From where did the Jews get the idea/concept of God? (reject, biblical)
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There concept of god was borrowed from Egypt from where they came. Pharaoh Akhenaton was the first to develop the theory of a single god, and an offshoot of his people became the tribe known as Hebrews. Even today, the Christian and Jewish religions finish every prayer by chanting the name of the Egyptian god Amen....
That's not proof that they borrowed the idea of monotheism from Egypt.
The idea that the Israelites were an offshoot of that particular Pharoah's people is not a very good one - Sigmund Freud was no Biblical scholar. His idea, while interesting, has fallen by the wayside - like many of his ideas.
The only way this theory could possibly work is if Israelite Monotheism actually, historically arose with Moses - and this is only believed by fundamentalists or orthodox believers. Going further from that, these same believers would never accept the theory that Moses borrowed the idea from Egypt - they would insist on the primacy of the account told in Genesis.
In summation - it's just an idea, one that has been shown to be false by later research (both linguistically and archaeologically) .
In addition - using a term from another culture does not automatically result in the conclusion that the borrowing culture was entirely influenced in all of it's ways by that previous culture.
Th Even today, the Christian and Jewish religions finish every prayer by chanting the name of the Egyptian god Amen....
Egads!
Amen, meaning "so be it", is of Hebrew origin
Popular among some theosophists, proponents of Afrocentric theories of history, and adherents of esoteric Christianity is the conjecture that amen is a derivative of the name of the (Egyptian god) Amun (which is sometimes also spelled Amen). The Hebrew word starts with aleph, while the Egyptian name begins with a yodh.
Popular among some theosophists, proponents of Afrocentric theories of history, and adherents of esoteric Christianity is the conjecture that amen is a derivative of the name of the (Egyptian god) Amun (which is sometimes also spelled Amen). The Hebrew word starts with aleph, while the Egyptian name begins with a yodh.
It's akin to an older fundamentalist view that the city of Ḥaran (or Ḥarran) must have been named after Terah's son Haran - most translations don't distinguish between the two entirely separate letters Ḥ and H, and this results in part of the confusion. A working knowledge of the Hebrew text usually dispels such ideas, don't you agree?
Diacritical marks - the bane of printers, but the joy of scholars!
And then there is the oft-overlooked passage found in Deuteronomy 32:8-9. There is something really strange in verse that is not generally noticed by the passerby but I will leave that for now.
In this farewell address by Moses, he exhorts new generation to consult their elders. He tells them that the elders would tell them that there was a time when the "Most High" (El Elyon) divided the nations according to the "sons of god" (as stated in the DSS), the LORD's (Yahweh) portion (inheritance) was Jacob (Israel). Upon careful observation based on the DSS's reading, you realize that the Most High (El Elyon) and the LORD (Yahweh) are two different beings distinguished from one another. Yahweh appears to be within the number of sons who receives a nation (Israel) for himself.
The King James Version (which uses the later Masoretic Text as its basis for translation) confuses the matter by changing "sons of god" (Bene elohim) to "children of Israel." It seems that this may have been done by the Jewish Masorites to eliminate the polytheistic implication, but it creates a problem. When the nations were divided, per Genesis 11 (or it it 10?), Israel was NOT a nation so it would make no sense that the Israelites were used as some kind of standard. Apologists claim that god did this with the future Israelite nation in mind, but that seems quite begging. Using "sons of god" in this instance is far more consistent with the regional mythology of the time where peoples of the area believed there was a supreme deity (and wife) who fathered sons, often counted as 70 in total. Ironically, according to the book of Genesis, the nations were divided into 70 nations.
What I also find interesting is the encounter Moses has with Yahweh at the burning bush. It's almost as if Yahweh finally decides to make his appearance and claim his inheritance - Israel. Once Moses...er, Yahweh gets their attention, he swears them off from the gods of the other nations (no mention that they do NOT exist). From this point on, the biblical writers (Yahwehists), writing in hindsight seem to bleed Yahweh into the earliest of history and weaves him into the religious fabric of their own history coming forward where in the end, Yahweh wins out over the other gods, going on to become in THEIR eyes, the only god there is.
And then there is the oft-overlooked passage found in Deuteronomy 32:8-9. There is something really strange in verse that is not generally noticed by the passerby but I will leave that for now.
In this farewell address by Moses, he exhorts new generation to consult their elders. He tells them that the elders would tell them that there was a time when the "Most High" (El Elyon) divided the nations according to the "sons of god" (as stated in the DSS), the LORD's (Yahweh) portion (inheritance) was Jacob (Israel). Upon careful observation based on the DSS's reading, you realize that the Most High (El Elyon) and the LORD (Yahweh) are two different beings distinguished from one another. Yahweh appears to be within the number of sons who receives a nation (Israel) for himself.
The King James Version (which uses the later Masoretic Text as its basis for translation) confuses the matter by changing "sons of god" (Bene elohim) to "children of Israel." It seems that this may have been done by the Jewish Masorites to eliminate the polytheistic implication, but it creates a problem. When the nations were divided, per Genesis 11 (or it it 10?), Israel was NOT a nation so it would make no sense that the Israelites were used as some kind of standard. Apologists claim that god did this with the future Israelite nation in mind, but that seems quite begging. Using "sons of god" in this instance is far more consistent with the regional mythology of the time where peoples of the area believed there was a supreme deity (and wife) who fathered sons, often counted as 70 in total. Ironically, according to the book of Genesis, the nations were divided into 70 nations.
What I also find interesting is the encounter Moses has with Yahweh at the burning bush. It's almost as if Yahweh finally decides to make his appearance and claim his inheritance - Israel. Once Moses...er, Yahweh gets their attention, he swears them off from the gods of the other nations (no mention that they do NOT exist). From this point on, the biblical writers (Yahwehists), writing in hindsight seem to bleed Yahweh into the earliest of history and weaves him into the religious fabric of their own history coming forward where in the end, Yahweh wins out over the other gods, going on to become in THEIR eyes, the only god there is.
I believe that passage was finally elucidated from a copy in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It's always a good test-passage to use when determining whether a modern translation is using the more recent discoveries or not heh heh! Many translations still slavishly adhere to the MT- despite modern advances in scholarship, linguistics and older manuscripts now.
The Masoretes wrecked havoc with the book of Job, for other sundry reasons - there are about 10-12 undisputed passages in which scribal piousness altered the text, and a host of other passages in which it's conjectured, but with less evidence.
What I also find interesting is the encounter Moses has with Yahweh at the burning bush. It's almost as if Yahweh finally decides to make his appearance and claim his inheritance - Israel. Once Moses...er, Yahweh gets their attention, he swears them off from the gods of the other nations (no mention that they do NOT exist). From this point on, the biblical writers (Yahwehists), writing in hindsight seem to bleed Yahweh into the earliest of history and weaves him into the religious fabric of their own history coming forward where in the end, Yahweh wins out over the other gods, going on to become in THEIR eyes, the only god there is.
Well, there's a tiny bit more there.
Referring back to the Documentary Hypothesis - you have several writers in Genesis:
J (the Yahwist)
E (the Elohist)
P (the Priestly Source)
The different sources have a different idea as to when the name Yahweh was revealed to humans:
J (the Yahwist)
J believed the name was used since antiquity, and this shows in his writings in Genesis. The 2nd Creation Account (Gen 2) uses Yahweh consistently, but with a strange (probably redacted by a later editor) combination of Yahwe Elohim - perhaps "Yahweh God" or "Yahweh of the Gods". Genesis 4:26 has the usage of the name among humans:
....At that time they first called out the name of YHWH. (Gen 4:26c, TFBOM, Fox)
Eve also uses the name:
Now the human knew Havva his wife, she became pregnant and bore Kayin. She said: Kanitti / I-have-gotten a man, as has YHWH! (Gen 4:1, ibid)
(You'll have to forgive the Hebrew versions of the names - Fox was using the principles set down by Buber and Rosenweig to try to catch, in translation, the Hebrew alliterations, names, word-plays, etc. It's the closest you can get to the actual Hebrew text, without knowing Hebrew.)
So J uses Yahweh throughout the text.
E and P believe the name Yahweh was revealed in the Exodus account. E (the Elohist)
E is called thus because he usually prefers the name Elohim for the name of God. In this, he is joined by the Priestly writer. Despite this, various other names and epithets of God are used by them. These sources may use the term Yahweh, but not usually on the lips of characters, for example:
Now when Avram was ninety years and nine years old YHWH was seen by Avram and said to him: I am God [El] Shaddai. Walk in my presence! And be wholehearted! I set my covenant between meand you, I will make you exceedingly, exceedingly many. (Gen 17:1-2, ibid)
Notice the fertility aspects of El Shaddai. These specific aspects will be absent from the later concept of Yahweh as a god of history, mysterious -who cannot be found in the wind, fire, thunder, etc. It's something that set Yahweh apart from the other gods of the nations - his reluctance to be pinned down and treated as an aspect of nature.
The 2nd story of Abraham in the Wife/Sister Motif occurs in E. The first is in J, and the 3rd is from J. In this story, the strange mixture of names occur again. In response to Avimelekh's demand for an explanation of the deception, Abraham tells him:
....Indeed, I said to myself: Surely there is no awe of God [Elohim] in this place, they will kill me on account of my wife! Then, too, she is truly my mother's daughter - so she became my wife. Now it was, when the power-of-God [elohim: the gods] caused me to roam from my fathers' house, that I said to her.... (Gen 20:11-13. ibid)
Notice - Fox makes the unfortunate decision to render the plural gods as power-of-god. The Hebrew definately has gods in the plural, with the appropriate linguistic markers. As I'm sure you're aware - Elohim, 'God' or 'gods', can be translated either way. The translator must try to make the context guide him, and the linguistic markers. Sometimes, as in the 1st Creative Account, the plural markers are there ("Let us make humankind, in our image, according to our likeness!" Gen 2:26), and this creates problems for strictly orthodox interpreters. This same slightly orthodox tendency was at work, I believe, in Fox's decision to render the very clearly plural "gods" as "power-of-god" - a little theological paraphrasing, if you will heh heh!
To complete the passage from Genesis in the Wife/Sister story:
Avraham interceded with God [Elohim] and God [Elohim] healed Avimelekh: his wife and his salve-women, so that they gave birth. For YHWH had obstructed, obstructed every womb in Avimelekh's household on account of Sara, the wife of Avraham. (Gen 20:17-18, ibid)
P (the Priestly Source)
P gives us the 1st Creative Account and is fond of Elohim as the divine name. He is also fond of geneaologies and lists, and numbers and formulas.
So - a quick recap: J has humans aware of YHWH as the divine name.
E and P do not yet admit that YHWH was used by humans, and this revelation comes next.
God [Elohim] spoke to Moshe, he said to him: I am YHWH. I was seen by Avraham, by Yitzhak, and by Yaakov as God [El] Shaddai, but (by) my name YHWH I was not known to them. I also established my covenant with them.... Therefore, say to the Children of Israel: I am YHWH; I will bring you out from beneath your burdens of Egypt, I will rescue you from servitude to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, with great (acts of) judgment; I will take you for me as a people, and I will be for you as a God; and you shall know that I am YHWH your God, who brings you out from beneath the burdens of Egypt. (Gen 6:2-4, 6-7, ibid)
This passage is from the P writer - who most likely wrote many years after the E writer. This passage establishes that the name Yahweh was not known to anyone before this special revelation. The story is a doublet of Exodus 3, in which the E writer also establishes this very same fact:
Moshe said to God: Here, I will come to the Children of Israel and I will say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they will say to me: What is his name? - what shall I say to them? God said to Moshe: EHYEH ASHER EHYEH / I will be-there howsoever I will be-there. And he said: Thus shall you say to the Children of Israel: EHYEH / I-WILL-BE-THERE sends me to you/ And God said further to Moshe: Thus shall you say to the Children of Israel: YHWH, the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitzhak, and the God of Yaakov, sends me to you. That is my name for the ages, that is my title (from) generation to generation. Go, gather the elders of Israel and say to them: YHWH, the God of your fathers, has been seen by me, the God of Avraham, of Yitzhak, and of Yaakov,.... (Gen 3:13-16, ibid)
From these two points onward - the use of the name Yahweh is no longer an easy way to distinguish the different sources from each other. Each source will now use Yahweh in both narration AND on the mouths of his followers.
Anyways - just a small peak into the Documentary Hypothesis and the importance of the 2 Exodus revelations and the mention in Genesis 4 for biblical studies on what sources were finally stitched together to make up the Torah. Was Yahweh stitched retroactively into the text after this revelation in Exodus? Dig a little deeper into the stories that make up the Torah and the complete Tanakh, and you might get a better idea of what the Yahweh-alone cult was attempting.
After Yahweh makes his appearance, it seems like the Israelites over time, develop a Napoleon complex concerning their god. Their religious writings (well, the Old Testament), shows what amounted to a sibling rivalry between Yahweh and his brothers (Chemosh, Moloch, Baal, Dagon, etc). Sure, the Israelites eventually came to believe their god was the biggest and baddest god on the regional block. As for the religious fanatics of the day were concerned, they were miffed that the Israelites kept flirting with the neighboring gods. Of course they made sure Yahweh was just as upset at them just in case he didn't notice.
Somewhere along the way an interesting thing happened. Yahweh takes over the council of the gods (elohim) and castigates the other gods as being lazy bums slacking on their jobs. He appears to assume the position of the ancient El [Elyon] and revokes the immortality of the other gods ("you will die like men"), basically demoting them from their lofty status. This seems to have set the stage for the eventual theological triumph of Yahweh, who in Babylon, up against the god (Marduk) of a more powerful people, manages to be proclaimed the ONLY god in existence. Of course, all of this posturing only existed on paper, but it set the stage for what became known as Jewish monotheism.
Well, there's a tiny bit more there.
Referring back to the Documentary Hypothesis - you have several writers in Genesis:
J (the Yahwist)
E (the Elohist)
P (the Priestly Source)
The different sources have a different idea as to when the name Yahweh was revealed to humans:
J (the Yahwist)
J believed the name was used since antiquity, and this shows in his writings in Genesis. The 2nd Creation Account (Gen 2) uses Yahweh consistently, but with a strange (probably redacted by a later editor) combination of Yahwe Elohim - perhaps "Yahweh God" or "Yahweh of the Gods". Genesis 4:26 has the usage of the name among humans:
....At that time they first called out the name of YHWH. (Gen 4:26c, TFBOM, Fox)
Eve also uses the name:
Now the human knew Havva his wife, she became pregnant and bore Kayin. She said: Kanitti / I-have-gotten a man, as has YHWH! (Gen 4:1, ibid)
(You'll have to forgive the Hebrew versions of the names - Fox was using the principles set down by Buber and Rosenweig to try to catch, in translation, the Hebrew alliterations, names, word-plays, etc. It's the closest you can get to the actual Hebrew text, without knowing Hebrew.)
So J uses Yahweh throughout the text.
E and P believe the name Yahweh was revealed in the Exodus account. E (the Elohist)
E is called thus because he usually prefers the name Elohim for the name of God. In this, he is joined by the Priestly writer. Despite this, various other names and epithets of God are used by them. These sources may use the term Yahweh, but not usually on the lips of characters, for example:
Now when Avram was ninety years and nine years old YHWH was seen by Avram and said to him: I am God [El] Shaddai. Walk in my presence! And be wholehearted! I set my covenant between meand you, I will make you exceedingly, exceedingly many. (Gen 17:1-2, ibid)
Notice the fertility aspects of El Shaddai. These specific aspects will be absent from the later concept of Yahweh as a god of history, mysterious -who cannot be found in the wind, fire, thunder, etc. It's something that set Yahweh apart from the other gods of the nations - his reluctance to be pinned down and treated as an aspect of nature.
The 2nd story of Abraham in the Wife/Sister Motif occurs in E. The first is in J, and the 3rd is from J. In this story, the strange mixture of names occur again. In response to Avimelekh's demand for an explanation of the deception, Abraham tells him:
....Indeed, I said to myself: Surely there is no awe of God [Elohim] in this place, they will kill me on account of my wife! Then, too, she is truly my mother's daughter - so she became my wife. Now it was, when the power-of-God [elohim: the gods] caused me to roam from my fathers' house, that I said to her.... (Gen 20:11-13. ibid)
Notice - Fox makes the unfortunate decision to render the plural gods as power-of-god. The Hebrew definately has gods in the plural, with the appropriate linguistic markers. As I'm sure you're aware - Elohim, 'God' or 'gods', can be translated either way. The translator must try to make the context guide him, and the linguistic markers. Sometimes, as in the 1st Creative Account, the plural markers are there ("Let us make humankind, in our image, according to our likeness!" Gen 2:26), and this creates problems for strictly orthodox interpreters. This same slightly orthodox tendency was at work, I believe, in Fox's decision to render the very clearly plural "gods" as "power-of-god" - a little theological paraphrasing, if you will heh heh!
To complete the passage from Genesis in the Wife/Sister story:
Avraham interceded with God [Elohim] and God [Elohim] healed Avimelekh: his wife and his salve-women, so that they gave birth. For YHWH had obstructed, obstructed every womb in Avimelekh's household on account of Sara, the wife of Avraham. (Gen 20:17-18, ibid)
P (the Priestly Source)
P gives us the 1st Creative Account and is fond of Elohim as the divine name. He is also fond of geneaologies and lists, and numbers and formulas.
So - a quick recap: J has humans aware of YHWH as the divine name.
E and P do not yet admit that YHWH was used by humans, and this revelation comes next.
God [Elohim] spoke to Moshe, he said to him: I am YHWH. I was seen by Avraham, by Yitzhak, and by Yaakov as God [El] Shaddai, but (by) my name YHWH I was not known to them. I also established my covenant with them.... Therefore, say to the Children of Israel: I am YHWH; I will bring you out from beneath your burdens of Egypt, I will rescue you from servitude to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, with great (acts of) judgment; I will take you for me as a people, and I will be for you as a God; and you shall know that I am YHWH your God, who brings you out from beneath the burdens of Egypt. (Gen 6:2-4, 6-7, ibid)
This passage is from the P writer - who most likely wrote many years after the E writer. This passage establishes that the name Yahweh was not known to anyone before this special revelation. The story is a doublet of Exodus 3, in which the E writer also establishes this very same fact:
Moshe said to God: Here, I will come to the Children of Israel and I will say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they will say to me: What is his name? - what shall I say to them? God said to Moshe: EHYEH ASHER EHYEH / I will be-there howsoever I will be-there. And he said: Thus shall you say to the Children of Israel: EHYEH / I-WILL-BE-THERE sends me to you/ And God said further to Moshe: Thus shall you say to the Children of Israel: YHWH, the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitzhak, and the God of Yaakov, sends me to you. That is my name for the ages, that is my title (from) generation to generation. Go, gather the elders of Israel and say to them: YHWH, the God of your fathers, has been seen by me, the God of Avraham, of Yitzhak, and of Yaakov,.... (Gen 3:13-16, ibid)
From these two points onward - the use of the name Yahweh is no longer an easy way to distinguish the different sources from each other. Each source will now use Yahweh in both narration AND on the mouths of his followers.
Anyways - just a small peak into the Documentary Hypothesis and the importance of the 2 Exodus revelations and the mention in Genesis 4 for biblical studies on what sources were finally stitched together to make up the Torah. Was Yahweh stitched retroactively into the text after this revelation in Exodus? Dig a little deeper into the stories that make up the Torah and the complete Tanakh, and you might get a better idea of what the Yahweh-alone cult was attempting.
Yeah, you are doing far more scholarly job than I am. I'm just blabbering on far simpler level working on little sleep. I'm probably not making a lick of sense.
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I'm probably not making a lick of sense.
