Wyatt, Nicolas (1976) The relationship of Yahweh and El: a study of two cults and their related mythology. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2160/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] .. ýýý,. The relationship of Yahweh and Ell. a study of two cults and their related mythology. Nicolas Wyatt ý; ý. A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy rin the " ®artänont of Ssbrwr and Semitic languages in the University of Glasgow. October 1976. ý ý . u.: ý. _, ý 1 I 'Preface .. tee.. This thesis is the result of work done in the Department of Hebrew and ': eraitia Langusgee, under the supervision of Professor John rdacdonald, during the period 1970-1976. No and part of It was done in collaboration, the views expressed are entirely my own. r. .e I should like to express my thanks to the followings Professor John Macdonald, for his assistance and encouragement; Dr. John Frye of the Univeritty`of the"Witwatersrandy who read parts of the thesis and offered comments and criticism; in and to my wife, whose task was hardest of all, that she typed the thesis, coping with the peculiarities of both my style and my handwriting. Octiber 1976 1ýd Contentia. Preface i aryr (Abstract) 1 Abbroviationa 3 Note on,, spelling comrentihns 8 Introduction 9 chaptor 1 ^he rent West I ttio godderce"em 11 a) olmat t" b) CAttart 16 c) Asorah 19 Noten 29 Chapter 2 The divine marriare 45 a) The marriage and birth spirode in C 12 46 b) The bterogaaay in CIA 23 47 o) Ntkkal and the moon-gods £ 24 53 d) The story of Abraham and Hagar 62 e) A note on the possible literary relationship of the various mythe. diacueceä and alluded to 73 Notes 77 Chapter 3 The theology of atonement and related motifs 90 a) The problem of G`TA 12 90 b) The Passover festival 103 i) rasoover and the seven year cycle 103 ii) Passover as; a low Year festival 108 iii) The 115 sacrificial pact .. ý,z a), The scapegoat 117 129 d) , The -dying god Y; k The 133 a) rising ,vod iii f ) The death-and-resurrection motif and the Sinai tradition 137 i) The time of year of the Sinai events 139 ii) The three-day motif 140 iii) The time of the month of the Clinai 141 events 141 iv) The blowing of the trumpet 146 V) The presentation of Moses 147 vi) The theophany at' I-Anat 149 vii) The theology otthe Sinai thöophany 1" Notes 155 Chapter 4 Dibilical theophaniea 179 a) Lz. 24.10 179 b) Dt. 33.2,3 184 o) Ps. 68.5-9,18 190, d) Jg. 5.4,5,20 192 a) other passages 195 f) in the 'patriarcha1'age' 197 "-Theophanias g) Theophantes in the wilderness-randering . tradition h) Thi revelation to Moses of the divine name Yahweh 204, Notes 210 Chapter 51 228 a) The West Semitic gods of 'hi-' formation 228 i) The god Z1 in the patriarchal traditions 228 ii) 11 in Ugarit 229 iii) The patriarchal `epithets -cf El 230' b) T2ie'otsaology of El 242 iv; c) The god of the fathers 242 Notes 252 Chapter 6 Yahweh 264 a) The historical problem 265 b) The #kenite hypothesis' 266 i) Regarding Uoaes 266 ii) Regarding Cain 268 iii) The nature of Lenite religion 269 iv) The limitations of the 'kenite hypothesis' 271 c) htymology 273 i) The fora B`WV' 274 ii) The short forms 282 iii) The problems of Ex*3*13-15 285 d) Was Yahweh a moon-Cod? 288 Notes 295 Chapter 7 Yahweh and E1 in Judah 312 a) The positive interaction 313 b) The negative reaction 319 Notes 326 Chapter 8 Yahweh and Li in Israel 332 a) Hosea's allusions to non-Yahwist cults 332 b) The golden calf 345 c) The Ba; aara cycle 353 d) Pa. 106.19-22 355 e) Pentateuchal references to Cod 356 f) The evidence of Deuteronomy 367 Notes 371 V Conclusion 387 390, Bibliography of works; cited r .... , ý, I Oua my (Abstract). : his thesis sets out to determine. the nature of the syncreticu which characterises the, early history of Israelite religion. It begins (cb. 1) wttb an examination. of the chief "'eat Sonitic goddesses, and comes to the view- that it in to the goddess Aserah and her relationship as contort to both Yahweh and El in different parts, of the Levant. that we find our first clue Bujgesting the line that the enquiry should take. Aserah in south Arabia was a sun-goddess, and the motif of the divine marriaCe in examined (ch. 2), in which it appears that in Ugarit too she retains vestiges of her original solar character# and that in the Abraham and ßagar narrative (Cenesia 16) we have a debased forc% of the myth of the divine triad, in which the moon-god and sun.. goddese become the parents of the deified planet Venue. One of the Ugeritio. texteg CTA 12# is then discussed further (ch. 3), develcpment into an atonement myth is examinedg together _its with its connections with ancient Ieraelite atonement rites# and the possibility is explored that behind the traditions concerning rassover#. the scapegoat rite, and the cult-legend of the winai theophany, we have an ancient lunar theology, suggesting that Yahweh, himselt may have had lunar conneotiona, and that the chief 'patriarchal' deity sc. El) certainly did. Thin lunar hypothesis is tested (ch. 4) by an exazaination of various other theophapy descriptions from the Old Testament. Zany paasaaea, In which Yahweh and El alternately appear to have been the original deity cbncerned, are found to contain elements which land themselves to a lunar interpretation. Various forma of El in the West Semitic world are then examined (ch. 5) the is and care presented for the likely nature of the god an 2 from an ancient moon-god, albeit largely emancipated this specific ie role in most areaa from an early time, Particular attention,. paid to the so-called religion of the patriarchs, and in the treatment of 'the god of the fathers'l it is suggested that we have in the original formula a disguised- reference. to Ll. The traditioüä concerning the on i. ne of Yahwism are considered in ch. 5, in which the kenite bypothesis is evaluatedt and the etymological problems concerning the tetragrammaton are discussed. The original lunar nature of Tahw©h is suggeste3 an a reasonable interpretation of the evidence. Ch. 7 discusses the interrelationship of the two gods on the basis of their sioilar nature in Judah and while noting their identification in the Jeruaalem cultv'suggeato that the narrative of Genesis 3 preserves a hint of strong reservations in certain quarters. In ch. 8'a treatment of Hosea and such traditions as the in golden calf and the Balsam oracles leads to the conclusion that Israel it is L1t I3aoal badad as commonly supposed, who is the not , great rival of Yahweh and whose cult is in fact the official religion of the northern kingdom; and that the original 'kerygaa' the tradition El as. the god who saved bts people of exodus regarded p from Egypt. This was then taken5over by the iahwiat community in Israel. <c -ý. aas ýýý ýý ýý týký ý Y. , ý ý z ý4 `- .. +P ` . ýýu. r n . 4M. W--. a -ice u. rý ý. e+n... MF. 4ý. ý s. w4. +ýw- Nýsr4, _. wwna z ý4ýss, .. -. rr . ý .F ;J Sr --ýýi . 1ý Y. 'ýc nz4, . ri ý 3 (for Abbreviations - i) books and series details see bibliography). AM van 3eters Abraham in biatory rand tradition. ANEP Pritchard The Ancient Near East in rtctures. ANET Ancient Near Eastern texte relating to the Old Teatcraent. An Or Analecta Orientalia. AOAT z- )Ä '. Alter Orient und Altos Testsment. ý AF'A'ä_ Eluffmon Amorite personal naa©e in the V;ari texts. ARI Albright Archaeology and the relisrion of I srnel. AIR Ahletrom Aspeots of £yncretis in Israelite religion IAH Bibliotheque archaoloý., ique et nistorique. BDB Brown, Hriver A Hebrew and rn: lich lexicon of the Old and Briggs Testaments 01 Biblia Hebraica (Kittel3).;. BH4 Piblia Habraica Stuttgartensia (Rudolf and Eiliger 4). Bi Or Bibliotheca Orientalis. B7AW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wiesenschafte CAD Gelb at al Chicago Assyrian dictionary. CAH3 Caabridge Ancient [iistory3" CCT Cuneiform texts from Cappadocian documents. C'AL Driver Canaanite myths and legends. Cross Canaanite myth snd Hebrew epic. ___ CTA ierdner duo des tablettes en cuneiformee alphabetigues. EBB Encyclopaedia Biblica of the Bialik Institute. EJ Encyclopaedia Judaica. F:.:AC Albright From the stone age to Christianity GK Cowley Cesenius' Hebrew Cra: waab(ed. Kautsoh)e HAA Nielson Handbuoh der altarabische Altertumskunde. HAI de Mauz fictoire anctcnne d'Icratll. HPN Thompson The historicity of the patriarchal narratives. JB Jerusalem Bible* libroe KB Ktlhler & Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti e Baumgartner New Er lish Bible. NPSS Ryckmans -Les noms-propres suds-aemitiques. 0Th Old Testament Library.