God Had A Wife

[Zakuska]

This is probably old news but I'm Not sure if this has been discussed here before...

God had a wife, Asherah, whom the Book of Kings suggests was worshiped alongside Yahweh in his temple in Israel, according to an Oxford scholar.

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."

<snip>

"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."

<snip>

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."

<snip>

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.

<snip>

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."

http://news.discover...rah-110318.html

Some intresting comments here:

http://www.examiner....py-to-be-pagans

Edited September 28, 2011 by Zakuska

[altersteve]

I remember when I first heard about this. The first thing I thought was, "Uh, yeah, I've known about that for as long as I can remember. Where have you been?"

[Damien the Leper]

I was under the impression that the ancient Israelites were actually polytheistic. Consider for a moment that Abraham worshipped El Shaddai (God of the Mountains) and Jacob worshipped El Elyon (God Most High). The Enuma Elish found in Ashurbanipal. The Enuma Elish deals with the Babylonian myth. This dates to about 1750 BCE.

Consider further that the Caananites were polytheistic. In the Canaanite religion, El Elyon was the primary God. Asherah was his wife and then there was Baal (weather and fertility). At this time, about 1250 BCE, YHWH and monotheism are still nowhere to be found. With this said, the earliest Jews were adherents to the Canaanite religion. Later you will find that YHWH is actually a second tier god subject to El Elyon.

In the editings and additions made to the Hebrew Bible, King Josiah in an attempt to help Judaism's survival enforced a monotheistic religion that would dismiss the origins of the Jewish religion. A white-washing of sorts. Josiah enforces that any reference made to El Elyon is actually a reference to YHWH. This is a theological error since the timings of their existence differ greatly.

[Zakuska]

This...

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."

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."

Reminds me of what the BOM says...

1 Nephi 13

32 Neither will the Lord God suffer that the Gentiles shall forever remain in that awful state of blindness, which thou beholdest they are in, because of the plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, whose formation thou hast seen.

33 Wherefore saith the Lamb of God: I will be merciful unto the Gentiles, unto the visiting of the remnant of the house of Israel in great judgment.

34 And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: Behold, saith the Lamb of God, after I have visited the remnant of the house of Israel—and this remnant of whom I speak is the seed of thy father—wherefore, after I have visited them in judgment, and smitten them by the hand of the Gentiles, and after the Gentiles do stumble exceedingly, because of the most plain and precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, which is the mother of harlots, saith the Lamb—I will be merciful unto the Gentiles in that day, insomuch that I will bring forth unto them, in mine own power, much of my gospel, which shall be plain and precious, saith the Lamb.

35 For, behold, saith the Lamb: I will manifest myself unto thy seed, that they shall write many things which I shall minister unto them, which shall be plain and precious; and after thy seed shall be destroyed, and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thy brethren, behold, these things shall be hid up, to come forth unto the Gentiles, by the gift and power of the Lamb.

36 And in them shall be written my gospel, saith the Lamb, and my rock and my salvation.

37 And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.

38 And it came to pass that I beheld the remnant of the seed of my brethren, and also the book of the Lamb of God, which had proceeded forth from the mouth of the Jew, that it came forth from the Gentiles unto the remnant of the seed of my brethren.

39 And after it had come forth unto them I beheld other books, which came forth by the power of the Lamb, from the Gentiles unto them, unto the convincing of the Gentiles and the remnant of the seed of my brethren, and also the Jews who were scattered upon all the face of the earth, that the records of the prophets and of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are true.

40 And the angel spake unto me, saying: These last records, which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth of the first, which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved.

41 And they must come according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb; and the words of the Lamb shall be made known in the records of thy seed, as well as in the records of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; wherefore they both shall be established in one; for there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth.

42 And the time cometh that he shall manifest himself unto all nations, both unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles; and after he has manifested himself unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles, then he shall manifest himself unto the Gentiles and also unto the Jews, and the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Zakuska

[Damien the Leper]

Do not confuse Asherah with Jesus' Sophia (Gnostic Wisdom). However, I am not sure how to relate Lady Wisdom (Proverbs 8 ) to Asherah. The pantheon of ancient Judaism and Christianity is very unclear to me. It is sometimes unclear as to who is the real God and His wife.

Edited September 28, 2011 by Valentinus

[Damien the Leper]

Keep in mind also that YHWH replaced El Elyon (Genesis) in Exodus. Apparently El Elyon wasn't good enough to be their 'champion'.

A friend just pointed out this video on the History of God:

Edited September 28, 2011 by Valentinus

[Zakuska]

Do not confuse Asherah with Jesus' Sophia (Gnostic Wisdom). However, I am not sure how to relate Lady Wisdom (Proverbs 8 ) to Asherah. The pantheon of ancient Judaism and Christianity is very unclear to me. It is sometimes unclear as to who is the real God and His wife.

Well In Ezra and Jeremiah he is alegorically presented as being a Polygamist.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Zakuska

[Damien the Leper]

Well In Ezra and Jeremiah his is alegorically presented as being a Polygamist.

I wouldn't be surprised. Polytheism is the foundation for Judaism and Christianity found within the Babylonian/Canaanite myths.

[Cobalt-70]

I wish that most of the references to pre-monotheistic Hebrew religion had not been edited out of the Bible by the Deuteronomist. But apparently, Asherah was worshiped in the temple alongside YHWH, apparently from long before Solomon's temple was built, and then in and out of the temple for extended periods of time thereafter. I have a source that says that of the 370 years in which the temple of Solomon existed, Asherah was worshipped there for 236, based on Bible chronology. While she was in the temple, worshiping her was standard Hebrew theology. (Also in the temple, by the way, was the bronze serpent of Moses, which was yet another god they worshipped. Mormons would presumably identify this god with Jesus, based on Alma 33.)

If Mormons were so inclined, they could easily adopt Asherah as the Heavenly Mother. There is a ton of tree- and grove-based Mormon symbology that could be connected to her. That's difficult to do, however, given the Deuteronomist's campaign to portray the ancient Hebrew gods, other than YHWH, as evil. In addition, after 1916, Mormons began to identify the god YHWH as Jesus rather than the Father, although there is no support for this in either the LDS scriptures or in the statements of Joseph Smith or Brigham Young. If YHWH is identified as Jesus, then Asherah would be the wife of Jesus.

[Damien the Leper]

I wish that most of the references to pre-monotheistic Hebrew religion had not been edited out of the Bible by the Deuteronomist. But apparently, Asherah was worshiped in the temple alongside YHWH, apparently from long before Solomon's temple was built, and then in and out of the temple for extended periods of time thereafter. I have a source that says that of the 370 years in which the temple of Solomon existed, Asherah was worshipped there for 236, based on Bible chronology. While she was in the temple, worshiping her was standard Hebrew theology. (Also in the temple, by the way, was the bronze serpent of Moses, which was yet another god they worshipped. Mormons would presumably identify this god with Jesus, based on Alma 33.)

If Mormons were so inclined, they could easily adopt Asherah as the Heavenly Mother. There is a ton of tree- and grove-based Mormon symbology that could be connected to her. That's difficult to do, however, given the Deuteronomist's campaign to portray the ancient Hebrew gods, other than YHWH, as evil. In addition, after 1916, Mormons began to identify the god YHWH as Jesus rather than the Father, although there is no support for this in either the LDS scriptures or in the statements of Joseph Smith or Brigham Young. If YHWH is identified as Jesus, then Asherah would be the wife of Jesus.

I agree with the greater part of your post.

This statement that I bolded still neglects the original place of El Elyon who was replaced by YHWH. Remember that Asherah and El Elyon were married in the Canaanite myth. El Elyon is NOT to be confused with YHWH when considering their histories.

[JeremyOrbe-Smith]

Lady Wisdom = Tree of Life! Edited September 29, 2011 by JeremyOrbe-Smith

[Cobalt-70]

I agree with the greater part of your post.

This statement that I bolded still neglects the original place of El Elyon who was replaced by YHWH. Remember that Asherah and El Elyon were married in the Canaanite myth. El Elyon is NOT to be confused with YHWH when considering their histories.

I thought about that, but from the perspective of 20th century Mormon theology, I think that El is not distinguished from YHWH. If you wanted to recognize a distinction, I guess the logical place to fit El into Mormon theology is as the Mormon god "Elohim," who was first mentioned in the temple ceremony as one of the council of creator-gods, and then in 1916 was identified with the Father.

[Zakuska]

Keep in mind also that YHWH replaced El Elyon (Genesis) in Exodus. Apparently El Elyon wasn't good enough to be their 'champion'.

A friend just pointed out this video on the History of God:

Thanks for that Video. It made understanding the debate of J,P,L, Detro-Isaiah so much clearer!

[Maidservant]

While I take at face value the symbolic and historical offerings on "Asherah" or whatever to be best called, as I have no background that allows me to discuss that intelligently, I must say that I am highly uncomfortable with coming to the conclusion that what we can learn about or from "Asherah" circumscribes the godliness of women (i.e. Heavenly Mother, God's wife, etc). (On the other hand, I like learning truth from symbolisms far and wide (I can find the gospel in Hinduism, for example), so I can learn from "Asherah", but is it really a step in clarity or a search in the haystack for the diamonds?)

Why am I uncomfortable?

Because . . . . I laugh on the floor thinking of MYSELF as a "fertility goddess". Give me a break! Ha ha ha.

I'm a mom. I'm a person. I'm a woman. I'm a wife. I'm creative. I'm funny. I'm kind. I'm stubborn. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, and am constantly coming to know my Father through my covenants.

I can't imagine how who I am could possibly be symbolized by a Canaanite statue or a tree-of-life staff (no matter how otherwise awesome).

Who our Heavenly Mother is, and/or who female gods (wives/mothers) are . . . are at once far more simple and far more sublime than all of this sigilism.

Again, I still enjoy reading this stuff, and I'm sure it's true as far as it goes . . . but, seriously . . . She is just who She is.

[Ron Beron]

The worship of Asherah as a fertility goddess by the ancient Israelites is not well understood. Certainly, her worship as a actual personification of a divine escort of YHWH and Ba'al is a historical record, but the worship of an Asherah according to the Grand Tradition of Israelite religious tradition was more of a symbolic nature. Asherah as a non-personified being was simply an element of God's creative powers and not precisely as a wife, a consort or even a girlfriend. Many ancient cultures of the Mesopotamian region saw God as being made up of many emanations or forms which represented his power and abilities, therefore, Asherah came to be seen as God's Wisdom as personified in both idol and tree (Such as the Tree of Life). I believe Mormons would be best served if we didn't equate the Asherah with a "Mother in Heaven".

[Calm]

I believe Mormons would be best served if we didn't equate the Asherah with a "Mother in Heaven".

Restoration of belief must come through revelation and not through adoption of a tradition or concept that appears to fit.

Edited September 29, 2011 by calmoriah

[thesometimesaint]

I have no problem with God the Father having a wife, but his Son has asked us the pray only to his Father.

[Bond...James Bond]

Zeus and Jupiter had wives as well. They had a tupper ware business with Asherah until all lunch meat started coming in free tupper ware containers.

[Damien the Leper]

In the Canaanite religion, Athirat (aka Asherah) is the Mother Goddess and the wife of El (Elyon or Shaddai). This is evidenced by the information provided by the Enuma Elish and other Mesopotamian mythologies. This evidence has been provided by Ugaritic artifacts and the Library of Ashurbanipal.

[JeremyOrbe-Smith]

I'd be perfectly fine if the Asherah were brought back - I think the more trees in Temples, the better!

[Zakuska]

I'd be perfectly fine if the Asherah were brought back - I think the more trees in Temples, the better!

Well there are quite a few trees in the Garden of the Asherah type already.

[etana]

Zak, if you really are interested in this, I'd recommend Dever's book, "Did God Have a Wife" as well as Mark Smith's "The Early History of God"

[Stargazer]

When I first saw this, the first thing that popped into my mind was: "What? Had? Was there a divorce?!"

Can we write in present tense on this subject? I think if God had a wife (I am sure of it) He still has one, and it's the same one.