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God of the Fathers” and Self-Identification in the Hebrew Bible

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God of the Fathers” and Self-Identification in the Hebrew Bible UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title The “God of the Fathers” and Self-Identification in the Hebrew Bible Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3cn359h8 Author Wingert, Michael T Publication Date 2017 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles The “God of the Fathers” and Self-Identification in the Hebrew Bible A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures by Michael Wingert 2017 © Copyright by Michael Wingert 2017 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The “God of the Fathers” and Self-Identification in the Hebrew Bible by Michael Wingert Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures University of California, Los Angeles, 2017 Professor William M. Schniedewind, Chair The patriarchal narratives in the book of Genesis feature unique language addressing the deity, comprised of invoking the “God of the Fathers” and related rhetoric. Beginning with Albrecht Alt in 1929, scholars have attempted to identify the “God of the Fathers” given the canonically enigmatic ways this invocation is expressed in the patriarchal narratives. This study reframes the question by asking why such language might be used to articulate one’s connection to the divine. Biblical scholarship has primarily employed comparative data from Northwest Semitic texts and inscriptions (to include the rather large corpus of texts from Ugarit) as a means of contextualizing the world of ancient Israel presented in the Hebrew Bible. However, the bulk of this data in conversation with the “God of the Fathers” in the Hebrew Bible is colored by contact with the Neo-Hittite Anatolian speaking communities dwelling in the same region. This Syro- Anatolian legacy comprises an under-researched approach to the Hebrew Bible. This study ii fortifies the use of comparative Northwest Semitic data by addressing the Anatolian (i.e., Hittite and Luwian) language traditions as dialogue partners with the distinctive features found in Northwest Semitic traditions. This investigation takes a two-pronged approach to reevaluating the topic of the “God of the Fathers” in the Hebrew Bible, by undertaking: 1) an examination of the biblical narrative in light of social memory, and 2) an assessment of the topic in light of cultural contact and convergence. Further approaches within the fields of biblical studies, Near Eastern archaeology, and Near Eastern religion are employed in this study to explore the topic to a greater degree today than in recent years. Additionally, the present investigation looks at the common language associated with the paternal relationship to the divine as a way of addressing the ensuing difficulties in translating such rhetoric means for dialoguing with the concept of the “God of the Fathers” in the Hebrew Bible. In their interpretation of such language in the ancient Near East, scholars have rendered translated various expressions concerning the “God of the Fathers” as both “Father Gods” and “Deified Fathers.” This work concludes that the rhetoric behind invoking the "God of the Fathers" forms an identity statement regarding the divine control of one’s being. This rhetoric became especially important during the period of Assyrian westerward expansion in the eighth century BCE and best fits within the context of Hezekiah’s reforms when divergent religious traditions populated Jerusalem. With such rhetoric, no paternal deity is immediately identifiable and when an identity for the god of one’s fathers can be proposed, such a deity is not always able to be identified beyond the person in question. Furthermore, worship of a specific, mythologized El as found at Ugarit regularly proposed by earlier studies is not supported for ancient Israel as a whole. Though the possibility of such worship with specific families may very well have been the case, iii not all theophoric uses of El names (or even theophory in general) refer to the specific mythologized El. Thus, the use of the rhetoric invoking the "God of the Fathers" is primarily an invocation of one's family deity, and secondarily equated with Yahweh in the Hebrew Bible in order to personalize the enforcement of the canonical Yahwism of Jerusalem. iv The dissertation of Michael Wingert is approved. Aaron A. Burke H. Craig Melchert William M. Schniedewind, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2017 v For My Girls vi Table of Contents Abstract of Dissertation ii-iv Abbreviations viii-ix Acknowledgements x-xi Vita xii-xiii Chapter One: Introduction to the “God of the Fathers” 1 Chapter Two: The History of Scholarship Surrounding the “God of the Fathers” 19 Chapter Three: The ‘God of the Fathers’ in the Broader Ancient Near East 40 Chapter Four: The Indo-European Cultic Traditions and the ‘God of the Fathers’ 70 Chapter Five: The Northwest Semitic Traditions and the ‘God of the Fathers’ 109 Chapter Six: The “El” Traditions and the ‘God of the Fathers’ 134 Chapter Seven: The ‘God of the Fathers’ and the Narratives of the Patriarchs 162 Chapter Eight: Synthesis and Conclusion 197 Appendix 1 205 Bibliography 209 vii ABBREVIATIONS ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary ACLT Annotated Corpus of Luwian Texts AfO Archiv für Orientforschung AJA American Journal of Archaeology ATR Anglican Theological Review BA The Biblical Archaeologist BAR Biblical Archaeological Review BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research BO Biblioteca Orientalis CAD Chicago Assyrian Dictionary CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly CHLI Corpus of Heiroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions The Context of Scripture. 3 Volumes. COS Edited by William W. Hallo. Leiden, 2003. CTH Catalog der Texte der Hethiter DDD Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible DULAT Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in Alphabetic Texts HTR The Harvard Theological Review HUS Handbook of Ugaritic Studies IEJ Israel Exploration Journal JANES Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Studies JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JBR Journal of Bible and Religion JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies JCSMS Journal of the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies viii JEA Journal of Egyptian Archaeology JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JSS Journal of Semitic Studies RHR Revue de l'Histoire des Religions RLA Reallexikon der Assyriologie SAA State Archives of Assyria UDB Ugaritic Data Bank UF Ugarit Forschungen VT Vetus Testamentum ZA Zeitschrift für Assyriologie ZAW Zeitschrift für alttestamentliche Wissenschaft ix Acknowledgements The idea for this dissertation emerged as a result of several conversations I had with Professor William Schniedewind that were coinciding with my readings in Anatolian languages on the same subject. Professor Schniedewind’s guidance presented me the opportunity to integrate my love of ancient Near Eastern languages and the Hebrew Bible. He has been a tremendous source of knowledge to me throughout my time at UCLA and is equally wonderful a person as he is a scholar. I would also like to express my gratitude to the members of my committee. Craig Melchert, whose depth of knowledge in the Anatolian languages led me to love Hittite and Luwian. Aaron Burke has provided me with a deeper appreciation for archaeology and the necessary dialogue archaeologists and scholars of ancient texts must share together. Yona Sabar has been a consistent presence in my studies here at UCLA, sharing my love of Semitic languages. I hope that I may help keep alive the Neo-Aramaic language of his youth, whether in academia or among the communities of Neo-Aramaic heritage. I am tremendously thankful to have been surrounded by so many amazing people on my academic journey. The pursuit of a doctorate is challenging enough on its own, and for many of us, life “happens” at the same time. I soon came to understand what others had consistently told me: One of the greatest features of the UCLA Near Eastern Languages and Cultures community has been the quality of the people involved. We have an excellent system of leadership and mentorship proceeding forth from the department chair, to our advisers, supporting professors, and extending throughout the stages of graduate students. I hope that in my time at UCLA, I have been as fine a mentor to the younger generation of graduate students as my mentors have been to me. x Many professors, scholars, mentors, and colleagues have been a part shaping me into the scholar I am today. To Marilynn Lundberg Melzian, Christopher B. Hays, M. Rahim Shayegan, Barbara Cifola, and Carol Bakhos, thank you for our time together. Jeremy Smoak has been a friend and mentor to me in invaluable ways. He has regularly provided me with feedback on my research, been a friend, and provided me an outstanding example for me to emulate. I am also grateful to Peter Lanfer for his mentorship. There are so many others whose fellowship made the past six years a joy. Emanuel Gergis, Philip Zhakevich, Alice Mandell, Melissa Ramos, Jody Washburn, Nadia Ben-Marzouk, Amy Karoll, Shiela Keiter, Tim Hogue, Ani Shahinian, Rosanna Lu, Andrew Danielson, Jason Price, and Martinluther Chan. Emmanuel Gergis has been a constant confidant and brother. I am very thankful for Alice and Melissa who blazed a trail before me, leading by example, and Jody Washburn who in addition to being a great friend, patiently put up with my antics for half a decade. Tim Hogue, bar Athra, never forget Beth Nahreen. I also extend my gratitude to Lisa McAulay of UCLA’s digital library and Michael Phelps of EMEL who provided me the opportunity to read ancient Syriac manuscripts invoking the “God of the Fathers” from the world’s oldest functioning library. To my lovely wife Romina, my heart. Thank you for being the perfect companion. You inspire me every day and continually shape me into the best person I can be.
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