Yahweh

This article is about the character and history of the deity Yahweh as depicted in the primary literary and other sources. See God in Judaism and God in Abrahamic religions for monotheistic conceptions of God.

For the term "YHWH", see Tetragrammaton.

Yahweh is the name of a god in ancient Semitic religion, and notably the personal name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible. The form Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew יהוה, YHWH. The exact historical vocalization of the name as well as its etymology is uncertain.

The Bible describes Yahweh as the one true God who delivered Israel from Egypt and gave the Ten Commandments: "Then God spoke all these words. He said, ‘I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you lived as slaves. You shall have no other gods to rival me.’”^[1] Yahweh revealed himself to Israel as a jealous God who would not permit his people to make idols or follow gods of other nations^[2] or worship gods known by other names, "I am Yahweh, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, or My praise to idols."^[3] Yahweh demanded the role of the one true God in the hearts and minds of Israel, "Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one: and you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might."^[4]

The documentary hypothesis employs source criticism to interpret different character attributes as originating in four distinct source documents of the Torah.^[5] For example, anthropomorphic descriptions, visits from Yahweh and use of the personal name prior to Exodus 3 are attributed to the Jahwist source.^[6] Use of the generic title, Elohim, and descriptions of Yahweh of a more impersonal nature (for example, speaking through dreams and angels rather than personal appearances) are attributed to the Elohist source.^[7] Descriptions of Yahweh as particularly concerned with whether Judah’s kings were good or bad and with centralized temple worship are attributed to the Deuteronomist source.^[8] Passages that portray Yahweh as acting through the Aaronid priesthood and temple-based sacrificial system are described as originating with the Priestly source.^[9]

Historians of the ancient near east describe worship of Yahweh as originating in pre-Israelite peoples of the Levant rather than in a divine revelation to Moses.^[10] Theophoric names, names of local gods similar to Yahweh, and archaeological evidence are used along with the Biblical source texts to describe pre-Israel origins of Yahweh worship, the relationship of Yahweh with local gods, and the manner in which Yahweh worship evolved into Jewish monotheism. In contrast, scholars who employ methods allowing for supernaturalism and divine inspiration continue to interpret the Biblical portrayal of Yahweh in a manner consistent with faith-based views.^[11] Worship of Yahweh alone is a central idea of historical Judaism.^[12] Much of Christianity views Jesus as the human incarnation of Yahweh.^[13] The importance of the divine name and the character of the “one true God” revealed as Yahweh are often contrasted with the significantly different character of rival deities known by different names in the traditional polytheistic religions.^[14] Some scholars, including William G. Dever, have asserted that the Asherah was worshipped as a consort of Yahweh, until the 6th century BCE, when strict monolatry of Yahweh became prevalent in the wake of the destruction of the temple.^[15][16] However, the consort hypothesis has been subject to debate with numerous scholars publishing disagreement.^{[17][18][19][20][21][22]}

Contents 1 The Tetragrammaton 2 Etymology 3 In the Hebrew Bible 3.1 In the Torah 3.1.1 Account of the burning bush 3.2 In the Nevi’im (Prophets) 3.2.1 Contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal regarding the name of God 3.2.2 In the Book of Isaiah 3.2.3 In the Book of Jeremiah 3.2.4 In the Book of Zechariah 3.3 In the Kethuvim (writings) 4 The Documentary Hypothesis 4.1 Jahwist 4.2 Elohist view of Yahweh 4.3 Deuteronomist view of Yahweh 4.4 Priestly view 5 Early history of Yahweh-worship 5.1 Development 5.2 Orthodox Yahwism 5.3 Heterodox Yahwism 5.4 Syncretistic Yahwism 5.5 Ancient Israel and Judah 6 Use of "Yahweh" in contemporary religion 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

The Tetragrammaton

"Yahweh" is the proper name of God in the Hebrew Bible, where it is written as four consonants (YHWH), called the tetragrammaton,^[23] the actual pronunciation of which is still debated. Jews ceased to use the name in the Greco-Roman period, replacing it with the common noun Elohim, “god”, to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of Israel's God over all others; at the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered, and was replaced in spoken ritual by the word Adonai (“My Lord”), or with haShem (“the Name”) in everyday speech. From about the 6th to the 10th century, it is believed that Jewish scholars used the vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai or Elohim as the vowels for YHWH, producing the name Jehovah (YeHoWaH), and this was adopted by Christian scholars after the Renaissance.^[24]

In the 19th century the eminent Hebrew scholar Wilhelm Gesenius (1786–1842) suggested "Yahweh" as the most probable vocalization, based on his study of early Greek transcriptions, theophoric names, and the reported pronunciation of the name in the Samaritan tradition.^[25] As a result, in the 19th and 20th centuries biblical scholars began to use the form Yahweh and it became the conventional usage in biblical scholarship.^[24]

Etymology

The name is generally linked to a form of the Semitic word-stem HWH, conveying the idea of "befalling". Both Amorite personal names and Greek transcriptions of the tetragrammaton suggest that the vocalization Yahweh is correct, and as such should be read as having derived from a causative verbal form ("he becomes" or "he befalls"). On the other hand, if the name is analyzed as a (non-causative) G Stem, the verb "to be" plus the name of El, the chief god in the pantheon, could give rise to the forms yahweh-el ("He is El", "He shows himself as El") or the reverse, El-yahweh (El who shows himself).^[26]

An etymologization of the name, connecting YHWH with the root HYH, is given in the Book of Exodus, where YHWH, asked by Moses for his name, replies:

... יהוה אלהי אבתיכם... זה־שמי לעלם... אהיה אשר אהיה ויאמר כה תאמר לבני ישראל אהיה שלחני אליכם׃

"I AM THAT I AM [...] Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you [...] YHWH God of your fathers, [...] this is my name for ever" ^{[Exod. 3:14-15]}

In the Hebrew Bible

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In the Torah

According to the Book of Genesis, Yahweh said to Abraham: “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s home to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, bless you and make great your name, that it may be a blessing.’”^[27] This abrupt introduction of Yahweh to Abraham signals the beginning of an integral history that extends gradually to a family, then to a people, and later still to a nation.^[28] Yahweh then grants Abraham a covenant-treaty codifying these promises.^[29] In the Genesis narrative, the next step of this history begins with the birth of a promised son to Abraham and his wife Sarah: “Yahweh treated Sarah as he had said, and he did what he had promised her. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age.”^[30] When this son, Isaac, is grown, Abraham’s servant credits Yahweh with orchestrating events to lead him to Rebekah to be Isaac’s wife. Rebekah’s father and brother agree: “This matter stems from Yahweh … Rebekah is at your call; take her with you and let her be a wife to your master’s son, as Yahweh has spoken.”^[31] When Jacob (Isaac and Rebecca son) flees from his twin brother Esau, Yahweh appears to Jacob, saying, “I, Yahweh, am the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you are lying I shall give to you and your descendants.”^[32] After Jacob’s son, Joseph, is sold as a slave in Egypt, his master notices that “Yahweh was with Joseph”^[33] and takes him into his household, with the result that “Yahweh blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph’s sake; indeed, Yahweh’s blessing was on everything he owned.”^[34][35]

In Exodus, Yahweh initiates a covenant with Israel. His right to be Israel’s God is based in his redeeming them from slavery in Egypt. The people of Israel agree to the covenant terms Yahweh gives, including the Ten Commandments:^[36]

I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

– Exodus 20:1-6 (WEB)^[37]

In Leviticus, Yahweh indicates that these laws have an overarching purpose: to distinguish the nation of Israel and to highlight the unique identity of Yahweh. “For I am Yahweh your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy: neither shall you defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth. For I am Yahweh who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”^[38] Leviticus can be described as “the book of the holiness of Yahweh” whose fundamental requirement is, “You shall be holy to me.”^[39]

In Numbers, the priests are instructed to bless the nation of Israel as follows: “‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you. Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’ “So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them.”^[40]

In Deuteronomy, Moses reviews the terms of the covenant before Israel continues on to the promised land under the leadership of Joshua.^[41] Yahweh intends his commands to reveal his unique wisdom and identity to the other nations of the earth.^[42] Moses writes,

Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land where you go in to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him? What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

– Deuteronomy 4:5-8 (WEB)^[43]

The detailed religious requirements of the covenant should not detract from the love between Israel and their redeemer, “Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one: and you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might."^[44]

Account of the burning bush

According to Exodus, Yahweh appeared to Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.^[Exodus 3] Yahweh said to Moses, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”^[45] Throughout the discussion between Yahweh and Moses, Moses seems reluctant to attempt to lead Israel out of Egypt. At one point, he said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you;’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?”^[46] God replied, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Yahweh also said to Moses:

You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations. Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt; and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey."

– Exodus 3:14-17 (WEB)^[47]

This introduction to “Yahweh” as the personal name of God associates the divine name with the Hebrew verb “hayah” meaning “to be”.^[48] “I will be what I will be” indicates “[m]y nature will become evident from my actions.”^[49] Later in Exodus, God frequently declares that from his actions (such as the ten plagues) Israel and Egypt “shall know that I am Yahweh.”^[50] Thus, as God, Yahweh is revealed by both his personal name and his mighty deeds in history rather than a list of characteristics.^[51]

In the Nevi’im (Prophets)

The Nevi’im draw clear distinctions between the worship of Yahweh as God and the worship of other gods which they regard as false.^[52] Faithfulness to Yahweh brings blessings of rain, health, peace, and victory over one’s enemies. Worship of false gods brings drought, plague, foreign invasion, captivity, and destruction.^[53]

Contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal regarding the name of God

According to the book of Kings, the prophet Elijah announced a period of drought as a consequence for Israel's worship of false gods during the reign of Ahab.^[54] After 42 months of drought, Elijah proposed a contest between Yahweh and the prophets of Baal, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of Yahweh; but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it. You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh. The God who answers by fire, let him be God.”^[55]

All the people agreed to the contest, and the prophets of Baal arranged a bull for sacrifice on a pile of wood and called on the name of their god from morning to noon without result. They cried aloud, cut themselves with lances, and prophesied well into the afternoon, but no answer came. Elijah then repaired the altar of Yahweh, put the wood in order, and cut the bull and placed the pieces upon the wood. After having a large quantity of water poured over the sacrifice and the wood three times, Elijah prayed, “Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, Yahweh, hear me, that this people may know that you, Yahweh, are God, and that you have turned their heart back again.”^[56]

After this, the narrative describes that the fire of Yahweh fell, and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. All the people saw it, fell on their faces and said, “Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!”^[57]

In the Book of Isaiah

A main theme in the Book of Isaiah is Yahweh’s holiness as the essence of his divine being, which causes men to tremble before him as they worship him. This holy God has associated himself in a special way with Israel.^[58] According to Isaiah, Yahweh expected Israel to rely on him rather than neighboring nations for support and protection.^[59]

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they don’t look to the Holy One of Israel, and they don’t seek Yahweh! Yet he also is wise, and will bring disaster, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of those who work iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When Yahweh stretches out his hand, both he who helps shall stumble, and he who is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together.

– Isaiah 31:1-3 (WEB)^[60]

Isaiah emphasizes that Yahweh is the Lord of the whole earth. Yahweh directs the history of Israel and of the other nations too. Israel is to be a light to the gentiles revealing that the salvation of the nations of the earth lies in serving Yahweh. Isaiah also portrays Yahweh as the God who created the heavens and the earth, and as jealous when the praise due him is given to idols.^[61]

Thus says God Yahweh, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it. “I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations; to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison. I am Yahweh. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to engraved images."

– Isaiah 42:5-8 (WEB)^[62]

In the Book of Jeremiah

Jeremiah portrays Yahweh as a God who will hold his people accountable for their actions.^[63] God appointed Jeremiah to confront Judah and Jerusalem for the worship of idols and other violations of the covenant described in Deuteronomy.^[64] According to Jeremiah, Yahweh declared that the covenant was broken and that God would bring upon Israel and Judah the curses of the covenant.^[65] Jeremiah explained the reason for the impending disaster (destruction by the Babylonian army and captivity): “And when they say, 'Why did Yahweh our God do all this to us?' you shall answer them, 'As you forsook me and served alien gods in your own land, so must you serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'”^[66]

Yet, Jeremiah also portrays Yahweh as a God who is willing to answer the cries of the upright heart and bring restoration to the penitent.^[67]

Thus says Yahweh who does it, Yahweh who forms it to establish it; Yahweh is his name:

Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you don’t know. For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defense against the mounds and against the sword; while men come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hidden my face from this city: "Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth. I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, by which they have sinned against me, and by which they have transgressed against me. This city shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure to it."

– Jeremiah 33:2-9 (WEB)^[68]

In the Book of Zechariah

The prophet Zechariah portrays Yahweh as bringing past misfortunes to Israel because of sins, but goes on to describe the means by which Yahweh will restore his people to their country. Yahweh will give his people strength to resist and overcome their oppressors and gather them from the remotest regions. Zechariah portrays Yahweh as the giver of the rain and contrasts the source of life-giving rain with the deception of idols that brings oppression.^[69]

Ask of Yahweh rain in the spring time, Yahweh who makes storm clouds, and he gives rain showers to everyone for the plants in the field. For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are oppressed, because there is no shepherd.

– Zecharaiah 10:1-2 (WEB)^[70]

Zechariah asserts that Yahweh will answer those who call on him by name, “They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, ‘It is my people;’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.’”^[71]

In the Kethuvim (writings)

The Psalms re-iterate the eternal nature and unique supremacy of Yahweh: “May they know that You alone — whose name is Yahweh — are the Most High over all the earth.”^[72] For example, Psalm 115 contrasts the omnipotence of Yahweh with the ineffectiveness of heathen gods of wood and stone and warns that those who worship inanimate objects become unseeing, unhearing and unfeeling themselves.^[73] In addition, several other characteristics are developed in the Psalms.

Yahweh is portrayed as the creator, whose word is intimately connected with the event.^[74] Seven times Psalm 29 refers to the voice or the word of Yahweh causing natural phenomena.^[75] He is portrayed as continuing to care for his creation.^[76] The psalmist David wrote, “Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”^[77] Other psalms speak of the initiation and continued care of creation together: “… the faithful love of Yahweh fills the earth. By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made, by the breath of his mouth all their array.”^[78] “For Yahweh is a great God, a great King above all gods …The sea is his, and he made it. His hands formed the dry land … Let's kneel before Yahweh, our Maker, for he is our God. We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care.”^[79]

According to Psalms, Yahweh is a warrior.^[80] “O Yahweh, strive with my adversaries, give battle to my foes, take up shield and buckler, and come to my defense; ready the spear and javelin against my pursuers; tell me, ‘I am your deliverance.’”^[81] In battle, Yahweh’s help is preferred to help from conventional sources: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust the name of Yahweh our God.”^[82] Psalms portrays Yahweh as responsive to people who call on his name,^[83] whether in battle or in times of personal distress: “Hear, Yahweh, my prayer. Listen to the voice of my petitions. In the day of my trouble I will call on you, for you will answer me.”^[84] Psalm 107 describes people in circumstances of wandering, oppression, punishment for their own misdeeds, and physical danger. After each scenario, the refrain is repeated, “They cried out to Yahweh in their distress, he rescued them from their plight.”^[85] Many Psalms include a call to praise Yahweh by name: “Sing to God! Sing praises to His name. Exalt Him who rides on the clouds — His name is Yahweh — and rejoice before Him.”^[86] A subcollection of Psalms begin and/or end with the liturgical call to worship, “hallelujah,”^[87] a transliteration of the Hebrew meaning “give praise to Yahweh.”^[88]

Proverbs identifies the creator, the source of wisdom, with Yahweh, the God of Israel: “The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; fools spurn wisdom and discipline.”^[89] Yahweh is portrayed as knowing a person better than the person knows himself: “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but Yahweh weighs the motives.”^[90] Each of these characteristics is also mentioned in Psalms.^[91]

The book of Job depicts its namesake praising Yahweh in the midst of tragedy in what some scholars have termed an unforgettable expression of faith: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I shall return again. Yahweh gave, Yahweh has taken back. Blessed be the name of Yahweh!”^[92] Job 38-42:6 is a first-person narrative in which Yahweh interrogates Job about the structure and maintenance of the world: “Then Yahweh answered Job … ‘Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?’”^[93] Job realizes that his concept of God was too small; the questions and accusations he had directed toward Yahweh are satisfied, though not answered outright.^[94]

The Book of Ruth credits Yahweh with restoring the widowed Naomi’s family line as well as her social standing by allowing the marriage of her widowed daughter-in-law, Ruth, and Boaz to produce a child. “And so, Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife, and he had intercourse with her and Yahweh made her conceive and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be Yahweh who this day has not let there cease to be a redeemer for you.'”^[95]

Lamentations represents the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Israelites as decisions of Yahweh and a direct result of Judah’s sins and not an accident of history, “Yahweh has resolved to destroy the walls of the daughter of Zion.”^[96] “Yahweh has done that which he purposed; he has fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old.”^[97] Yet, hope is expressed that relief will come based on Yahweh’s mercy as well as his faithfulness to his covenant with Israel.^[98] This is not a passing phase but an enduring part of his nature (his hesed, “steadfast love”): “Surely Yahweh’s mercies are not over, his deeds of faithful love not exhausted … Yahweh is good to those who trust him, to all who search for him.”^[99]

The Documentary Hypothesis

The documentary hypothesis assumes that the text of the Torah as preserved can be divided into identifiable sources that predate its compilations by centuries, the Jahwist (J) source being the oldest, dating to as early as the 10th century BCE, along with the Elohist(E), the Deuteronomist (D), and the Priestly source (P), dating to the 8th to 6th centuries. The final compilation of the extant text is dated to either the 6th or 5th century BC.

Jahwist

The documentary hypothesis attributes anthropomorphic descriptions of Yahweh, personal visits from Yahweh, and use of the personal name prior to Exodus 3 to the Jahwist source.^[6] It is a misunderstanding of the documentary hypothesis to attribute all use of the personal name Yahweh to the hypothetical Jahwist source; the hypothetical Deuteronomist, Elohist, and Priestly source documents all contain numerous uses of the personal name Yahweh, but the Jahwist source document is the only one to use the personal name Yahweh prior to Exodus 3.^[100]

The Jahwist presents a theology of history, rather than timeless philosophical theology. Yahweh’s character is known by his actions. The Jahwist picture of Yahweh begins with the creation of human beings and the early history of mankind in general (Genesis 2-11). The Jahwist contributions in this material do not intend to present an exhaustive history, but rather certain episodes with particular importance to later generations. These episodes explain human mortality, the need to work for a living, the existence of many languages, rivalry among brothers, and man’s attempt to break through God’s limits. The family is often in view in theological contexts, and the sequence of sin-punishment-mercy appears several times.^[101]

The Jahwist picture of a theology of history continues with the call of Abraham and the subsequent history of Israel and their ancestors. The Jahwist presents the nation of Israel as Yahweh’s own people, which he brought into being, protected, and settled in the land of Canaan, in fulfillment of promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Jahwist source presents a history of Israel that also illustrates themes of sin-punishment-grace, but more especially one that portrays Yahweh as a powerful deliverer and provider of his people’s needs. Faith in Yahweh alone is the primary virtue.^[102] The Jahwist also emphasizes Israel’s destiny to be a great nation who will rule over her neighbors and have a king from the tribe of Judah.^[103] The theology of the Jahwist extends beyond Israel and includes notice that all nations will be blessed through Abraham (or bless themselves through Abraham);^[104] furthermore, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is attributed to the Jahwist.^[105]

Elohist view of Yahweh

Use of the generic word for deity, Elohim, rather than the more personal name, Yahweh, prior to Exodus 3, and descriptions of Yahweh of a more impersonal nature ( for example, speaking through dreams, prophets, and angels rather than personal appearances) indicate the Elohist source, according to the documentary hypothesis.^[106] The Elohist’s narrative does not begin with a depiction of Yahweh’s creation of humankind, but with the divine address to Abraham, the ancestor of Israel.^[107] Because both the Jahwist source and the Elohist source use "Yahweh" for God after Exodus 3, it is more difficult to discern Elohist from Jahwist source material from that point onward.

The theology of the Elohist focuses on four key elements: 1) prophetic leadership 2) the fear of God 3) covenant, and 4) the theology of history. Prophetic leadership is emphasized by building the narrative on four key ancestors (Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses) who are presented as prophets who receive revelations from God in visions and dreams.^[108] The Elohist’s concept of the fear of God goes beyond reverent awe and is the root of Abraham’s obedience to the command to slay his son.^[109] Covenant is emphasized by the Elohist on a number of occasions, notably the covenant ceremony of Exodus 24,^[110] establishment of the tent of meeting,^[111] and Israel’s rebellion at Sinai with worship of the golden calf which presents the Elohist’s gloomy view of Israel’s propensity to violate her covenant with God.^[112][113] The Elohist theology of history is focused on the nation of Israel and more inclined than the Jahwist to focus on the specifically religious aspects of prayer, sacrifice, and prophetic revelations. The goal of history for Israel is explicitly religious: to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”^[114]

Deuteronomist view of Yahweh

According to M. Noth, the Deuteronomist wrote in the middle of the 6th century BCE with the purpose of addressing contemporaries in the Babylonian exile to show them that “their sufferings were fully deserved consequences of centuries of decline in Israel’s loyalty to Yahweh.”^[115] Loyalty to Yahweh was measured in terms of obedience to the Deuteronomic law. Since Israel and Judah had failed to follow that law, their histories had ended in complete destruction in accordance with the divine judgment envisaged by Deuteronomy.^[116] “But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you.”^[117]

According to G. von Rad, Noth’s view of the purpose of the Deuteronomist emphasized the theme of judgment and missed the theme of Yahweh’s grace in the Deuteronomistic History. The Deuteronomist reported repeated instances of Yahweh’s word at work in describing previously reported oracles of Yahweh’s prophets being precisely fulfilled in events described later. On the one hand, destruction of Israel and Judah was portrayed as according to the prophetic pronouncement of doom in retaliation for disobedience. On the other hand, the final destruction was restrained by Yahweh’s promise to David found in Nathan’s oracle in 2 Samuel 7 and reiterated throughout 1-2 Kings.^[118]

H.W. Wolff describes the purpose of the Deuteronomist in the pattern of apostasy, punishment, repentance, and deliverance common in the Deuteronomistic History. According to Wolff, the Deuteronomist’s intent was to show the exiles that they were in the second stage of the pattern and therefore needed to “cry out to Yahweh in repentance.”^[119] According to the pattern of Yahweh’s previous dealings with Israel, the imperative for the exiles was simply to turn back to God.

Priestly view

In the primeval period (Genesis 1-11), the Priestly source uses the title Elohim as the general name for God. El Shaddai is the first special name for God and it is revealed to the patriarchs and reserved for that era. Yahweh is the personal name for God that is revealed to Moses and never set in the mouth of any speaker by the Priestly source prior to Moses.^[120] The Priestly source portrays God/Yahweh as the creator of the whole world, which he declared to be good, and on which he has bestowed his blessing. Humanity is created in God’s image (or as God’s image) implying dominion over the whole earth.^[121]

The Priestly source portrays Yahweh as a God who is interested in ritual. The covenant of circumcision, the dietary laws, and the emphasis on making a tabernacle according to a divinely revealed plan are all ascribed to the Priestly source.^[122] Yahweh’s presence and Yahweh’s blessings are described in the Priestly source not to be mediated by the king, but by the high priest mediating at the central place of worship.

The Priestly source depicts a formal structure in terms of space, time, and social structure. The spatial center of the universe is the sanctuary which is first modeled in the tabernacle and later in the temple modeled after the pattern revealed to Moses. It is at this specific location that Yahweh wanted to make himself present to his people.^[123] Yahweh has arranged the temporal order around progressive layers of Sabbaths: seven days, seven months, seven years, seven times seven years.^[124] In terms of social structure, the Priestly source portrays Yahweh as granting his presence to the particular people “who know his name.” The priesthood, the ritual system, and the law represent the cosmic order in a priestly garment.^[125]

Early history of Yahweh-worship

Development

The cult of Yahweh predates the gradual development of monolatry and monotheism in the Kingdom of Judah.^[126] Theophoric names, names of local gods similar to Yahweh, and archaeological evidence are used along with the Biblical source texts to build theories regarding pre-Israel origins of Yahweh worship, the relationship of Yahweh with local gods, and the manner in which polytheistic worship of Yahweh worship evolved into Jewish monotheism.^[127]

The Exodus narrative is viewed, by Karel van der Toorn, as a "charter myth" offered by King Jeroboam for political purposes and later developed into the fabric of religious history by the Yahwist, Elohist, and Deuteronomistic sources.^[128] The Kenite hypothesis describes Yahweh worship as originating among the Kenite peoples of northern Midian/southern Edom in the 13th and 14th centuries BCE and being shared with the Hebrews through contacts with their neighbors.^[129] Van der Toorn suggests that Yahweh was the family deity of King Saul who promoted Yahweh worship as the official Israelite state religion after his rise to power. The transition from the traditional religions practiced at the family level to the state religion of Yahwism is described as a gradual process with the authorities active on two fronts: they endowed the state religion with temples, a clergy, a national charter myth, and they sought to curb the traditional religions opposed to Yahweh worship by integration of some and suppression of other aspects of the traditional religions practiced at the local and family levels.^[130]

Both the archaeological evidence and the Biblical texts document tensions between groups comfortable with the worship of Yahweh alongside local deities such as Asherah and Baal and those insistent on worship of Yahweh alone during the monarchal period.^[131] The Deuteronomistic source gives evidence of a strong monotheistic party during the reign of king Josiah during the late 7th century BCE, but the strength and prevalence of earlier monotheistic worship of Yahweh is widely debated based on interpretations of how much of the Deuteronomistic history is accurately based on earlier sources, and how much has been re-worked by Deuteronomistic redactors to bolster their theological views.^[132] The archaeological record documents widespread polytheism in and around Israel during the period of the monarchy.^[133]

For example, a tenth century (BCE) cult stand from Taanach (a town in Northern Israel, near Megiddo) has unambiguous polytheistic implications. The stand has four levels, or registers. On the bottom register, or level four, there is a female figure with hands resting upon the heads of lions standing on either side. The female figure can be interpreted as a goddess, either Asherah, Astarte, or Anat. The third register has two winged sphinx type figures with a vacant space between them. The next level contains a sacred tree flanked on both sides by ibexes standing on their hind legs. The top register shows a quadruped (either a bovine or a horse) with a sun disk above it. It is unclear whether Taanach was under Israelite or Canaanite control when the stand was produced, and interpretations vary.^[134] If the quadruped on the top level is taken as a bovine, it can be identified as either Yahweh or Baal. The solar disk above the quadruped is representative of either the sun god or the sky.^[135] Most authors agree that the sacred tree on the second register should be identified as an asherah, though the stylized tree is often viewed as a cult object rather than an image of a goddess.^[136] The winged sphinx type figures on the second level have been interpreted as cherubim with the space in between them representing the invisible Yahweh as "enthroned upon the cherubim" although the empty space has also been interpreted as allowing observers to view a fire or figurine inside the square stand.^[137] Though a variety of interpretations are possible, Mark S. Smith concludes, "In short, assuming the correct dating of this stand to the tenth century, the stand attests to polytheism in this area."^[138]

Another example of polytheism in the southern Levant was the discovery of a combination of iconography and inscriptions at a religious center/lodging place for travelers at Kuntillet Ajrud, in the northern Sinai desert that dates to the 8th century BCE.^[139] Among various other artifacts was a large storage jar that has attracted much attention. The side of the jar contains iconography showing three anthropomorphic figures and an inscription that refers to "Yahweh … and his asherah". The inscription lead to some early identifications of two standing figures in the foreground as representing Yahweh and his consort Asherah, but later work identified them as Bes figures.^[140] A number of scholars, including William G. Dever,^[15] and Judith Hadley^[16] continue to interpret the inscription in a way that it refers to Asherah as an Israelite goddess and consort of Yahweh. William Dever authored a book, "Did God Have a Wife?" that references archaeological evidence pointing to many female figurines unearthed in ancient Israel supporting his hypothesis that Asherah functioned as a goddess and consort of Yahweh in Israelite folk religion of the monarchal period. One reviewer says Dever’s "case is full of holes and the book is full of misinformation."^[17] In contrast to interpretations of "asherah" as a goddess in the Kuntillet ‘Ajrud inscriptions, a number of other authors, including Mark S. Smith,^[18] John Day,^[19] and Andre Lemaire,^[20] view the asherah in these inscriptions as a cult object, stylized tree, or location of worship through which Yahweh’s blessing was imparted rather than a goddess who could function as a consort.^[21] "Neither the iconography nor the texts force us to interpret the relationship between ‘Yahweh ... and his asherah’ in Iron Age IIB in the sense of a (sexually-determined) relationship of two forces that are paired and thus compel us to assume that asherah has the status as a partner. ‘Yahweh’s asherah’ does not have equal rank with Yahweh but is rather a mediating entity that brings his blessing and is conceived in the mind in the shape of a stylized tree that was thus subordinate to Yahweh."^[22]

Archaeologists and historical scholars use a variety of ways to organize and interpret the available iconographic and textual information. William G. Dever contrasts "official religion/state religion/book religion" of the elite with “folk religion” of the masses.^[141] Rainer Albertz contrasts "official religion" with "family religion", "personal piety", and "internal religious pluralism".^[142] Jacques Berlinerblau analyzes the evidence in terms of "official religion" and "popular religion" in ancient Israel.^[143] In a book described by William G. Dever as a "landmark study",^[144] Patrick D. Miller has broadly grouped the worship of Yahweh in ancient Israel into three broad categories: orthodox, heterodox, and syncretistic (Miller acknowledges that one man’s orthodoxy is another man’s heterodoxy and that orthodoxy was not a fixed and unchanging reality in the religion of ancient Israel).^[145]

Orthodox Yahwism

Miller describes orthodox Yahwism as expecting exclusive worship of Yahweh. Yahweh was understood as the sole divine power ultimately effective in the world even if there was resistance or encroachment of other gods. Orthodox worship of Yahweh did not employ a physical representation of the deity. The powers of blessing (health, wealth, continuity, fertility) and salvation (forgiveness, victory, deliverance from oppression and threat) resided fully in Yahweh. The will of the deity was communicated via oracle and prophetic vision or audition. Divination, soothsaying, and necromancy were prohibited. The individual or community could cry out to Yahweh and would receive a divine response, mediated by priestly or prophetic figures.^[146]

Sanctuaries were erected in various places and were used to express devotion to Yahweh by means of sacrifice, festival meals and celebrations, prayer, and praise. Toward the end of the seventh century (BCE) in Judah, worship of Yahweh was restricted to the temple in Jerusalem. After the split of the kingdom into two parts, the major sanctuaries in the Northern Kingdom were at Bethel (near the southern border) and Dan (in the north). Certain times were set for the gathering of the people to celebrate the gifts of Yahweh and the deity’s acts of deliverance and redemption.^[147]

According to Miller, the moral and ethical spheres were stressed in orthodox worship of Yahweh. There were requirements for guarding the welfare of neighbors and protecting the weaker members of society. Family relationships were protected by divine law, and purity of conduct, dress, food, etc. were regulated. Everything in the moral realm was understood as a part of relation to Yahweh as a manifestation of holiness. Religious leadership resided in priests who were associated with sanctuaries, and also in prophets, who were bearers of divine oracles. The king, and his predecessor, the judge, were understood as appointees and agents of Yahweh in the political sphere.^[148]

Heterodox Yahwism

Heterodox Yahwism is described by Miller as a mixture of some elements of orthodox worship of Yahweh with particular practices that conflicted with orthodox Yahwism or were not customarily a part of it. For example, heterodox Yahwism included the presence of cult objects rejected in more orthodox expressions, such as the asherah, which seems to have been present in different forms throughout the period of the monarchy and perhaps before. Likewise, the pillar, rejected by orthodox Yahwism, was also used in cultic centers on occasion, as evidenced by objects excavated at some cultic sites. Furthermore, figurines of various sorts (females, horses and riders, animals and birds) have been found at Israelite and Judean sites, usually extramural sites described as "nonconformist" by John Holladay.^[149] Miller also asserts that the worship of Yahweh using calves or bulls in the Northern Kingdom should probably also be assigned to the heterodox category.^[150]

The "high place" as a center of worship also seems to have moved from an acceptable place within Yahwism to an increasingly condemned status in official and orthodox circles. Even the Deuteronomistic Historian portrays the high place as acceptable prior to construction of the temple. Later, the prophets and the Deuteronomistic Historian condemn false worship "on every high hill and under every green tree".^[151] Miller describes it as likely that many of the high places were fairly orthodox in their activities of sacrifice and eating, but being less under the control of Jerusalem, some of the outlying high places became locations for "heterodox and idolatrous practices".^[152] Efforts to know the future or the will of the deity could also be understood as heterodox if they went outside the boundaries of what Patrick Miller describes as orthodox Yahwism. Even a commonly accepted revelatory mechanism (such as dreams) could be condemned if the resulting message is perceived as false. Consulting mediums, wizards, and diviners was also regarded as practices condemned by official circles, but often employed by heterodox Yahwists on occasion.^[153]

Syncretistic Yahwism

Patrick D. Miller describes the most obvious syncretism from the ninth century (BCE) onwards in the monarchal period as the worship of Baal in Israel and Judah, as attested to in the Deuteronomistic History and Hosea as well as the worship of heavenly bodies (sun, moon, and stars). He attributes the rise of Baalism among the Yahwists to the influence of Jezebel and the Phoenician worship of Baal. Miller also suggests the worship of the "Queen of Heaven" may have been a cult around either the Canaan-Phoenician Astarte or the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar. He suggests this cult might have been introduced during the divided monarchy, suppressed under the late monarchal religious reforms (Josiah, Hezekiah), then been restored under the idea that poverty, famine, and death had resulted from abandoning worship of the Queen of Heaven. Miller further suggests that this is a general clue to the syncretistic impetus that is consistent with other forms of syncretism (Baal worship, child sacrifice, mourning for Tammuz): "Other gods were invoked and serviced in time of need or blessing and provision for life when the worship of Yahweh seemed inadequate for those purposes."^[154]

Ancient Israel and Judah

It has traditionally been believed that monotheism was part of Israel's original covenant with Yahweh on Mount Sinai, and the idolatry criticized by the prophets was due to Israel's backsliding.^[155] But during the 20th century it became increasingly recognised that the Bible's presentation raises a number of questions: Why do the Ten Commandments declare that there should be no other gods "before Me" (Yahweh), if there are no other gods at all? Why do the Israelites sing at the crossing of the Red Sea that "there is no god like you, O Yahweh",^[Ex 15:11] implying that other gods exist? These observations eventually overthrew the belief that Israel had always worshipped no other god but Yahweh.^[156]

Possible evidence of Israelite worship of Canaanite gods appears both in the Bible and the archaeological record. Respectful references to the goddess Asherah or her symbol, for example, as part of the worship of Yahweh, are found in the eighth century inscriptions from Kuntillet 'Ajrud and Khirbet el-Qom, and references to the Canaanite gods Resheph and Deber appear without criticism in the original Jewish text of Habakkuk 3:5. While traditionally these words have been understood to be either Jewish words whose meaning has been derived from characteristics of these Canaanite deities^[157] or references to demons,^[158] some interpret these as evidence of Israeli recognition of these gods as part of the military retinue of Yahweh.^[159] The "host of heaven" is also mentioned without criticism in 1_Kings 22:19 and Zephaniah 1:5. Though the "host of heaven" has traditionally been interpreted as either the stars/heavenly bodies or the host of angels/heavenly spirits depending on the context,^[160] some again have interpreted this term to refer to a pantheon of Israelite gods.^[161] The god El is also continually identified with Yahweh.^[162]

Israel inherited polytheism from late first-millennium Canaan, and Canaanite religion in turn had its roots in the religion of second-millennium Ugarit.^[163] In the 2nd millennium, polytheism was expressed through the concepts of the divine council and the divine family, a single entity with four levels: the chief god and his wife (El and Asherah); the seventy divine children or "stars of El" (including Baal, Astarte, Anat, probably Resheph, as well as the sun-goddess Shapshu and the moon-god Yerak); the head helper of the divine household, Kothar wa-Hasis; and the servants of the divine household, including the messenger-gods who would later appear as the "angels" of the Hebrew bible.^[164]

In the earliest stage Yahweh was one of the seventy children of El, each of whom was the patron deity of one of the seventy nations. This is illustrated by the Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint texts of Deuteronomy 32:8-9, in which El, as the head of the divine assembly, gives each member of the divine family a nation of his own, "according to the number of the divine sons": Israel is the portion of Yahweh.^[165] The later Masoretic text, evidently uncomfortable with the polytheism expressed by the phrase, altered it to "according to the number of the children of Israel"^[166]

Between the eighth to the sixth centuries El became identified with Yahweh, Yahweh-El became the husband of the goddess Asherah, and the other gods and the divine messengers gradually became mere expressions of Yahweh's power.^[167] Yahweh is cast in the role of the Divine King ruling over all the other deities, as in Psalm 29:2, where the "sons of God" are called upon to worship Yahweh; and as Ezekiel 8-10 suggests, the Temple itself became Yahweh's palace, populated by those in his retinue.^[163]

It is in this period that the earliest clear monotheistic statements appear in the Bible, for example in the apparently seventh-century Deuteronomy 4:35, 39, 1 Samuel 2:2, 2 Samuel 7:22, 2 Kings 19:15, 19 (= Isaiah 37:16, 20), and Jeremiah 16:19, 20 and the sixth-century portion of Isaiah 43:10-11, 44:6, 8, 45:5-7, 14, 18, 21, and 46:9.^[168] Because many of the passages involved appear in works associated with either Deuteronomy, the Deuteronomistic History (Joshua through Kings) or in Jeremiah, most recent scholarly treatments have suggested that a Deuteronomistic movement of this period developed the idea of monotheism as a response to the religious issues of the time.^[169]

The first factor behind this development involves changes in Israel's social structure. At Ugarit, social identity was strongest at the level of the family: legal documents, for example, were often made between the sons of one family and the sons of another. Ugarit's religion, with its divine family headed by El and Asherah, mirrored this human reality.^[170] The same was true in ancient Israel through most of the monarchy - for example, the story of Achan in Joshua 8 suggests an extended family as the major social unit. However, the family lineages went through traumatic changes beginning in the eighth century due to major social stratification, followed by Assyrian incursions. In the seventh and sixth centuries, we begin to see expressions of individual identity (Deuteronomy 26:16; Jeremiah 31:29-30; Ezekiel 18). A culture with a diminished lineage system, deteriorating over a long period from the ninth or eighth century onward, less embedded in traditional family patrimonies, might be more predisposed both to hold the individual accountable for his behavior, and to see an individual deity accountable for the cosmos. In short, the rise of the individual as the basic social unit led to the rise of a single god replacing a divine family.^[171]

The second major factor was the rise of the neo-Assyrian and neo-Babylonian empires. As long as Israel was, from its own perspective, part of a community of similar small nations, it made sense to see the Israelite pantheon on par with the other nations, each one with its own patron god - the picture described with Deuteronomy 32:8-9. The assumption behind this worldview was that each nation was as powerful as its patron god.^[172] However, the neo-Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom in ca. 722 challenged this, for if the neo-Assyrian empire were so powerful, so must be its god; and conversely, if Israel could be conquered (and later Judah, c. 586), it implied that Yahweh in turn was a minor divinity. The crisis was met by separating the heavenly power and earthly kingdoms. Even though Assyria and Babylon were so powerful, the new monotheistic thinking in Israel reasoned, this did not mean that the god of Israel and Judah was weak. Assyria had not succeeded because of the power of its god Marduk; it was Yahweh who was using Assyria to punish and purify the one nation which Yahweh had chosen.^[169]

By the post-Exilic period, full monotheism had emerged: Yahweh was the sole God, not just of Israel, but of the whole world. If the nations were tools of Yahweh, then the new king who would come to redeem Israel might not be a Judean as taught in older literature (e.g. Psalm 2). Now, even a foreigner such as Cyrus the Persian could serve as the Lord's anointed (Isaiah 44:28, 45:1). One god stood behind all the world's history.^[169]

Use of "Yahweh" in contemporary religion

In Judaism, the Tetragrammaton is conventionally substituted by Adonai ("my Lords") when reading the text of the Bible. Based on this practice, the traditional translation of the Tetragrammaton in Christian Bibles is "the Lord". When transcribing the Tetragrammaton, the vocalization Jehovah has been popular in particular in Protestantism from the time of the Reformation (whence "Jehovah's Witnesses", a name adopted in 1931).

But there are some instances where the spelling Yahweh has come into religious use. The Sacred Name Movement is a small Christian movement, active since the 1930s, which propagates the use of the name Yahweh in Bible translations and in liturgy. "Sacred Name Bibles" are Bibles which render the Tetragrammaton by transliteration (or iconographically by inserting Hebrew script in the translation). An early such Bible was Rotherham's Emphasized Bible of 1902.

The Roman Catholic New Jerusalem Bible (1985) also opted to translate the Tetragrammaton as Yahweh, but the liturgical use of Yahweh was suspended by the Vatican in 2008.^[173]

See also

• Tetragrammaton
• Ancient Semitic religion
• Canaanite religion
• Names of God in Judaism

References

Notes

Citations

This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.

External links

Definition

• "Yahweh." Encyclopædia Britannica Online.