Shocked To Find Out Yahweh Was Originally A Canaanite God Who Had A Wife, Asherah

[ChristineM]

Given that Akhenaten and the Jews in Babylon are separated by about a millennium, I think that they found Henotheism independently.

These things take time

 

[Audie]

Are you actually trying to argue cutting-edge archeological disciplines in the advanced university studies of ancient religions with a 3,000 year old holy book that has been translated and re-translated 10,000 times???????
View attachment 47343

We've seen this before, variously arguing
against the world scientific community
on such as the six day poof, flood, evolution.

In all such fields as physics, geology,
Biology, scientists are simply wrong
to the core or at worst, minions of Satan.

 

[Batya]

Are you actually trying to argue cutting-edge archeological disciplines in the advanced university studies of ancient religions with a 3,000 year old holy book that has been translated and re-translated 10,000 times???????
View attachment 47343

The bible has not been translated and re-translated 10,000 times, at least not in a way that would be significant to you, unless you read it in all the languages of the world. It's been translated from Hebrew/Aramaic to Greek, from Hebrew/Aramaic to English, from Greek to English, etc. Better yet, read it in the original languages.

 

[SeekingAllTruth]

Anyone can claim to have "strong scholarship" but it doesn't stand to deeper scrutiny. There is no proof that the Israelites as a whole worshiped Asherah until the Babylonian exile. In fact the proof from scripture is to the contrary. Yes some Israelites worshiped Asherah but this practice was condemned by those who stuck with the law of Moses.

God's wife was always Israel. Yah is just the name of the most high Eloah. The Canaanites knew about Eloah but corrupted the godhead adding a whole pantheon of lesser gods and eventually replacing El altogether in importance.

So only the Israelites continued to worship the original most high God alone.

Asherah was just another added fake goddess just like the rest. This is why the prophets spoke against her specifically and other goddesses which were there to usurp the glory due to God alone. By the way even though we say God is a "he" we also understand God is not male or female in form.

God's real wife was really the nation Israel itself. The covenant with Israel being a marriage covenant with God.

The mother of Jesus according to scripture is Israel/Jerusalem. It's not Asherah.

You're defending Christianity with your own opinions, not sound Biblical scholarship. Yahweh was originally a pagan Canaanite god. That much is established. Try to stick with just that fact and then disprove it using non-biased secular Biblical scholarship. I dare you.

 

[SeekingAllTruth]

So are you claiming to be an expert on the Bible and archeology?

I'm just repeating what the experts state. You're not a Biblical scholar either so how do say," Ashera is not the wife of Yahweh" and not give a Biblical expert's citation for that? You're just giving us your biased Christian opinion because you don't like the fact this is what Biblical scholars have discovered. Yahweh originally was a Canaanite god. Here, I'll give you the citation again:

"Although the biblical narratives depict Yahweh as the sole creator god, lord of the universe, and god of the Israelites especially, initially he seems to have been Canaanite in origin and subordinate to the supreme god El. Canaanite inscriptions mention a lesser god Yahweh and even the biblical Book of Deuteronomy stipulates that “the Most High, El, gave to the nations their inheritance” and that “Yahweh's portion is his people, Jacob and his allotted heritage” (32:8-9). A passage like this reflects the early beliefs of the Canaanites and Israelites in polytheism"

Yahweh

Jewish God Yahweh Originated in Canaanite Vulcan, Says New Theory
The cult of YHWH as god of metallurgy originated among semi-nomadic copper smelters between the Bronze and Iron Age, suggests biblical scholar: And he was not worshipped only by Jews

Jewish god Yahweh originated in Canaanite Vulcan, says new theory

I can give you more if you want. Now you disprove it using secular Biblical scholarship.

 

[SeekingAllTruth]

IMO:

IF believers make claims about God, as it is according to their belief system, I don't accept it as The Truth ... it's their belief, that is as true as it gets
IF scientists make claims about God, as it is according to their science system, I don't accept it as The Truth ... it's their belief, that is as true as it gets

God is beyond science (hence I reject claims scientists make about God)
God is beyond religion (hence I reject claims believers make about God)
@stvdvRF

I'm not making a claim about the REAL "God" whoever he is. I'm only stating what scholarship says about the pagan god, Yahweh.

 

[Colt]

Never in my wildest imagination when I was a Christian would I have believed that Jesus' Father, Yahweh actually originated in the Canaanite lands in pre-Israel times. That would make Yahweh a pagan god which the ancient Hebrews apparently adopted as their god. More shocking, Yahweh had a wife/consort named Asherah which would make Asherah Jesus' mom.

"Initially [Yahweh] seems to have been Canaanite in origin and subordinate to the supreme god El. Canaanite inscriptions mention a lesser god Yahweh and even the biblical Book of Deuteronomy stipulates that “the Most High, El, gave to the nations their inheritance” and that “Yahweh's portion is his people, Jacob and his allotted heritage” (32:8-9). A passage like this reflects the early beliefs of the Canaanites and Israelites in polytheism or, more accurately, henotheism (the belief in many gods with a focus on a single supreme deity). The claim that Israel always only acknowledged one god is a later belief."

Yahweh <<<<link

So it turns out the early Hebrews were part of the Canaanite culture, although Genesis claims Abraham their patriarch came from the Sumerian city of Ur. And when they broke away from the Canaanites they adopted Yahweh as their chief war god although Yahweh originally was a lesser god from a pantheon of Canaanite gods including their chief god, El and Baal, Asherah and Astarte.

Moreover, Yahweh had a wife. She was worshiped alongside Yahweh. The Old Testament mentions her several times. It wasn't until the Babylonian captivity that Yahweh basically "divorced" her in the sense that the Jews became monotheistic at that point.

"God had a wife, Asherah, whom the Book of Kings suggests was worshipped alongside Yahweh in his temple in Israel, according to an Oxford scholar. She bases her theory on ancient texts, amulets and figurines unearthed primarily in the ancient Canaanite coastal city called Ugarit, now modern-day Syria. All of these artifacts reveal that Asherah was a powerful fertility goddess."

Did God have a wife? Scholar says that he did <<<<link

Did God Have a Wife? - Wikipedia <<<<link

I'm curious to hear what Christians here think about their god originally being a pagan god and having a wife who, if we are to believe the strong scholarship supporting this, was the one who gave birth to Jesus. So Jesus wasn't begotten, he was a product of celestial sex.

Yes, Yahweh was the Nature God of the Sini volcano. The Israelites adopted the name Yahweh during their time there. The Israelites intermarried with the Canaanites. After the scriptures were all rewritten in Babylon the redactors left bits of the true story in the scriptures.

 

[SeekingAllTruth]

It is in your interpretation (the proverbial "what came first, the hen or the egg")

Let's look at this differently....

In the beginning YHWH created the heavens and the earth and placed the man we know today in the Garden and say "rule under my rulership" - "have dominion".

Man said, "I believe there is a better way" and separated himself from God's rulership and then created his own image of God... as did the Canaanites. So the Canaanites perverted the image of God into Dagon, Baal et al.

God came to Abraham and said (Paraphrased) - let me get my Kingdom and who I AM back into operation.

Thus:

1 sam 5: "After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2 Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon.
3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD!"

and

1 Kings 18:21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. ...

...36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.
37 Answer me, LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
39When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!”

So the problem in your presentation is which came first... YHWH came first and then the gods of the Canaanites.

So you're saying Yahweh, the "true" god came to the canaanites first and said to them, "I am your god" before he said it to the Jews? Remember, scholarship says the Yahweh was subordinate to the BIG canaanite god, El. That's why El appears in Genesis--he's an offshoot of Canaanite mythology. That's why Genesis says, "Let US make man", not "I will make man".

 

[SeekingAllTruth]

@Skywalker
Maybe we have a case of mistaken identity here?
What if there isn't only one Yahweh? There was one Yahweh before the Babylonian Exile and another after? One was married, the other not?
When two descriptions vary there is always the possibility that those descriptions don't describe the same thing.

Maybe, maybe, maybe....where the scholarship citations I asked for, skywalker. If you can't produce them be honest enough to admit it.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Yahweh was originally a pagan Canaanite god.

No, YHWH was a name associated with a pagan deity. Whether it is sufficient, or even sensible, to characterize it as a "Canaanite" god very much depends on how one defines the adjective (see, e.g., ancient Canaanite deities) and what one infers from the 14BCE Egyptian reference to Shasu of YHW (see, also, Redford's Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times.)

Be that as it may, referents change. Get over it.

 

[SeekingAllTruth]

All the scholars had to do was to read the Bible and see that the Jews were worshipping other gods against the wishes of Yahweh right up till the time of the Exile of Judah to Babylon (587BC)
It's not breaking news except for someone who has not read the Bible. The interpretation of the archaeological findings by the anthropologists would not of course be what is found in the Bible. They seem to like the idea that one religion developed from another.

I would NEVER expect a Christian to agree with what secular Biblical scholars have to say about recent archeological finds into Yahweh's pagan origins simply because they contradict what Christians have been taught to believe. It's 99.99999% impossible for a Christian to change his views on something so ingrained in his consciousness, IMHO. Rarely would a Christian admit, "You know, maybe Bible scholars are right. Maybe our god, Yahweh originally WAS a pagan Canaanite god and we've been worshiping a pagan god all these centuries." Such an admission would turn their world upside down. Few could live with it. I'm one of the very few who stumbled onto the truth and had to force myself to give up Christianity because I didn't want to cover my ears and scream, NO NO NO because I didn't like reality.

 

[TrueBeliever37]

I would NEVER expect a Christian to agree with what secular Biblical scholars have to say about recent archeological finds into Yahweh's pagan origins simply because they contradict what Christians have been taught to believe. It's 99.99999% impossible for a Christian to change his views on something so ingrained in his consciousness, IMHO. Rarely would a Christian admit, "You know, maybe Bible scholars are right. Maybe our god, Yahweh originally WAS a pagan Canaanite god and we've been worshiping a pagan god all these centuries." Such an admission would turn their world upside down. Few could live with it. I'm one of the very few who stumbled onto the truth and had to force myself to give up Christianity because I didn't want to cover my ears and scream, NO NO NO because I didn't like reality.

You haven't stumbled onto the truth. You have been fed one of Satan's lies and ate it all up.

 

[stvdv]

I'm not making a claim about the REAL "God" whoever he is. I'm only stating what scholarship says about the pagan god, Yahweh.

I know you are not making a claim, and I did not say that

I just gave my, kind of agnostic, opinion to claims made by believers and/or scientists about God

 

[Father Heathen]

To me what is confirmed is: a lack of Bible knowledge.

Derivative works don't supercede the appropriated material, silly.

 

[SeekingAllTruth]

I know you are not making a claim, and I did not say that

I just gave my, kind of agnostic, opinion to claims made by believers and/or scientists about God

I can respect that. Peace.

 

[SeekingAllTruth]

You haven't stumbled onto the truth. You have been fed one of Satan's lies and ate it all up.

Naturally satan is behind it. Satan is behind everything Christians don't like to hear. I suppose satan planted those old antiquities of Asherah in the archeological digs 5000 years ago so archeologists would dig them up today and come to conclusions that are just satan's lies to trick people, right? "It's a trick of the devil". I guess that's still alive and well in 2021.

 

[firedragon]

Never in my wildest imagination when I was a Christian would I have believed that Jesus' Father, Yahweh actually originated in the Canaanite lands in pre-Israel times. That would make Yahweh a pagan god which the ancient Hebrews apparently adopted as their god. More shocking, Yahweh had a wife/consort named Asherah which would make Asherah Jesus' mom.

"Initially [Yahweh] seems to have been Canaanite in origin and subordinate to the supreme god El. Canaanite inscriptions mention a lesser god Yahweh and even the biblical Book of Deuteronomy stipulates that “the Most High, El, gave to the nations their inheritance” and that “Yahweh's portion is his people, Jacob and his allotted heritage” (32:8-9). A passage like this reflects the early beliefs of the Canaanites and Israelites in polytheism or, more accurately, henotheism (the belief in many gods with a focus on a single supreme deity). The claim that Israel always only acknowledged one god is a later belief."

Yahweh <<<<link

So it turns out the early Hebrews were part of the Canaanite culture, although Genesis claims Abraham their patriarch came from the Sumerian city of Ur. And when they broke away from the Canaanites they adopted Yahweh as their chief war god although Yahweh originally was a lesser god from a pantheon of Canaanite gods including their chief god, El and Baal, Asherah and Astarte.

Moreover, Yahweh had a wife. She was worshiped alongside Yahweh. The Old Testament mentions her several times. It wasn't until the Babylonian captivity that Yahweh basically "divorced" her in the sense that the Jews became monotheistic at that point.

"God had a wife, Asherah, whom the Book of Kings suggests was worshipped alongside Yahweh in his temple in Israel, according to an Oxford scholar. She bases her theory on ancient texts, amulets and figurines unearthed primarily in the ancient Canaanite coastal city called Ugarit, now modern-day Syria. All of these artifacts reveal that Asherah was a powerful fertility goddess."

Did God have a wife? Scholar says that he did <<<<link

Did God Have a Wife? - Wikipedia <<<<link

I'm curious to hear what Christians here think about their god originally being a pagan god and having a wife who, if we are to believe the strong scholarship supporting this, was the one who gave birth to Jesus. So Jesus wasn't begotten, he was a product of celestial sex.

What does the word Yahweh mean?

 

[firedragon]

This confirms that Christianity and Judaism (and most likely Islam) are meant to be monolatrous, certainly not monotheistic. Like you can't wipe out the rest of existence all of a sudden by mere wishful thinking.

I do hold that there are those that go deeper and see a Oneness like with Brahman.

So lets say in an asian country an ancient religion called their God by the word Devi which is synonymous with the word God, is it still monolatry? (Devi is not female as in Sanskrit in all languages)

 

[SeekingAllTruth]

What does the word Yahweh mean?

ah·weh
/ˈyäˌwā/

Learn to pronounce

noun
noun: Yahweh; noun: Yahveh

1. a form of the Hebrew name of God used in the Bible. The name came to be regarded by Jewish people ( c. 300 BC) as too sacred to be spoken, and the vowel sounds are uncertain.

Origin

from Hebrew YHWH with added vowels; compare with Jehovah. See also Tetragrammaton.
Translate yahweh to
Use over time for: Yahweh

Definitions from Oxford Languages

 

[firedragon]

ah·weh
/ˈyäˌwā/

Learn to pronounce

noun
noun: Yahweh; noun: Yahveh

1. a form of the Hebrew name of God used in the Bible. The name came to be regarded by Jewish people ( c. 300 BC) as too sacred to be spoken, and the vowel sounds are uncertain.

Origin

from Hebrew YHWH with added vowels; compare with Jehovah. See also Tetragrammaton.
Translate yahweh to
Use over time for: Yahweh

Definitions from Oxford Languages

The question I asked was brother "what does Yahweh mean".

I appreciate your response, but it does not provide an answer. I wish to see your understanding of the word Yahweh due to your post.