<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->domain of man:
The early Ptolemies certainly took an interest in Judaism, and this resulted in the Septuagint being produced early in that era. They did associate Jehovah with their Zeus and perhaps Jove (Jupiter/Iapeter?) as you suggest. But these associations would not have been new I think to that time.
<b>All of the former gods were not replaced in Judaism and Jerusalem so much as they had been sanitized. Their presence is embedded throughout the Old Testament writings. </b>But eventually the ability to recognize allusions in Scripture to the pagan pantheon was lost.
[right][snapback]76438[/snapback][/right]
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The first Biblical episode that we have any hope of investigating archeologically is the exodus from Egypt led by Moses, which culminated in the conquest of Canaan by his successor Joshua. This story of large-scale conquest should be apparent in the archaeological record as the point where Canaanite culture, dominant since Abraham, was replaced by the Israelite culture of Moses' followers. This is convenient, because another mystery of the Bible is intricately tied up with Moses: this is the divine name, "Yahweh", which he was the first to learn. Etymologically, it is a mystery, with no grammatically obvious meaning in Hebrew. Even the early Israelites seem to have regarded it as something of a mystery, as is apparent from the first encounter between Moses and his newly discovered deity:
<i>Â Â But Moses said to God, 'If I come to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your ancestors has sent me to you", and they ask me, "What is his name?" what shall I say to them?' God said to Moses, 'I am who I am.' (Exodus 3:13)</i>
As many Biblical translators have pointed out, "I am who I am" is simply an idiomatic way of saying, "Do not concern yourself with who I am." This verse seems to reflect a genuine confusion among the Israelites as to the identity of their deity named Yahweh. This would make perfect sense if the Israelites were indeed originally Canaanites, since Yahweh was not one the gods of Canaan. In that case, we are left with the conclusion that Yahweh was a new god, perhaps a foreign god. So how did Yahweh become the main name of the Israelite God? Dever has interesting answers to both these questions.
http://www.geocities.com/zeeshanhasan/monotheism.html
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The early Ptolemies certainly took an interest in Judaism, and this resulted in the Septuagint being produced early in that era. They did associate Jehovah with their Zeus and perhaps Jove (Jupiter/Iapeter?) as you suggest. But these associations would not have been new I think to that time.
<b>All of the former gods were not replaced in Judaism and Jerusalem so much as they had been sanitized. Their presence is embedded throughout the Old Testament writings. </b>But eventually the ability to recognize allusions in Scripture to the pagan pantheon was lost.
[right][snapback]76438[/snapback][/right]
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The first Biblical episode that we have any hope of investigating archeologically is the exodus from Egypt led by Moses, which culminated in the conquest of Canaan by his successor Joshua. This story of large-scale conquest should be apparent in the archaeological record as the point where Canaanite culture, dominant since Abraham, was replaced by the Israelite culture of Moses' followers. This is convenient, because another mystery of the Bible is intricately tied up with Moses: this is the divine name, "Yahweh", which he was the first to learn. Etymologically, it is a mystery, with no grammatically obvious meaning in Hebrew. Even the early Israelites seem to have regarded it as something of a mystery, as is apparent from the first encounter between Moses and his newly discovered deity:
<i>Â Â But Moses said to God, 'If I come to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your ancestors has sent me to you", and they ask me, "What is his name?" what shall I say to them?' God said to Moses, 'I am who I am.' (Exodus 3:13)</i>
As many Biblical translators have pointed out, "I am who I am" is simply an idiomatic way of saying, "Do not concern yourself with who I am." This verse seems to reflect a genuine confusion among the Israelites as to the identity of their deity named Yahweh. This would make perfect sense if the Israelites were indeed originally Canaanites, since Yahweh was not one the gods of Canaan. In that case, we are left with the conclusion that Yahweh was a new god, perhaps a foreign god. So how did Yahweh become the main name of the Israelite God? Dever has interesting answers to both these questions.
http://www.geocities.com/zeeshanhasan/monotheism.html
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