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The Relationship Between El and YHWH in the Hebrew Bible

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The Relationship Between El and YHWH in the Hebrew Bible God the Father, God the Son The Relationship between El and YHWH in the Hebrew Bible Simone Landman, S1000247 Dr. Aren Wilson-Wright and Dr. Ellen van Wolde Master’s thesis of the Master program Biblical Exegesis at the Faculty Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies of the Radboud University Nijmegen 20.336 words August 2020 Landman, 1 Statement of Independent Work Hereby I, Simone Landman, declare and assure that I have composed the present thesis with the title ‘God the Father, God the Son: The Relationship between El and YHWH in the Hebrew Bible’, independently, that I did not use any other sources or tools other than indicated and that I marked those parts of the text derived from the literal content or meaning of other Works – digital media included – by making them known as such by indicating their source(s). Nijmegen, 20th of Augustus 2020 Summary In this paper I examine the relationship between El and YHWH, and show through an and various relevant biblical texts, that there ,נָחַל analysis of secondary literature, the verb have been many which in which this relationship between El and YHWH is conceived. Though the role of El in Israelite religion has been suppressed, downplayed, and under- analysed, there is a wide variety of biblical passages that attest to a theology in which both were worshipped: YHWH as patron deity of Israel, a nation he inherited from his father El, and for which he will fight; and El as the head of the pantheon and father-figure, the old, compassionate, wise, bull-god that can help people with getting offspring. Landman, 2 Table of Contents Statement of Independent Work ............................................................................................. 1 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 1 Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... 2 Preface ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 5 The god El ........................................................................................................................................... 5 The god YHWH .................................................................................................................................. 6 Historical overview of the social and political situation of Israel .................................................... 7 Research problem ............................................................................................................................... 9 Goal of the thesis .............................................................................................................................. 10 Relevance of the paper ..................................................................................................................... 10 Method and sources .......................................................................................................................... 11 Structure of the paper and research question ................................................................................. 14 Literature review .................................................................................................................... 14 Gen. 6:2-4 ......................................................................................................................................... 18 Gen. 14:18-22 ................................................................................................................................... 19 Gen. 17:1(-22) ................................................................................................................................... 20 The stories about Jacob (Gen. 25:19-49:33) ................................................................................... 21 Exodus 3:13-15 and 6:2-3 ................................................................................................................ 21 Exodus 19-24 .................................................................................................................................... 21 Numbers 23-24.................................................................................................................................. 22 Deuteronomy 32 (including Deut. 4:19 and 29:25) ........................................................................ 23 1 Kings 12:25-30 ............................................................................................................................... 24 1 Kings 22:19 and Isaiah 6 .............................................................................................................. 25 Isaiah 14:12-15 ................................................................................................................................. 25 Hosea ................................................................................................................................................ 26 Psalms 29 .......................................................................................................................................... 28 Psalms 82 .......................................................................................................................................... 28 Psalms 89:6-8.................................................................................................................................... 31 Psalms 102:24-29.............................................................................................................................. 32 Job ..................................................................................................................................................... 32 33 ..........................................................................................................נָחַ ל Analysis of the verb The objects of inheritance and the actors involved in inheriting ................................................... 34 in the Hebrew Bible ....................................................... 36 נָחַ ל The different verbal conjugations of Landman, 3 YHWH inheriting Israel and El as (implied) father ....................................................................... 37 Further analysis of the relationship between El and YHWH in the Hebrew Bible ......... 41 Genesis 6:1-4 .................................................................................................................................... 41 Numbers 23-24.................................................................................................................................. 42 Malachi 1:9 ....................................................................................................................................... 43 Psalms 68 .......................................................................................................................................... 43 Psalms 78 .......................................................................................................................................... 44 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 44 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 46 in the Hebrew Bible ........................ 49 נָחַ ל Appendix A: An overview of the occurrences of Appendix B: Chronological overview of the Ancient Near East (until 63 BCE) based on K.L. Noll, and B.U. Schipper ‘[S]’ ........................................................................................ 56 Landman, 4 Preface Here I sit, in the middle of the night, mere hours before my deadline, and less than three weeks before I’ll move to Oxford. I cannot believe this thesis is almost finished. I would like to thank many people for making this possible. My parents, Truus and Gert for their love, everything they have done for me and all their support. My girlfriend, Willemijn, for the endless confidence in me, her patience, cooking, and taking care of me when I was too busy writing my thesis. I also want to thank her parents, who gave us love, food, and shelter, when the weather was too hot to be able to function in our own home. To my father, and my best Lisanne, thank you for being intellectual sparring partners, always willing to think along with me or have a look at a text I was writing, and for helping me grow intellectually. I want to thank all my teachers, of elementary school, high school, University College Roosevelt, the Radboud University, but especially Albert for shaping me academically, and the RU professors in the department of source texts/biblical exegesis: Ellen, Matthijs, Seth, and Aren, you have provided me with so many great lessons, good feedback, the great conversations, your willingness to help me grow, which has sparked and sustain my passion for the field. A special thanks to Aren, who has been the most wonderful thesis supervisor I could have .שַׁדַׁ י wished for, Aren, you really are truly You all have helped me become who I am today, helped me achieve what I have achieved so far, and helped me realise my dream of moving back to Oxford.
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