Is Yahweh, Iah-Djuhty, Yarikh, a Moon deity?

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minichibi

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Hello… sorry to bother with my weird questions again 😦

I was randomly watching one of these documentaries from History Channel, and one of its main claims is that the deity Yahweh was borrowed from a moon deity from Egypt. That deity would be Iah-Djuhty, also linked to a cannaanite deity, Yarikh.
Can someone show me that these deities are totally unrelated?
 
Just because it is asserted in a documentary doesn’t make it so. People claim many things to discredit the truth.
Just because other religions call certain beings “gods” doesn’t mean they are the origin of the name “God”.
God is Who He Is, whatever name we use.

Do these religions claim God’s own name for Himself for their spirits or deities?
'God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14
 
The first step to take is not to take so seriously a channel which promotes “ancient aliens” and conspiracy theories on all manner of things. I like Modern Marvels, but I take it with a grain of salt when the History Channel starts trying to tell me things about my faith.

The second step is to say, yeah, so what? Syncretism has always been with us. Christianity absorbed much from paganism as well until it ossified into something uniquely identifiable. There is nothing new under the sun, and elements of divine revelation and truth are scattered all over the globe. However, we are convinced and assured that the fullness of Truth subsists in the Catholic Church, and we have the miracles and saints that will attest to the truth of that.
 
Trishie said:
Just because it is asserted in a documentary doesn’t make it so. People claim many things to discredit the truth.
Just because other religions call certain beings “gods” doesn’t mean they are the origin of the name “God”.
God is Who He Is, whatever name we use.

Do these religions claim God’s own name for Himself for their spirits or deities?
'God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14
Click to expand...
^THIS.
May I also add that such shows that preach conspiracy theories generally lack any truth behind them and are based on circumstantial evidence.
 
“Yahweh” or the corrupted “Jehovah” is a non-name used by pious Jews to express the unspoken name of the Most High translated as “Lord.” It is a transposition of letters, a kind of code, to denote “Adonai” so that Hebrews could avoid using the name of G-d in vain and risk blasphemy. Even at that, there is no singular name of the Most High, Who defined Himself by the descriptor “I AM” as noted, that is, “Is-ness.” He is the G-d of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob if we ask for Him by a “brand name.” Jesus prayed to G-d calling Him “Abba” and counseled us to do so. Jesus Christ Himself is titled “Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty King, Everlasting Lord.” The Holy Spirit is also our “Counselor” and “Advocate.”

G-d can be called by what He is, and what He does. Also of singular importance is what G-d calls us! Abba calls us His children, so we know we are not defining Allah and Baal and their slaves. Jesus calls us friend, and brother & sister. The Holy Spirit’s relationship to the Virgin Mary means He may call her “Bride,” as Christ will call us, please G-d, when He returns for His Bride, the Church.

What the Joseph Campbell types forget are the usurpers who made false claims in their war against G-d. They conveniently forget to look for our “hiding in plain sight” monotheist roots. There were lots of male-ish female-ish moon gods, and other planet and comet gods after the Velikovsky-ian tumult in the heavens. But our foundation is monotheism and all cultures have the Genesis 2 sacrament of marriage and a standard of modesty; and recollect the Flood story. We are G-d’s family…even if there was corrupted preservation of, or outright rebellion against, all G-d revealed about His nature and His will. A remnant was always spared and may we be accounted “faithful and true.”
 
ok, but what about this:

The Holy Tablets Chapter 10 Tablet 12:344: “But the cycle for the bible was the moon cycle and that cycle is ending.”

History teaches us that the Canaanite/Egyptian deity Yah was once personified through the crescent moon, worshiped in humanoid form as referenced in your Torah and Egyptian Metu Neter (hieroglyphics).

By analyzing the etymological roots of the Hebrew language we then discover the very word Yahh יה (the personal name of the Semitic deity Yehovah by modern definitive) is closely associated with the crescent moon and was later joined in form with “Weh”. Yah of course being the 1st half of the term Yah-Weh (Yehovah YHWH יהוה - the unpronounceable name).

Here are some other examples of “Yah” used in compound form and associated with the moon:

Y@riychow ירחו (Jericho) = City of the Moon, (H3405)
Yareach ירח = Crescent Moon. (H3394)

The oldest Egyptian deity Osiris (Asar) is personified with the moon as Asar-Aah who the Phoenician/Semitic Hyksos (eventually to be known as the Hebrew - meaning “to cross”) revered as YHWH after their expulsion (biblical Exodus) from Egypt by the Nubian 18th dynasty after ruling it for over 100 years.

Scholastic references…

“Early in Canaanite religion, the male moon-god, “Yerach,” was the chief god of the pantheon. And the female sun-god, “Shamash,” was his cohort. Later, these were changed to Baal and Ashteroth. “To judge from Canaanite place-names of the earliest period, such as Jericho and Beit-Yerach, as well as from Non-Semitic personal and place names of the 2nd millennium BC, the cult of the sun-god and moon-god (or goddess) was at its height in very early times and steadily declined thereafter” (W.F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, p. 92, also p. 83).”

“Röth (Die Aegypt. und die Zoroastr. Glaubenslehre, 1846, p. 175) derives the Hebrew name [Yahweh] from the ancient moon-god Ih or Ioh.”

?
 
minichibi said:
Hello… sorry to bother with my weird questions again 😦

I was randomly watching one of these documentaries from History Channel, and one of its main claims is that the deity Yahweh was borrowed from a moon deity from Egypt. That deity would be Iah-Djuhty, also linked to a cannaanite deity, Yarikh.
Can someone show me that these deities are totally unrelated?
Click to expand...
I hate to sound snarky here, but I think that out of all the stuff you’ve seen and reported to us, this is probably the most rubbish of all. 😉
 
minichibi said:
Hello… sorry to bother with my weird questions again 😦

I was randomly watching one of these documentaries from History Channel, and one of its main claims is that the deity Yahweh was borrowed from a moon deity from Egypt. That deity would be Iah-Djuhty, also linked to a cannaanite deity, Yarikh.
Can someone show me that these deities are totally unrelated?
Click to expand...
Frankly, you should not watch any religious programs on History Channel. It is one of the most anti-Christian in general and anti-Catholic in particular tv channels. It is absolutely biased against Christianity and puts on shows to try to discredit it. You will not see any objective or reasoned documentaries about Christianity so it is actually a waste of time watching such rubbish. You will not learn anything.
 
I know of no serious scholar who proposes that the Israelite Yhwh is a direct borrowing of specifically the obscure Egyptian moon deity Iah (jȝḥ) or even the Canaanite Yariḥ. In fact, we aren’t even completely sure where the name Yhwh comes from or what it originally meant, although the consensus is that it is associated with the root היה h-y-h (hāyah) ‘to become’ (cf. Exodus 3:14: אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה ’ehyeh ’ăšer ’ehyeh “I-be that I-be;” traditionally “I am that I am”).

Now, in the topographical list of Amenhotep III (c. 1395-1358 BC) the expression tȝ šȝsw yhwȝ], “the land of Shasu-Yhw” appears. Similar references occur in a block from Soleb (also from Amenhotep’s reign) and twice in lists from Medinet Habu (Rameses III, 1186-1155 BC). In addition, there are quite a number of names which consist of or contain the יה (yh) element attested in various Western Semitic contexts, which might be that of a god (or gods) known to the local inhabitants.

Considering these attestations, there have been a popular suggestion that Yhwh and His name might have been already known in some form to certain peoples like the Edomites, Midianites and Kenites even before the Israelites, the so-called “Kenite hypothesis.” Support for this is generally gleaned from the fact that Moses was associated with the priest Reuel/Jethro (Exodus 2:16; 3:1-6; 18:1); the latter might have been the one who taught Moses the name. In addition, there is also the portrayal of the Rechabites (descendants of the Kenites) as staunch Yahwists, with links to Israel. There is also the portrayal of Yhwh as coming from Edom in the south (cf. Judges 5:4). However, some point out certain problems with this theory, such as the fact that Jethro is named as “a priest of Midian,” not “a priest of Yhwh,” and that it is not likely that the Hebrews would have followed a foreign name. On the contrary, it would seem from a closer reading of Exodus that Jethro learned of Yhwh from Moses. Aside from these idea, there are some other theories proposing the origin of Yhwh and His name from within Levantine culture (such as the Amorites) or even from areas like Ugarit, but it seems that they are all rather unsatisfactory. It would seem rather that Yhwh was an integral part of Israelite culture and belief from its very beginning.
 
patrick457 said:
I know of no serious scholar who proposes that the Israelite Yhwh is a direct borrowing of specifically the obscure Egyptian moon deity Iah (jȝḥ) or even the Canaanite Yariḥ. In fact, we aren’t even completely sure where the name Yhwh comes from or what it originally meant, although the consensus is that it is associated with the root היה h-y-h (hāyah) ‘to become’ (cf. Exodus 3:14: אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה ’ehyeh ’ăšer ’ehyeh “I-be that I-be;” traditionally “I am that I am”).

Now, in the topographical list of Amenhotep III (c. 1395-1358 BC) the expression tȝ šȝsw yhwȝ], “the land of Shasu-Yhw” appears. Similar references occur in a block from Soleb (also from Amenhotep’s reign) and twice in lists from Medinet Habu (Rameses III, 1186-1155 BC). In addition, there are quite a number of names which consist of or contain the יה (yh) element attested in various Western Semitic contexts, which might be that of a god (or gods) known to the local inhabitants.

Considering these attestations, there have been a popular suggestion that Yhwh and His name might have been already known in some form to certain peoples like the Edomites, Midianites and Kenites even before the Israelites, the so-called “Kenite hypothesis.” Support for this is generally gleaned from the fact that Moses was associated with the priest Reuel/Jethro (Exodus 2:16; 3:1-6; 18:1); the latter might have been the one who taught Moses the name. In addition, there is also the portrayal of the Rechabites (descendants of the Kenites) as staunch Yahwists, with links to Israel. There is also the portrayal of Yhwh as coming from Edom in the south (cf. Judges 5:4). However, some point out certain problems with this theory, such as the fact that Jethro is named as “a priest of Midian,” not “a priest of Yhwh,” and that it is not likely that the Hebrews would have followed a foreign name. On the contrary, it would seem from a closer reading of Exodus that Jethro learned of Yhwh from Moses. Aside from these idea, there are some other theories proposing the origin of Yhwh and His name from within Levantine culture (such as the Amorites) or even from areas like Ugarit, but it seems that they are all rather unsatisfactory. It would seem rather that Yhwh was an integral part of Israelite culture and belief from its very beginning.
Click to expand...
If Exodus is correct, then it’s very likely that several canaanite tribes would have known of YHWH before Moses, I’m too lazy to get the exact quotes, but I remember when the israelites + Moses were in Canaan and God told Moses “Do not attack this group, because I gave them this land, if you attack them I won’t be with you, do not attack that group, because I gave that group that land, etc etc etc”. 😃 So, it’s natural that they would know YHWH before Moses and the israelites did. 🤷

While I think that associating YHWH to the moon deities to be a serious etymological fallacy (the only similarity is the romanized pronounciation), I heard of the “land of shasu of Yhw” hypothesis. But, can this yhw of the shasu be really yhwh? In what language was this yhw written? Is it really interchangeable with hebrew? :confused:
 
farpinho said:
While I think that associating YHWH to the moon deities to be a serious etymological fallacy (the only similarity is the romanized pronounciation),
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Exactly. Yhwh is written יהוה (yodh-he-waw (vav)-he), while Yariḥ/Yareaḥ is ירח (yodh-reš-ḥeth).
I heard of the “land of shasu of Yhw” hypothesis. But, can this yhw of the shasu be really yhwh? In what language was this yhw written? Is it really interchangeable with hebrew? :confused:
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The language the passage is written in is (quite obviously) Egyptian. It is far from clear that the yhwȝ of Amenhotep’s inscription is the Israelite Yhwh (as opposed to any of the other Yh/Yw-deities of the Levant) or that the šȝsw yhwȝ] are the Israelites, but it’s certainly an idea that’s out there.
 
minichibi said:
ok, but what about this:

The Holy Tablets Chapter 10 Tablet 12:344: “But the cycle for the bible was the moon cycle and that cycle is ending.”
Click to expand...
This would be my answer.

First off, what are these ‘Holy Tablets’ and why should we care about them?
History teaches us that the Canaanite/Egyptian deity Yah was once personified through the crescent moon, worshiped in humanoid form as referenced in your Torah and Egyptian Metu Neter (hieroglyphics).
Click to expand...
It is true that the Egyptian Iah is a lunar deity, and that moon worship was prevalent in the Levant, but Yhwh overall seems to strike one as being ostensibly more of a divine warrior associated with the storm than a moon god. I mean, Yhwh has the “cloud rider” epithet that Hadad (the biblical ba’al) is also associated with, and His theophany involves things like clouds, thunder and lightning (and by extension, fire), and wind.
By analyzing the etymological roots of the Hebrew language we then discover the very word Yahh יה (the personal name of the Semitic deity Yehovah by modern definitive) is closely associated with the crescent moon and was later joined in form with “Weh”. Yah of course being the 1st half of the term Yah-Weh (Yehovah YHWH יהוה - the unpronounceable name).
Click to expand...
Here are some other examples of “Yah” used in compound form and associated with the moon:
Click to expand...
Y@riychow ירחו (Jericho) = City of the Moon, (H3405)
Yareach ירח = Crescent Moon. (H3394)
Click to expand...
Again, Yhwh and Yariḥ (or Yareaḥ) are not the same. See what I wrote in the previous post.
The oldest Egyptian deity Osiris (Asar) is personified with the moon as Asar-Aah who the Phoenician/Semitic Hyksos (eventually to be known as the Hebrew - meaning “to cross”) revered as YHWH after their expulsion (biblical Exodus) from Egypt by the Nubian 18th dynasty after ruling it for over 100 years.
Click to expand...
Again, not to sound snarky, but this is all sheer speculation. I should add that the name 'Ibrim (‘Hebrew’) is not connected with Hyksos (Egyptian: ḥqȝ-ḫȝswt, lit. ‘rulers of the foreigners’), but with the nomadic (Egyptian)Hābiru**Ȝpr.w, at least according to one theory.

Scholastic references…

“Early in Canaanite religion, the male moon-god, “Yerach,” was the chief god of the pantheon. And the female sun-god, “Shamash,” was his cohort. Later, these were changed to Baal and Ashteroth. “To judge from Canaanite place-names of the earliest period, such as Jericho and Beit-Yerach, as well as from Non-Semitic personal and place names of the 2nd millennium BC, the cult of the sun-god and moon-god (or goddess) was at its height in very early times and steadily declined thereafter” (W.F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, p. 92, also p. 83).”

Anyone have Albright’s book to check it?
“Röth (Die Aegypt. und die Zoroastr. Glaubenslehre, 1846, p. 175) derives the Hebrew name [Yahweh] from the ancient moon-god Ih or Ioh.”
Click to expand...
You really gotta love 19th century ‘scholarship’, when people were very keen to claim that something was a direct borrowing of something. Again, I don’t know of any serious expert today who holds to Röth’s conclusions that Yhwh was derived from ‘Joh’. 🤷
 
Thanks for all good answers, like always. Is it me or my thread was moved and edited?
 
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