Yahwe

“ The lament in such psalms describes the unhappy plight of the oppressed nation, the persecuted religious community, or the afflicted individual. The petition makes earnest appeal to Yahwe for deliverance. Frequently the petition is reinforced by rather naïve considerations, such as are calculated to persuade the Deity to action. Surely Yahwe ought to be concerned for the glory of his name! Why should the unbelievers say scoffingly, “Where is now your God?” Again what profit is there to Yahwe in the death of his followers? Assuredly the dead in Sheol do not praise him. ”

“ The Assyrian could conceive of one god as supreme among the gods; the Hebrew came to think of Yahwe as the only God, the altogether Spiritual Being, freed from the contamination of polytheism. The Assyrian exalted his god to the high heavens; the Hebrew emancipated Yahwe from any possibility of identification with sun, moon, or star, or any natural force. The Assyrian attributed to his god great power to bless or curse; the Hebrew attributed power to Yahwe, but dissociated him from all magical practise. ”

“ It is important to bear in mind that the conception of God as judge, even as the conception of God as king, is very old, and that Yahwe appears as king and judge in hymns that are not eschatological. It is only when religious faith extends Yahwe’s kingship and judgeship to the whole world, and conceives of Yahwe as triumphantly transforming the world in accordance with justice and truth, that the conception of Yahwe as Judge becomes eschatological. ”

“ Hymn to Sarpanitum.
Just as Shamash, Sin, and Ishtar are so closely associated with sun, moon, and evening star, so Ramman, in the two hymns written in his honor, is almost identified with the thunderstorm.
Yahwe is not identified, nor closely associated, in the Hebrew hymns, with any of the heavenly bodies, not even with the sun, but he, like the Assyrian deities, dwells in heaven, and his glory, as is theirs, is that of the stars. Of Yahwe it might have been said, as of Nergal and Ishtar:
Thou treadest in the high heavens, lofty is thy place. ”

“ A small but notable group is made up of the self-laudations of the gods. On the other hand the vast majority of Hebrew hymns speak of Yahwe in the third person in their praise of him, and their praise is disinterested; it is not introductory to a petition. It is likewise significant that where Yahwe speaks in hymnal praise of himself in Isaiah 40-45, it is to convince despairing, doubting Israel of his intention and power to save Israel, and to use Israel in the fulfillment of his eternal purpose. ”

“ Elijah's restoration of the widow's child [1304] to life is an instance of this power, and Jonah, [1305] who praises Yahwe for [Pg 609] having delivered him when the gates of Sheol already seemed bolted, may not have had anything more in mind than what the Babylonians meant; but when the Psalmist, to indicate the universal rule of Yahwe, exclaims
If I mount to heaven, thou art there,
If I make Sheol my couch, thou art there, [1306]
the departure from the old Hebrew and Babylonian views of the limitation of divine power is clearly marked. ”

“ As among some branches of the Semitic race, the conception of a divinity became more and more elevated until it reached the ideal of the Yahwe, “the only true god who was jealous of other gods and could brook none beside him.” To these uncompromising adherents of pure monotheism the royal titles of the Assyrian kings who styled themselves the rulers of the centre, of the four quarters of the earth and of the heavens, must indeed have appeared as a sacrilege. ”

“ Psalm 32 is in form and content quite similar to the teaching or wisdom psalms. Here, however, the teaching is based on a personal experience of deliverance from sickness, and the teaching is itself a testimony of gratitude for recovery. In his distress this psalmist made confession of his sin. Yahwe forgave and healed him. Jonah 2:3-10 is likewise a psalm of thanksgiving. The afflicted one at the point of death made his prayer and his vow. That prayer came to Yahwe in his sanctuary and he was saved. Accordingly he offered to Yahwe the sacrifice of thanksgiving. ”

“ The classic expressions of faith in Yahwe, however, are Psalms 23, 13 131, 121, and 91. Psalm 23:1-4 conceives of God under the figure of a shepherd, who gives to his own food, drink, guidance, protection. With the thought of danger in verse 4 the psalmist apparently felt the need of a stronger figure of speech to express his perfect security and good fortune, so in verse 5 he conceives of God as his host. God is providing for him most generously and he is confident that he will be the happy guest of God for the rest of his days. ”

“ Verses 1-8, it may be supposed, were sung by the congregation made up of Israelites, and proselytes, led by priests and Levites. Then verses 9-11 constitute an antiphonal response to their petition, one choir singing: “O Israel, trust in Yahwe,” while the second choir responded: “He is their help and their shield.” The whole congregation that first sang verses 1-8 now sings verses 12-13, and in reply to their affirmation of faith, the temple choir gives the comforting assurance of Yahwe’s favor in verses 14-15. Then the congregation sings the hymnal vow of verses 16-18. ”

“ While, in the popular mind, the belief that there was no escape from Sheol continued for a long time, this belief was inconsistent with the conception of a Divine Being, who, as creator and sole ruler of the universe, had control of the dead as well as the living. As long as Yahwe was merely one god among many, no exception was made of the rule that the concern of the gods was with the living ”

“ Yahwe has no power over the dead, but they receive some of his qualities. They are invoked by the living. The dead can furnish oracles, precisely as Yahwe can. They not only appear to the living in dreams, but their shades can be raised up from Sheol. A certain amount of worship was certainly paid to the dead by the ancient Hebrews.
Naturally, these popular views were subjected to considerable modification with the development of the religion of the Hebrews. ”

“ On earth Yahwe is the supreme God, and in heaven in the heavenly court he reigns supreme, and the gods who are there, serve him and enhance his glory.
106 The Glory of His Name
Assyrian and Hebrew hymns are alike, in that both exalt the name of deity. For both the name of the god is great and glorious and to be feared. It is known in all the earth and is not to be forgotten. There seems to have been an element of mystery, possibly due to magic, attached to the name of the Assyrian deity.
Flood watering the harvest, knows anyone thy name.
—Hymn to Nergal No. 6. ”

“ These hymns are sung in contemplation of Yahwe’s great final victory. He has at long last appeared to judge the world; his mightiest enemies have suffered complete and final defeat. He has taken his rightful position upon his throne, and all nations acknowledge his authority. The physical world will now yield its abundant increase, and the divine reign of peace and righteousness will begin. Such hymns, fittingly called eschatological, are Psalms 96, 98, 149, 47, 99, 97, 93, 82.
One not inconspicuous difference in these eschatological hymns is in the call to praise. ”

“ It is worth observing that in general the Old Testament hymn of praise speaks of Yahwe in the third person. Human being calls upon human being to praise Yahwe, and human being tells human being why Yahwe is worthy to be praised. ”

“ Said Jacob to Jesus: “But, Rabbi, Moses and the olden prophets tell us that Yahweh is a jealous God, a God of great wrath and fierce anger. The prophets say he hates evildoers and takes vengeance on those who obey not his law. You and your disciples teach us that God is a kind and compassionate Father who so loves all men that he would welcome them into this new kingdom of heaven, which you proclaim is so near at hand.” ”

“ Who introduces law and insight, administrator.
—Hymn to Nusku No. 2.
The wicked and the violent man thou correctest, proclaimest their condemnation.
—Hymn to Ishtar No. 3.
Yahwe also exercised judgeship. The idea of kingship surely involves that of judgeship with it. And as king it is said of Yahwe:
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
—Psalm 97:2.
A strong one has become king,
He loveth justice.
—Psalm 99:4.
Yahwe overthrows wickedness and establishes righteousness:
Thou dost establish equity,
Thou executest justice and righteousness in Jacob. ”

“ Again, the conception of Yahweh suffered modification. In the desert he was worshipped as an atmospheric deity, who manifested himself in thunder and lightning, whose abode was in the sky, whose sanctuary was on the mountain summit of Horeb-Sinai, and whose movable palladium was the ark of the covenant. But when the nomadic clans of Israel came to occupy the settled abodes of the agricultural Canaanites who had a stake in the soil which they cultivated, these conditions evidently reacted on their religion. ”

“ It is Yahwe who causeth the winds to blow, and the lightnings to flash, and hail and snow and rain to fall upon the earth; it is Yahwe who causeth all vegetation to grow, and giveth increase to the flock, and sustaineth life in everything that breatheth. ”

“ The tribes of this region probably belonged to some branch of the great Arab stock, and the name Yahweh has, accordingly, been connected with the Arabic hawā, “the void” (between heaven and earth) , “the atmosphere,” or with the verb hawā, cognate with Heb. hāwāh, “sink, glide down” (through space) ; hawwā “blow” (wind) . “He rides through the air, He blows” (Wellhausen) , would be a fit name for a god of wind and storm. There is, however, no certain evidence that the Israelites in historical times had any consciousness of the primitive significance of the name. ”

“ The call to praise goes out to those in the sanctuary Psalm 150:1; to priests, Levites, Israelites, proselytes Psalm 135:19ff; to Jerusalem Psalm 147:12; to all nations Psalm 117; to everything that hath breath Psalm 150:6; to all things animate and inanimate in heaven and earth Psalm 148.
The reasons given in the body of the hymns why men should praise Yahwe naturally vary somewhat. However one predominant reason is that God in wisdom and power created the entire physical universe as it was visible to the ancient Hebrew ”

“ Scholars are now agreed that, so far as Yahu or Yah occurs in Babylonian texts, it is as the name of a foreign god.
Assuming that Yahweh was primitively a nature god, scholars in the 19th century discussed the question over what sphere of nature he originally presided. According to some he was the god of consuming fire; others saw in him the bright sky, or the heaven; still others recognized in him a storm god, a theory with which the derivation of the name from Heb. hāwāh or Arab. hawā well accords. The association of Yahweh with storm and fire is frequent in the Old Testament ”

“ His conception of Yahweh shows a mingling of the high and the low. On the one hand, he regards him as supreme in power, controlling the destinies of Babylonia and Egypt as well as those of Israel, and as inflexibly just in dealing with ordinary offences against morality. But he conceives of him, on the other hand, as limited locally and morally—as having his special abode in. the Jerusalem temple, or elsewhere in the midst of the Israelite people, and as dealing with other nations solely in the interests of Israel. ”

“ Despite the capture of the ark after the disastrous battle of Shiloh, Yahweh had in the end shown himself through a destructive plague superior in might to the Philistine Dagon. There are indeed abundant indications that prove that in the prevalent popular religion of the regal period monotheistic conceptions had no place. Yahweh was god only of Israel and of Israel’s land. An invasion of foreign territory would bring Israel under the power of its patron-deity. ”

“ Jehovah, or Yahweh, was the name of this God, and the religious watchword was, "Jehovah, the God of Israel; Israel the people {172} of Jehovah." Now archeology has shown the name "Yahweh" to have been used as a divine name long before the time of the exodus; but archæology has also shown that the conception of the nature and character of Yahweh held by the religious leaders of the Hebrews from the time of Moses on is peculiar to them. ”

“ It is said that Yahweh is a jealous God and brooks no homage but to him. The children of Israel had suffered in Egypt where they were in bondage. God heard their groaning and had compassion on them. He appeared unto Moses in a flame of fire, burning in a bush, and said that he had come down to deliver the suffering children of Israel from bondage to a place flowing with milk and honey. He gave him ten commandments for the guidance of the people. Therein he demands that man shall fear him, walk in his ways, cleave unto him, obey him, love him, and serve him with all his heart and all his soul. ”

“ Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Because you said, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity: 4 therefore, behold, I will deliver you to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in you, and make their dwellings in you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the children of Ammon a resting place for flocks: and you shall know that I am Yahweh. ”