Sunday, 20 July 2014

The History OF The Term Yahweh

By Coleen Torres


According to the Christian bible, GOD is given many names among them are EL AND ADONAI. YAHWEH is believed to have been revealed to his people by the prophet Moses. The name was considered holy and therefore the letters YHWH were instead used to act as a reminder for one to use Lord instead of God name. The name has however changed over the ages to Jehovah which what is commonly used today.

Intellectuals dispute that the consonants YHWH ought to be deciphered to mean He Who Makes That Which Has Been Made. This is because it is understood that it was a verb in the prehistoric days that meant to be. This meaning can be supported by the books John and Exodus. The articulation however is not known.

He is also recognized as the God of the desert, which can be comprehended from the bible as the Israelites were crossing to Canaan from Egypt. When they settled conferring to the account, devotion as the singular deity was inducted across the land-dwelling. It was communal practice during that age that every single divinity was only accessible in the land where He presided. Greece gods did not exist in Egypt and so did Egyptian gods exist in Greece.

Been part of the Israelite beliefs, it is also supposed that He had a spouse identified as Asherah. Monotheism is therefore seen as a late occurrence, transient through dissimilar steps before stanch monotheism developed as the convention happening through Babylonian Exile. Differing from other gods, Israelite did not use idols to represent their god. This was due to the leadership of the Hebrew that got rid of several practices such as worshiping while facing the mountain and Holy grounds over time.

According to history, during the arrival of the Hebrew to Canaan it is believed that the indigenous people of this region were polytheistic. That is not mean that there were hostilities between the people of different beliefs. The biblical narrative is seen to have been framed against the setting of polytheistic culture at likelihoods with their god.

It is perceived the name was used up to the 6th century. That is when the land of Judah which was known as Canaan was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar when he was king. The prisoners of war included, doctors, teachers among other elites. The people began to gather in synagogues where the priest gave directions to the younger people and run-through their integral language. This conserved the Israelite ethos and with that their god.

As the monarchical rule came to an end, the Israelite tradition began to change. The name was no longer uttered and was used by the high priest once during the celebrations. It is used with supplementary titles with diverse implication such as nissi, shalom among others. The importance of this title is because it supports God existence. It is hence seen as He wanted to be personal with his people and not formal.

In closing, in prehistoric times, a character of a person can be told by the name that was given to them. This term is hence seen as conveying the character of always been available to his people by the Israelite god.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment