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Do not fill this in! ==History== ===Periods=== [[Philip King (historian)|Philip King]] and [[Lawrence Stager]] place the history of Yahweh into the following periods: * Late Bronze: 1550–1200 BCE * Iron Age I: 1200–1000 BCE * Iron Age II: 1000–586 BCE * Neo-Babylonian: 586–539 BCE * Persian: 539–332 BCE{{sfn|King|Stager|2001|p=xxiii}} Other academic terms often used include First Temple period, from the construction of the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]] in 957 BCE to its destruction in 586 BCE, exilic for the period of the Exile from 586–539 BCE (identical with Neo-Babylonian above), post-Exilic for later periods and [[Second Temple period]] from the reconstruction of the Temple in 515 BCE until its destruction in 70 CE. ===Late Bronze Age origins (1550–1200 BCE)=== [[File:Storm god-AO 11188-IMG 7668.JPG|thumb|alt=A bronze statue of a standing male figure, his right hand raised and his left hand extended, wearing a crested helmet|Late Bronze Age statuette of a storm god from [[Tartus#Phoenician Antaradus|Phoenician Antaradus]]]] There is almost no agreement on Yahweh's origins.{{sfn|Fleming|2020|p=3}} His name is not attested other than among the Israelites, and there is no consensus on its etymology, with ''ehyeh ašer ehyeh'' ("[[I Am that I Am]]"), the explanation presented in [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 3:14,<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|3:14|HE}}</ref> appearing to be a late theological [[Gloss (annotation)|gloss]] invented at a time when the original meaning had been forgotten,{{sfn|Parke-Taylor|1975|p=51}} although some scholars dispute this.{{sfn|Lewis|2020|page=214}}{{sfn|Miller II|2021|p=18}} Lewis connects the name to [[Amorite language|Amorite]] ''yahwi-'' (''ia-wi''), found in personal names, meaning "brings to life/causes to exist" (e.g. ''yahwi-dagan'' = "[[Dagon]] causes to exist"), commonly denoted as the semantic equivalent of the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''ibašši-''DN;{{sfn|Lewis|2020|pp=211, 215}} though [[Frank Moore Cross]] emphasizes that the Amorite verbal form is of interest only in attempting to reconstruct the verbal root of the name "Yahweh", and that attempts to take ''yahwi-'' as a divine epithet should be "vigorously" argued against.{{sfn|Cross|1973|pp=61-63}} One scholarly theory is that he originated in a shortened form of ''ˀel ḏū yahwī ṣabaˀôt'', "El who creates the hosts",{{sfn|Miller|2000|p=2}}{{sfn|Kitz|2019|pp=39–62}} which Cross considers to be one of the cultic names of El.{{sfn|Cross|1973|p=71}} However, this phrase is nowhere attested either inside or outside the Bible, and the two gods are in any case quite dissimilar, with El being elderly and paternal and lacking Yahweh's association with the storm and battles.{{sfn|Day|2002|pp=13–14}} Even if the above issues are resolved, Yahweh is generally agreed to have a non-causative etymology because otherwise, YHWH would be translated as YHYH.{{sfn|Lewis|2020|p=222}} It also begs the question on why the Israelites would want to shorten the epithet. One possible reason includes the co-existence of religious modernism and conservatism being the norm in all religions.{{sfn|Lewis|2020|p=222}} The oldest plausible occurrence of his name is in the [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] [[demonym]] ''[[wikt:tꜣ-šꜣsw-yhwꜣ|tꜣ šꜣsw Yhwꜣ]]'', "The Land of the [[Shasu]] ''YHWA''," ([[Egyptian language|Egyptian]]: {{Script/Egyp|𓇌𓉔𓍯𓄿}} ''Yhwꜣ'') in an inscription from the time of [[Amenhotep III]] (1390–1352 BCE),{{sfn|Shalomi Hen|2021}}{{sfn|Anderson|2015|p=100}} the [[Shasu]] being nomads from [[Midian]] and [[Edom]] in northern Arabia.{{sfn|Grabbe|2007|p=151}} Although it is still uncertain whether a relationship exists between the toponym ''yhwꜣ'' and theonym ''YHWH'',<ref>{{harvnb|Shalomi Hen|2021}}: "Unfortunately, albeit the interesting analogies, the learned discussions, and the broad perspective, the evidence is too scanty to allow any conclusions concerning the exact meaning of the term YHWA/YHA/YH as it appears in Ancient Egyptian records."</ref> the dominant view is that Yahweh was a "divine warrior from the southern region associated with [[Mount Seir|Seir]], [[Edom]], [[Desert of Paran|Paran]] and [[Teman (Edom)|Teman]]".{{sfn|Smith|2017|p=42}} There is considerable although not universal support for this view,{{sfn|Grabbe|2007|p=153}} but it raises the question of how Yahweh made his way to the north.{{sfn|Van der Toorn|1999|p=912}} An answer many scholars consider plausible is the [[Kenite hypothesis]], which holds that traders brought Yahweh to Israel along the [[Caravan (travellers)|caravan]] routes between [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Canaan]].{{sfn|Van der Toorn|1999|pp=912–13}} This ties together various points of data, such as the absence of Yahweh from Canaan, his links with [[Edom]] and [[Midian]] in the biblical stories, and the [[Kenite]] or Midianite ties of [[Moses]],{{sfn|Van der Toorn|1999|page=912}} but its major weaknesses are that the majority of Israelites were firmly rooted in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], while the historical role of Moses is problematic.{{sfn|Van der Toorn|1995|pp=247–248}} It follows that if the Kenite hypothesis is to be maintained, then it must be assumed that the Israelites encountered Yahweh (and the Midianites/Kenites) inside Israel and through their association with the earliest political leaders of Israel.{{sfn|Van der Toorn|1995|p=248}} Christian Frevel argues that [[Omrides]] introduced YHWH to the Kingdom of Judah, via [[Ahab]]'s expansions in southern Canaan. Originally, YHWH was the patron god of Judean ''state'' and was foreign to commoners. In the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]], there was a plurality of Yahwist cults, which were discredited by the pro-Judean Hebrew Bible. Frevel believes the Kenite hypothesis is too speculative and that Teman could refer to any southern region, including Judah. Verses that talk about YHWH "rising from Teman" also denote his presence rather than his origins. <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Frevel |first=Christian |date=2021 |title=When and from Where did YHWH Emerge? Some Reflections on Early Yahwism in Israel and Judah |url=https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/8776 |journal=Entangled Religions |volume=12 |issue=2 |via=RUB}}</ref> ===Early Iron Age (1200–1000 BCE)=== [[File:Bull site statuette.png|thumb|alt=A bronze bull|Early Iron Age bull figurine from [[Bull Site]] at Dhahrat et-Tawileh (modern [[West Bank]], ancient [[Mount Ephraim|Ephraim]]), representing El, Baal or Yahweh{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=83}}{{sfn|Stavrakopoulou|2021|p=395}}]] In the Early Iron Age, the modern consensus is that there was no distinction in language or [[material culture]] between Canaanites and Israelites. Scholars accordingly define Israelite culture as a subset of Canaanite culture.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=7, 19–31}} In this view, the Israelite religion consisted of Canaanite gods such as El, the ruler of the [[Pantheon (religion)|pantheon]],{{sfn|Golden|2009|p=182}} [[Asherah]], his consort, and [[Baal]].{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=19–31}} Yahweh is described as one of the sons of El in Deuteronomy 32:8–9,<ref>{{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|32:8–9|NET}}</ref> but this was removed by a later emendation to the text.{{sfn|Anderson|2015|p=77}} In the earliest Biblical literature, Yahweh has characteristics of a storm god typical of ancient Near Eastern myths, marching out from [[Edom]] or the [[Sinai desert]] with the heavenly host of stars and planets that make up his army to do battle with the enemies of his people Israel:{{sfn|Hackett|2001|pp=158–160}} {{poemquote|Yahweh, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water. The mountains quaked at Yahweh's presence, even Sinai at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ... From the sky the stars fought. From their courses, they fought against [[Sisera]]. ([[Book of Judges]] 5:4–5, 20, ''WEB'' [[World English Bible]], the [[Song of Deborah]].)}} From the perspective of the [[Kenite hypothesis]], it has also been suggested that the Edomite deity [[Qōs]] might have been one and the same as Yahweh, rather than a separate deity, with its name a title of the latter.{{sfn|Anderson|2015|p=101}} Aside from their common territorial origins, various common characteristics between the [[Yahwism|Yahwist cult]] and the Edomite cult of Qōs hint at a shared connection.<ref name="Manyanya">{{Cite book |last=Manyanya |first=Lévi Ngangura |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kiR_xkWUFS4C&pg=PA258 |title=La fraternité de Jacob et d'Esaü (Gn 25–36): quel frère aîné pour Jacob? |date=2009 |publisher=Labor et Fides |isbn=978-2-8309-1253-1 |page=257 |language=fr}}</ref> [[Doeg the Edomite]], for example, is depicted as having no problem in worshiping Yahweh and is shown to be at home in Jewish sanctuaries.<ref name="Manyanya" /> Unlike the chief god of the [[Ammon]]ites ([[Milcom]]) and the [[Moabites]] ([[Chemosh]]), the [[Tanakh]] refrains from explicitly naming the Edomite Qōs.<ref>E. A. Knauf. (1999). Qos [in] Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst [eds.], [https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&pg=PA677 ''Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible''], pp. 674–677. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing: "This clan or family must have been of Edomite or Idumaean origin." (p. 677).</ref><ref>Elie Assis, [https://books.google.com/books?id=_jQLEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 ''Identity in Conflict: The Struggle between Esau and Jacob, Edom and Israel''], [[Penn State Press]], 2016 {{isbn|978-1-575-06418-5}} p.10: At 1 Kgs 1–8 there is exceptionally no mention of any Edomite gods:'King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of the Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women. ... For Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the aboimination of the Ammonites. ... Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who offered incense and sacrificed to their gods.'</ref> Some scholars have explained this notable omission by assuming that the level of similarity between Yahweh and Qōs would have made rejection of the latter difficult.{{sfn|Dicou|1994|p=177}} Other scholars hold that Yahweh and Qōs were different deities from their origins, and suggest that the tensions between Judeans and Edomites during the Second Temple period may lie behind the omission of Qōs in the Bible.{{sfn|Tebes|2023}} [[Israel Knohl]] argues that there is no evidence of any anthropomorphic figurines or cultic statues in Israel during this period, suggesting monotheistic practice.{{sfn|Knohl|2017|pp=171–172}} ===Late Iron Age (1000–586 BCE)=== [[File:Ajrud.jpg|thumb|alt=A reconstructed two-handled jar, with many missing fragments. In the centre, two bull-headed figures look towards us. There are other figures and the scene is hard to make out.|Painting on a [[Kuntillet Ajrud inscriptions|jar found at Kuntillet Ajrud]], under the inscription "Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah" (c. 800 BCE)]] The late Iron Age saw the emergence of [[nation state]]s associated with specific [[national god]]s:{{sfn|Schniedewind|2013|p=93}} Chemosh was the god of the Moabites, Milcom the god of the Ammonites, Qōs the god of the Edomites, and Yahweh the god of the Israelites.{{sfn|Hackett|2001|p=156}}{{sfn|Davies|2010|p=112}} In each kingdom the king was also the head of the national religion and thus the [[viceroy]] on Earth of the national god.{{sfn|Miller|2000|p=90}} Yahweh filled the role of national god in the [[kingdom of Israel (Samaria)]], which emerged in the 10th century BCE; and also in [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], which may have emerged a century later{{sfn|Geller|2012|p=unpaginated}} (no "God of Judah" is mentioned anywhere in the Bible).{{sfn|Hackett|2001|p=156}}{{sfn|Davies|2010|p=112}} In an inscription discovered in [[Ein Gedi]] and dated around 700 BCE, Yahweh appears described as the lord of "the nations", while in other contemporary texts discovered in [[Khirbet Beit Lei]] (near Lachish) he is mentioned as the ruler of Jerusalem and probably also of Judah.{{sfn|Hess|2020|p=247}} During the reign of [[Ahab]] (c. 871–852 BCE), and particularly following his marriage to [[Jezebel]], Baal may have briefly replaced Yahweh as the national god of Israel (but not Judah).{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=71–72}}{{sfn|Campbell|2001|pp=221–222}} In the 9th century BCE, there are indications of rejection of Baal worship associated with the prophets [[Elijah]] and [[Elisha]]. The Yahweh-religion thus began to separate itself from its Canaanite heritage; this process continued over the period from 800 to 500 BCE with legal and prophetic condemnations of the [[asherim]], [[sun worship]] and worship on the [[high place]]s, along with practices pertaining to the dead and other aspects of the old religion.{{sfn|Smith|2002|page=9}} Features of Baal, El, and Asherah were absorbed into Yahweh, and epithets such as [[El Shaddai]] came to be applied to Yahweh alone.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=8, 33–34, 135}} In this atmosphere a struggle emerged between those who believed that Yahweh alone should be worshipped, and those who worshipped him within a larger group of gods;{{sfn|Sperling|2017|p=254}} the Yahweh-alone party, the party of the [[prophet]]s and [[Deuteronomist]]s, ultimately triumphed, and their victory lies behind the biblical narrative of an Israel vacillating between periods of "following other gods" and periods of [[fidelity]] to Yahweh.{{sfn|Sperling|2017|p=254}} ===Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods (586–332 BCE)=== {{main|Second Temple Judaism}} [[File:Jerus-n4i.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=A model building, with a large cubic structure to the rear and an open courtyard in front, surrounded by crenelated and turreted walls|The [[Second Temple]], as [[Herod's temple|rebuilt]] by [[Herod the great|Herod]] c. 20–10 BCE (modern model, 1:50 scale)]] In 587/6 BCE [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|Jerusalem fell]] to the [[Neo-Babylonian]]s, [[Solomon's Temple]] was destroyed, and the leadership of the community were deported.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=2}} The next 50 years, the [[Babylonian exile]], were of pivotal importance to the history of Israelite religion. As the traditional [[sacrifice]]s to Yahweh (see below) could not be performed outside Israel, other practices including [[Biblical Sabbath|sabbath]] observance and [[Brit milah|circumcision]] gained new significance.{{sfn|Cogan|2001|p=271}} In the writing of [[second Isaiah]], Yahweh was no longer seen as exclusive to Israel, but as extending his promise to all who would keep the sabbath and observe his covenant.{{sfn|Cogan|2001|p=274}} In 539 BCE [[Fall of Babylon|Babylon in turn fell]] to the Persian conqueror [[Cyrus the Great]], the exiles were given permission to return (although only a minority did so), and by about 500 BCE the [[Second Temple]] was built.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|pp=2–3}} Towards the end of the Second Temple period, speaking the name of Yahweh in public became regarded as [[taboo]].{{sfn|Leech|2002|pp=59–60}} When reading from the scriptures, Jews began to substitute the divine name with the word ''[[adonai]]'' (אֲדֹנָי), meaning "[[Lord#Religion|my Lords]]".{{sfn|Leech|2002|p=60}} The [[High Priest of Israel]] was permitted to speak the name once in the Temple during the [[Yom Kippur|Day of Atonement]], but at no other time and in no other place.{{sfn|Leech|2002|p=60}} During the [[Hellenistic period]], the scriptures were translated into Greek by the Jews of the [[History of the Jews in Egypt|Egyptian diaspora]].{{sfn|Coogan|Brettler|Newsom|2007|p=xxvi}} Greek translations of the Hebrew scriptures render both the [[tetragrammaton]] and ''adonai'' as ''[[kyrios]]'' (κύριος), meaning "Lord".{{sfn|Leech|2002|p=60}} The period of Persian rule saw the development of expectation in a future human king who would rule [[Ritual purification|purified]] Israel as Yahweh's representative at the [[Jewish eschatology|end of time]]—a [[messiah]]. The first to mention this were [[Haggai]] and [[Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)|Zechariah]], both prophets of the early Persian period. They saw the messiah in [[Zerubbabel]], a descendant of the [[Davidic line|House of David]] who seemed, briefly, to be about to re-establish the ancient royal line, or in Zerubbabel and the first High Priest, [[Joshua the High Priest|Joshua]] (Zechariah writes of two messiahs, one royal and the other priestly). These early hopes were dashed (Zerubabbel disappeared from the historical record, although the High Priests continued to be descended from Joshua), and thereafter there are merely general references to a Messiah of [[David]] (i.e. a descendant).{{sfn|Wanke|1984|pp=182–183}}{{sfn|Albertz|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Xx9YzJq2B9wC&pg=PA130 130]}} From these ideas, [[Second Temple Judaism]] would later emerge, whence [[Christianity]], [[Rabbinic Judaism]], and [[Islam]]. 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