At somepoint in the 12th century a new diety was introduced to the Canaanite highlands.
Before he is named a few facts about the Hebrew Bible and names of God:
Every time you see the word LORD (In caps) in a modern bible it refers to a name of the deity. (Some translations like The Message Bible use GOD.)
The name of this god in Hebrew takes the form of four letters. YHWH. Most schollors feel the original form was something like Yahweh. (The JB, WEB and MISB use this name liberaly.)
In some English bibles this is redered Jehovah. (ASV, NWT, YL, AT 2001 etc.)
Yaheweh was not original to Canaan. Some of the oldest texts of the bible confirm this. An Example Judges 5: 3-5>>
5:3“Hear, you kings!
Give ear, you princes!
I, even I, will sing to Yahweh.
I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God (El) of
Israel.
5:4“Yahweh, when you went forth out of Seir,
when you marched out of the field of
Edom,
the earth trembled, the sky also dropped.
Yes, the clouds dropped water.
5:5The mountains quaked at the presence of
Yahweh,
even Sinai, at the presence of Yahweh, the
God (El) of Israel.
This text states that Yahweh marched in from Seir (Edom). More interesting is the name Sinai. In the context of this verse it is NOT a MOUNTIAN! It is a Sumerian deity of the moon that was known in Canaan and Edom at the time. This section of trhe song decribes Yahweh as a warrior and associates his arrival with a storm and defeat of another god.
The main clue is that Yahweh was from Edom or came through Edom to get to Canaan. Fortunatly we have some archological evidence to give us a strong clue.
14th century Egyptian texts mention the "Shosu (nomads) of the land of YHW".
YHW is found in the Hebrew bible numerous times in the form Yah or Jah a shortened form of Yahweh. Or is it? Is Yahweh an expanded form of Yah(u)? It is more likely.
One thing that is certain is that Yahweh was a warrior god and also at some points a storm god. A mixing of Yahweh and Baal Hadad was inevitable as was a mixing of Yahweh with El.
This is exatly what happened. At somepoint in the 1100s BCE Yahweh moved in from the south likely brought by a group of people known as the Kenites. The Kenites settled in the highlands of Canaan and likely made Yahweh their tribal god.
Withing centuries El worship in Shechem had be exchanged for Yahweh worship. Yahweh would even take El's wife! (Asherah) Also hymns devoted to Baal were now devoted at times to Yahweh. And more importantly seers (prophets) spoke in his name.
Through all this change two songs were to develop that are still preserved in the biblical texts.
The Song of Deborah and the Song of the Sea will be the next topics.