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Yahweh was the primary deity worshipped in ancient Israel. According to the Hebrew Bible, Judeans in the diaspora continued to worship Yahweh during the Persian period (ca. 550–330 BCE). However, extrabiblical sources draw an image of Judean religion that differs from and revises the impression created by the Hebrew Bible.
What evidence in the Hebrew Bible is there for the worship of Yahweh outside the Persian province Yehud?
The Hebrew Bible provides limited evidence for religious life in the Judean diaspora. For example, Ezra 8:15-20 mentions that Ezra was able to recruit “ministers for the house of our God” from among the Levites and “the temple servants” in Casiphia, a location in Babylon (Ezra 8:17). However, we do not whether Casiphia was a Judean settlement hosting a Levite scribal school or if it even had an operating sanctuary of Yahweh. Other texts like Neh 1 and Dan 6 give some clues about individual piety directed towards Yahweh. Situated in Susa, the capital of the province Elam, Nehemiah could mourn Jerusalem’s situation, fast, and pray “before Yahweh, the God of heaven” (Neh 1:4). Also set in a diaspora setting, Daniel defied King Darius’s prohibition to pray to anyone other than the Persian king. Instead, Daniel continued “to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God,” facing Jerusalem (Dan 6:10). However, the use of these biblical texts as historical evidence is problematic. Scholars tend to argue that the date of their composition is later than the chronological setting in the narratives themselves. Therefore, the value of biblical texts as historical sources is not straightforward.
What archeological and extrabiblical sources are there for the worship of Yahweh outside the Persian province Yehud, and what do they tell?
Like the Hebrew Bible, documents and inscriptions revealed through excavations have to be interpreted critically. Nevertheless, many scholars hold them to have a higher value than the biblical texts for the reconstruction of the history of Judean religion. Two sets of documents are particularly important for the Persian period.
First, various documents dating to the late Babylonian and early Persian periods have been published over the last few years that depict life in settlements such as Āl-Yāḫūdu (“Judah-town”) in Babylonia. They show that many Judean deportees lived together. Many of the Judean personal names were Yahwistic; that is, they are names that include Yahweh as a component (e.g., Zakar-Yāma, a name that corresponds to biblical Zechariah, “Yah[weh] has remembered”). It is noteworthy that Judeans could also have names composed with the names of other deities (e.g., Nabû-aḫ-uṣur, “Nabu, guard the brother!”). Personal names were hardly devoid of religious significance.
Second, documents from Elephantine, an island in the Nile on Egypt’s southern border, give insights into the religious practice of the Judean garrison there. The Judeans were in the service of the Persian colonial rule of Egypt. They had a temple for Yahweh (whom they called Yahu or Yaho, and the God of heaven) during most of the fifth century BCE. Archeologists have probably identified remains of it. They had temple personnel in Elephantine, even though they were aware of the Jerusalem priesthood. They offered sacrifices to Yahu and celebrated Passover, although the records do not connect this to the Exodus narrative. In the Elephantine records, there are no traces of biblical texts. Moreover, the Judeans in Elephantine knew about the Sabbath, but they did not observe it as a day with taboos like abstaining from work. There are no traces of any Sabbath commandment in the Elephantine documents (compare Exod 20:8-11; Deut 5:12-15), and it remains uncertain whether references to “the Sabbath” were to a lunar sabbath (the day of the full moon) or the Sabbath of the seven-day week.
Finally, some documents suggest that Yahu was part of a larger Elephantine-Judean pantheon. Although the relationship and hierarchy of the pantheon members remain uncertain, some of the deities mentioned include Yahu, Eshembethel, Anathbethel, Anath-Yahu, Ḥerem, and Ḥerembethel. Monotheism was not the norm.
Worship in Elephantine and other locations differed from what we find in the Hebrew Bible. The difference indicates that the Israelite religion was still very much in flux during the Persian period. The main ideas that constitute the laws and practices of the final form of the Hebrew Bible were either not yet widely known or not widely practiced. However, it is clear is that throughout the diaspora, Yahweh was the main god of the Judean exiles.
FAQs
The Hebrew Bible gives the impression that the Jerusalem Temple was always meant to be the central (or even sole) temple of Yahweh, but this was not the case; archaeological remains of other temples have been found at Dan on Israel's northern border; Arad; Beersheba; and Motza in the southern region of Judah.
Which city is understood to be the only place where Yahweh can be Worshipped in the Deuteronomistic history? ›
In this sense, Josiah made Jerusalem the city chosen by YHWH. To be sure, this idea meant something different in Josiah's time than it meant later, after the city's destruction and over the course of its later history.
When did the Israelites begin to worship god by the name of Yahweh? ›
It is unclear when the worship of Yahweh alone began. The earliest known portrayals of Yahweh as the principal deity to whom "one owed the powers of blessing the land" appear in the teachings of the prophet Elijah in the 9th century BCE.
What was the main location of Yahweh's presence and holiness in Israel? ›
The Holy of Holies was located at the westernmost end of the Temple building and was a cube: 20 cubits by 20 cubits by 20 cubits. The inside was in darkness and contained the Ark of the Covenant, gilded inside and out, in which was placed the Tablets of Stone.
Where is the temple of Yahweh? ›
Most modern religious scholars focus primarily upon Solomon's Temple, the First Temple in Jerusalem. However, there have been two other structures identified as "a House of Yahweh." One is located in Elephantine, Egypt; the other structure is a temple at Tel Arad.
Is Allah the same as Yahweh? ›
In Muhammad's campaign against polytheism he chose Allah as the one true God and rejected the notion that Allah could have any daughters or sons. The Allah from the Qur'an, however, is very different from the Yahweh of the Bible. For one thing, Allah is a distant, remote being who reveals his will but not himself.
Where is Yahweh first found in the Bible? ›
Exodus 6:2-3
God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am Yahweh; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as El Shaddai, but by my name, Yahweh, I did not make myself known to them.”
What religion says Yahweh? ›
Yahweh is the name of the God of Israel in both the Jewish scriptures and Old Testament. While much of the Jewish and Christian scriptures are the same, the Christian Bible contains the New Testament, which introduces Jesus.
What is the difference between Yahweh and Jehovah? ›
The difference between “Jehovah” and “Yahweh” is opinion. “Jehovah” is a spelling of God's name introduced in the 1769 edition of the King James Version, (KJV). The spelling of almost all biblical names in the 1611 KJV contained the letter “I”, instead of “J”.
Why has the name Jehovah been removed from the Bible? ›
Why was Gods name - Jehovah - deliberately removed from most Bible translations (some 7000 times) and replaced with LORD or GOD? Jehovah is a mistaken guess at the pronunciation of God's name revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:15. It originates with William Tyndale c. 1525.
Traditionally, Judaism holds that YHWH (commonly vowelled as Yahweh)—that is, the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel, and the national god of the Israelites—delivered them from slavery in Egypt, and gave them the Law of Moses at Mount Sinai as described in the Torah.
What was the name of the place of worship for the Hebrew? ›
synagogue, in Judaism, a community house of worship that serves as a place not only for liturgical services but also for assembly and study.
How did Yahweh become God? ›
THE MEETING OF YHWH AND ISRAEL: MEMORY TRACESAccording to the biblical narrative contained in Exodus 19–24, Yhwh became the god of Israel following his revelation on Mount Sinai through the conclusion of a contract or “covenant.” During this theophany the Hebrews heard the voice of Yhwh in the midst of thunder, and he ...
What does the name Yahweh mean in Hebrew? ›
The meaning of the name Yahweh, as noted, has been interpreted as “I Am” or “He That Is”, though other interpretations have been offered by many scholars. In the late Middle Ages, `Yahweh' came to be changed to `Jehovah' by Christian monks, a name commonly in use today.
What religion follows Yahweh? ›
As Judaism became a universal rather than merely a local religion, the more common Hebrew noun Elohim (plural in form but understood in the singular), meaning “God,” tended to replace Yahweh to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of Israel's God over all others.
Where was Yahweh first used? ›
It is generally accepted in the modern day, however, that Yahweh originated in southern Canaan as a lesser god in the Canaanite pantheon and the Shasu, as nomads, most likely acquired their worship of him during their time in the Levant.
Where is the mountain of Yahweh? ›
A number of scholars and commentators have therefore looked towards the more central and northern parts of the Sinai peninsula for the mountain. Mount Sin Bishar, in the west-central part of the peninsula, was proposed to be the biblical Mount Sinai by Menashe Har-El, a biblical geographer at Tel Aviv University.
Is Yahwism still practiced? ›
Yahwism is not traditional Judaism, and a Jew is rarely a Yahwist these days. The Yahwist is not even specifically represented in Jewish society. He or she is a figure of alienation, standing outside and condemning culture and all its constructed ideals and traditions.
