred mount of assembly* (e.g., Is. 14:13). Additionally, in much Israelite religious practice throughout the monarchic period, *YHWH had a divine consort, the goddess Asherah, the Hebrew equivalent of Ugaritic Athirat.[11]* (Originally the wife of El)
*"When Jehovah Was Not the God of the Old Testament. Part II - theyellowdart"*
Watch Professor Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University. Watch lecture 2 from 40:40 to 41:50 minutes, lecture 7 from 30:00 minutes onwards, lecture 8 from 12:00 to 17:30 minutes and lecture 12 from 27:40 minutes onwards.
Watch *"Pagan Origins of Judaism"* by Sigalius Myricantur and read the description in the video to see the scholarship the video is based on.
Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur and watch up to at least 21:40.
------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition, look up the below articles.
*"Jews and Arabs Descended from Canaanites - Biblical Archaeology Society."*
("The study in Cell not only establishes that the ancient Israelites were ***descended from the Canaanites,*** but also establishes that the Canaanite people across the separate city-states of the southern Levant, and over a period of 1,500 years, were a genetically cohesive people.")
*"The Canaanites weren't annihilated, they just 'moved' to Lebanon - The Times of Israel."*
*"Ancient Canaanite religion explained* - everything.explained.today"
*"Archeology of the Hebrew Bible - NOVA - PBS"*
("Many scholars now think that *most of the early Israelites were originally Canaanites, displaced Canaanites,* displaced from the lowlands, from the river valleys, displaced geographically and then displaced ideologically.")
*"Origins of Judaism explained* - everything.explained.today"
("According to the current academic historical view, the origins of Judaism lie in the Bronze Age amidst polytheistic ancient Semitic religions, ***specifically evolving out of Ancient Canaanite polytheism,*** then co-existing with Babylonian religion, and syncretizing elements of Babylonian belief into the worship of Yahweh as reflected in the early prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. (The Torah)".
*Refer to the bibliography at the bottom of the page)*
*"Canaanite languages - Britannica"*
("Group of Northern Central or Northwestern Semitic languages including ***Hebrew,*** Moabite, Phoenician, and Punic.")
*"El - New World Encyclopedia"*
(Refer to the section "El Outside the Bible" and the fact that *most of the early Israelites were originally indigenous or displaced Canaanites)*
*"El (deity) explained* - everything.explained.today"
(Refer to section "Ugarit and the Levant" and the fact that *most of the ancient Israelites were originally indigenous or displaced Canaanites* and see how Yahweh, later conflated with El (Yahweh-El(ohim)) is fictional)
*"The Gods and Goddesses of Canaan - Essay - The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History"*
*"Canaanite Phoenician Origin of the God of the Israelites."*
*"The Phoenician (Canaanite) God Resheph in the Bible - Is That in the Bible?"*
*"How the Jews Invented God and Made Him Great- Archaeology - Haaretz."*
*"When the Jews believed in other gods - Archaeology - Haaretz"*
*"The Invention of God - Maclean's"*
*"How Did the Bible’s Editors Conceal Evidence of Israelite Polytheism - Evolution of God by Robert Wright."*
*"A Theologically Revised Text: Deuteronomy 32:8-9 - Ancient Hebrew Poetry."*
*"Biblical Contradiction #3: Which God is the Creator of the Heavens and Earth: Yahweh or El?"* - Dr Steven DiMattei
*"Biblical Contradiction #27. Are Yahweh and El the Same God or Not?"* - Dr Steven DiMattei
*"Biblical Contradiction **#294**, **#295**, **#296**. Which god liberated Israel from Egypt: Yahweh or El?"* - Dr Steven DiMattei
*"Quartz Hill School of Theology - B425 Ugarit and the Bible."*
*"The Origins of Yahweh and the Revived Kenite Hypothesis - Is That in the Bible?"*
*"Yahweh, god of metallurgy - Fewer Lacunae."*
*"Polytheistic Roots of Israelite Religion - Fewer Lacunae."*
*"Yahweh was just an ancient Canaanite god. We have been deceived! - Escaping Christian Fundamentalism"*
*"Religious Studies: El, Yahweh and the Development of Monotheism in Ancient Israel."*
*"Yhwh, God of Edom - Daniel O. McClellan."*
@@epicofatrahasis3775
So, not so much a thinker yourself then, Epic?
Rather more of a gullible reader of other men's ideas then, it would seem.
Did you think up your own spiritual beliefs then? Pretty sure everyone has been taught by other people.
@@unicorntamer2207
Yes Unicorn, that's a fair point & I agree.
The thing with Epic is, that all he ever does is present a long reference list. Nothing wrong with that in principal, except perhaps for who is going to bother wading through it all?
However, when you do read some and get back to Epic with questions, he simply never responds.
He can present other peoples ideas but can not produce any of his own in support or clarification.
So there is no point in responding to Epic other than in the way I did.
@glenwillson5073 "What & where are the Hebrew texts that actually formally support the worship of Asherah?" And when you're presented with resources, you don't want to read them. You don't want to learn. You just want to tell others that you're right and they are wrong. But it doesn't take very long to see your ignorance.
Why do you talk negatively against king Josiah? He was a king who followed the word of God, purging the land of pagans.
According to the general consensus of scholarship *(even critical Christian scholars),* YHWH was originally incorporated into the Canaanite pantheon as a son of the Canaanite high god El before inheriting the top spot in the pantheon and El's wife Athirat (Asherah) before religious reforms "divorced" them. El's pantheon in Ugarit (modern day Ras Shamra in Syria) is called the *Elohim,* literally the plural of El. Interestingly, the Biblical god is also referred to numerous times as Elohim. If you want to see if El is fictional, just read his mythology in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts.
"The mysterious Ugaritic text Shachar and Shalim tells how (perhaps near the beginning of all things) *El* came to shores of the sea and saw two women who bobbed up and down. *El* was sexually aroused and took the two with him, killed a bird by throwing a staff at it, and roasted it over a fire. He asked the women to tell him when the bird was fully cooked, and to then address him either as husband or as father, for he would thenceforward behave to them as they called him. They saluted him as husband. He then lay with them, and they gave birth to Shachar ("Dawn") and Shalim ("Dusk"). Again *El* lay with his wives and the wives gave birth to "the gracious gods", "cleavers of the sea", "children of the sea". The names of these wives are not explicitly provided, but some confusing rubrics at the beginning of the account mention the goddess *Athirat (Asherah),* who is otherwise *El's* chief wife, and the goddess Raḥmayyu ("the one of the womb"), otherwise unknown."
*"First, a god named El predates the arrival of the Israelites into Syria-Palestine.* Biblical usage shows El was not just a generic noun, but often a proper name for Israel’s God (e.g., Gen 33:20: “El, the God of Israel”)."
"I should add here that it is very clear from the grammar that the noun nachalah in v. 9 should be translated “inheritance.” *Yahweh receives Israel as his “inheritance” (nachalah), just as the other sons of El received their nations as their inheritance (nachal, v. 8).* With this verb, especially in the Hiphil, the object is always what is being given as an inheritance. Thus, Israel is given to Yahweh as his inheritance. ((Here I’m indebted to Dan McClellan.)) It would make no sense for Elyon to give himself an inheritance. Moreover, as I’ve argued elsewhere, it is not just the Gentile nations that are divided up according to the number of the *sons of El.* It is all of humankind, i.e., “the sons of Adam.” This clearly includes Israel. And the sons of Adam are not divided up according to the number of the *sons of El,* plus one (i.e., plus Elyon). They are divided up, according to the text, *solely* according to the number of the *sons of El.* *Thus, that Yahweh receives Israel as his inheritance makes Yahweh one of the sons of El mentioned in v. 8. Any other construal of the text would constitute its rewriting.*
A Sumerian hymn speaks to the goddess: “Nanshe, your divine powers are not matched by any other divine powers.” *Does this mean that Nanshe was the high goddess, that there were no gods above her? No, it does not.* Nanshe was the daughter of Enki, the high god. *In Sumerian mythology, as with Ugaritic, Israelite, Babylonian, and others, in the ancient past, the high god (Enki, in this case) divided up the world and assigned his children certain domains.* Nanshe was given a limited domain (the modern Persian Gulf) and was tasked with maintaining social justice there. *This is exactly what we see in Deuteronomy 32 with Yahweh. Yahweh is given a limited domain (Israel) and is given authority over his people, to punish them, as well as to protect and defend them against foreign enemies.* That Yahweh, like Nanshe, is said to have incomparable divine power *does not* mean that he is not subordinate to the high god who gave him his domain. *It is also of note that Nanshe, like Baal, Yahweh, and so many other deities, evolved over time. Her domain increased, and she was promoted in the pantheon (although she never became the high goddess)."*
*"The Most Heiser: Yahweh and Elyon in Psalm 82 and Deuteronomy 32 - Religion at the Margins"* based on the *majority scholarly consensus.*
(Written by Thom Stark who is a Christian)
*"Michael Heiser: A Unique Species? - Religion at the Margins"*
(A second response to Michael Heiser)
*"Excerpt from “Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan” by John Day - Lehi's Library."*
*"The Table of Nations: The Geography of the World in Genesis 10"* - TheTorah.com
(Excluding the short narrative on Nimrod (vv. 8-12), *which appears to be a later addition,* Genesis 10 contains *70* names of nations or cities, a number that was symbolic of totality. Similarly, the descendants of Jacob were *70* in number (Gen 46:37; Exod 1:5), *as were the sons of the supreme Canaanite god El, with whom YHWH became equated.)*
*"Polytheism and Ancient Israel’s Canaanite Heritage. Part V | theyellowdart"*
(Of course, much of this [i.e., that Israel worshiped El and Asherah alongside YHWH] is really to be expected given that recent syntheses of the *archaeological, cultural, and literary data* pertaining to the emergence of the nation of Israel in the Levant *show that most of the people who would eventually compose this group were originally Canaanite. As the Hebrew Bible notes, the Hebrew language itself is a Canaanite language, literally the “lip of Canaan” (שְׂפַת כְּנַעַן; Is. **19:18**), and so it cannot often be distinguished by modern scholars from other Canaanite inscriptions on purely linguistic grounds.)*
*"Ugarit - New World Encyclopedia"*
(Ugaritic religion centered on the chief god, Ilu or El, whose titles included "Father of mankind" and "Creator of the creation." The Court of El was referred to as the (plural) 'lhm or ***Elohim,*** a word ***later used by the biblical writers to describe the Hebrew deity*** and translated into English as "God," in the singular.
El, which was ***also the name of the God of Abraham,*** was described as an aged deity with white hair, seated on a throne.)
*"Mark Smith: Yahweh as El’s Son & Yahweh’s Ascendency - Lehi's Library"*
(Mark Smith is a Catholic)
*"God, Gods, and Sons (and Daughters) of God in the Hebrew Bible. Part III | theyellowdart"*
*"02 | December | 2009 | Daniel O. McClellan - Psalm 82"*
(Daniel McClellan is a Mormon)
*"Elohim | Daniel O. McClellan"*
(Refer to the article "Angels and Demons (and Michael Heiser)")
*"God's Wife Edited Out of the Bible - Almost."*
(Pay attention to whose wife Asherah (Athirat) is in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts and how she became the wife of YHWH/Yahweh)
*"Yahweh's Divorce from the Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden - Mythology Matters."*
*"Asherah, God's Wife in Ancient Israel. Part IV - theyellowdart"*
*"The Gates of Ishtar - El, was the original god of the bible."*
*"The Gates of Ishtar - Anath in the Elephantine Papyri"*
(In addition to Asherah (Athirat) being the consort of Yahweh, it appears some Israelites also viewed the Canaanite goddess Anat(h) as Yahweh's consort)
*"Canaanite Religion - New World Encyclopedia"*
(Refer to the section "Relationship to Biblical Religion")
*"The Syncretization of Yahweh and El : reddit/AcademicBiblical"*
(For a good summary of all of the above articles)
Watch Professor Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University. Watch lecture 2 from 40:40 to 41:50 minutes, lecture 7 from 30:00 minutes onwards, lecture 8 from 12:00 to 17:30 minutes and lecture 12 from 27:40 minutes onwards.
Watch *"Pagan Origins of Judaism"* by Sigalius Myricantur and read the description in the video to see the scholarship the video is based on.
Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur and watch up to at least 21:40.
Watch *"Atheism - A History of God (The Polytheistic Origins of Christianity and Judaism)"*
(By a former theist)
Watch *"The Origins of Yahweh"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica.
@@epicofatrahasis3775 thank you very much for this information
I hear the word "probably" alot. So this video is "probably" inaccurate.
And yet he’s a scholar and teacher of the Bible, he prides himself on that.
Or you know, you could discard the thousands of pieces of archeological evidence and go with what your home schooled pastor says about it.