Expert: Jim Miller - 1/28/2012

Question
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? Alden 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 Canaanites. 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-Chrisian
tradition points to the fact that when it comes to the power of a pure
religion the Canaanites and Baal were no match for Israel and Yahweh".

Here is a list of books that I've found and most of the them can be
read free or at least some chapters in google books. 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- R.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. Mendenhall, Gary A. Herion
Twilight of the gods: polytheism in the Hebrew Bible- David Penchansky
Gods, goddesses, and images of God in ancient Israel- Othmar Keel,
Christoph Uehlinger
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 Ugaritic Texts  - Mark S. Smith;


Below is just a portion of the articles and material I've found online
and they point more or less in the same direction as I mentioned
above.


Although the biblical writers cast Canaanite religion as the
antithesis of Israelite monotheism, historians of religion tend to
view the early Israelite religion as largely evolving out of Canaanite
culture, of which it was once part. The Book of Genesis itself
describes the patriarch Abraham as a worshiper of El—also called El
Shaddai and El Elyon—building altars, offering sacrifices, and paying
tithes to him. Exodus indicates that the Hebrews knew God only as El
Shaddai until the time of Moses, who learned God's true name, Yahweh
(the Lord), at Mount Sinai: "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to
Jacob as God Almighty (El Shaddai), but by my name the Lord I did not
make myself known to them" (Exodus 6:3).

Melchizedek blesses Abraham in the name of Elyon El, "God Most High."

Certain passages in the Bible imply that Israelite religion was once
polytheistic. For example, Deuteronomy 32:8-9 indicates a moment when
El Elyon assigned Israel to Yahweh:

When the Most High (Elyōn) divided to the nations their inheritance,
he separated the sons of man... the Lord's portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.

Similarly, Psalm 82:1-6 says that "God (Elohim) presides in the great
assembly; he gives judgement among the gods… I said, 'You are gods;
you are all sons of the Most High (Elyon).' But you will die like mere
men; you will fall like every other ruler."

What may be described in these verses is a process of El and Yahweh
merging into the one supreme God and then reducing the other Canaanite
deities into something less than gods altogether. Indeed, some
versions of Psalm 82 render the word "gods" as "heavenly beings" or
even "angels." Similarly, Job 1:6 states that "One day the sons of God
(also sometimes translated as "angels") came to present themselves
before the Lord, and Satan also came with them."

According to many historians of religion, the angels of later Jewish
mythology were once members of the divine assembly consisting of El
and the ben-elohim (sons of God), who were originally the lesser
deities described in the Canaanite pantheon. Such a divine assembly
appears several times in the Canaanite texts.

The Hebrew prophets not only denounced Canaanite religion for its
polytheism and idolatry but also for its sexual immorality and
practise of human sacrifice. That the Canaanites practiced the rite of
hieros gamos, involving ritual sex between the king or priest,
representing a god, and a woman or priestess, representing a goddess,
seems well attested—even if it was not as common as the prophets
claimed. The practise of human sacrifice also seems to have occurred
among the Canaanites, as it once did among the Israelites in the case
of Jephthah's daughter, for example (Judges 11). In the time of
Jeremiah, Israelites still offered their children as sacrifices, a
practise apparently intended to satisfy Yahweh Himself, who insists
through the prophet that He never commanded such a thing, "nor did it
ever enter my mind" (Jeremiah 7:31). Jeremiah similarly denounces the
common practise of Israelite families of offering honey cakes to the
Queen of Heaven. Archaeological evidence also supports the fact that
not only Canaanites, but Israelites as well, kept figurines of
goddesses in their homes at least until the time of the Babylonian
exile.

Whether one sees Israelite religion as growing out of Canaanite
religion or being perverted by it, the reality seems to be that
Israelite religion did not completely separate from its Canaanite
counterpart until the return of the Jews from Babylon or later.

The Council of El

Psalm 82 presents a vision of God that may hearken back to the age in
which El was seen as Israel's chief deity, rather than as the only
God:
Elohim (God) stands in the council of ēl
he judges among the gods (elohim). (Psalm 82:1)

In context, this appears to signify that God stands in the divine
council as the supreme deity, judging the other gods. He goes on to
pronounce that although they are "sons of god" (bene elohim) these
beings shall no longer be immortal, but shall die, as humans do.
I said, 'You are gods (elohim); you are all sons of the Most High
(Elyon);' But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every
other ruler (82:6-7).

The passage bears striking similarities to a Canaanite text (see
below) uncovered at Ugarit, describing El's struggle against the
rebellious Baal and those deities who supported him. The Hebrew
version could mark a point at which the earlier polytheistic tradition
of Israel was giving way to a monotheistic tradition whereby God no
longer co-existed with other lesser deities. Defenders of strict
Biblical monotheism, however, insist that Psalm 82 does not refer to a
literal council of "the gods," but to a council in which God judged
either the fallen angels or human beings who had put themselves in the
position of God.

The Bible contains several other references to the concept of the
heavenly council. For example, Psalm 89:6-7 asks:
Who is like Yahweh among the sons of El? In the council of the holy
ones, El is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround
him.

Another version of the heavenly council using only Yahweh's name
appears in I Kings 22, in which the prophet Michaiah reports the
following vision:
I saw the Yahweh sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven
standing around him on his right and on his left. And Yahweh said,
'Who will entice (King) Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to
his death there?' One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a
spirit came forward, stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice
him.' 'By what means?' Yahweh asked. 'I will go out and be a lying
spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. 'You will succeed
in enticing him,' said Yahweh. 'Go and do it' (I Kings 22:19-22).

Here it is no longer lesser gods or "sons of El," but "spirits" who
respond to God in the council. By the time of the Book of Job, the
concept of the heavenly council had evolved from the more primitive
version expressed in Psalms 82 and 86 to one in which "the angels came
to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came with them."
(Job 1:6) Some scholars have thus concluded that what were once
considered lesser deities or literal "sons of El" in Hebrew mythology
had became mere angels of Yahweh by the time of the writing of Job.

YAHWEH AND EL

Were Yahweh and El originally the same Deity or not?

(pg. 13)

What was the relationship between Yahweh and the Canaanite god El? In
the Old Testament Yahweh is frequently called El. The question is
raised whether Yahweh was a form of the god El from the beginning or
whether they were separate deities who only became equated later. The
Old Testament itself indicates some sense of discontinuity as well as
continuity, in that both the E and P sources imply that the patriarchs
did not know the name Yahweh and that this was first revealed to Moses
(Exo.3.13-15, E; 6.2-3, P), in contrast to the J source, where the
name Yahweh was already known in primeval times (Gen. 4.26). The P
source specifically states that the patriarchs had previously known
God under the name El-Shaddai (Exod. 6.3).

         In the nineteenth century J. Wellhausen believed Yahweh
to be the same as El, and more recently this has been particularly
argued by F.M. Cross and J.C. de Moor. However, the following
arguments may be brought against this. First, in the Ugaritic texts
the god El is revealed to be wholly benevolent in nature, whereas
Yahweh has a fierce as well as a kind side. Secondly, as T.N.D.
Mettinger has rightly emphasized, the earliest evidence, such as that
found in Judg. 5.4-5, associates Yahweh with the storm, which was not
something with which El was connected at all. Rather, this is
reminiscent of Baal. Thirdly, as for F.M. Cross’s view that Yahweh was
originally a part of El’s cultic title, ‘El who creates hosts’ (‘il du
yahwi saba’ ot), this is pure speculation. The formula in question is
nowhere attested, whether inside or outside the Bible. Cross’s reasons
for thinking that yhwh sb’t cannot simply mean ‘Lord of hosts’,
namely, that a proper name should not appear in the construct, is
incorrect. Further, hyh (hwh) is not attested in Hebrew in the hiphil
(’cause to be’, ‘create’), though this is the case in Aramaic and
Syriac. Yahweh in any case more likely means ‘he is’ (qal) rather than
‘he causes to be/creates’ (hiphil): to suppose otherwise requires
emendation of the Hebrew text in Exod. 3.14 (‘ehyeh, ‘I am’), which
explains the name Yahweh. I conclude, therefore, that El and Yahweh
were originally distinct deities that became amalgamated. This view
was held as long ago as F.K. Movers, and has been argued since by
scholars such as O. Eissfeldt and T.N.D. Mettinger.

         (pg. 22)

         In the Old Testament there appears the concept of
Yahweh’s having a heavenly court, the sons of God. They are referred
to variously as the ‘sons of God’ (bene ha ‘elohim, Gen 6.2, 4; Job
1.6, 2.2; or bene ‘elohim, Job 38.7), the ‘sons of gods’ (bene ‘elim,
Pss. 29.1, 89.7 [ET 6]) or the ‘sons of the Most High’ (bene ‘elyon,
Ps. 82.6). It is also generally agreed that we should read ‘sons of
God’ (bene ‘elohim) for ‘sons of Israel’ in Deut. 32.8 (see below).

         There are further numerous places where the heavenly
court is referred to without specific use of the expressions ‘sons of
God(s)’ or ‘sons of the Most High’. Thus, the heavenly court is
mentioned in connection with the first human(s) (Gen 1.26, 3.22; Job
15.7-8) or elsewhere in the primaeval history (Gen. 11.7; cf. Gen 6.2
above), and in the context of the divine call or commission to
prophecy (1 Kgs 22.19-22; Isa 40.3,6; Jer. 23.18, 22; cf. Amos 3.7).
We also find it referred to in connection with the guardian gods or
angels of the nations (Isa.24.21; Ps. 82.1; Ecclus 17.17; Jub.
15.31-32; cf. Deut 32.8 and Ps. 82.6 above; implied in Dan 10.13, 20;
12.1). Apart from the isolated references to the divine assembly on
the sacred mountain in Isa 14.13 and to personified Wisdom in the
divine assembly in Ecclus 24.2, the other references to the heavenly
court are more general (Zech. 1.10-11, 3.7, 14.5; Ps. 89.6-8 [ET 17],
7.10, 21, 25, 27, 8.10-13; cf. Job 1.6, 2.2, 38.7 and Pss. 29.1, 89.7
[ET 6] above). Just as an earthly king is supported by a body of
courtiers, so Yahweh has a heavenly court. Originally, these were
gods, but as monotheism became absolute, so these were demoted to the
status of angels.

…

It is in connection with the Canaanite god El and his pantheon of
gods, known as the ‘sons of El’, that a direct relationship with the
Old Testament is to be found. That this is certain can be established
from the fact that both were seventy in number.  At Ugarit we read in
the Baal myth of ‘the seventy sons of Asherah (Athirat)’ (sb’m. bn.
‘atrt, KTU 1.4. VI.46). Since  Asherah was El’s consort, this
therefore implies that El’s sons were seventy in number. Now Deut.
32.8, which is clearly dependent on this concept, declares, ‘When the
Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the
sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the
number of the sons of God’. The reading ‘sons of God’ (bene ‘elohim)
has the support of the Qumran fragment, 4QDeut, the LXX, Symmachus,
Old Latin and the Syro-Hexaplaric manuscript, Camb. Or. 929. This is
clearly the original reading, to be preferred to the MT’s ‘sons of
Israel’ (bene yisra’el), which must have arisen as a deliberate
alteration on the part of a scribe who did not approve of the
polytheistic overtones of the phrase ‘sons of God’. Interestingly, it
is known that the Jews believed there to be seventy nations on earth,
so that the sons of God were accordingly also seventy in number. This
emerges from the table of the nations in Genesis 10, where there are
seventy nations, and from the later Jewish apocalyptic concept
according to which there were seventy guardian angels of the nations
(Targum Pseudo-Jonathon on Deut 32.8; 1 En. 89.59-77, 90.22-27). This
view, which I have defended previously, seems eminently reasonable.

…

Finally, it is interesting to note that the Old Testament never refers
to the heavenly court as ‘the sons of Yahweh’. As we have seen above,
apart from one instance of bene ‘elyon, we always find the ‘sons of
God’, with words for God containing the letter s ‘l (bene ha ‘elohim,
bene ‘elohim, bene ‘elim). This finds a ready explanation in their
origin in the sons of the Canaanite god El.

Eventually, of course, the name El simply became a general word for
‘God’ in the Old Testament, and so it is found many times.

(pg. 25)

The divine assembly is also referred to in Isa. 14.13 be means of a
word from the same root as in Ps. 82.1, where the Shining One, son of
the dawn boasts, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God
(‘el) I will set my throne on  high; I will sit on the mount of
assembly (har mo ‘ed)’. It will be recalled that at Ugarit El’s
assembly of the gods did indeed met on a mountain. It is also
interesting that the name of ‘el (God) is mentioned in the phrase
‘stars of God’, and that the stars and the sons of God are sometimes
equated.

I'm looking forward to your reply.

Kind regards

ANSWER:     You ask a very long, involved question, so I will only be able to touch on a few of your points.  BTW, I am happy to see that you have done so much research.  Do you read Hebrew?  If not, you should consider studying it.  You could be a great asset.
   First, the Latin alphabet never had the letter "Y".  It had the letter "I", both as a vowel and a consonant (which became "J").  Likewise it never had the letter "W".  It had "U" as both a vowel and a consonant (which became "V", and later "W").  As pronunciation shifted, new letters were introduced.  In German and Scandanavian, "J" is still pronounced like our "Y", so they don't have the letter "Y".  In the West European languages (Spanish, French and English), "J" has shifted so much, a new letter was invented to take its original sound.  This explains the form in older Bibles of "Jehovah", and the "J" in hallelujah / halleluiah.
   The Tetragrammaton, YHWH, was never pronounced in Jewish tradition since before the 1st century, so its original pronunciation is lost.  In ancient Israel it was commonly pronounced (e.g. Ruth 2:4)  Except for Origin and Jerome, Christians from the beginning of the 2nd century to the Renaissance knew almost no Hebrew.  We have only a few clues to its pronunciation.  Halleluiah is one ("praise Yah!", short for YHWH).  There are a number of names which end in "iah" -- Jeremiah, Nehemiah, Uzziah, etc.  In Hebrew, more often than not, these names in Hebrew end in a "W" and are pronounced, Yermiyahu, Nehemyahu, Uzziyahu, etc.  It is almost certain that the first vowel is "a".  The "W" seems to encourage a "oo" sound.  It is not known if this is a reflex of the "W" itself, or an original vowel (e.g. Yahuwah.).  Most scholars assume that it is a reflex, so the pronunciation Yahweh has become popular (e.g. The Jerusalem Bible).
   As you might imagine, many scholars of the Hebrew Bible are Jewish.  I learned early that they do not appreciate Gentile scholars pronouncing the divine name in their presence.  In an effort to be diplomatic, I usually substitute the common Jewish euphemism "hasShem" (the Name) when discussing texts in scholarly gatherings.
   The singular for god is either el or eloah, plural elim, elohim.  Elohim with a singular adjective or verb functions as another name for YHWH.  Elohim with a plural adjective or verb is "gods", usually a reference to forbidden deities and/or idols.  Eloah is cognate with Arabic Allah, and El is cognate with Akkadian (the language of Babylon and Assyria) il, sometimes ilu in the scholarly literature.  The most extensive literature we have of Canaan is from Ugarit, a city on the north Syrian coast, near Cyprus.  There the supreme god is "El", portrayed as an elderly god, with Asherah as his main consort.  The younger supreme god is Baal, with Anat as his consort.  When scholars discuss "Canaanite religion", usually they are discussing the Ugaritic literature.  However, Ugarit is some distance from the land of the Israelites, and was destroyed c. 1200 BCE.  Neighbors closer in time and space to the Classical Israelite writers are Phoenicia, Ammon, Moab and Edom.  BTW, the Philistines were also neighbors, and they were Greek (!).  They were pre-Classical Greeks (they invaded c. 1200, about the time Ugarit was destroyed), but they were very much Greek.  It is likely they had some cultural influences on Israel, but when anyone suggests something concrete, they usually get shut out of scholarly conversation.
   Elyon begins with the letter Aiyn.  El and Elohim begin with Aleph.  Elyon is not related to El.  It is related to the preposition "al" (upon), and is usually understood as meaning Highest, or Most High.  The derivation for Shaddai is unknown.  Some who like feminine imagery for God associate the term with breast (Shad), but this is speculative.
   Human sacrifice apparently was practiced to YHWH.  Aside from the story of Jepthah and his daughter (Judges 11)  and the Akedah (Abraham and Isaac), we have Jeremiah hotly denying that YHWH ever commanded human sacrifice (7:31; 19:5; 32:35), implying that some taught that YHWH did order such sacrifices.  And Ezekiel claimed that YHWH did order such sacrifices, for the purpose of defiling the Israelites (20:25-26).  A few generations earlier, Micah treated human sacrifice as just one more type of sacrifice, though one of exceptional cost (Micah 6:6-8).
   On the divine assembly, I am not sure what you would find most useful.  Ps 8:5 may be a reference to this assembly.
   This is a start for answering your question.  I hope it is useful.
Jim Miller

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much for your prompt answer but Id' like you to focus on the part where I mentioned that most of the material online and as far as i know published, points to the theory that Yahweh is not unique as the Bible says but an evolution or an offspring of the Canaanite religion. The more I research the more I keep stumbling on this kind of scholarly and historical point of view when it comes to explain Yahweh's origins.

Dr. Francesca Stavrakopoulou, 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. Francesca
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 Niehr, University of Tubingen (Germany),
nowadays we know through archaeology, mythology and ritual texts from
Ugarit 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.

I'd be very grateful if you could give me your opinion and also I'd appreciate any advice on articles or books concerning this matter.

Kind Regards

Adrian

Answer
   The religion of Israel was indeed distinct from that of the surrounding cultures, but the origins of that distinctiveness are based in faith, not history.
   First, Hebrew is two or three dialects of a language which scholars call Canaanite.  Other dialects include Phoenician, Ammonite, Moabite and Edomite.  Cannanite is one of two Northwest Semitic languages, the other being Aramaic (Syrian).   Bronze Age Northwest Semitic is represented by Ugaritic and the Canaanite found in the Amarna Tablets.  That means that the Israelites will be using the same or similar terms for their various religious terms as their neighbors -- terms for temples, altars, incense burners, blood sacrifice, other sacrifices, sacred feasts, festivals, etc.  This includes common terms for deities.  Elohim as a singular and YHWH are specific to Israel (as far as we know), but El (god) and Baal (lord) are common terms.  Also, in our literature, El, Elohim, YHWH and Elyon are interchangeable (compare Psalms 14 & 53), so the name of God is not reliable in tracing the history of a text.
   If we look at the stories about the gods, the differences between Israel and other cultures are stark.  Though YHWH/Elohim is consistently male, he is never presented as having genitals, much less using them.  Also, YHWH creates, but never procreates.  In other mythologies the various gods couple with various goddesses and produce children and grandchildren.  In the Ugaritic mythology El has Asherah as a consort, and Baal has Anat.  Also, in one myth, El, an elderly god, is stroked and stimulated by two young goddesses to make him erect so he can have sex with them.  Likewise other gods, such as Enlil, Ptah, Geb, etc.  In Egypt Geb and Nut are locked in a long-term sexual embrace until Shu separates them, and Geb falls back with his erection sticking out.  In Greek mythology Ouranos and Ge are locked in a similar embrace until Kronos castrates his father, and wherever his members and semen fall, new deities spring up.  In a few myths we have male gods impregnating other males.
   We do have a few broken pots inscribed with the words, "(belonging) to YHWH and his Asherah", and apparently at the Jewish garrison of Elephantine in Egypt YHWH was paired with Anat.  So, it appears some Israelites did want to associate YHWH with a divine wife, like in other cultures.  It is not certain whether this is a hangover from the pre-historical YHWH, or a later adaptation of YHWH to other mythologies.  The Israelite literature which comes to us is uncharacteristically devoid of divine sexuality.
   In other cultures there are also great conflicts among the deities.  Baal battles Yam and Mot, Marduk battles Tiamat, Zeus overthrows the Titans, etc.  In Israelite literature God does battle with primordial monsters (Rahab / Leviathan), but in all cases God is easily victorious.  These stories seem to be cast as contrasts to the pitched battles in pagan mythologies.
   In other cultures the gods are actually hungry for sacrifices.  In the flood stories of Gilgamesh and Atrahasis, after the flood when the surviving humans sacrifice, the gods gather around the altar "like flies".  When Prometheos divides up a sacrifice, he hid the best cuts of the meat inside the bladder, and covered the entrails, and bones with a layer of fat, then had Zeus choose which part he preferred for sacrifice.  Zeus chose the fat, being easily tricked by Prometheos through his own gluttony.  Israelite sacrifice is never presented as something which feeds YHWH.  Instead it is an act of worship only, and something which YHWH is willing to forego if Israel is not adhering to the moral points of the law (e.g. Amos 5:21-24).  YHWH does not need to be fed.
   Another contrast is the unusually flat law code of the Israelites.  In Israel the same law applies to slave, resident alien, commoner, aristocrat, male and female (except sexual and inheritance laws).  In other law codes, if a commoner maims or kills a slave or a resident alien, he pays a fine.  If he kills a female commoner, he pays a hefty fine, if he kills or maims an aristocrat he is executed.  These law codes show many parallels with the Israelite law codes, except that the Israelite law codes do not differentiate by class and gender..  This may be an artifact of the Early Iron Age, when Israelite culture was rather uniform.  But later, when the culture was more urban with a well developed aristocracy, the law code did not change to match other law codes.
   Did the Israelites take things they found in surrounding cultures and "purify" them of their grosser and less appealing elements?  Or did they receive by revelation the principles of the true God, and shape their religious observance to match?  Or was the whole thing by revelation from the start, and only the vocabulary was borrowed from the common language of the region?  The answer to this question is lost to history, and can be answered, if at all, only from the belief system of the scholar.
   I hope this is useful,
Jim Miller