The Syncretization of Yahweh and El
The Syncretization of Yahweh and El

The Syncretization of Yahweh and El

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The Syncretization of Yahweh and El

NOTE: Throughout this thread, I will be using a Christian apologetics website as a source of information. However, I do not agree with the agenda of the website; I am using it because it is the only free and relatively extensive source of information about this topic that I could find. In other words, I am using this website for only its citations – not for its conclusions.

According to scholarly consensus, the ancient Israelites were actually a mixture of indigenous Canaanites and foreigners who introduced the deity, Yahweh, to the land of Canaan – rather than a totally alien people who displaced the Canaanites.

The indigenous Canaanites were a polytheistic people who worshipped a pantheon of gods: El, the Most High god; Asherah, the consort/ wife of El; Ba’al, one of El’s seventy sons; and many other deities.

However, another Semitic people from a region south of Israel/ Canaan migrated into the land and brought their god, Yahweh, with them (who was later syncretized with El into one deity). These people may have been the Shasu, who are mentioned in Egyptian records as The Shasu of Yahweh.

It is generally accepted that the term Shasu means nomads or Bedouin people, referring primarily to the nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples of Syria-Palestine. There are two significant hieroglyphic references in New Kingdom period texts to an area called ‘the land of the Shasu of Yahweh.” (Source)

While the term Shasu is used primarily for semi-nomadic Semitic herders who lived north of Egypt, it also has a secondary usage in some New Kingdom texts for the geographic areas where the Shasu lived. When used geographically in Egyptian texts, the hieroglyphic word t3 is used, and this word should be translated as “land of.” In the case of these two references that we are discussing, the Egyptian phrase is t3 sh3sw ya-h-wa, i.e. “the land of the Shasu of Yahweh.” (Source)

It should be noted that Egyptian records also associate the Shasu with the region Edom.

Another communication to my Lord: We have finished letting the Shasu tribes of Edom pass the fortress of Merneptah Hotep-hir-Maat…which is in Tjeku, to the pools of Per Atum of Merneptah Hotep-hir-Maat, which are in Tkeku, to keep them alive and to keep their cattle alive… (Source)

This is important because the Bible associates Yahweh with Edom.

Judges 5:4. “Yahweh, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, yes, the clouds dropped water.” (Source)

Isaiah 63. Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.” (Source)

These connections affirm the consensus that Yahweh was originally a foreign deity who was introduced to the land of Canaan by the Shasu – potentially opposing the Biblical narrative that Yahweh was the god of the Israelites’ forefathers. I say “potentially” because – technically – the Shasu could simply be the Israelites who were enslaved in Egypt according to the Bible.

However, I’m not convinced that this is the case, because the Bible’s intended narrative is that the Israelites were a completely distinct people from the indigenous Canaanites and that they conquered and displaced them in the land of Canaan – despite the textual and archeological evidence that indicates that the Israelites were actually a hybrid consisting of indigenous Canaanites and foreigners who imported their god, Yahweh.

If the Israelites were indeed a hybrid of these two groups, then the biblical narrative that they were all descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and that Yahweh was the god of these three persons – is false.

Textual Evidence:

There is a passage that indicates that Yahweh was distinct from El (the chief god of the Canaanite pantheon) and was one of his sons. Here is the passage, as translated from the earliest manuscripts of it (Dead Sea Scrolls), which is supported by the ancient Greek translation of the Pentateuch known as the Septuagint.

Deuteronomy 32:8. When the Most High [Hebrew: Elyon] gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of gods [B’nei Elim]. 9. But Yahweh’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. (Source) | (Source 2)

“Elyon” is an epithet of the Canaanite god, El. So, this passage is saying that El allotted a nation to each of the sons of the gods and that he allotted Jacob (a synonym for Israel) to Yahweh; hence, this passage Indicates that Yahweh is a son of the gods. The sons of the gods can be thought of as lower gods.

The last phrase, “according to the number of the sons of Israel,” reflects the reading of the Masoretic text בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל: (b’nei yisrael), a reading also reflected in some LATER revisions of the Septuagint: a manuscript of Aquila (Codex X), Symmachus (also Codex X), and Theodotion. Most witnesses to the Septuagint in verse 8, however, read, αγγέλων θεού (“angels of God”), which is interpretive, and several others read νιων θεού (“sons of God”). Both of these Greek renderings presuppose a Hebrew text of either בְּנֵ֥י אֱלֹהִ֑ים or בְּנֵ֥י אֵלִים‎. These Hebrew phrases underlying αγγέλων θεού and υιών θεού are attested in two Hebrew manuscripts from Qumran, and by one (conflated) manuscript of Aquila. (Source)

This is in accord with the aforementioned scholarly consensus that the Israelites’ are a hybrid of indigenous Canaanites (whose chief god was El) and foreigners who imported their god, Yahweh. After being imported, it seems that Yahweh came to be regarded as a son of El.

There are other biblical passages that are regarded as vestiges of the Canaanites’ worship of El – as a distinct deity from Yahweh before they merged with the foreigners who imported Yahweh and subsequently combined El and Yahweh into one god.

Genesis 14. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High [Hebrew: El Elyon]) 19. And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High [Hebrew: El Elyon], Possessor of heaven and earth; 20. and blessed be God Most High [Hebrew: El Elyon], who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”

Note that in the following Psalm, I translate “Elohim” as “God” (singular) or “gods” (plural) depending on whether it’s functioning as the subject of a singular verb or not. “Elohim” is technically plural, but it functions as a singular plural of majesty when used with singular verbs.

Also, I augmented the translation of the source, because it’s dishonestly translated; it hides the psalm’s polytheistic/ henotheistic nature by translating “elohim” as “judges” and then as “angelic creatures” rather than as “gods,” and by translating “b’nei Elyon” as “angels of the Most High” rather than “sons of the Most High.”

Psalm 82:1 A song of Asaph. God [Hebrew: Elohim] stands in the congregation of God [Hebrew: Beth El]; in the midst of the gods [Hebrew: Elohim] He will judge… 6. I said, “You are gods [Hebrew: Elohim], and all of you are sons of the Most High [Hebrew: b’nei Elyon].” 7. Indeed, as man, you will die, and as one of the princes, you will fall. 8. Arise, O God [Hebrew: Elohim], judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.

Scholars typically interpret this passage as Yahweh challenging the rank of his fellow sons of El/ Elim/ Elohim and inheriting the nations that were alloted to them in Deuteronomy 32:8-9, thus gaining possession of all nations.

This coup seems to be referenced in an earlier psalm.

Psalm 29:1. A song of David. Prepare for Yahweh, [you] sons of gods [Hebrew: b’nei elim]; prepare for Yahweh glory and might. 2. Prepare for Yahweh the glory due His name; prostrate yourselves to Yahweh in the place beautified with sanctity. (Source)

This coup is seemingly completed in the following Psalm, in which Yahweh takes the title of “El” for himself, thus no longer being a son of El but instead replacing him; in verse 8, “El” is used in reference to Yahweh.

Psalm 89:6. And the heavens acknowledge Your wonder, O Yahweh, also Your faithfulness in the congregation of holy ones. 7. For who in the heavens is equal to Yahweh? [Who] resembles Yahweh among the sons of gods? [Hebrew: b’nei elim] 8. God [Hebrew: El] is revered in the great council of the holy ones and feared by all around Him. 9. O Yahweh, God of Hosts, who is like You, O Yah, Who are mighty? And Your faithfulness surrounds You.

Hence, these Psalms appear to reflect a real-world religious conflict: the foreigners who imported Yahweh and the indigenous Canaanites who came to favor Yahweh amassed greater influence than the indigenous Canaanites who favored El. Hence, the winning faction absorbed El into their god, Yahweh, and attributed all of El’s qualities and titles to Yahweh.

Subsequently, there are passages in the Pentateuch in which Yahweh is synonymized with El.

Note that in the following passage, the source translates the Tetragrammaton (“Yahweh”) as “God” for an unknown reason; it typically translates it as “Lord.” So, I’ve edited the translation by translating it as “Yahweh.”

Genesis 17:1. And Abram was ninety-nine years old, and Yahweh appeared to Abram, and He said to him, “I am the Almighty God [Hebrew: El Shaddai]; walk before Me and be perfect. (Source)

However, the process by which Yahweh was combined with El was not perfect; textual excerpts make it obvious that the process occured, such as those that have already been mentioned – and the following.

Abram (who is renamed “Abraham” later) is depicted as knowing the deity that interacted with him as “Yahweh.”

Genesis 13:4 To the place of the altar that he had made at first, and Abram called there in the name of Yahweh.

However, Exodus Chapter 6 says that he, his son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob did not know the name “Yahweh.”

Exodus 6:2. God spoke to Moses, and He said to him, “I am Yahweh. 3. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob with [the name] Almighty God [Hebrew: El Shaddai], but [with] My name “Yahweh,” I did not become known to them.

This contradiction could be a result of “Yahweh” not originally being in the stories of Genesis but being inserted into them by those who favored Yahweh. In other words, perhaps the stories about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were originally those of the indigenous Canaanites, while the story about Moses freeing the Israelites from Egypt was that of the foreigners who imported Yahweh; the stories may have been combined after the syncretization of Yahweh and El, resulting in a new narrative with obvious seams.

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