The Detrimental Influence of the Canaanite Religion on the Israelite
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s). (2012) Title of the thesis or dissertation. PhD. (Chemistry)/ M.Sc. (Physics)/ M.A. (Philosophy)/M.Com. (Finance) etc. [Unpublished]: University of Johannesburg. Retrieved from: https://ujdigispace.uj.ac.za (Accessed: Date). THE DETRIMENTAL INFLUENCE OF THE CANAANITE RELIGION ON THE ISRAELITE RELIGION WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO SACRIFICE by LORRAINE ELIZABETH HALLETT Mini -dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF ARTS in BIBLICAL STUDIES in FACULTY OF ARTS at the RAND AFRIKAANS UNIVERSITY SUPERVISOR PROF JH COETZEE NOVEMBER 1995 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the mini -dissertation submitted for the Masters degree to the Rand Afrikaans University, apart from the help recognised, is my own work and has not been formerly submitted to another university for a degree. L E HALLETT (i) ABSTRACT Condemnation (by various biblical writers) of certain practices found amongst the Israelites which led ultimately to the Exile have often been viewed from two opposite views. The believer in the Bible simply accepted the condemnation at face value, and without question, whereas the scholar sought to explain it in terms of extra-biblical knowledge of the history of other civilisations which often threw doubt on the accuracy and veracity of the biblical record. This mini-dissertation seeks to show that it is possible to accept the viability of the biblical account in terms of the extra-biblical sources. A brief history and survey of research and some current approaches and models (particularly the sociological model of Gottwald) are discussed to show that it is possible to use the Bible as a point of departure and still utilise current trends in research. The subject matter concerns the detrimental influence the Canaanite religion had on the Israelite religion in terms of sacrifice. Consideration is given to the terms "Canaan' and "Canaanite" in order to delineate the source of the influence. Forms of sacrifice of both cults are discussed and compared in terms of what is known from the biblical ideal and from the discoveries of Ugarit/Ras Shamra. The confrontation of Elijah and Jezebel found in 1 Kings 18 is used as a specific episode in which the differences in sacrifice between the two cults are best illustrated. Condemnation of certain sacrificial practices by various writers in the Old Testament are then discussed and explained. It is also shown how each condemnation was not merely a diatribe against the people of the time but how each practice violated the God-given ideal. (ii) The results of the study show that the Canaanite religion did have a detrimental influence on the Israelite religion particularly in terms of sacrifice. This was mainly because of the motivation for sacrifice - the Canaanites sought to manipulate their gods whereas the God of the Israelites could not be bought by any form of sacrifice. It was also found that the requirement and form of sacrifice for the Israelites was God- given whereas the Canaanite requirement was devised by man and the form took whatever was thought necessary to satisfy the gods. This included sacral prostitution which was anathema to the Israelites. God required obedience to His law as corollary to sacrifice and not sacrifice for its own sake. (iii) SAMEVATTING Die veroordeling deur verskeie bybelskrywers van sekere Israelitiese gebruike wat uiteindelik tot die Baliingskap gelei het, word dikwels vanuit twee teenoorgestelde standpunte beskou. Die gewone gelowige aanvaar eenvoudig die veroordeling sonder twyfel, terwyl die vakkundige poog cm dit Le verduidelik ingevolge buite-Bybels.e kennis van die geskiedenis van ander beskawings wat twyfel opper oor die juistheid en die geloofwaardigheid van dit wat in die Bybel opgeteken is. Hierdie skripsie poog om aan te toon dat die Bybelse weergawe van gebeure geloofwaarig is en dat buite-Bybelse bronne hierdie geloofwaarigheid staaf. 'n Kort geskiedenis en navorsingsoorsig, sowel as etlike hedendaagse benaderings en interpretasiemodelle (veral Gottwald se sosiologiese model) word bespreek om aan te dui dat dit moontlik is om die Bybel as uitgangspunt te gebruik en nog steeds hedendaagse navorsingsrigtings te benut. Die veld van ondersoek behels die nadelige invloed wat die Kananitiese geloof op die Israelitiese geloof gehad het, veral met betrekking tot offerande. Die begrippe 'Kanaän' en 'Kananiet' word ondersoek cm die oorsprong vand die invloeds af te grens. Die wyses van offering van albei kultusse word bespreek en vergelyk na aanleiding van wat bekend is van die Bybelse ideaal en van die opgrawings te Ugarit/Ras Shamra. Die konfrontasie tussen Elia en Isébel wat in 1 Konings 18 beskryf word, word as 'n spesifieke voorval gebruik waardeur die verskille in metodes van offer tussen die twee kultusse duidelik uitbebeeld word. Die veroordeling van sekere wyses van offer deur verskeie skrywers in die cu Testament word bespreek en verduidelik. Daar word ook aangetoon hoe elke veroordeling nie slegs 'n smaadrede teen die mense van daardie tydperk was nie, maar hoe elke praktyk die Godgegewe ideaal geskend het. (iv) Die resultate van die studie toon aan dat die Kanaäxiitiese geloof wel 'n nadelige invioed op die Israeiitiese geloof gehad het, veral met betrekking tot offerandes. Die rede hiervoor lê in die basiese motivering vir die offerandes : die Kananiete poog om huile gode to manipuleer, terwyl die Israelitiese God nie deur offerandes omgekoop kan word nie. Daar is ook bevind dat die vereistes en die vorrn van die Israeiitiese offerandes deur God aan die yolk gegee is, terwyl die Kanaãnitiese vereistes deur die mens uitgedink is om die gode tevrede te stel. Laasgenoemde bet sakrale prostitusie ingesluit, wat deur die Israeliete as 'n vervloeking beskou is. God vereis gehoorsaamheid aan Sy wet as basis vir die offerandes en nie slegs die daad van offer rile. (v) TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration Abstract .............................................. Samevatting ........................................... (iv) Introduction ........................................... 1 1 APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE ......... 5 1.1 The Historical-Critical Approach ............ 5 1.2 The Text-Immanent Approach .................. 6 1.3 The Social Science Approach ................. 6 1.3.1 Models ...................................... 6 1.3.1.1 The Structural Functional Model ............. 7 1.3.1.2 The Conflict Model .......................... 7 1.3.1.3 The Symbolic Interactionist Model ........... 7 1.3.1.4 Gottwald's Sociological Model ............... 8 2 CANAAN AND THE CANAANITES ................... 11 2.1 Definition of terms ......................... 11 2.1.1 Ugaricic and Canaanite ...................... 12 2.2 Religion .................................... 13 2.2.1 The Pantheon of Gods ........................ 14 2.2.2 Forms of Worship ............................ 15 2.3 Social Life ................................. 16 3 SACRIFICE ................................... 19 3.1 The Old Testament Ideal ..................... 19 3.2 Canaanite Parallels ......................... 21 3.3 Comparison of Rites ......................... 22 3.3.1 System of Sacrifice ......................... 23 3.3.2 Child Sacrifice ............................. 23 4 JEZEBEL ..................................... 26 4.1 Personal Details ............................ 26 4.2 Geographic Situation ........................ 27 4.3 Religious Practices ......................... 27 4.4 Family Life ................................. 28 5 THE FORN OF SACRIFICE TO YAHWEH AND TO BAAL 30 5.1 Historical Setting .......................... 30 5.2 The Literary Setting ........................ 30 5.3 The Social Context .......................... 31 5.4 The Challenge ............................... 32 (vi) 6 CONDEIATION OF SACRIFICE FOUND IN SCRIPTURE 35 6.1 Condemnation by Historians .................. 35 6.2 Condemnation in the Psalms and Proverbs 36 6.3 Condemnation by the Prophets ................ 36 6.3.1 Obedience to God ............................ 37 6.3.1.1 Jeremiah .................................... 37 6.3.1.2 Isaiah ...................................... 38 6.3.1.3 Hosea ....................................... 38 6.3.1.4 Amos ........................................ 39 6.3.1.5 Micah ....................................... 39 6.3.2 Mutilation of the Body ...................... 39 6.3.3 Customs of Mourning ......................... 40 6.3.4 Places of Sacrifice ......................... 41 6.4 Concluding Remarks .......................... 42 7 CONCLUSIONS ................................. 43 7.1 Sociological Models ......................... 43 7.2 The Problem of Theories ..................... 43 7.3 Ancillary Disciplines ....................... 45 7.4 Points of Contact between the Israelites and Canaanites .................................. 46 7.4.1 The Canaanites .............................. 46 7.4.2 Jezebel ..................................... 47 7.4.3 Sacrifice and its Condemnation .............