Why did YHWH divorce his Asherah? (1 Viewer)

[Somerville]

For the past 'few' years, those who believe in the One True God have said that He is the only deity, and that all of those others who were worshipped for centuries were just figments of the imaginations of ignorant humans.

Those weird people who dig holes in the ground in attempts to learn a little something about our ancestors have found multiple artifacts that mention "YHWH and his Asherah".

So -- when did the Judaeans and Israelites stop worshipping the divine couple? It is postulated that as more than 50% and perhaps as much as 90% of the people in the Late Bronze/Early Iron Ages were illiterate, the verses we can read today were only known by those literate elites. Hundreds of small ceramic figurines (as shown here) have been found in rural areas throughout the areas that were ancient Israel and Judaea. Why did the elites decide to promote the concept of monotheism? Was it a matter of establishing masculine supremacy?

 

[Daisy]

You are confusing those who worshipped the True God, Jehovah, with those apostate Jews who turned to pagan gods/goddesses...Asherah was NEVER a part of true worship...

Asherah. The Ras Shamra texts identify this goddess as the wife of the god El, the “Creator of Creatures,” and refer to her as “Lady Asherah of the Sea” and “Progenitress of the Gods,” this also making her the mother of Baal. However, there apparently was considerable overlapping in the roles of the three prominent goddesses of Baalism (Anath, Asherah, and Ashtoreth), as may be observed in extra-Biblical sources as well as in the Scriptural record. While Ashtoreth appears to have figured as the wife of Baal, Asherah may also have been so viewed.

During the period of the Judges, it is noted that the apostate Israelites “went serving the Baals and the sacred poles [the Asherim].” (Jg 3:7, ftn; compare 2:13.) The mention of these deities in the plural may indicate that each locality had its Baal and Asherah. (Jg 6:25) Jezebel, the Sidonian wife of Ahab the king of Israel, entertained at her table 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the sacred pole, or Asherah.—1Ki 18:19.

The degraded worship of Asherah came to be practiced in the very temple of Jehovah. King Manasseh even placed there a carved image of the sacred pole, evidently a representation of the goddess Asherah. (2Ki 21:7) Manasseh was disciplined by being taken captive to Babylon and, upon his returning to Jerusalem, showed he had profited from that discipline and cleansed Jehovah’s house of idolatrous appendages. However, his son Amon resumed the degrading worship of Baal and Asherah, with its accompanying ceremonial prostitution. (2Ch 33:11-13, 15, 21-23) This made it necessary for righteous King Josiah, who succeeded Amon to the throne, to pull down “the houses of the male temple prostitutes that were in the house of Jehovah, where the women were weaving tent shrines for the sacred pole.”—2Ki 23:4-7.
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200003789

 

[Somerville]

You are confusing those who worshipped the True God, Jehovah, with those apostate Jews who turned to pagan gods/goddesses...Asherah was NEVER a part of true worship...

[deleted un-needed words]

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200003789

I am not "confusing" the Judaean/Israelite elite who, after the period of the Exile, became worshippers of the "True God" YHWH with ". . . perhaps as much as 90% of the people in the Late Bronze/Early Iron Ages who were illiterate, the verses we can read today were only known by those literate elites."

The people who were later known as Jews - connected to the state of Judaea - were not a monolithic culture in the years before the Exile. What you know about that culture is seen thru the lens of your specific faith - a religion that insists it knows what is TRUE while denying the reality of what is being dug from the ground.

The verses you reference in 2 Kings 23 tell us that worship of Asherah was innate in the workshop of YHWH in the years before the Exile.

Josiah was truly a nice guy: 2 Kings 23:20 All the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

 

[Mithrae]

So -- when did the Judaeans and Israelites stop worshipping the divine couple? . . . .
Why did the elites decide to promote the concept of monotheism?

It was probably an extended process - the J and E sources of the Pentateuch may indicate a strand of monotheistic or at least henotheistic thought predating the divided kingdoms - but a key turning point was likely the fall of the northern kingdom. It's worth noting that for all of the Judean kings the biblical authors deemed 'righteous' prior to Hezekiah, every single one left the 'high places' of worship intact and unmolested: It was only with the influx of northern refugees during the reign of Hezekiah that the perceived need for centralization of worship arose (and perhaps no small coincidence the now-bursting temple coffers became a ready source of tribute to try to pay off Assyrian invaders). An increased push towards monotheism likely accompanied Hezekiah's reforms, though of course his son and some other descendants obviously didn't share his opinions.

 

[HK.227]

Was it a matter of establishing masculine supremacy?

Quite possibly. One of my favorite hypotheses is that there seems to have been some sort of deliberate effort to replace the earth mother figure with a sky father figure in the early second millennium BC. This was the time when Indo-Europen tribes invaded Mesopotamia and the areas around the Black Sea and Aegean. It is the time when male gods started rising above female gods in Ur and Nippur. In Greek mythology it also seems to have been around this time Zeus started raping the local godesses of every backwater village from the Caucasus to Illyria (can anyone say "establishing dominance"?).

There is also some archaological evidence that peaceful matriarchal tribes in the area of Greater Trace were replaced by warlike patriarchal tribes (proto-Myceneans) who would later settle Greece and make war on the Cretans and Trojans. Who knows if the legendary Amazons (who were allied to the Trojans) may not have been remnants of those tribes, forced to become warlike like their enemies? The Cretans who worshipped Gaia may have held them back for a couple of centuries, until they were fatally weakened by the eruption of Thera, incidentally also setting the stage for the Bronze Age collapse.

 

[tosca1]

For the past 'few' years, those who believe in the One True God have said that He is the only deity, and that all of those others who were worshipped for centuries were just figments of the imaginations of ignorant humans.

Those weird people who dig holes in the ground in attempts to learn a little something about our ancestors have found multiple artifacts that mention "YHWH and his Asherah".

So -- when did the Judaeans and Israelites stop worshipping the divine couple? It is postulated that as more than 50% and perhaps as much as 90% of the people in the Late Bronze/Early Iron Ages were illiterate, the verses we can read today were only known by those literate elites. Hundreds of small ceramic figurines (as shown here) have been found in rural areas throughout the areas that were ancient Israel and Judaea. Why did the elites decide to promote the concept of monotheism? Was it a matter of establishing masculine supremacy?

View attachment 67481501

Can you site your archeolgical source, please?

I have to read it for myself what it says exactly about these artifacts that allegedly mentions YHWH and Asherah.

 

[Rumpel]

goood question

 

[Somerville]

Can you site your archeolgical source, please?

I have to read it for myself what it says exactly about these artifacts that allegedly mentions YHWH and Asherah.

A few links to contemplate

Did God Have a Wife?: Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel (Eerdmans, ISBN 0-8028-2852-3, 2005)

Yahweh’s Divorce from the Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden

A New Outlook at Kuntillet Ajrud and its Inscriptions
The inscription begins with the word ¥ōmer (“message”), followed by
a three-letter name of the person bestowing the blessing (¥[xx]). He was
a royal Israelite official who held the title r¿ hmlk, known from the Bible
(2 Sam 15:37; 16:16; 1 Kgs 4:5; 16:11; 1 Chr 27:33) and from various
ancient Near Eastern documents.29 The “King’s friend” was probably a
counsellor and trustworthy attendant of the King.

The inscription includes the blessing bestowed by the said “King’s
friend” official on three unknown persons on behalf of YHWH of
Samaria and his consort, the goddess Asherat. His presence in the site
fits well its character as a royal outpost on the road to the Gulf of Eilat.

Divorce scene between Yahweh and Asherah. Dramatic origin in the Hosea 2, 4-15 composition

What Are Clay Female Figurines Doing in Judah during the Biblical Period?
In the 1930s, prominent scholar William Foxwell Albright identified the female figurines with the Canaanite goddess Astarte (Hebrew ʻ Aštōreṯ). She was a foreign, non-Judahite goddess of fertility, sexuality, and war adopted from the Phoenicians. This identification remained popular for several decades. More recently, however, scholars have turned their attention to Asherah (probably perceived as YHWH’s consort in biblical times), given her prominent position within the Yahwistic cult. The distribution of an inexpensive icon that incorporates Asherah’s trademark tree image seems plausible. Yet another group of scholars believe that the figurines do not represent a specific goddess, but rather mortal women (in a generic form) which were used as votive figurines, presented to the gods or goddesses.
[. . .]
Biblical sources that relate directly to the issue of household cultic practices in the Iron Age Levant are rare since the Bible is naturally preoccupied with the ruling elite and the official state cultic practices. The textual evidence regarding the prohibition of household figurines which we have surveyed above is accordingly inconclusive and elusive. This silence - which has traditionally been interpreted as intentional deletion on the part of the biblical authors and evidence for the authors’ implied disapproval – can perhaps be understood differently.

The Erasure of JPFs from Israelite/ Jewish Consciousness
Whether the JPFs (Judaean
Pillar Figurines) were destroyed by religious reformers or just fell out of use, the final stage of the anti-idolatry laws in the Bible erased this ancient Judahite practice from existence and even from Jewish/Israelite collective memory. Only 2500 years later, with the advent of modern archaeology, are we now beginning to learn about these figurines, items that our ancestors crafted and cherished.

 

[tosca1]

A few links to contemplate

Did God Have a Wife?: Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel (Eerdmans, ISBN 0-8028-2852-3, 2005)

Yahweh’s Divorce from the Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden



Divorce scene between Yahweh and Asherah. Dramatic origin in the Hosea 2, 4-15 composition

What Are Clay Female Figurines Doing in Judah during the Biblical Period?
In the 1930s, prominent scholar William Foxwell Albright identified the female figurines with the Canaanite goddess Astarte (Hebrew ʻ Aštōreṯ). She was a foreign, non-Judahite goddess of fertility, sexuality, and war adopted from the Phoenicians. This identification remained popular for several decades. More recently, however, scholars have turned their attention to Asherah (probably perceived as YHWH’s consort in biblical times), given her prominent position within the Yahwistic cult. The distribution of an inexpensive icon that incorporates Asherah’s trademark tree image seems plausible. Yet another group of scholars believe that the figurines do not represent a specific goddess, but rather mortal women (in a generic form) which were used as votive figurines, presented to the gods or goddesses.
[. . .]
Biblical sources that relate directly to the issue of household cultic practices in the Iron Age Levant are rare since the Bible is naturally preoccupied with the ruling elite and the official state cultic practices. The textual evidence regarding the prohibition of household figurines which we have surveyed above is accordingly inconclusive and elusive. This silence - which has traditionally been interpreted as intentional deletion on the part of the biblical authors and evidence for the authors’ implied disapproval – can perhaps be understood differently.

The Erasure of JPFs from Israelite/ Jewish Consciousness
Whether the JPFs (Judaean
Pillar Figurines) were destroyed by religious reformers or just fell out of use, the final stage of the anti-idolatry laws in the Bible erased this ancient Judahite practice from existence and even from Jewish/Israelite collective memory. Only 2500 years later, with the advent of modern archaeology, are we now beginning to learn about these figurines, items that our ancestors crafted and cherished.

Pagan practices were prevalent in the Old Testament.
Israelites had repeatedly fell into pagan worships!


I can't copy/paste from this article below.

Separating Fact from Myth: Asherah and Idol Worship

Worship of Asherah was a pervasive problem in Old Testament times. Who was Asherah, and why did the people worship her? Was she God’s wife as some believe? Discover what God says and if you are unintentionally engaging in idol worship.

www.steppesoffaith.com

The zingers were two large pithoi, or storage jars, that weighed about 30 pounds each. The now-reconstructed pithoi are painted with deities, humans, animals and symbols, and feature a number of inscriptions,
including three that refer to Yahweh and his asherah or Asherah, depending on your interpretation. Asherah is a pagan goddess. Was she God’s wife?


Below an inscription on one of the pithoi (referring to Yahweh and his asherah) are drawings of two figures easily and unquestionably identifiable as the Egyptian god Bes, in fact a collective name for a group of dwarf deities.
Is this meant to be a drawing of God (i.e., Yahweh) with his consort Asherah? The scholar who published the chapter about the drawings doesn’t think so.
She interprets it as two male deities—probably just the Egyptian god Bes—and not as a drawing of God and his goddess wife.
Other scholars disagree, but this much is clear: The drawing was added to the pithos after the inscription was written, so the two may be completely unrelated.

Puzzling Finds from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud

Puzzling Finds from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud: The finds were fantastic. The zingers were two large pithoi, or storage jars, weighing 30 pounds each.

www.biblicalarchaeology.org

The Persisting Uncertainties of Kuntillet ‘Ajrud - The BAS Library

Everything about it has been difficult. Located in the Sinai desert about 10 miles west of the ancient Gaza Road (Darb Ghazza, in Arabic) as it passes through Bedouin territory separating the Negev from Egypt, it is remote and isolated from any other settlement. In 1975, a Tel Aviv University...

library.biblicalarchaeology.org

 

[tosca1]

Divorce scene between Yahweh and Asherah. Dramatic origin in the Hosea 2, 4-15 composition

The proposal that Yahweh's wife being divorced in Hos 2 is Asherah fails all tests that one puts to it.
The monotheistic prophet would not have dignified the Canaanite Goddess with such a recognition. Nor would the Israelites have claimed the Canaanite mother of the Gods as their own mother.
The city of Samaria is the only bride/divorcee around. (Israel, being masculine, is son m not wife — of Yahweh). Hosea does not create the idea of the city as woman; the usage is an ancient West‐Semitic way of speaking of cities. Hosea is simply one of the first Israelite prophets to use the Canaanite imagery for cities, but his utterance was preserved. He probably is distinctive as the first to have Yahweh divorce his city‐wife.
Thus, Hosea in Chap 2 proclaims the future demise of Samaria.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/09018329508585061?needAccess=true

 

[tosca1]

Divorce scene between Yahweh and Asherah. Dramatic origin in the Hosea 2, 4-15 composition

Hosea 2 refers to Israel as an adulterous wife.
The Old Testament had repeatedly used adultery as an analogy for worshipping other gods.




1. (Hosea 2:2-3) Charges against Israel.


“Bring charges against your mother, bring charges;
For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband!
Let her put away her harlotries from her sight,
And her adulteries from between her breasts;
Lest I strip her naked
And expose her, as in the day she was born,
And make her like a wilderness,
And set her like a dry land,
And slay her with thirst.”


a. For she is not My wife: God paints Israel as an adulterous wife, who is no longer worthy to be compared to a wife. This shows that relationship was dramatically broken.

Study Guide for Hosea 2 by David Guzik

David Guzik :: Study Guide for Hosea 2

www.blueletterbible.org

 

[Daisy]

Pagan practices were prevalent in the Old Testament.
Israelites had repeatedly fell into pagan worships!

And it's still happening today...

 

[tosca1]

And it's still happening today...

Israelites still doing........................................ pagan worships?
I don't know anything about that.


Wanna cite?

 

[Daisy]

Israelites still doing pagan worships?
I don't know anything about that.


Wanna cite?

No, so called Christians do...

 

[Mithrae]

No, so called Christians do...

It's always amusing when folk who flagrantly disobey Jesus' example and commands to forsake all their possessions, give to the poor, stop working for money and have faith in God for their daily bread get up on a self-righteous high horse against other "so called" Christians, often over the pettiest of things

The first Messiah - Persian king Cyrus the Great - likely worshiped God by the name of Ahura Mazda. Paul wasn't a big fan of so called Christians who judged or tried to lord it over each other based on the particulars of worship:

Romans 14 One person values one day over another, another values every day the same. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and the one who eats, does so with regard to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and the one who does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat, and he gives thanks to God. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But as for you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you as well, why do you regard your brother or sister with contempt? . . . .​

​

Therefore let’s not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this: not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s or sister’s way. I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to the one who thinks something is unclean, to that person it is unclean.​

 

[Daisy]

It's always amusing when folk who flagrantly disobey Jesus' example and commands to forsake all their possessions, give to the poor, stop working for money and have faith in God for their daily bread get up on a self-righteous high horse against other "so called" Christians, often over the pettiest of things

It's always amusing when folk who fragrantly disobey God's command to stay away from paganism/idols/images...a representation of anything or a symbol that is an object of passionate devotion used in their worship...simply to satisfy their selfish desires...

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

Monotheism is better for unity, an important matter in a smaller population. Multiple gods promotes division with that social group, which can work in a large population group it would make smaller population groups more vulnerable to outside attacks.

 

[joluoto]

Maybe Ba'al stole her. Maybe that's why Christians are so pissy about Ba'al. Then again there is a etymological link between El/ Elohim and Ba'al, so they might originally have been the same deity, and then they were considered different later.

 

[joluoto]

Some relevant videos on the matter.

Religion for breakfast made a good video on Asherah:


And there is a Esoterica classic on YHWH and the origin of monotheism

 

[tosca1]

It's always amusing when folk who fragrantly disobey God's command to stay away from paganism/idols/images...a representation of anything or a symbol that is an object of passionate devotion used in their worship...simply to satisfy their selfish desires...

Which is more important to you?


Giving clarification to the claim by atheists against GOD, claiming He had a wife.............................


..............or...................................



............................attacking other Christians and demonizing them?





Do all JW members react like you do?
Or..........................is it just you?

 

[Somerville]

Not unexpected that the usual suspects have replied to the little bit of history I supplied in the OP. They rely upon a single text, the basis for their religious beliefs, while refusing to accept any knowledge/data that contradicts those beliefs.

First problem: the historicity of the tales told in the book are often contradicted by archaeological finds and a lack of references to the states of Israel and Judaea in the histories of the contemporary cultures. There is ZERO evidence for Saul, David and Solomon. In fact, most of the 'history' prior to the Exile simply isn't supported by any physical evidence. The written 'evidence' only approaches historicity following the Exile when the elites were allowed to return to Judah.

Second problem: archaeological finds that support a polytheistic culture prior to the Exile, with God having multiple names/titles that seem to show the deity worshipped in the Second Temple was an amalgamation of gods worshipped during the Bronze Age.


I'm on a new computer and still recovering files from the old one. Once, the believers reply, I hope to have a longer answer.

 

[Daisy]

Once, the believers reply, I hope to have a longer answer.

lol...there is nothing to reply to...it is no secret that man has intertwined mythology with the truth of God's Word since the beginning of time, which is why there are so many religions in the 1st place...all but one is false...Satan has done his job of deception very well...

WHY consider myths? Are they not just fictions from the distant past? While it is true that many are based on fiction, others are based on fact. Take for example the myths and legends found worldwide that are based on the fact of the world Deluge, or Flood, that the Bible relates.

A reason for considering myths is that they are the foundation for beliefs and rites still found in religions today. For example, belief in an immortal soul can be traced from ancient Assyro-Babylonian myths through Egyptian, Greek, and Roman mythology to Christendom, where it has become an underlying tenet in her theology. Myths are evidence that ancient man was searching for gods, as well as for a meaning in life. In this chapter we will briefly cover some of the common themes that arise in the myths of the world’s major cultures. As we review these mythologies, we will note how creation, the Flood, false gods and demigods, the immortal soul, and sun worship crop up regularly as common threads in the patchwork of mythology. But why should this be the case?

Very often there is a kernel of historical fact, a person, or an event that has later been exaggerated or distorted to form the myth. One of these historical facts is the Bible’s record of creation.
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/pc/r1/lp-e/1200274839/334/0

 

[Somerville]

One of these historical facts is the Bible’s record of creation.
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/pc/r1/lp-e/1200274839/334/0

Denial of reality appears to be a requirement for those who KNOW the TRUTH.

The "Bible's record of creation" is just another one of those myths that some believe because they are told to believe it. It is unsupported by the facts - facts that one must deny in order to belong to a faith.

 

[Somerville]

Funny that none of the Believers have been able to, or is willing to provide the readers with attempts at 'proving' YHWH and Asherah were never a couple.

In the patriarchal society of early Judaism, males definitely ruled the state but historical evidence shows us that women often controlled other aspects of the culture. We have the inscriptions that speak of YHWH and his Asherah and we also have Biblical texts that denigrate Asherah and the asherim. If Asherah was so inconsequential, why were idols/asherim erected in the "high places" and even in the Temple? It was only after the Exile, and some scholars say only during the Alexandrian period did the Jews come to believe that YWHW was the ONLY deity. The oldest parts of the Old Testament accept the reality of other gods' existence and those who study the history found in other sources, see that the One God was created by joining the attributes and powers of multiple deities. The One God having a consort/wife/partner was seen as necessary to create the worship of that god, making Him more relatable to those who would worship Him.

Provide refutations or not, I have done a bit of research on the subject and enjoy sharing with others.

 

[Daisy]

Funny that none of the Believers have been able to, or is willing to provide the readers with attempts at 'proving' YHWH and Asherah were never a couple.

In the patriarchal society of early Judaism, males definitely ruled the state but historical evidence shows us that women often controlled other aspects of the culture. We have the inscriptions that speak of YHWH and his Asherah and we also have Biblical texts that denigrate Asherah and the asherim. If Asherah was so inconsequential, why were idols/asherim erected in the "high places" and even in the Temple? It was only after the Exile, and some scholars say only during the Alexandrian period did the Jews come to believe that YWHW was the ONLY deity. The oldest parts of the Old Testament accept the reality of other gods' existence and those who study the history found in other sources, see that the One God was created by joining the attributes and powers of multiple deities. The One God having a consort/wife/partner was seen as necessary to create the worship of that god, making Him more relatable to those who would worship Him.

Provide refutations or not, I have done a bit of research on the subject and enjoy sharing with others.

Good for you...nobody cares...