Expert: Edward Bode - 1/29/2012

Question
My desire is to know in depth the history of Yahweh. It all started by
reading several translations of the Bible and I wanted to know why the
personal name of God has disappeared from the modern translations. I
felt that I wanted to know who the God of the Bible is, His name and
His history. I resolved the issue concerning the missing name of  God
by reading translations where the name Yahweh is used throughout the
Old Testament. When I tried to research more into depth the history of
Yahweh, I became very disappointed and frustrated because every time I
researched the history of God online, I found the same theory all the
time, in a nutshell: The Israelite religion is basically an offspring
of the Canaanite religion and Yahweh is not unique or distinct but an
evolution of the Canaanite god El. I'm not assuming that this theory
is true and I have no desire to follow it because I rather believe
that the God of the Bible is the only true God. I'm aware of the
meaning of the word El in the Bible but when it comes to the Canaanite
religion, El is actually worshipped as the supreme deity. According to
Mark Smith in his book, The history of God page 34, "The name of
Yahweh was unknown to the patriarchs, rather they worshipped the
Canaanite god El".

I've been trying very hard to find books or articles supporting the
uniqueness of Yahweh from an historical point of view but almost in
vain. I've found quite helpful chapter 5 (Who's Afraid of the Old
Testament God? Aden Thompson) regarding the difference of the
Israelite religion compared to the Canaanite religion and the
superiority of Yahweh compared to the Canaanite gods. It's been
interesting to read that some of the names applied to Yahweh have
been "borrowed" from the Canaanite religion. It was also very
refreshing to read: "Certainly the nature of Israel's worship was
radically different from that of the Canaanite. One perhaps could go
so far as to suggest that the time (spring  and autumn) and the theme(
fertility) were similar but the use of the time and development of the
theme were worlds apart. The very strength of the Judeo-Christian
tradition points to the fact that when it comes to the power of a pure
religion the Canaanite and Baal were no match for Israel and Yahweh". Was Yahweh just a fabrication of the Canaanite
religion which was then transformed in the one god of the Israelites?
I'd really appreciate if you could help me.

Dr. Francesco Stark, Biblical Scholar and Lecturer in Hebrew

Bible Studies at Exeter University(UK), was the presenter of "Bible's

Buried Secrets" on BBC 2 last year. In this programme, Dr. Francesco
affirms that the God of the Bible is not unique and distinct because
the Canaanite god El is also the god of the Israelites. In the Bible
God is the same as the Canaanite god El but it's hidden in English
translations. For example in the book of Numbers verse 22, God
translated in the original Hebrew is El. Another example is Exodus
6:3. "I revealed myself to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El of
the Wilderness but was not known to them by my name, Yahweh". There
are many cases in the Bible where Yahweh the god of the Bible used to
be known as El. The Bible's claim that Abraham and the early
Israelites worshipped a god distinct from all others is false. The
Canaanite religion and the Israelite religion were both polytheistic(
Psalm 82:1, Exodus 15:11, 1 Kings 22:29, Genesis 1:26) and almost
identical. According to Dr. Herbert Niger, University of Tubing(Germany),
nowadays we know through archaeology, mythology and ritual texts from
Gait that Israel is an offspring of  Canaanite culture. From an
historical point of view, the biblical distinction between Israelite
religion and Canaanite religion is a false one.



Here is a list of books that I've found and they can be read on goggle books extensively. I would be very

grateful if you could suggest which of these books would help me to
support the uniqueness of Yahweh without falling into the widespread
theory mentioned above and also if you are aware of any other books
and articles as well.

Yahweh and the gods and goddesses of Canaan- John Day
The God of Israel- J.P. Gordon
Ancient Near Eastern thought and the Old Testament: introducing the
conceptual world of the Hebrew Bible- John Walton
Ancient Israel's faith and history: introduction to the Bible in
context- George E. Neanderthal, Gary A. Heron
Twilight of the gods: polytheism in the Hebrew Bible- David Penchants
Gods, goddesses, and images of God in ancient Israel- Lothario Keel,
Christopher Dueling
Studies in the cult of Yahweh, Volume 1- Morton Smith
The early history of God: Yahweh and the other deities in ancient
Israel- Mark S. Smith
The religion of ancient Israel- Patrick D. Miller
The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background
and the Gaiti Texts  - Mark S. Smith

Answer
I do not have readily available research material relating to your commendable topic.
Nevertheless, I would take a different tact in approaching the subject:
The vocabulary word for God [in whatever language] does not mean a dependence on the notion/idea/concept behind the word for the Deity.  For example, Abraham was aware that the God he knew was not the same as a Canaanite deity demanding human sacrifice.  I also speak of God but have a much different idea of God than non-Christians.  That a word came from a philological source does not hinder me from using the word in my sense of it.
The biblical traditions point to Moses' experience at Sinai as the source of the unique and special word for the revealing God.  The Hebrew letters [YHWH] were so sacred that the word was not pronounced.  The OT is filled with opposition to the idolatrous worship of pagan gods but also uses the word God.  In less recent English translations, the sacred name was translated as Lord [the equivalent of the Hebrew Adonai, which was pronounced when the sacred name appeared in written form; the Greek OT also translated that name as Lord].
I might add that the culmination of Christian revelation comes through Jesus' use of Father to show the special relationship with God.
In short, the philological source of a word does not necessarily connote agreement with that source.
I probably have missed your intent but hope that my thoughts might be of some help.  If you wish to write again, please feel free to do so.
I do have one reference: the New Jerome Biblical Commentary, revised edition of 1990 [Prentice Hall] contains an article [#77], p 1284ff, with some bibliography, on the God of Israel.
Best wishes, Adrian.