Editing Yahweh (section)

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{{Short description|Ancient Semitic deity in the ancient Levant}}
{{About|the ancient Semitic deity of weather and war in the ancient Levant|the ancient Semitic religion of ancient Israel and Judah|Yahwism|the modern religious conception of Yahweh|God in Judaism|and|God in Christianity|and|God in Abrahamic religions|the Hebrew theonym YHWH and its vocalization|Tetragrammaton|other uses}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Canaanite
| name = Yahweh
| script_name = [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|Paleo-Hebrew]]
| script = {{script|Phnx|𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄}}
| image = File:Zeus Yahweh.jpg
| caption = [[God on the Winged Wheel coin]]{{efn|name="depiction"|The [[God on the Winged Wheel coin]], minted in [[Gaza City]], southern [[Philistia]], during the [[Eber-Nari|Persian period]] of the 4th century BCE. It possibly represents Yahweh enthroned on a [[winged wheel]].{{sfn|Edelman|1995|p=190, 193–194}}{{sfn|Stavrakopoulou|2021|pp=411–412, 742}} It has been described by [[Stephen Herbert Langdon]] as "the only known representation" of Yahweh" in 1931.{{sfn|Langdon|1931|pp=43-44|ps=: "A coin from Gaza in Southern Philista, fourth century BC, the period of the Jewish subjection to the last of the Persian kings, has the only known representation of this Hebrew deity. The letters YHW are incised just above the hawk(?) which the god holds in his outstretched left hand, Fig. 23. He wears a himation, leaving the upper part of the body bare, and sits upon a winged wheel. The right arm is wrapped in his garment. At his feet is a mask. Because of the winged chariot and mask it has been suggested that Yaw had been identified with Dionysus on account of a somewhat similar drawing of the Greek deity on a vase where he rides in a chariot drawn by a satyr. The coin was certainly minted under Greek influence, and consequently others have compared Yaw on his winged chariot to Triptolemos of Syria, who is represented on a wagon drawn by two dragons. It is more likely that Yaw of Gaza really represents the Hebrew, Phoenician and Aramaic Sun-god, El, Elohim, whom the monotheistic tendencies of the Hebrews had long since identified with Yaw…Sanchounyathon…based his history upon Yerombalos, a priest of Yeuo, undoubtedly the god Yaw, who is thus proved to have been worshipped at Gebal as early as 1000 BC".}}}}
| alt = A coin showing a bearded figure seating on a winged wheel, holding a bird on an outstretched hand.
| deity_of = God of [[Weather god|weather]] and [[List of war deities|war]]
| member_of = 
| symbol = [[Winged disk]]<ref name="SeeversKorhonen"/><br/>[[Winged wheel]]{{sfn|Edelman|1995|p=190, 193–194}}{{sfn|Stavrakopoulou|2021|pp=411–412, 742}}
| ethnic_group = [[Canaanites]]<br/>[[Israelites]]{{sfn|Miller|Hayes|1986|p=110}}<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2004 |title=Yahweh |encyclopedia=World Encyclopedia |publisher=Philip's |series=[[Oxford Reference]] |accessdate=April 24, 2025 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199546091.001.0001/acref-9780199546091-e-12723 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
| abode = [[Edom]]<br/>[[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]]
| adherents = [[Yahwism|Yahwists]]
| texts = {{unbulleted list|class=nowrap|
* [[Torah|Hebrew Torah]] ([[Judaism]])
* [[Samaritan Pentateuch|Samaritan Torah]] ([[Samaritanism]])
* [[Hebrew Bible]] ([[Judaism]])
* [[Bible|Christian Bible]] ([[Christianity]])
}}
| cult_center = [[Temple in Jerusalem|Jerusalem]]
| parents = {{unbulleted list|class=nowrap|
* [[El (deity)|El]] ([[Canaanite religion]])
* [[Asherah]] ([[Canaanite religion]])
}}
| consorts = [[Asherah]] ([[Yahwism|Israelite religion]])
| equivalent1_type = [[Canaanite religion|Canaanite]]
| equivalent1 = 
| region = [[Canaan|Ancient Canaan]]<br/>[[History of ancient Israel and Judah|Ancient Israel and Judah]]{{sfn|Miller|Hayes|1986|p=109–110}}
| venerated_in = [[Kingdom of Judah]]{{sfn|Miller|Hayes|1986|p=110}}{{sfn|Niehr|1995|p=59}}<br>[[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]]{{sfn|Miller|Hayes|1986|p=110}}{{sfn|Niehr|1995|p=59}}
}}
{{Fertile Crescent myth (Levantine)}}
{{Middle Eastern deities}}
'''Yahweh'''{{efn|name="name"|1={{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|ɑː|hw|eɪ}}, or often {{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|ɑː|w|eɪ}} in English; {{lang|he-Phnx|𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄}} in [[Paleo-Hebrew]]; [[Tetragrammaton#Yahweh|reconstructed]] in {{langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|*יַהְוֶה}}|label=block script}} *{{tlit|hbo|Yahwe}}, {{IPA|he|jahˈwe|}}}} was an [[Ancient Semitic religion|ancient Semitic deity]] of [[Weather god|weather]] and [[List of war deities|war]] in the [[History of the ancient Levant|ancient Levant]], the [[national god]] of the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] and [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]], and the [[king of the gods|head]] of the [[Pantheon (religion)|pantheon]] of the [[Polytheism|polytheistic]] [[Yahwism|Israelite religion]].{{sfn|Miller|Hayes|1986|p=110}}{{sfn|Sommer|2009|p=145}}{{sfn|Niehr|1995|p=54-55, 59}} Although there is no clear consensus regarding the geographical origins of the deity,{{sfn|Fleming|2020|p=3}} scholars generally hold that Yahweh was associated with [[Mount Seir|Seir]], [[Edom]], [[Desert of Paran|Paran]], and [[Teman (Edom)|Teman]],{{sfn|Smith|2017|p=42}} and later with [[Canaan]]. The worship of the deity reaches back to at least the early [[Iron Age]], and likely to the late [[Bronze Age]], if not somewhat earlier.{{sfn|Miller|2000|p=1}}

In the oldest [[Bible|biblical texts]], Yahweh possesses attributes that were typically ascribed to deities of weather and war, fructifying the [[Land of Israel]] and leading a [[Heavenly host#Hebrew Bible|heavenly army]] against the enemies of the [[Israelites]].{{sfn|Hackett|2001|pp=158–59}} The early Israelites engaged in polytheistic practices that were common across [[ancient Semitic religion]],{{sfn|Sommer|2009|p=145}} because the Israelite religion was a derivative of the [[Canaanite religion]] and included a variety of deities from it, including [[El (deity)|El]], [[Asherah]], and [[Baal]].{{sfn|Smith|2002|page=7}} Initially a lesser [[deity]] among the Cannanite pantheon,{{sfn|Miller|Hayes|1986|p=110}}{{sfn|Smith|2002|page=32}} Yahweh in later centuries became conflated with El; Yahweh took on El's place as head of the pantheon of the Israelite religion, El's consort Asherah, and El-linked epithets, such as {{Transliteration|hbo|[[El Shaddai|ʾĒl Šadday]]}} ({{Script/Hebrew|{{lang|hbo|אֵל שַׁדַּי}}}}), came to be applied to Yahweh alone.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pages=8, 32–34}}{{sfn|Smith|2001|pages=47, 142}} Characteristics of other deities, such as Asherah and Baal, were also selectively absorbed in conceptions of Yahweh.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pages=8, 135}}{{sfn|Smith|2017|p=38}}{{sfn|Cornell|2021|p=20}}

As Israelite Yahwism eventually developed into [[Judaism]] and [[Samaritanism]], and eventually transitioned from polytheism to [[monotheism]], the existence of other deities was denied outright, and Yahweh was proclaimed the [[creator deity]] and the sole deity to be worthy of worship. During the [[Second Temple period]], [[Jews]] began to substitute [[Names of God in Judaism#Adonai|other Hebrew words]], primarily {{Transliteration|hbo|ăḏōnāy}} ({{Script/Hebrew|{{lang|hbo|אֲדֹנָי‬}}}}, {{Literal translation|My [[Pluralis majestatis|Lords]]}}), in place of the name Yahweh. By the time of the [[Jewish–Roman wars]]—namely following the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|Roman siege of Jerusalem]] and the concomitant destruction of the [[Second Temple]] in 70 CE—the [[Tetragrammaton|original pronunciation of the name of the deity]] was forgotten entirely.{{sfn|Leech|2002|p=60}}

Additionally, Yahweh is invoked in the [[Aramaic]]-language [[Papyrus Amherst 63]] from [[ancient Egypt]], and also in Jewish or Jewish-influenced [[ancient Greek]]-language [[Greek Magical Papyri]] in [[Roman Egypt]] dated to the 1st to 5th centuries CE.{{sfn|Smith|Cohen|1996b|pp=242–256}}