CHAPTER XIV

THE "INCREASE" OF YAHWEH1

The evolution of ancient society brought with it an evolution of ideas about the gods. It is well known among students of the history of religion that the coalescence of ancient social groups into larger groups always brought with it the rise of some particular deity, thrusting the cult of that god up to a new eminence of distinction.

Thus, when the Assyrians founded their national government, and when their king became supreme over other kings, their god Ashur became supreme over other gods.2 In Babylonia, Marduk, the god of the city of Babylon, rose to lordship over his local rivals.3 "The priests of Marduk," writes Jastrow, "set the fashion in theological thought. So far as possible, the ancient traditions and myths were reshaped so as to contribute to the glory of Marduk. The chief part in the work of creation is assigned to him."4 It was the pious belief of Hammurabi that he was the favorite of Marduk, and that the power of this god brought success to the Babylonian king. In the same way, the Egyptian deity Amon, originally the god of the city of Thebes, rose to an imperial place as Thebes advanced in importance. "The triumph of a Theban family," writes Breasted, "had brought with it the supremacy of Amon. . . . . It was not until now that he became the great god of the state. . . . . He now rose

1 The term "increase" comes from Jeremiah, as below.

2 Sayce, Babylonians and Assyrians (New York, 1900), p. 256.

3 Goodspeed, History of the Babylonians and Assyrians (New York, 1906), p. 115.

4 Jastrow, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (Boston, 1898), p. 691. Cf. chaps. vii and xxi.

to a unique and supreme position of unprecedented splendor." In illustration of the same principle, Steindorff writes:

In the beginning there was no uniformity of religion in Egypt. Every city, every town, every hamlet, possessed its own protecting deity, its own patron. To him the inhabitants turned in the hour of need or danger, imploring help; by sacrifice and prayer they sought to win his favor. In his hand lay the weal and woe of the community. . . . . The Egyptian religion entered upon a new phase of its development in the "Middle Kingdom," when the political center of gravity of the realm was generally shifted southward. During the internal confusion which had brought the "Old Kingdom" to its end, the Upper Egyptian city Thebes had acquired power and reputation. It was by Theban princes that the reorganization of the state was successfully carried out; and though the kings of Dynasty XII transferred their residence to the lake district of the Fayoum, the city from which they had sprung remained the object of their fostering care. The Theban local divinity, Amon, identified with the sun-god and transformed into Amon-Re, was set above other gods, and honored by new temples and costly gifts. Later on, Thebes was the headquarters of the struggle against the Hyksos, and after its termination, the chief city of the "New Kingdom." . . . . Thus in the "New Kingdom," Amon became the national god of Egypt.2

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The rise of the Hebrew nation brought with it the rise of Yahweh among the gods of the ancient world.—The foregoing instances help us to see by analogy how the development of the Hebrew nation supplied the objective social basis for the elevation of Yahweh among the gods.

Reverting to the desert period a moment, the lowest level to which we can trace Yahweh is that of a local deity of the wilderness with his seat on Mount Sinai. It was here that one or more of the Israelite clans entered into covenant with the Kenites, and became worshipers of Yahweh. As Jeremiah says, "Israel was consecrated to Yahweh-the first

1 Breasted, History of Egypt (New York, 1905), p. 248.

* Steindorff, The Religion of the Ancient Egyptians (New York, 1905), pp. 17, 52, 53. Cf. Erman, Handbook of Egyptian Religion (London, 1907), pp. 19, 57, 58, 81.

fruits of his increase" (Jer. 2:3). Elsewhere it is said that Yahweh "became" the god of Israel, and that he "chose" Israel in order to make himself a "reputation," or a "name" (II Sam. 7:23; cf. Neh. 9:10). The covenant in the desert is rightly spoken of by Jeremiah as marking the early steps of the "increase" of Yahweh.

During the time of the Judges and of the highland kingdom, Yahweh remained a god of hill villages and nomadic tent dwellers in the uplands. But after the coalescence of Israelites and Amorites in the Hebrew nation, the cult of Yahweh sprang into a new importance and acquired more weight. The term Israel now represented far more than at first. The new generations began to think not only that Yahweh had conquered the hill-country as his "inheritance," but that his power had given Israel the entire land of Canaan. Thus Yahweh advanced from the position of a clan god to that of a national deity.

But this was not all. The Hebrew nation hardly came into existence under David before it acquired an imperial position. The Philistines were vanquished so decisively that they ceased to harass Israel. The Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, and Arameans were defeated and put to tribute. Thus we read: It came to pass that David smote the Philistines and subdued them.

And he smote Moab. . . . . And the Moabites became slaves to David and brought tribute. David smote also Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah. . . . . And when the Arameans of Damascus came to succor Hadadezer king of Zobah, David smote of the Arameans two and twenty thousand men. Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus; and the Arameans became slaves to David and brought tribute. And Yahweh gave victory to David whithersoever he went. And he put garrisons in Edom . . . . and all the Edomites became slaves to David. And Yahweh gave victory to David whithersoever he went (II Sam. 8:1-14).

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Thus we see that just as David became "king of kings," so Yahweh became "god of gods." The rise of David pro

moted the rise of Yahweh; and the king himself believed that the god of Israel was helping him wherever he went. As a matter of sober fact, the religions of ancient society did lead to victory by the coherence and organization which they gave. Soldiers were always rallied to battle in the name of a god; and the stronger the common enthusiasm for the god, the more effective the army became. Until we saturate ourselves in the atmosphere of the ancient world, this religious phenomenon can hardly be grasped in all its force and significance. The same principle was everywhere at work among the ancient states. The quotation just given from the Book of Samuel with reference to David and Yahweh can be matched, almost word for word, from the inscriptions of Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria. All the ancient kings believed their gods were assisting them; and they constantly invoked the presence and support of these divine helpers. Religion was a fact of tremendous reality and importance. The gods came to their votaries in dreams; and at moments of high excitement, such as the crisis of battle, some persons actually thought they saw their divinity leading the charge against the opposing army and its gods.

From these facts and examples we can see how the social development of Israel supplied the external basis for the "increase" of Yahweh. In the mind of the Hebrews, their god had shown himself superior to the gods of all peoples, with whom Israel had thus far come in contact. The deities of neighboring peoples fell below the level of Yahweh, who was plainly showing himself to be a "god of hosts, mighty in battle." It is to the period of the Davidic empire that the "Book of the Wars of Yahweh" is probably to be referred. The Israelite mind at this time could easily draw the inference that Yahweh's power exceeded that of all the gods. For "Yahweh gave David the victory whithersoever he went"; and the peoples with whom Israel did not come into

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conflict at this particular time were either too far away, or too feeble, to make any impression upon the religious consciousness of Israel. The expansion of the idea of Yahweh had therefore an ample basis in the social condition of the Hebrew kingdom.

The increase of Yahweh, as thus treated, cannot explain the development of Bible religion. The circumstances wherein Yahweh started on the way to his position as "Lord of lords" bring to view only a single thread, or phase, of the process that we are investigating. The fact that calls most loudly for explanation, as we have pointed out several times, is not the superiority of Yahweh over other gods in point of power, but in point of the moral character finally connected with him as the Redeemer of mankind. The tendency toward monotheism is visible among many ancient peoples; and the worship of a god who is believed to be more powerful than other gods is frequently found in antiquity. Such a religion has no particular advantage over polytheism, unless it be saturated with an exclusive ethical spirit such as the cult of Yahweh at length acquired.