Cover
Title
Copyright
Contents
Translator’s Note
System of Hebrew Transcription
Introduction
The Hebrew Bible: A Brief Introduction
Terminology
From the Origins of Israel to the Hellenistic Era
From the Origins of Israel to the Hellenistic Era
The Enigma of the Name of God
Yhwh, Yhw, Yh
Yahweh or Yahô/Yahu: How was the Name of the God of Israel Pronounced?
What does the name Yahô/Yahû Mean?
Chapter 2. The Geographic Origin of Yhwh
Ugarit
Between Egypt and Seir
Biblical Evidence that Yhwh Came from the South
The Theophany in Judges 5:4–5 in the Context of the Song of Deborah
The Origins of Yhwh According to Judges 5 and Psalm 68
The Character of Yhwh According to these Texts
Yhwh and Seth
Chapter 3. Moses and the Midianites
A Story about Moses
Who were the Midianites?
The Negative Texts
Moses’ Arrival in Midian
The Priest of Midian Who has Many Names
The Cult of Yhwh Founded by a Midianite Priest
The Midianite-Kenite Hypothesis
Yhwh, Israel, and Edom
The Meeting of Yhwh and Israel: Memory Traces
The Name Israel
The Stele of Merneptah
The Identity of this Israel
El Elyon (Genesis 14:18–22)
El Shadday
How was Yhwh Introduced into “Israel”?
Yhwh in Shiloh
Yhwh, the God of Saul and the God of David
Yhwh and the Ark
What was in the Ark of Yhwh?
David and Jerusalem
Yhwh at Jerusalem–Without a Temple?
The Construction of the Temple by Solomon
A Temple for Yhwh?
Chapter 6. The Cult of Yhwh in Israel
Yhwh, God of the Exodus
Yhwh and Israel According to the Stele of Mesha
Yhwh and Baal in Israel
Representations of Yhwh in Israel
Chapter 7. The Cult of Yhwh in Judah
On the Diversity of Yahwist Sanctuaries in Judah
Yhwh’s Rise in Jerusalem
El and Yhwh in Jerusalem
Solar Traits of Yhwh at Jerusalem
The “Theology of Zion”
Yhwh Enthroned Upon the Cherubim
Yhwh Ṣěḇāʾôt
Yhwh as King
The Davidic King as Mediator of King Yhwh
Yhwh Melek and Molek
Yhwh and Death
Chapter 8. The Statue of Yhwh in Judah
Standing Stones: Vestiges of a Cult Without Images?
The Representations of Yhwh
Polemic against Idols
The Throne of Yhwh
The Face of Yhwh
The Destruction of the Temple and the Departure of Yhwh
Did the Statue of Yhwh Return to Jerusalem or Did it Disappear in the Persian Period?
Chapter 9. Yhwh and His Asherah
Asherah in the Hebrew Bible
The Inscriptions of Kuntillet Ajrud and Khirbet El-Qom
Representations of the Couple Yhwh and Asherah?
Judean Female Figurines
The Worship of Asherah According to the Biblical Texts
The “Queen of Heaven”
The End of the Kingdom of Israel
The Situation in Judah After 722 and the Reign of King Hezekiah
The Foreign Policy of Hezekiah
The Reforms of Hezekiah
The Worship of Yhwh in the Reign of Manasseh
The Reign of Josiah
The King Who Restored the Sanctuary and the Recovered Book
Archaeological Evidence?
Glyptic and Epigraphic Evidence
Evidence from the Narrative of 2 Kings 23
The Question of Sacred Prostitution
Reforming Kings
A Historical Argument for the Existence of Josiah’s “Reform”
Deuteronomy and the Reforms of Josiah
“Yhwh is One” and Assyrian Treaties of Vassalship
The Ideology of Centralization
The Narrative of the Conquest and the Life of Moses
The End of Josiah and of His Reforms
From the Death of Josiah to the Destruction of Jerusalem
Ideological Crisis and the Literature of Crisis
The “Deuteronomistic History”: The Path Toward Monotheism
The Monotheism of Deutero-Isaiah
Is the Feminine to be Integrated into Monotheistic Discourse or Excluded?
Monotheism and the Question of Evil
The Monotheism of the Priestly Milieu
Persian Influences on Biblical Monotheism
Resistance to Monotheism
A Monotheism before the Bible?
The Genesis of the Torah and the Establishment of Judaism as a “Religion of the Book”
Yhwh as Exclusive and Unitary, Invisible, Transcendent, and Universal God
Conclusion
Notes
Index