YHWH a minor pagan god: Ugaritic Texts and the Sons of El

pseudoxristos

Interesting.

Here is the first thing I've found on the subject, though I haven't read much of it yet.

http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/OTeSources/05-Deuteronomy/Text/Articles/Heiser-Deut32-BS.htm

pseudo

LisaAnn

Awesome! It's late for me, too, but I'm bookmarking this for tomorrow. (I LOVE this kind of stuff.)

Your statements about Yahweh being one of the 70 sons of El are spot on. And yes, Deuteronomy 32:8-9 clinches it. Interestingly, the Masoretes altered this verse in the middle ages in an attempt to remove this link to Canaanite religion from the Bible. It was (and is) a fairly embarrassing scripture. Also of interest: despite the conclusive evidence that the Masoretic rendition of this scripture is a later "correction", not the original text, the New World Translation continues to use the Masoretic fudged version instead of the original rendering. Nice one Watchtower.

How does Satan enter into this? Easy, he doesn't. Satan was a later invention. The early Jews did not believe in a specific entity named Satan, this was originally a title, like Judge, that simply meant "the adversary". It indicated whomever was playing the part of the foil in a debate or discussion. Anybody could be referred to as "the satan" in a situation, and it wasn't always considered a bad thing. Later Hellenized Jews, picking up ideas from Zoroastrianism and other beliefs, developed this idea that there was a specific character named Satan because they didn't understand what they were reading. Christianity developed the idea further.

I love this topic too, BTW.

Ryan
XJW Net: The new social network for former Jehovah's Witnesses

DoomVoyager

Thanks for that Leoliaia, I am saving it on my hard drive for future reference. tastyrerun: I was aware of the difference between Old Judaic "the satan" and later Judaic "Satan". In Old Judaic texts YWHW was the source of both good and evil; later on YWHW became solely good, and evil originated with Satan. I can't provide proof texts as I just got a new job and am pretty busy but I will still be following this topic.

DoomVoyager

Wow, that is provably the most concise and valuable reference to this topic on the web. Thank you. Are you an "official" exegetical scholar or do you just do this for fun?

Also, do you have a suggestion as to an accurate, affordable interlinear translation of the entire bible... perhaps with comments included?

possible-san

Hi, DoomVoyager.

Thank you for the very interesting explanation.

I who do not speak English have also understood your talk well.
Simple is the best.

Jahveh (JHVH) is Jews' God.
And Judaism is Jewish people's religion.
That "ethnic religion" grew up to be "global religion" by Christianity.

The meaning of "Jahveh" (JHVH) is the third person of "I AM."

I think that it shows what "God is within us."
In the New Testament, it is symbolically shown as "Jesus."

So, The apostle Paul said like this.

"And the secret is that Christ is in you,"
Col 1:27 (GNT)

I think that value of Scriptures is in explanation like this Paul.

possible
http://bb2.atbb.jp/possible/

Leolaia

Thanks! Yeah, I do it "for fun," I find the whole subject very fascinating. Interlinears are somewhat of limited utility, as they usually ignore usage and give simplistic glosses and contain almost no information on alternative readings and textual problems. So if I use an interlinear, I usually still check the critical literature on a given passage to get a handle on these things. A high-quality interlinear that does try to indicate usage is the Lexham Interlinear, but it is quite pricey (about a hundred bucks).

I appreciate that you have posted the Dead Sea scrolls side by side with the LXX and the MT... demonstrating the redactors at work... it's not like the WTS said that the Dead Sea Scrolls were almost identical... is there any thread on that?

No, but I have often thought of doing one. The Society usually mentions the close fit between the Great Isaiah scroll and the MT but I have never seen them mention the vast disparity between the Qumran scrolls of 1-2 Samuel, Psalms, Jeremiah, etc. and the MT.

DoomVoyager

Anti-Christ: The WT explanation for this would probably be "Satan tricked the Caananites into worshipping Jehovah as a minor deity so that he could confuse the goats in the last days".

DoomVoyager

Anti-Christ: The WT explanation for this would probably be "Satan tricked the Caananites into worshipping Jehovah as a minor deity so that he could confuse the goats in the last days".

Satan made me double-post!

Leolaia: well thanks for the info, I think WT has an Greek Scriptures Interlinear so I'll just order that from my hall & continue to do the bulk of my research online. If nothing else, it will at least make the WTBTS waste money on publishing costs. P.S. I think you got our japanese friend all excited

Awakened at Gilead

I appreciate that you have posted the Dead Sea scrolls side by side with the LXX and the MT... demonstrating the redactors at work... it's not like the WTS said that the Dead Sea Scrolls were almost identical... is there any thread on that?
No, but I have often thought of doing one. The Society usually mentions the close fit between the Great Isaiah scroll and the MT but I have never seen them mention the vast disparity between the Qumran scrolls of 1-2 Samuel, Psalms, Jeremiah, etc. and the MT.

Yes that would be great Leo... the WTS doesn't mention this disparity and it would be one more expose of their lies.

Possible san... that's not Leo's pic, that's her avatar... no one has actually seen her, she is kinda like the YHWH god, no one can see her and still live, lol

YHWH a minor pagan god: Ugaritic Texts and the Sons of El

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