Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>]

Yahwism was not a monolithic belief.  It is common in many belief systems 
that some sectors maintain a more primitive and ancient form.  In the case 
of Yahweh, there are some in ancient Palestine who held on to the primitive 
"bull" and his heifer consort, Asherah.  The names EL (also Ba'al) and YHWH 
may have been merged as an hypocoristicon. The Qal  of hwh taken from a 
TITLE phrase as a hypocoristicon of EL, ala Albright and Cross?  A title 
like "El causes something to come into
being".  The use of HWH, therefore appears to be WAY down on the trunk of 
the NWSem tree where it became a loan word from Aramaic to early Hebrew.

The bull YHWH of the pithoi depicted with his heifer consort Asherah 
probably reflects the early hypocoristicon of EL.  I believe the ashes of 
the red heifer are related to this very early form and to Asherah.  Asherah 
continued to be special to women even into late 2nd temple times.  The 
Yahweh of the Bronze Age Canaanites and the Yahweh of the Rabbis may have 
had a common ascendancy but were no longer the same.

Jack Kilmon


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______________________________________________

Dakma daEBadton l'chad min hoLEYN AHi zeOreh ly haw EBadton

Jack Kilmon
San Marcos, Tx
jkilmon at historian


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On 06/03/2005 02:48, Yitzhak Sapir wrote:

> ...
>
>My argument was that perhaps the Yahwist's home was Kuntillet Ajrud.  Not
>that we need to revise any evidence.  It was just argued that the view at
>Kuntillet Ajrud was odd and aberrant or not in line with the establishment's
>view.  Now, as for your claim that the concept of an Asherah is
>repugnant, Asherah
>is found only once in the Torah outside Deut ...
>

Yes, but this is not the only literature describing the period in 
question. There are for example the accounts in Kings. Their dating and 
relaibility is perhaps uncertain, but then so is that of J and the rest 
of the Torah. Nevertheless, this is evidence which must not be ignored.

>Just to make it clear, the argument goes: circumstantial evidence is
>used to back
>up the claim that perhaps the Yahwist's home was Kuntillet Ajrud.  Now, the
>evidence is circumstantial, but there is no evidence to any contrary
>position.  We
>have no evidence for Yahweh worship in this time in Jerusalem, for example. 
>...
>

Yes we do. Well, at least we have detailed accounts of Yahweh worship in 
Jerusalem in the 10th century, and some less detailed accounts from the 
9th century, e.g. the time of Asa and Jehoshaphat, including a specific 
mention that an Asherah (an image of Asherah?) was rejected and 
destroyed, 1 Kings 15:13.


>...
>And all I argue
>from this hypothesis is that one cannot claim that "but this was
>clearly not the
>view of the establishment."  There is no "clearly" about it.
>
>  
>
It was clearly not the view of the establishment as presented in the 
books of Kings, I agree that we cannot be sure that this was the actual 
view of the establishment a couple of centuries earlier, but note that 
the author of Kings notes carefully distinctions between the 
establishment views of Asa and Jehoshaphat and his own views, in 1 Kings 
15:14, 22:43. This looks to me like the mark of real historical 
reminiscence.

...

>
>They worshipped Yahweh of Samaria, and the Yahwistic component in their
>names is a short one like in Israel, as opposed to Judah.  So I think that is
>sufficient reason for that claim.
>
>  
>
If Samaria was their own home, why did they need to specify "of 
Samaria"? This sounds to me more like a conscious invocation of someone 
else' god.

-- 
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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