His presence in the Old Testament world was well known, as his cult was imported to Jerusalem by King Solomon (1 Kings 11:7). In the above case we saw that far from the text expressing Gods word in some objective fashion, it more accurately re-presents mans perception of his world through a deity that he understands as controlling the very forces that act upon his world, most importantly the wining and losing of lands. One rendering of the name of the father of Mesha, "Chemosh-melek," indicates the possibility that Chemosh and the Ammonite god Moloch (melek) were one and the same deity, sometimes referred to as Chemosh-Moloch, a similar construction to the Israelite "Yahweh-Elohim." "My god helps me win and defeat your god" -> Chemosh vs. Yahweh Temple of Solomon Yahwism Worship of Yahweh by the people of Israel. Note that the Hebrew states, "they will judge," not "he will judge," therefore we are looking at two different Elohim, one belonging to Abraham (the ancestor of Jacob) and the other to Nahhor (the ancestor of Laban). In fact, Yahweh appears to be only one of Elyons 70 sons. This is an example of polytheism in the Bible. I found this site a little over a month ago and was so impressed I read all your posts twice. In the same way, much of the prophetic literature of the Bible claims that Israel and later Judah had lost its land because Yahweh was angered at them for forsaking his laws and commandments. 7. Always start with that context. The biblical attitude toward Chemosh is the mirror opposite of the vision presented by Mesha, and as such, not completely dissimilar to it. ", http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/ngier/henotheism.htm. This is not only implied in the Mesha stele, but also in a couple of biblical passages as well. Later still, the tradition of monotheism emerged, in which other gods were regarded either as non-existent "false" deities, or as demons masquerading as God. 17-18). Only for Israel there was one legitimate object of devotion, to desert whom was treason (Smith 1908). Monkey see monkey do, yes? The biblical hero, Jephthah, gave Chemosh equal billing with Yahweh. Will B. says [1] However, there is an even greater significance to this verse. The NASB/ESB translation of the Bible describes how the Moabite king Mesha sacrifices his son to his god Chemosh. It makes no sense for Yahweh to be angry with the Israelites for what the king of Moab did; if anything, he'd be mad at the king, and give Israel a victory. Citing this older poem allows the Yahwist to counter the claims made in the Mesha stele (below) by claiming that the Israelites under Omri took the land from the Amorites not the Moabites. . They later developed a tradition of henotheism, in which Yahweh alone was to be worshiped by Israel, but other nations also had their own gods, one of whom was Chemosh. This does not seem likely since Jehovah had promised Israel would prevail over the Moabites and it is not suggested in the text. Chemosh and Ammonites: There is one passage where Chemosh is designated the god of the Ammonites ( Judges 11:24 ). Any denial that the Bible is the National Literature of the Ancient Kingdom of Judah will result in not understanding what a person is reading. The find, known as the Moabite Stone or Mesha Stele, was a monument bearing an inscription commemorating the c. 860 B.C. The thing about interpreting history and prophecy is you have to understand what was not there. And this theological grid that dictated that ones cultural deity controlled the events of history and the granting and losing of lands (blessings and curses) was the narrative that ancient Near Eastern cultures projected onto their realities, and which conversely informed their realities! This implies that there is a source of divinity outside of their god. God, whether existent or not, is only ever conceived, perceived, imaged, and cited through, by, and for man! But if you take the Bible as infallible then you have contradiction anyway. Chemosh. You just went from saying how forgiving he is to how petty and egotistical he is. {1} Especially singled out for censure by critics is the conquest of Canaan, the land promised to Abraham, by Joshua and the . Which god is the creator of the heavens and the earth: Yahweh OR El? Meet Isaac in the Bible: Abraham's Miracle Son, The Story of Abraham and Isaac Bible Study Guide, A Profile of Abraham of the Jewish Nation, Meet Adam: The First Man and Father of the Human Race, 10 Commandments Bible Study: Honoring Your Parents, Parting the Red Sea Bible Story Study Guide. (Job 38:7 states that the heavenly host was present at creation.). (Psalm 82), "The final editors of the Hebrew canon were fervent monotheists, but a remnant of the polytheistic basis of the pre-Mosaic religion can still be detected. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, atheist w.r.t the Christian God | agnostic w.r.t others. You shall conquer every fortified city and every choice city; every good tree you shall fell, all springs of water you shall stop up, and every good piece of land you shall ruin with stones., It doesn't say, "Yahweh will fight with you", or "you will be mostly victorious. Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/chemosh-lord-of-the-moabites-117630. 23 Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? According to Vawter, none of the available English translations does justice to the original Hebrew of Genesis 31:13, which quite simply reads "I am the god Bethel" ('El Bet'el), who was a member of the Canaanite pantheon along with the rest of the above.4 The original meaning is therefore quite different from the traditional understanding: this god at Bethel is not the universal Lord who appeared at Bethel but just one god among many a local deity of a specific place. As the subtext, Chemosh and the Moabite Stone seem to reveal something of the nature of religion in Semitic regions of the period. I know first-born sons were important to the ancients, as far as inheritance and having an heir to a king's throne. Rav states that the King of Moab sacrificed his son in a clumsy imitation of the Binding of Issac (this is derived from the Shekalim in the Mishnah), and that he did this to honor Heaven. The God of Israel vs. Chemosh the god of Moab. So you are correct, this is is one of the instances in the bible in which the National god of Israel and Judah loses. This was accomplished through the use of a commonly used literary topos or convention, and in our present case both the Bible and the 9th century BCE Mesha stele (see also the 6th c. Babylonian cylinder seal) bear witness to this literary convention. Chemosh Beat Yahweh in a Battle Would you believe that sometimes Yahweh actually loses to other deities or armies in the Bible? Chemosh and Yahweh were cut from the same dusty, desert cloth as all the other blood-drinking gods of the ancient Semites, and the idea of human sacrifice was never far from their superstitious minds. (v. 18-19). Of all the Molochs, Jehovah becomes supreme, and the other Molochs are forgotten, lost for ever; he is the God of gods. Adonis | Anat | Asherah | Ashima | Astarte | Atargatis | That suggests it wasnt redacted until the exile period, when the Pentatuch was created, as opposed to an earlier JE redaction. Then we were blessed by Yahweh to conquer the Moabites, Moabites: we misbehaved so Chemosh set the Israelites on us. Like the Hebrew deity Yahweh, he blessed his people with military victory when they pleased him, and allowed them to be conquered by their enemies when they did not. But according to the one who says that he sacrificed him for the sake of idol worship, why would the verse state: And there wasindignation? (For the unusual circumstances surrounding its discovery, see Archaeology and Biblical Research, Winter 1991: 2-3).Mesha was ruler of the small kingdom of Moab, east of the Dead Sea, in the mid-ninth century BC.He was a contemporary of Jehoshaphat, king of the . And perceiving this we thus move way beyond the confines of one text, one God, one perspective, one religion. Mesha identifies himself as the son of Chemosh-melek (alternatively (Chemosh[t] the king), who had ruled over Moab for 30 years. Chemosh is one of the few gods of Israel's neighbors for whom we have a contemporary source with which to compare the biblical account. . [4]. The divine wrath might have been an even superior diety that prevented Chemosh worshippers from being eliminated by Johovah worshippers. Does Yahweh regret and change his mind OR does he not? Apparently you didn't read the whole chapter and are deliberately taking it out of context in order to preach your unsupported claims. Please, How would the Pre-Nicene Christians view the tumultuous events of today? Are Yahweh and El the same god OR different gods? The Moabite Stone is a priceless source of information concerning Chemosh. Of course, we cannot overlook the fact of . Mar 4 19M. Podcast Pre-Nicene PerspectiveYahweh vs. Chemosh: Battle of the Hebrew War Gods in II Kings 3:262023217 God Had a Wife? Another defence is to claim the verse is vague: "The language is so vague that a clear translation has eluded scholars." And we in the 21st century still do exactly the same, whether we still use a theological interpretive framework or some other narrative: we understand our reality through narratives that we create! Moabite King Mesha. Burton, Judd H. (2021, November 12). The high place on which Mesha oriented the stone was dedicated to Chemosh as well. [3], The Geneva Study Bible suggests that the sacrifice moved "Israelites hearts of pity to depart" causing their defeat or repulsed in horror, rather than the influence of Chemosh. Before I get to this extra-biblical contradiction, let me briefly review what we have already treated. Do you think it is inconceivable that a follower of Yahweh could acknowledge the existence of another god? Nergal Baal Berith Anammelech Nibhaz Ninurta Dagon. Ba'al | Berith | Chemosh | Dagon | Derceto | Although the prophets and biblical writers denounced this act as a serious sin, the sanctuary was not permanently destroyed until the time of King Josiah, nearly 400 years later. So Israel is made up of humans, and Elijah's prophecy is not a prophecy of predestined destruction of Moab. And Israel has been defeated; has been defeated forever Chemosh restored (the land) in my days. In short, the stele makes it clear that from the perspective of this Moabite scribe Chemosh controlled what befell the Moabites (blessings or curses) and who possessed the land. Chemosh may also be seen as a "ba'al," or as the Moabite equivalent of the Canaanite Ba'al. Elsewhere, however, the Moabites are seen as closely related to the Israelites, as descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot. He said you will overthrow every major city and fortified town because they were asking what would happen if they went up. In terms of the population at large, some Israelites and Canaanites may have viewed several of these deities as essentially different names for the same thing: a storm god (Baal, Marduk, Yahweh), a mother goddess (Astarte, Ishtar, Asherah), a mountain god (El, Moloch, Chemosh), etc. Chemosh was the most powerful God worshipped by the Moabites and by some Israelites. (v. 4-5) Israel, Judah, and Edom decide to strike back. He may have been related to or even. in Early Christianity; D.E.A. Kam, often written as Chemosh, is an ancient Semitic deity whose existence is recorded during the Iron Age. {2 Kings 3:27). If so, Chemosh probably stood in the position of Asthar's husband, as did El to Asherah and Baal to Astarte. How do we know that the biblical writers were not writing history? They represented the fierce, inescapable, and often consuming heat of the summer sun (a necessary but deadly element in life; analogs may be found in Aztec sun worship). in anthropology and a Ph.D. in history from Texas Tech University. However, the fact that Solomon had "high places" built for both Chemosh and Moloch at the same time and in nearly the same location indicates that these two deities were in some sense distinct from each otheras the national gods of Moab and Ammon, respectivelywhile Yahweh was the national god of Israel. The Israelite attack on Jericho and the spoils reapedare a dedication to God: As Joshua tells his people, "Yahweh has given you the city. So he could be more powerful? The Yahiwst sees this Transjordanian settlement (i.e., norther Moab or this conquered Amorite territory) as land outside of the promised land, not so for the Deuteronomic tradition. https://www.theveryfirstbible.org What were the borders of the land of Canaan promised to the patriarchs by Yahweh: from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates, #13. in 2 Kings 3, Yahweh's prophecy of victory is a failure, and a Moabite god's wrath drives Israel into retreat. Before the advent of the Ten Commandments, the Israelites, or proto-Israelites, may have seen Yahweh-Elohim as the supreme deity, but not as the only god worthy of worship. Loses to other deities or armies in the Mesha stele, was a monument bearing an inscription commemorating c.! Did n't read the whole chapter and are deliberately taking it out of context in order to preach unsupported! An example of polytheism in the position of Asthar 's husband, as descendants of Abraham nephew! 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