YHWH had a Wife?

YHWH...the God of the Israelites in the Hebrew Bible, and you shall have no other gods before him. But did some ancient Israelites worship another god, Asherah? Archaeological evidence suggests that some Israelites may have believed YHWH had a consort or wife.

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Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry

Sources:

William Devers, "Did God Have a Wife?" Eerdmans, 2005.

William Dever, “Archaeology and Ancient Israelite Iconography: Did Yahweh Have a Face?” in A.M. Maeir and P. de Miroschedji (editor), "I will Speak the Riddles of Ancient Times”: Archaeological and Historical Studies in Honor of Amihai Mazar," 461.

Judith Hadley, "The Cult of Asherah in Ancient Israel and Judah: Evidence for a Hebrew Goddess," Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Source on standing stones: Stephen Herring, "Divine Substitution," "Chapter 3: Iconic Israel: Divine Representation, Idol Polemics, and the Awareness of the Relationship between Image and Presence in the Hebrew Bible," Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2013.

[mrhumble]

Jeremaiah actually complains about Israelites worshipping Asherah

[bigphil]

I'm glad your channel exists. It seems like you are one of the only people I can find that doesn't just sensationalize this kind of thing for political reasons.

[Ezullof]

The issue with the "Ashera = object" interpretation is that Ashera is a well-attested goddess. So she was a goddess at some point. And we do know for multiple sources that Israelites were polyteist before they came to only worship one god.

[youssefragui]

Fun fact: Asherah in Arabic means companions or kinfolk.

[JackRackam]

I just discovered your channel through your video on the cult of Mithras, and I have to say it's absolutely fantastic! I'm currently in the middle of binging your videos, they're all so in-depth and well-researched, completely fascinating. Cheers!

[mtthwthsa]

I have taken Religion classes the past few semesters, and I found your channel at the right time! Keep being awesome!

[edwarddodge]

I’d always wondered who Ashera was and why it was so important to cut down Ashera poles when I read the OT

[gordonyork]

Thank you. Your objective neutral p.o.v. is a breath of fresh air.

[LostCylon]

It's nice to see a show on religion that isn't openly biased, thanks :)

[timothymclean]

Digging into proto-Judaism (and proto-Christian) beliefs is always interesting. I kinda wish more people saw it that way and not, you know, blasphemous.
(Also, IIRC, asherah poles were associated with the worship of Asherah, hence the name. If nothing else, they're likely remnants of Asherah worship.)

[here_we_go_again]

Speaking as a woman: I can state that a storm,
sky, mountain-top dwelling, god, represented by
a bull might not have much appeal to the women
of ancient societies. Their chief concerns were
surviving childbirth without complications and the
welfare of their families. Therefore they sought
the help of goddesses.

Jacob's wife, Rachael, stole her father's household
idols ("Teraphim"). Those idols were important enough
for Laban to follow his son-in-law's entourage and
demand that the idols be returned to him.

[ralphjosephrjm]

Dear comment readers, please remember that the jews were rebellious to God back in the days.
Solomon also built many templeS for his wives. They worshipped many God including baal, el and other distorted versions of yahweh which was issued to have a asherah for a wife.

[memofromessex]

I've jumped down a rabbit hole with this channel 🐰🕳️

[heterian]

I like your channel because you´re unbiased, give sources, extra reading material, and make consistent points based on evidence.
In ohter words, your videos do show that you are a qualified religious studies teacher.
Keep up the good word.
Blessings and good wishes from a Muslim in Ecuador.

[Anglomachian]

Well, god is sometimes referred to in the bible as El. Curiously enough, when he's given different names he tends to have different qualities. Almost like they're distinct beings or something.

[orbislacteusbrahman]

Asherah's connection to Yahweh, according to Stavrakopoulou, is spelled out in both the Bible and an 8th century B.C. inscription on pottery found in the Sinai desert at a site called Kuntillet Ajrud.

"The inscription is a petition for a blessing, " she shares. "Crucially, the inscription asks for a blessing from 'Yahweh and his Asherah.' Here was evidence that presented Yahweh and Asherah as a divine pair. And now a handful of similar inscriptions have since been found, all of which help to strengthen the case that the God of the Bible once had a wife."

Also significant, Stavrakopoulou believes, "is the Bible's admission that the goddess Asherah was worshiped in Yahweh's Temple in Jerusalem. In the Book of Kings, we're told that a statue of Asherah was housed in the temple and that female temple personnel wove ritual textiles for her."

[Emcee_Squared]

Back in the day (1000 BC - 600 BC), the Israelites/Hebrews, Phoenicians, various Canaanite tribes, had many overlapping gods, believed in the power of their own god/gods, but also believed that other gods existed. This is called Monolatry (belief in many gods but worshipping only one). It wasn't until the second temple period when Judaism evolved into a more strict monotheistic (one god) religion. Just like life, language, technology, writing, etc... religion evolves over long periods of time.

[covenawhite]

The "Book of Kings" says the Hebrew Kings worshipped false Gods then God punished Israel.

[harmonygreenwood]

El-Elyon the God El is where you get the el ending in every Angel name ie Arch Angel Michia-el, Rapha-el, Uri-el, Etc. and so on.

[maxdoubt]

Scholars have pretty much agreed: The bible stories of Israel in Egypt; the ten plagues; the Ten Plagues, the Exodus; The Wanderings and the Conquest are not historical. David and Solomon probably existed but as small-town chiefs, not kings.