Nexus - 0506 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

what if the Jewish scribes had previously done exactly the same So, what was the name given to the Lord in the early writings? thing? It was, quite simply, the prevailing Hebrew word for ‘Lord’, and Clearly, I had to get back to the more ancient writings in order the word was ‘Adon’. As for the apparent personal name of to find any anomalies. The problem was that, even if this were | Jehovah, this was not used in the early days, and even the Bible possible, the earliest Hebrew writings (which were rehashed many tells that the God of Abraham was called 'El Shaddai', which centuries later) were themselves only written between the 6th and means 'Lofty Mountain’. the Ist centuries BC, so they were not likely to be that authentic in The apparent name 'Jehovah' came from the original Hebrew their telling of history from thousands of years before. Indeed, it stem YHWH, which meant 'I am that I am'—said to be a statement was plain that this would be the case, because when these books made by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, hundreds of years after were first written their express purpose was to convey a history the time of Abraham. ‘Jehovah’ was therefore not a name at all, which upheld the principles of the Jewish faith—a faith that did and early texts refer simply to 'El Shaddai' and to his opposing not emerge until well into the ancestral story. counterpart, ‘Adon'. Given that the first group of these books was written while the To the Canaanites, these gods were respectively called 'El Jews were held captive in Mesopotamian Babylon in the 6th cen- Elyon' and 'Baal'—which meant precisely the same things (‘Lofty tury BC, it is apparent that Babylon was where the original Mountain’ and 'Lord’). records were then held. In fact, from the time of Adam, through In our modern Bibles, the definitions 'God' and 'Lord' are used some 19 said generations down to Abraham, the whole of Old and intermixed throughout, as if they were one and the same char- Testament patriarchal history was acter, but originally they were not. Mesopotamian. More specifically, the One was a vengeful god (a people- history was from Sumer in southern hater), and the other was a social Mesopotamia, where the ancient . god (a people-supporter), and they Sumerians did indeed refer to the In our modern Bibles, the each had wives, sons and daughters. grasslands of the Euphrates delta as definitions 'God' and ‘Lord’ are The old writings tell us that the Eden. . . throughout the patriarchal era the ; ; used and intermixed throughout, Israelites endeavoured to support \ N Tien iescarching for | as if they were one and the same Adon, the Lord, but at every turn El Bloodline of the Holy Grail, oe Shaddai (the storm god, Jehovah) I found that good sources for character, but originally retaliated with floods, tempests, some background information were famines and destruction. Even at the various Gospels and texts that they were not. the very last (around 600 BC), the were not selected for inclusion in the Bible explains that Jerusalem was canonical New Testament. Perhaps, I overthrown at Jehovah's bidding thought, the same might apply to the and tens of thousands of Jews were Old Testament. The books of Enoch and taken into Babylonian captivity Jubilees, for example, were among those not included. simply because their King (a descendant of King David) had A further book, to which attention is specifically drawn in the erected altars in veneration of Baal, the Adon. Old Testament books of Joshua and Samuel, is the Book of It was during the course of this captivity that the Israelites Jasher. But despite its apparent importance to the Hebrew writers, weakened and finally conceded. They decided to succumb to the it was not included in the final selection. ‘God of Wrath’, and developed a new religion out of sheer fear of Two other works are also cited in the Bible. The Book of his retribution. It was at this time that the name of Jehovah first Numbers draws our attention to the Book of The Wars of appeared—and this was only 500 years before the time of Jesus. Jehovah. And in the Book of Isaiah we are directed towards the Subsequently, the Christian Church took Jehovah on board as Book of the Lord. well, calling him simply 'God'—and all the hitherto social con- What are these books? Where are these books? They are all cepts of the Adon were totally discarded. The two religions were mentioned in the Bible (which means they all pre-date the Old henceforth both faiths of fear. Even today, their followers are Testament), and they are all cited as being important. So, why did classified as 'God-fearing'. the editors see fit to exclude them when the selection was made? So, where does that leave us? It leaves us knowing that within In pursuing an answer to this question and in studying the sub- an overall pantheon of gods and goddesses (many of whom are stance of the Old Testament prior to its corruption, one fact which actually named in the Bible), there were two predominant and becomes increasingly clear is that in English-language Bibles the opposing gods. In different cultures they have been known as 'El definition ‘Lord’ is used in a general context, but in earlier texts a Elyon’ and 'Baal'; 'El Shaddai' and ‘Adon’; 'Arhiman' and 'Mazda'; positive distinction is drawn between '‘Jehovah' and 'the Lord’. ‘Jehovah’ and 'Lord'; 'God' and ‘Father’. But these styles are all tit- It has often been wondered why the biblical God of the ular; they are not personal names. Hebrews led them through trials and tribulations, floods and dis- asters, when (from time to time) he appears to have performed o who precisely were they? To find the answer we have to with a quite contrary and merciful personality. The answer is S look no further than where these gods were actually opera- that, although now seemingly embraced as ‘the One God' by the tive, and the old Canaanite texts (discovered in Syria in the Jewish and Christian churches, there was originally a distinct dif- 1920s) tell us that their courts were in the Tigris-Euphrates valley ference between the figures of Jehovah and the Lord. They were, in Mesopotamia, in the Sumerian Eden delta of the Persian Gulf. in fact, quite separate deities. The god referred to as 'Jehovah' But what did the ancient Sumerians call these two gods? What was traditionally a storm god, a god of wrath and vengeance, were their personal names? We can trace the Sumerian written whereas the god referred to as 'the Lord' was a god of fertility and —_ records back to about 3700 BC, and they tell us that the gods in wisdom. question were brothers. In Sumer, the storm god who eventually In our modern Bibles, the definitions 'God' and ‘Lord’ are look no further than where these gods were actually opera- tive, and the old Canaanite texts (discovered in Syria in the 1920s) tell us that their courts were in the Tigris-Euphrates valley in Mesopotamia, in the Sumerian Eden delta of the Persian Gulf. But what did the ancient Sumerians call these two gods? What were their personal names? We can trace the Sumerian written records back to about 3700 BC, and they tell us that the gods in question were brothers. In Sumer, the storm god who eventually S o who precisely were they? To find the answer we have to 36 = NEXUS OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 1998