In the original Septuagint, Deuteronomy 33:2-3, we read that Yahweh has a wife.
“YHWH came from Sinai and shone forth from his own Seir, He showed himself from Mount Paran. Yes he came among the myriads of Qudhsu, at his right hand his own Asherah, Indeed, he loves the clans and all his holy ones on his left.”
Today of course, these verses among so many other texts and names have been falsified to veil PUZZLING AND DISTURBING facts.
Deuteronomy 33:2-3 2 He said: “The Lord came from Sinai. and dawned over them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with[ a] myriads of holy ones. from the south, from his mountain slopes.[ b] 3 Surely it is you who love the people; all the holy ones are in your hand.
The name of Asherah, isn’t only mentioned in Deuteronomy as indicated above, but also in the OT in general that she was worshipped in the temple of Solomon among other deities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon%27s_Temple
She was (or still is?) the “Mother of all gods”, or the “Mistress of the animals” since she was the primordial Assyrian, Chaldean and Canaanite goddess of fertility, the equivalent of the Egyptian goddess Isis Hathor or Mut the consort of Amun and became the chief-deity of the ancient Israelites in the Neolithic period when the family was matriarchal. In the Bronze Age, when the family became patriarchal, the Israelites adopted the El’s pantheon and she became El’s consort among the other 72 deities. El, today mentioned as “The Most High” in the biblical texts, was ‘the lord of the scorpions’, who developed into a ‘lord of the ostriches’ in Israel and Judah and ‘lord of Capridae’ in Israel. For further information, see the below mentioned dictionary of Gods and Demons in the Bible, as well as the book “Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God In Ancient Israel”, by Othmar Keel & Christoph Uehlinger, 1992, p 132 & 147. According to Richard H. Lowery, Yahweh and Asherah headed a pantheon of other Judean gods that were worshipped at the temple. [see Richard H. Lowery (1991). “The Reforming Kings: Cults and Society in First Temple Judah”. JSOT Press. p. 119.]
Gert Muller, in his book “Gods and Goddesses of the Bible, the African fight for Western Asia”, says…”The biblical god Yahweh is Amun and Hathor or Mut his consort. More than 3.000 pillar clay figurines were found in Judah of the 8th and 7th century representing the goddess Asherah, used to activate the powers of fertility. See also “Jerusalem, in ancient history and tradition”, by Thomas L. Thompson and Salema K. Jayyusi T and T Clark 2004 p139-140. The Canaanite goddess Asherah was the mother of more than 70 gods, and recognized by her Hathor-style headdress and stood upon on the back of a lion (whence the origin of her name as “The Lion-Lady”), holding a lotus plant in the right hand and a serpent in her left! Her sacred symbol was the tree or a tronc hence her deliberate mistranslation in the Bible as “locus”, “grove” or “tree” also mentioned in the scriptures that the Yahweh’s devotees tried to destroy. (2 Kings 23:5-7)
In the second millennium, El was replaced by Baal as the chief god of the Canaanite pantheon and in the Bible, Asherah is often paired with Baal (Judges 6:25, 2 Kings 21:3, 2 Kings 23:4) and the hostility of all the authors is directed against Baal. However, many archaeological findings and in Septuagint, Asherah seems to be also paired with Yahweh! When Baal became the chief deity of the Canaanite pantheon, Asherah who was the mother-goddess of all gods, became his consort as she was also the “Queen of Heaven” to whom the Jews offered baked cakes as we read in the Bible and worshipped her. Baal was worshipped together with Yahweh or El and Yahweh was identified with Baal, but also with El and got Asherah as his consort!
The today Maypole is nothing but residues of the worship of Asherah, as T.W. Doane argues in the book “Bible myths and their parallels with other religions”, p 97
Actually, as it is proven by the original Septuagint, El was the chief deity of Abraham, Genesis and Exodus and not Yahweh who was adopted by Moses in the area of Sashu from the Midianites, Amorites and Arab Bedouins after Exodus, but also many ancient manuscripts, namely the Ugaritic texts attesting that Tell Deir Calia the Shadday-deities “act as lesser gods within a pantheon that is dominated by two goddesses, Shagar and Ashtart”.
This is also attested in many books and dictionaries (see DICTIONARY OF DEITIES AND DEMONS IN THE BIBLE, Edited by Karel van der Toom Bob Becking Pieter W. van der Horst, article “Shadday”, p 749)
The corresponding bibliography is actually immense and cannot be developed in a few paragraphs, so I leave the choice up to you and the question is ……. Has still Yahweh a wife? If the answer is “no”, then when did he divorce her”?
Some more Links and Bibliography for further reading.
david@adath-shalom.ca
Home page http://www.houseofdavid.ca/
http://www.houseofdavid.ca/deut_33.htm
Understanding Asherah—Exploring Semitic Iconography
https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/17/5/4
Who or What Was Yahweh’s Asherah?
https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/10/6/2
GODDESS IN THE BIBLE
https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/words/Goddess
Asherah, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asherah
IN SEARCH OF ASHERAH THE LOST HEBREW GODDESS
Bare Naked Lady Tablets Offer A Fresh Insight Into Ancient Canaanite Goddess Worship
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/fertility-goddess-0012348
Asherah: God’s Forgotten Wife
https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-religions/asherah-0010611
Did God have a wife? Asherah worship in Israel. Available at:
https://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/god_have_a_wife.html
Bible myths and their parallels with other religions….. by T. W. DOANE,
Jennifer Viegas, “Did God Have A Wife”
R&I-Rawr
Δεσμώτης
Article URL : Asherah: God’s Forgotten Wife