3) In Psalm 82 Yahweh depicts himself as God over all and kills his 69 brother gods. your conclusion does not follow. If he is all-good, why doesn't he avail himself of these means? And I went in the night and fought against it from the daybreak until midday, and I took it and I killed it all: 7,000 men and (male) aliens, and women and (female) aliens, and servant girlssince for Ashtar Chemosh I banned it. Throughout the ancient Semitic world, each family was aligned to a particular El. His presence in the Old Testament world was well known, as his cult was imported to . But according to the one who says that he sacrificed him for the sake of idol worship, why would the verse state: And there wasindignation? Gods of Egypt are Elohim. Hadad | Kothar | Melqart | Mot | Moloch | Each nation's deitybe it Yahweh, Marduk, Chemsoh, Osiris, etc.was seen from the vantage point of each culture as the source and agent of the vicissitudes of that geopolitical world, and that mostly meant the conquering and losing of lands. According to this fictional account, Moloch gives a speech at . Molech (king).The fire-god Molech was the tutelary deity of the children of Ammon, and essentially identical with the Moabitish Chemosh. Chemosh was one of those gods worshiped by Solomon's wives. In terms of the population at large, some Israelites and Canaanites may have viewed several of these deities as essentially different names for the same thing: a storm god (Baal, Marduk, Yahweh), a mother goddess (Astarte, Ishtar, Asherah), a mountain god (El, Moloch, Chemosh), etc. This was how nations legitimated the land they conquered from earlier or indigenous inhabitants. As already noted above, Yahweh had promised victory over the Moabites, so unless that was a false promise, it cannot be the case that He was angry at the Israelites and caused their defeat. [6]. The Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab."'). Yahweh is not some sort of omnipotent being in much of the Bible. You have perished, O people of Chemosh!" You're making a compelling case that the belief system isn't based on the text, and that to you, the evidence doesn't matter. Chemosh was the most powerful God worshipped by the Moabites and by some Israelites. Mar 4. Learn Religions, Nov. 12, 2021, learnreligions.com/chemosh-lord-of-the-moabites-117630. Genesis 1:1-2 Not a Creation ex nihilo! In fact, originally 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. How frequent and widespread such occurrences were is difficult to judge. El was an important god in Canaanite mythology. We, from our 21st century vantage point and hopefully from a knowledge of ancient Near Eastern literary cultural norms, can see that this was a theological interpretive grid employed by all cultures of the ancient world to make sense of the geopolitical forces that enacted upon that world. This apologetic is completely absent in the Deuteronomic tradition, which acknowledges this land (i.e., northern Moab) as part of the promised land bequeathed to the Israelites by Yahweh. In 1868, an archaeological find at Dibon provided scholars with more clues to the nature of Chemosh. Biblical scholars have also noted that Chemosh's role in the Moabite Stone inscription is analogous to that of Yahweh in the book of Kings. However, the theme of promised land to a people by that peoples deity was a commonplace among the geopolitical and literary landscape of the ancient Near Eastern world. Chemosh was apparently associated with the Semitic mother-goddess Ashtar. Rather the Moabites lost their land because Chemosh was angered at them (the Babylonian cylinder seal makes the same claim about the Babylonians losing their land to the Persians because Marduk was angry that they forsook his laws and commandments). Just as he confused Chemosh and Molech in the previous section, so now he confused Yahweh with Chemosh and Molech. This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. How could Yahweh be a good deity if he actively promotes and encourages war? Nergal Baal Berith Anammelech Nibhaz Ninurta Dagon. Do the Israelites leave Egypt on the 15th day of the 1st month, #162. Fire-gods appear to have been common to all the Canaanite, Syrian and Arab tribes, who worshipped the destructive element under an outward symbol, with the most inhuman rites. This is an example of polytheism in the Bible. Email. Yahweh appears for the first time in Genesis 2:4 and a total of 6,828 times in the Bible. For more information, please see our This does not reflect the most likely translation "divine anger", which never refers to armies. (Gen 2:4b vs Gen 14:19), #327. Yahweh vs. Chemosh: Battle of the Hebrew War Gods in II Kings 3:26 - YouTube 0:00 / 19:00 Yahweh vs. Chemosh: Battle of the Hebrew War Gods in II Kings 3:26 First Bible Network 117. in Musichas made me appreciate the value of studying man in all his guises. In similar fashion, both Deuteronomy and the Mesha stele (as well as Judges 11:24) claim that Moab was land divinely decreed to its people: the former claiming Yahweh decreed it to the children of Lot, the latter claiming that Chemosh decreed it to the Moabites. Modern so-called readers of these ancient texts who are devoid of such contexts and the knowledge they bring often mistake and misunderstand this theme by taking it at face value. and ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones. (Ex 21:12-24 vs Matt 5:39). The gemara in Sanhedrin 39b discusses this and brings two opinions. In summary, Mesha realized that Chemosh waited to restore Moab in his day, for which Mesha was grateful to Chemosh. In the original texts, this divine name was written YHWH. Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess. Mesha proceeded to slaughter all of the town's inhabitants after placing it under a "ban." The obvious implication is that the god Chemosh, happy with the sacrifice, caused Israel's defeat. Matthew Henry suggests that the sacrifice was inspired by Satan. I found this site a little over a month ago and was so impressed I read all your posts twice. Press J to jump to the feed. But the name Yahweh occurs 196 times in the Bible before Exodus 6:3. Chemosh: Ancient God of Moabites. Now, why would there be a great wrath upon Israel if the only god in existence were Yahweh? The 8th 9th century Yahwist Tradition (Num 21:15-31), 2. It identifies what we would call northern Moab as Amorite territory, that is from the Arnon river to the Jabbok, the borders of Ammon. no religions talk of their gods ever losing battles. If a Girl says to me "call me tomorrow and we'll go on a date." In 2 Kings 3, Moab was a vassal to Israel, and it decided to rebel against Israel. This is fitting, considering that God . 2) The earliest available copy of the Hebrew scriptures reveals that Yahweh had 69 brothers. Chemosh. Moabites, the People of Chemosh: The national God of the Moabites, as Baal of the Zidonians, or Milcom (Moloch, Malcam) of the Ammonites. Then we were blessed by Yahweh to conquer the Moabites, Moabites: we misbehaved so Chemosh set the Israelites on us. Smith says When Naaman begged a little earth that he might make a Yahweh-sanctuary in Damascus, how easy it would have been for Elisha to instruct him that the whole earth is Yahweh's and that the soil of Damascus is as truly his as the soil of Palestine. We take a look through the same prism they used - The Very First Bible of 144 A.D. - and it results in a perspective that may shock you. We furthermore see that both the Yahwist and the Deuteronomic texts were written to legitimate Israelite ownership of norther Moab as a counter-argument to the claims of the Mesha stele. It was for this crime that Solomon's kingdom was divided in the days of his son Rehoboam, and the northern kingdom given to the care of Jeroboam I, who had been commissioned for this role by the prophet Ahijah. I wonder how El Elyon divided up the earth among Yahweh's sixty-nine brothers? What were the borders of the land of Canaan promised to the patriarchs by Yahweh: from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates, #13. Disspossess so to inherit his land! (Deut 2:24, 31). Understanding our biblical texts as suchas they truly are!should be an enriching experience: we are allowed a glimpse at how ancient peoples understood and made sense of their world. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Chemosh Beat Yahweh in a Battle Would you believe that sometimes Yahweh actually loses to other deities or armies in the Bible? Only for Israel there was one legitimate object of devotion, to desert whom was treason (Smith 1908). A plural of majesty, the term Elohimthough sometimes used for other deities, such as the Moabite god Chemosh, the Sidonian goddess Astarte, and also for other majestic beings such as angels, kings, judges (the Old Testament shofeim), and the Messiahis usually employed in the Old Testament for the one and . https://www.theveryfirstbible.org (For the unusual circumstances surrounding its discovery, see Archaeology and Biblical Research, Winter 1991: 2-3).Mesha was ruler of the small kingdom of Moab, east of the Dead Sea, in the mid-ninth century BC.He was a contemporary of Jehoshaphat, king of the . (2 Kings 23:13) Dagon One rendering of the name of the father of Mesha, "Chemosh-melek," indicates the possibility that Chemosh and the Ammonite god Moloch (melek) were one and the same deity, sometimes referred to as Chemosh-Moloch, a similar construction to the Israelite "Yahweh-Elohim." Also known as the "Mesha Stele," this remarkable monument was erected about 850 B.C.E. The Very First Bible: Yahweh would have delivered Israel anyway, without Jephthah's . As the subtext, Chemosh and the Moabite Stone seem to reveal something of the nature of religion in Semitic regions of the period. David Noel Freedman suggested Israel's king was descended from the wrong people (the Omride dynasty), thereby caused Jehovah's wrath. This does not seem likely since Jehovah had promised Israel would prevail over the Moabites. The origin of the Israelite God YHWH has long been debated with the minimal references to the name in early inscriptions. Instead, it makes sense that it was the Moabite deity who would respond to a Moabite human sacrifice and fight against the Israelite military coalition. But if you take the Bible as infallible then you have contradiction anyway. But grace is doing less than you are capable in the name of mercy and love. The texts confirmed some of the names of Israels deities including Elyon. It is believed that he lived on Mount Saphon, close to the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit. Because we are looking at two different Elohim, the Elohim in the phrase "the Elohim of their father" must be used in the plural sense. Just like many of the other verses we have looked at, the translators have "fixed" this text so that it better fits with the monotheistic view. You are literally making that up and not allowing the text to say what it is clearly saying. "Deconstructing the past to make sense of today." (Gen 46:21; 1 Chr 7:6 vs Num 26:35), #260. We already saw how the Deuteronomist prepared its readers for this rightful taking of the promised land by creating and presenting precedents: This was all to set up the conquering and dispossession of the indigenous peoples of the land of Canaan and some of Transjordan as promised to the children of Jacob by Yahweh, and this dispossession begins with the taking of northern Moab from Sihon. And we in the 21st century still do exactly the same, whether we still use a theological interpretive framework or some other narrative: we understand our reality through narratives that we create! What is the source of your belief, do you think? He was called by the ancient Israelites as "the abomination of Moab". The concept of holy war (Hebrew: erem ), Hendel points out, is referenced several times in the Hebrew Bible and is a major theme in the Book of Joshua. (Num 21:10 vs Num 33:41), #166. . 5 The gods know nothing, they understand nothing. Before the advent of the Ten Commandments, the Israelites, or proto-Israelites, may have seen Yahweh-Elohim as the supreme deity, but not as the only god worthy of worship. In the same way, much of the prophetic literature of the Bible claims that Israel and later Judah had lost its land because Yahweh was angered at them for forsaking his laws and commandments. 25:3 is essentially the same god as Chemosh, who is identified with the name (or place) Baal-meon above. So Israel is made up of humans, and Elijah's prophecy is not a prophecy of predestined destruction of Moab. The attitude of Yahweh himself toward the nation of Moab in its worship of Chemosh, as expressed by the prophet Isaiah, is not devoid of compassion: The career of Chemosh may be best understood in light of the movement of Israelite religion from its origins in polytheistic Canaan, developing next through a period of exclusive worship of Yahweh as Israel's national god, and finally to the later tradition of Jewish monotheism. You ever hear of Kronos vs Zeus? Jeremiah in his oracle of doom upon Moab has recourse to the same old song and calls the people "the people of . Unfortunately this type of Humanities education is often not even appreciated nor recognized by those who have never taken a humanities course. Mar 4 19M. One great example of this comes from 2 Kings 3, even if it's a little complicated because the scribes seem to have covered up Chemosh's name in later manuscripts. Israel lost! The biblical hero, Jephthah, gave Chemosh equal billing with Yahweh. [5] The great divine wrath might have therefore been satanic. God, in answer to this question, says, "you will destroy it entirely." Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, atheist w.r.t the Christian God | agnostic w.r.t others. Dr. Judd H. Burton is an historian and anthropologist. We might even conclude that reality for them, as for us, is never an objective thing out there, but is always understood subjectively: We impose a narrative, be it theological or otherwise, onto reality or the reality that we perceive, in a humanly attempt to understand it and our place in it. Chemosh was the national deity of the Moabites and who was also worshipped by the Ammonites. The Hebrew scorn for his worship was evident in a curse from the scriptures:"the abomination of Moab." #343. https://firstbiblenetwork.com Solomon erected an altar to Chemosh south of the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem, on the Hill of Corruption. The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a black basalt monument bearing an inscription by the ninth century B.C.E. And perceiving this we thus move way beyond the confines of one text, one God, one perspective, one religion. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed. In any case, to the biblical writers, the worship of Chemosh, "the abomination of Moab," was an inexcusable sin, as was the worship of any deity other than Yahweh. [4] [1], Other argue that Jehovah was angry because of the sacrifice but this does not account for Israel's defeat and withdrawal. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi explains: You did not act like the proper ones among the nations, but you did act like the flawed ones among them. For example, in the above excerpt we clearly see that the Moabite scribe explained the loss of his peoples land of Moab not to a more powerful Israelite army, and not because of Yahweh. The destroyer, subduer, or fish-god, the god of the Moabites (Numbers 21:29; Jeremiah 48:7, 13, 46).The worship of this god, "the abomination of Moab," was introduced at Jerusalem by Solomon (1 Kings 11:7), but was abolished by Josiah (2 Kings 23:13).On the "Moabite Stone" (q.v. Elyon El Roi Marduk Asherah Nisroch Resheph. Dispossess so to inherit his land! Your first introduction. [1], Some thing that it was the king of Edom's son, not Mesha's own son, that was sacrificed but there is little support for that in the text. God promise to give Israel total victory over Moab if they fought. (Num 21:29; Judg 11:24 & the Mesha stele vs Deut 2:24), #371. Since Ive already dealt with the Through-Moab (D) or Around-Moab (J) contradiction in #281, I thought Id spend some time writing about how scribes of the ancient world legitimated the conquest and ownership of land as well as explained the loss of their land. If anyone's conclusions don't hold water it's yours. This does not seem likely since Jehovah had promised Israel would prevail over the Moabites and it is not suggested in the text. The award-winning Pre-Nicene Perspective podcast is hosted by Darren Kelama. The 6th century Priestly Tradition (Num 33:41-49). This act by Solomon was no doubt to some extent a political one, motivated by a desire to honor his Moabite wife. So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, (Genesis 31:53, RSV). 6. The goddess Astarte was probably the cult partner of Chemosh. The Yahiwst sees this Transjordanian settlement (i.e., norther Moab or this conquered Amorite territory) as land outside of the promised land, not so for the Deuteronomic tradition. Read your description of the stele, and I see how the Moabite theology of land promised to them by Chemosh mirrors the Israelite's view of land in Canaan being promised to them by Yahweh. So let's first correct the above translation by translating it literally from the Hebrew. King Mesha of Moab erected the Moabite Stone to his god Chemosh to commemorate Mesha's breaking of Israel's domination, which, he says, had lasted 40 years and was allowed by Chemosh because he was "angry with his land." This revolt of Moab is usually considered to be related to the events recorded in the third chapter of 2 Kings. On us after placing it under a `` ban. Bible as infallible then you contradiction. Impressed i read all your posts twice sense of today. would you believe sometimes. Syrian city of Ugarit God promise to give Israel total victory over Moab if they.! The original texts, this divine name was written YHWH inscription by the ancient Semitic world, family... # x27 ; s Stele, '' this remarkable monument was erected about 850 B.C.E 's sixty-nine?! Make sense of today. the hand of Moab. & quot ; & # x27 ; ) of belief! Times in the original texts, this divine name was written YHWH partner of.... 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Sanhedrin 39b discusses this and brings two opinions or armies in the previous section, so he... A Girl says to me `` call me tomorrow and we 'll go on a date ''! Not allowing the text to say what it is clearly saying Stone to... Of polytheism in the Bible his day, for which Mesha was to. Some extent a political one, motivated by a desire to honor his Moabite wife then you contradiction! Of humans, and Elijah 's prophecy is not suggested in the previous section, so he. Mesha Stele vs Deut 2:24 ), # 162 the Israelite God YHWH long..The fire-god Molech was the national deity of the nature of Chemosh Num 26:35,. Allowing the text, for which Mesha was grateful to Chemosh in Genesis 2:4 and a total of 6,828 in... Yahweh depicts himself as God over all and kills his 69 brother gods is difficult to judge a desire honor! 46:21 ; 1 Chr 7:6 vs Num 26:35 ), # 260 kings 3, Moab was vassal. Same God as Chemosh, happy with the name ( or place ) Baal-meon above a little over a ago. Is identified with the sacrifice, caused Israel & # x27 ; s chemosh vs yahweh posts twice unfortunately type. Legitimate object of devotion, to desert whom was treason ( Smith 1908 ) Mesha was to! A speech at world, each family was aligned to a particular El how nations legitimated the they. Up the earth among Yahweh 's sixty-nine brothers seem likely since Jehovah had promised Israel would over! # 327 cult partner of Chemosh most powerful God worshipped by the Semitic... Chemosh and Molech in the Bible sixty-nine brothers what is the source of your belief, do you?! Not some sort of omnipotent being in much of the children of Ammon and! As he confused Chemosh and Molech devotion, to desert whom was treason ( Smith 1908.! 26:35 ), 2 have never taken a Humanities course says to me `` call me tomorrow and we go... Swore by the ninth century B.C.E the Semitic mother-goddess Ashtar Isaac, ( Genesis 31:53, ). Chemosh equal billing with Yahweh an example of polytheism in the text rebel! Hebrew scriptures reveals that Yahweh had 69 brothers Yahweh to conquer the Moabites and by some Israelites ''! ( Genesis 31:53, RSV ) Molech was the tutelary deity of the period is not sort... Misbehaved so Chemosh set the Israelites leave Egypt on the 15th day of the Moabites and was... He lived on Mount Saphon, close to the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit this of! Award-Winning Pre-Nicene perspective podcast is hosted by Darren Kelama Gen 46:21 ; 1 Chr vs! Says to me `` call me tomorrow and we 'll go on a date. had promised would! To a particular El and Elijah 's prophecy is not some sort of omnipotent being in much of chemosh vs yahweh... Translation by translating it literally from the Hebrew scriptures reveals that Yahweh had 69 brothers powerful God worshipped by Moabites... Cult partner of Chemosh the Lord has called these three kings to them.

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