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Do not fill this in! ===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> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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