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  • From: Lloyd Barre <barre AT c-zone.net>
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: debuking syncretism in the ot
  • Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 04:21:28 -0800


Syncretistic Propaganda in the Old Testament


"I appeared as El Shaddai to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob,
but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them."
(Ex 6:3)

Read again the most influential sentence ever written. It is a masterpiece
of syncretism that has compelled compliance since the day it was composed
until now. Scholarship knows its author as the Priestly Writer or P.

Two characteristics of this sentence both expose its nature and debunk its
claim. First, the making of the claim itself demonstrates that El and
Yahweh were not the same. Second, Yahweh's action of adopting a patriarchal
alias permits no explanation. It is absurd and artificial, making the claim
equally so.

With its intention exposed, the effect of the text is exactly reversed.
Contrary to its original goal, it demonstrates to the enlightened reader
that El and Yahweh had to have been different or there would be no reason
to claim otherwise. It also proves that Israel held not one but two gods
in high esteem. Most important to our understanding is the recognition of
this syncretistic trajectory within Israelite tradition that skillfully and
deliberately sought to obscure separate identities of these two gods.

What two peoples worshipped these gods? There can be only one
answer--Israel and Judah. The name of the former provides the connection to
El. With the syncretism exposed, the true nature of the very object of our
research first the first time comes to clear definition. From origin to
demise, El was always the high god of Israel and Yahweh the god of Judah.

The distinct ethnicity and origins of their devotees are seen also in that
while tradition knows Abram as a Hebrew, Jacob was Aramean. Syncretism also
produced pseudo-kinships that made the two patriarchs grandfather and
grandson. It also placed Abraham in Mesopotamia to which Yahweh had to
travel to deliver his directive. Upon his immediate arrival, he made it
his business to build two altars and to call upon the name of Yahweh at
Shechem and Bethel, the two centers of the North's religious and political
life. Abraham is here seen establishing two Yahwistic cult centers where
Yahweh's Name may now be found. In effect, Yahweh was made god of Israel
under the rule of he who was known at temple of El Berith in Shechem and at
the renowned "House of El."

One text explicitly has come to us that portrays the mythological
relationship of the two deities. In Deut 32:7-9, an ancient invitation
beckons us:

Think back to the older days,
think over the years, down the ages.
Ask of your father, let him teach you;
of your elders, let them enlighten you:

When Elyon gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided the sons of men,
he fixed their bounds according to the number of the sons of El,
Yahweh's portion is his people,
Jacob is his inheritance.


We are enlightened to learn that Yahweh is to Jacob as Chemosh is to Moab
as Baal is to El. What is most remarkable is the international scope of
this pantheon. Did the various peoples that worshipped El in Canaan, Aram
Israel and beyond regard him as the same god. Yes they did as demonstrated
by the authentic Aramean Oracles of Balaam. For many, El was international
recognized as the high god over a pantheon of national gods. While the
Priestly Writer fused El and Yahweh, this earlier tradition related them as
father and son, ruling cooperatively over Jacob. The later was
polytheistic mythology born of a social concern, the former monotheistic
theology, directed at the intellect.

As long as Israel and Judah existed, their gods did also. El was the god of
Israel since Jacob's migration to the Assyrian's conquest of Samaria. He
was never ignored nor regarded as unimportant. Yahweh has outlived Judah
and is venerated to this day.

Understanding the syncretistic dynamics present within Israelite tradition
must include recognition of the Egyptian ontology of the Levites, the
priestly order founded by Moses. The divine name attributed to him, is
neither Semitic nor Hellenistic. It is Hamitic, identical to Egyptian
thought that saw all as Becoming (xeper). This essentially ontological
religion is most eloquent expressed in the 28th century composition, "The
Memphite Theology," that the Levitical Priestly Writer used for his
creation account found in Genesis 1-2. P's composition is also essentially
non-Semitic. It is Hamitic. A connection of the Name to Egyptian origins
compels the conclusion that the Name should be translated as "I am becoming
what I am Becoming." Such ontological thinking permitted the Priestly
Writer to identify El with Yahweh and both with Elohim. The two gods were
regarded as emanations and manifestations of Becoming. The strategy of
this sophisticated and intelligent propagation of syncretistic thought was
to crisscross their god's personal relationship, the domain of their gods,
the people's patriarchal ancestry. The goal was to effect cultural unity
through the propagation a new collective identity under the name of Israel.

The exposing and debunking of the syncretistic propaganda of Israelite
tradition forces the realization that everyone, including Old Testament
scholars, have been duped by these ancient yet sophisticated and extremely
effective techniques. Their obscuring of historical realities has more
than anything contributed to the current impasse in Old Testament research
that has spawn a new and restless "Search for Ancient Israel" in a Persian
or Hellenistic milieu. Although critical research has shown that El and
Yahweh were different gods, it is common for interpreters to adopt
uncritically the teachings of Israelite tradition that the two are one and
identical with the Priestly Writer's distinctively Levitical concept of
Elohim. Exodus 6:3 has reigned triumphant over the minds an hearts of the
faithful for two and one half millennia.

The exposure of syncretistic propaganda in the Old Testament inaugurates a
new and promising era in the study of ancient Israelite history, tradition,
and religion. The expected results will be a move beyond the current
impasse and a canceling the need to pursue the meaning of the Old Testament
from a Hellenistic perspective. With the debunking of syncretistic
propaganda, it now becomes possible to produce a far more encompassing,
synthetic understanding of ancient Israel on all levels of research that
can boast no rival. To that end, the author has made an initial attempt at
developing a working synthesis of Israel's early period forged from the
perspective of this new hermeneutical construct in a new work entitled,
Deconstructing Early Israel: The Syncretistic Dynamics of the Old
Testament. Interested parties are invited to consider the results by
visiting the author's home page:

http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/AncientIsrael


Thank you.

L.M. Barre





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