Roland

I'm assuming that the oldest religions for which we have any records are the ones found in Egypt and Sumer. Does anybody know when the name Yahweh first enters the historical record? I'm assuming somewhere in the early 1st millenium but I can't find any evidence for that. And is that reference found in Hebrew literature or perhaps in earlier Canaanite literature?

Thanks

jgreen44

Research in comparative mythology shows a linguistic correlation between Levantine Yaw and monotheistic Yahweh, suggesting that the god may in some manner be the predecessor in the sense of an evolving religion of Yahweh. The research involves identifying Yaw as an etymological cognate to Yahweh.[2] Religious scholars such as Johannes De Moor have established that Yaw and Yahweh are in fact derivatives of the same Semitic appellation.

Although the theological differences between the polytheism of the larger Levantine culture and the evolving monotheism of the Old Testament are noteworthy, the concept of Yaw helps explain some obscure passages. For example, a fragment in Deuteronomy 32.8-9 as it reads in the Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls,[6] provides a special status to the cognate deity Yahweh.[7]

When the Most High (`Elyon) allotted peoples for inheritance,
When He divided up the sons of man,
He fixed the boundaries for peoples,
According to the number of the sons of El[8]
But Yahweh’s portion is his people,
Jacob His own inheritance.[9]

The newer Masoretic manuscripts read "sons of Israel" in place of "sons of El," to conform to later Judaic theology. These manuscripts predate the oldest Masoretic texts by about 700 years.[10] The older reading implicates an original polytheist context at the birth of Judaism. Within this framework, humanity was divided into seventy peoples, each with its own patron god.[11]

The passage as it reads here and in the Septuagint clearly indicates that Yahweh was one deity among many and was lower in status than El the Most High, suggesting that his rise to supremacy was a later innovation.

Another passage, Psalm 82, confirms Yahweh's status as exceptional within a pantheon as an accuser of the divine brethren. In LXX, v. 1 reads: "God stands in the assembly of gods; and in the midst of them will judge gods;" the NRSV also reflects this older reading. Mark S. Smith of New York University writes, "Psalm 82 also presents the god El presiding in a divine assembly at which Yahweh stands up and makes his accusation against the other gods. Here the text shows the older religious worldview which the passage is denouncing."[12]

Other hard data support the linguistic identification of Yahweh with Yaw, the ophidian deity of the sea. Jewish archaeologist Richard Freund notes that a Judean patera (liturgical incense shovel) discovered by Yigal Yadin in the Cave of Letters depicts the Greek goddess Thetis (Levantine Asherah, Yaw's consort), the mother of the oceanic nereids, as does the seven-headed Menorah that is depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome.[13] On the arch, the Menorah's base has six panels, one displays two cherubim with eagle's wings facing each other over the cover (arc) of the covenant, and others display each a sea-dragon, sea-horses or fish (minus the spines which cause the dragon to choke).[14]

http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Yaw-(god)

John Kesler

The late Henry O. Thompson, writing for The Anchor Bible Dictionary, volume VI, pp. 1011-1012, writes:

Loomis

Best answer.

It’s not going to get any better than that.

Or at least it’s very unlikely.

Loomis

Maybe. Maybe not.

Maybe it just means that some authors were compelled to join two different gods from two different traditions – and ended up doing so in incompatible ways.

I think it’s a mistake to treat the OT like it comes from a single monolithic tradition that evolved sequentially over time. Instead, we might want to consider the possibility that it reflects several parallel overlapping traditions that occasionally co-existed.

rob117

New best answer.

Back Again

Evolution doesn't preclude revolution. I see no reason why various non-overlapping source materials couldn't have been deliberately redacted for political purposes.

Roland

Thanks, everyone, for your helpful responses. How do those who advocate the position that the Hebrew religion was always monotheistic deal with Deut 32:8-9? That all but screams out polytheism. The changes made to it in the Masoretic text render a perfectly sensible and comprehensible passage virtually meaningless.

Loomis

Meet Michael Heiser (a Christian apologist).

Are Yahweh and El Distinct Deities In Deut. 32:8-9 and Psalm 82?

Heiser argues that since Israel isn’t listed in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 that Yahweh/God must have kept the tribe of Jacob (Israel) for himself.

Here’s his translation:
Notice his but. He pulled it out of his ass.

semiopen

His translation of "ki", pronounced like key, is not terrible. When I took modern hebrew this means "because." Most translations have it as "for."

I think you are right though, he seems to be using the word in a sense that was not intended.