tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20570989.post113648948267250554..comments2009-04-21T12:21:41.680-05:00Todd Bolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06156730661243501832tbolen91@bibleplaces.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20570989.post-7301226965138905832007-10-21T11:20:00.000-05:002007-10-21T11:20:00.000-05:00I don't believe that Dr. Dever is claiming that worship of Yahweh didn't appear until the 8th century BCE. However, during that time period and earlier there is a great deal of evidence, even within the text of the Bible itself, that the people of Judah and Israel (one really cannot call them Jews yet), were worshiping other gods, in addition to Yahweh. Many biblical scholars feel that the earlier prophets including Amos, Hosea, and Micah, were responding directly to this polytheistic tradition. <BR/><BR/>In particular, there is a great deal of evidence for the worship of Ba'al, several of the other Canaanite gods, and possibly Astarte. There is also a body of evidence that suggests that Yahweh used to be worshipped in conjunction with a female counterpart of His own. There are even references within the Bible to the "Queen of Heaven" which might be this consort figure. Whether this was actually a consort, merely a female aspect of Yahweh, or a borrowed feminine deity from another tradition is also up for debate.Eilis Monahanhttp://www.livejournal.com/kyrellenoreply@blogger.com