When and from Where did YHWH Emerge? Some Reflections on Early Yahwism in Israel and Judah

Christian Frevel

doi:10.46586/er.12.2021.8776

Abstract

 The paper addresses two crucial questions of the history of Israelite religion. Did YHWH emerge in the southern steppe and when did YHWH become the God of Judah? After discussing the available evidence for YHWH’s origin in the South, the paper tests the extra-biblical evidence for the worship of YHWH in Israel and Judah and questions his widespread importance in the tenth and early ninth centuries BCE in the mentioned territories. By presenting the theophoric personal names, the hypothesis is corroborated that YHWH was significantly introduced at the earliest by the Omrides. Moving then to the epigraphic evidence, the additional evince for YHWH’s origin in the South is reviewed negatively. YHWH of Teman from Kuntillet ʽAjrud cannot prove the origin of this deity in the South. It is rather a piece of evidence that the worship of this deity in the South was not natural even in the mid-eighth century BCE. That YHWH’s true origin is in Midian, Paran, Seir, etc. remains a speculative hypothesis that is built on the tradition-history of some biblical passages and the biblical Sinai tradition. This particular feature is indeed related to the South and its struggle to claim independence for the Southern YHWH from the North. YHWH was only introduced to Judah as a patron deity of the dynasty, and that is the state of the Omrides ruling in Jerusalem.

Highlights

The entry “Yahweh” by Karel van der Toorn in the highly regarded Dictionary of Deities and [1] Demons in the Bible asks an intriguing question: “If YHWH was at home in the south, how did he make his way to the north?” (1999, 912)
Did YHWH emerge in the southern steppe and when did YHWH become the God of Judah? After discussing the available evidence for YHWH’s origin in the South, the paper tests the extra-biblical evidence for the worship of YHWH in Israel and Judah and questions his widespread importance in the tenth and early ninth centuries BCE in the mentioned territories
YHWH of Teman from KuntilletAjrud cannot prove the origin of this deity in the South

Summary

Introduction

The entry “Yahweh” by Karel van der Toorn in the highly regarded Dictionary of Deities and [1] Demons in the Bible asks an intriguing question: “If YHWH was at home in the south, how did he make his way to the north?” (1999, 912). If we follow Julius Wellhausen in deriving the name YHWH from Arab hwh “he blows, he falls” (1981, 25 note 1; see Knauf 1984, 1988, 43–50), the only remaining clue for attributing the God of Israel to the region discussed is the name itself This is widely accepted and a corresponding alternative is lacking, the argument is circular: If YHWH is related to the southern scenery—which is attested in the unknown location of the Sinai desert and mountain, in his relation to Midian, and in some texts of YHWH’s theophany from the South (Deut 33:2; Judg 5:4–5; Ps 68:8–9; Hab 3:3)—and if the etymology confirms the original character of YHWH as a weather God—only is it logical to suppose that the name is derived from a hypothetical Old-Arab root. If there is no pronounced contrast to Canaanite polytheistic religions in essence, there is no need to develop the character of YHWH from the desert origins

YHWH as National Deity Disseminated from Jerusalem Throughout the Land?

The Evidence of YHWH from KuntilletAjrud in Context