Gods Wife Edited Out of the Bible, Almost

God's wife, Asherah, was a powerful fertility goddess, according to a theologian.

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.

In 1967, Raphael Patai was the first historian to mention that the ancient Israelites worshiped both Yahweh and Asherah. The theory has gained new prominence due to the research of Francesca Stavrakopoulou, who began her work at Oxford and is now a senior lecturer in the department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter.

Information presented in Stavrakopoulou's books, lectures and journal papers has become the basis of a three-part documentary series, now airing in Europe, where she discusses the Yahweh-Asherah connection.

"You might know him as Yahweh, Allah or God. But on this fact, Jews, Muslims and Christians, the people of the great Abrahamic religions, are agreed: There is only one of Him," writes Stavrakopoulou in a statement released to the British media. "He is a solitary figure, a single, universal creator, not one God among many ... or so we like to believe."

"After years of research specializing in the history and religion of Israel, however, I have come to a colorful and what could seem, to some, uncomfortable conclusion that God had a wife," she added.

Stavrakopoulou bases her theory on ancient texts, amulets and figurines unearthed primarily in the ancient Canaanite coastal city called Ugarit, now modern-day Syria. All of these artifacts reveal that Asherah was a powerful fertility goddess.

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."

J. Edward Wright, president of both The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies and The Albright Institute for Archaeological Research, told Discovery News that he agrees several Hebrew inscriptions mention "Yahweh and his Asherah."

"Asherah was not entirely edited out of the Bible by its male editors," he added. "Traces of her remain, and based on those traces, archaeological evidence and references to her in texts from nations bordering Israel and Judah, we can reconstruct her role in the religions of the Southern Levant."

Asherah -- known across the ancient Near East by various other names, such as Astarte and Istar -- was "an important deity, one who was both mighty and nurturing," Wright continued.

"Many English translations prefer to translate 'Asherah' as 'Sacred Tree,'" Wright said. "This seems to be in part driven by a modern desire, clearly inspired by the Biblical narratives, to hide Asherah behind a veil once again."

"Mentions of the goddess Asherah in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) are rare and have been heavily edited by the ancient authors who gathered the texts together," Aaron Brody, director of the Bade Museum and an associate professor of Bible and archaeology at the Pacific School of Religion, said.

Asherah as a tree symbol was even said to have been "chopped down and burned outside the Temple in acts of certain rulers who were trying to 'purify' the cult, and focus on the worship of a single male god, Yahweh," he added.

The ancient Israelites were polytheists, Brody told Discovery News, "with only a small minority worshiping Yahweh alone before the historic events of 586 B.C." In that year, an elite community within Judea was exiled to Babylon and the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. This, Brody said, led to "a more universal vision of strict monotheism: one god not only for Judah, but for all of the nations."

201103256327 | Gods Wife Edited Out of the Bible Almost

In the French wiki:

La Bible indique qu'un culte lui était rendu dans le temple de YHWH. Ainsi, le roi Josias, vers -630, « ordonna [...] de retirer du sanctuaire de Yahvé tous les objets de culte qui avaient été faits pour Baal, pour Ashera et pour toute l'armée du ciel [...]. Il supprima les faux prêtres que les rois de Juda avaient installés et qui sacrifiaient [...] à Baal, au soleil, à la lune, aux constellations et à toute l'armée du ciel. [...] Il démolit la demeure des prostituées sacrées, qui était dans le temple de Yahvé[...][5] ».

Dans la Bible, son existence est interprétée comme une régression par rapport à un monothéisme originel que certains Israélites ont oublié au profit des faux dieux et des idoles. C'est en particulier le message des prophètes comme Osée ou Amos, qui fustigent les pratiques polythéistes qui avaient cours à leur époque.

Pour beaucoup d'historiens, le culte d'Ashéra et des autres dieux cités par la Bible, cultes condamnés par les prophètes, démontre au contraire que les anciens hébreux étaient polythéistes, les prophètes de la bible représentant un courant religieux en rupture avec la tradition.

Dans cette optique, la religion polythéiste des anciens Israélites aurait d'abord évolué vers la monolâtrie où Yahvé était le dieu principal, entouré par d'autres dieux ; puis dans un second temps, la religion aurait évolué vers un monothéisme ou il était le seul dieu.

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i.e. the classic Bible explanation is to mix this goddess with the various polytheistic beliefs that had come to dominate the Hebrew spiritual life and, because of that sin, all kind of bad stuff happened. And then, because all that bad stuff happened, the Hebrew got wise and renouce all of this polytheistic corruption...

From monotheism to (evil) polytheism and back to monotheism with a little purge by fire in the middle...

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Well sure, thats why god says he is a jealous god, and nobody should have any gods before him. This tacitly recognises the existence of other gods, even among Hebrews.

But this also confirms that the bible, eben in its Jewish form, is essentially revisionist, a document developed with a programme rather than being a simple record of the religious experiences of the Israelites.

It also affirms that the development of patriachal societies is specific break from a prior society that didn't accord so much significance to the male divine principle as such.

I vaguely remember reading about this before - IIRC it was in Alexander Waugh's God biography. I think He had kids too.

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Quote:

I think He had kids too.

Indubitably

F

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Originally Posted by contracycle

Gods Wife Edited Out of the Bible, Almost God's wife, Asherah, was a powerful fertility goddess, according to a theologian. 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. In 1967, Raphael Patai was the first historian to mention that the ancient Israelites worshiped both Yahweh and Asherah. The theory has gained new prominence due to the research of Francesca Stavrakopoulou, who began her work at Oxford and is now a senior lecturer in the department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter. Information presented in Stavrakopoulou's books, lectures and journal papers has become the basis of a three-part documentary series, now airing in Europe, where she discusses the Yahweh-Asherah connection. "You might know him as Yahweh, Allah or God. But on this fact, Jews, Muslims and Christians, the people of the great Abrahamic religions, are agreed: There is only one of Him," writes Stavrakopoulou in a statement released to the British media. "He is a solitary figure, a single, universal creator, not one God among many ... or so we like to believe." "After years of research specializing in the history and religion of Israel, however, I have come to a colorful and what could seem, to some, uncomfortable conclusion that God had a wife," she added. Stavrakopoulou bases her theory on ancient texts, amulets and figurines unearthed primarily in the ancient Canaanite coastal city called Ugarit, now modern-day Syria. All of these artifacts reveal that Asherah was a powerful fertility goddess. 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." J. Edward Wright, president of both The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies and The Albright Institute for Archaeological Research, told Discovery News that he agrees several Hebrew inscriptions mention "Yahweh and his Asherah." "Asherah was not entirely edited out of the Bible by its male editors," he added. "Traces of her remain, and based on those traces, archaeological evidence and references to her in texts from nations bordering Israel and Judah, we can reconstruct her role in the religions of the Southern Levant." Asherah -- known across the ancient Near East by various other names, such as Astarte and Istar -- was "an important deity, one who was both mighty and nurturing," Wright continued. "Many English translations prefer to translate 'Asherah' as 'Sacred Tree,'" Wright said. "This seems to be in part driven by a modern desire, clearly inspired by the Biblical narratives, to hide Asherah behind a veil once again." "Mentions of the goddess Asherah in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) are rare and have been heavily edited by the ancient authors who gathered the texts together," Aaron Brody, director of the Bade Museum and an associate professor of Bible and archaeology at the Pacific School of Religion, said. Asherah as a tree symbol was even said to have been "chopped down and burned outside the Temple in acts of certain rulers who were trying to 'purify' the cult, and focus on the worship of a single male god, Yahweh," he added. The ancient Israelites were polytheists, Brody told Discovery News, "with only a small minority worshiping Yahweh alone before the historic events of 586 B.C." In that year, an elite community within Judea was exiled to Babylon and the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. This, Brody said, led to "a more universal vision of strict monotheism: one god not only for Judah, but for all of the nations." 201103256327 | Gods Wife Edited Out of the Bible Almost

given that the article went to the trouble to say three times that it is mentioned in the Bible that God had a wife, you would think they would have taken the time to mention where.....

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Originally Posted by Zichao

I vaguely remember reading about this before - IIRC it was in Alexander Waugh's God biography. I think He had kids too.

I remember one.....

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Originally Posted by PostmodernProphet

given that the article went to the trouble to say three times that it is mentioned in the Bible that God had a wife, you would think they would have taken the time to mention where.....

Wiki is your friend... Asherah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

According to the documentary hypothesis, the majority of the forty references to Asherah in the Hebrew Bible derive from the Deuteronomist, always in a hostile framework: the Deuteronomist judges the kings of Israel and Judah according to how rigorously they uphold Yahwism and suppress the worship of Asherah and other deities. King Manasseh, for example is said to have placed an Asherah pole in the Holy Temple, and was therefore one who "did evil in the sight of the LORD" (2 Kings 21:7); but king Hezekiah "removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah", (2 Kings 18.4), and was noted as the most righteous of Judah's kings before the coming of the reformer Josiah, in whose reign the Deuteronomistic history of the kings was composed. In addition to the authors of Exodus, Deuteronomy, Kings, and Judges, the prophets Isaiah (Isaiah 17:8, 27:9), Jeremiah (Jereimiah 17:2), and Micah (Micah 5:14) also condemned worship of Asherah and praised turning from this idolatry to worship Yahweh alone as the true God.

The Hebrew Bible uses the term asherah in two senses, as a cult object and as a divine name.[22] As a cult object, the asherah can be "made", "cut down", and "burnt", and Deuteronomy 16:21 prohibits the planting of trees as asherah, implying that a stylised tree or lopped trunk is intended.[23] At other verses a goddess is clearly intended, as, for example, 2 Kings 23:4–7, where items are being made "for Baal and Asherah".[24] The references to asherah in Isaiah 17:8 and 2:8 suggest that there was no distinction in ancient thought between the object and the goddess.[25]

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i.e. I understand the OP's pov but, truly, it can be said that Asherah was no different from Baal. As to the revisionist aspect of the Bible, I hadn't really thought it through but it's kind of obvious if you decide that things like Eden, the Tower of Babel, the parting of the Red Sea and trumpets crushing Jericho walls are fables... That being said, this Ashera stuff doesn't actually really prove it's revisionist: The Bible doesn't deny that, at some point, the Hebrew venerated her (and others) as well as God. It just says it was bad. History is written by the winner, innit?

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Originally Posted by Gilles de Rais

i.e. I understand the OP's pov but, truly, it can be said that Asherah was no different from Baal.

I don't think so. Baal was another sky god IIRC.

Quote:

The Bible doesn't deny that, at some point, the Hebrew venerated her (and others) as well as God. It just says it was bad. History is written by the winner, innit?

Well, it's a bit different in that the other gods were not the gods of other tribes per se, so in this case the "winners" are an internal faction. The point remains that the bible is constructed to support a particular view of religious truth, and to eliminate certain inconvenient things that had previously been believed.

A good parallel is the much better documents case of Akhenaten. He also attempted to impose a masculine monotheism, changed the location of holy cities, changed the rituals and observances, and the metaphysics of reality. But he lost, ultimately, his alterations did not survive him, the old gods were restored, and even his son had his name changed from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun.

Thgus the point is: religious doctrine gets altered for political and ideological reasons. Which is only of abstract interest to me, but of course it's highly sensitive to actual believers in the current dogma.

Their response will be that Asherah's party lost because God was supporting the other side.

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