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Kuntillet Ajrud Inscriptions

Horvat Teiman

About this book
Chapter 3

in earthquake.⁠ And when God shines forth in the [heights⁠ ... YHWH ... the mountains will melt, the hills will crush [...⁠ the earth. The Holy one over gods [... prepare (yourself) to bless Baal on the day of war ... To bless the name of El on the day of war ...

Texts in conversation

Deuteronomy's Shining God Echoes a Sinai Inscription

Ancient Near East, Northwest Semitic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

An inscription from the 9th century BCE describes God shining from the heights, the mountains melting at his arrival. Deuteronomy 33 uses the same verb to say God came from Sinai and marched from Seir for Israel.

Passages

Kuntillet Ajrud Inscriptions

Ancient Near East, Northwest Semitic · Horvat Teiman
in earthquake. And when God shines forth in the [heights ... YHWH ... the mountains will melt, the hills will crush [... the earth. The Holy one over gods [... prepare (yourself) to bless Baal on the day of war ...
800 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Kuntillet Ajrud Inscriptions

Deuteronomy 33:2

Hebrew Bible
1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death. 2 He said: “The Lord came from Sinai and revealed himself to Israel from Seir. He appeared in splendor from Mount Paran, and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. With his right hand he gave a fiery law to them. 3 Surely he loves the people; all your holy ones are in your hand8. And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

References

... Elements of the archaic epiphanic motif can be found in this inscription: the same noun as employed verbally in Judges 5:4, the same verb for shining used in Deuteronomy 33:2, the traditional invocation of the name Yahweh, and reference to lesser deities as is done in Habakkuk 3:5 and possibly Deuteronomy 33:2. ... The locale of Kuntillet ʻAjrud brings to mind Elijah's pilgrimage south from north Israel to the mountain of god in the 9th century BCE. We have already seen the record of a Yahwistic cult site near the capital city of North Israel clarified here with the honorific title “Yahweh of Samaria.” The difficulty arises when the similar title “Yahweh of Teman” implies the possibility of a Yahwistic cult located in Teman of Edom. ...
Nathan H. Scherrer, “Yahweh of the Southlands” (MA diss., Denver Seminary, 2017), 59.

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Kuntillet Ajrud Inscriptions and Deuteronomy 33:2

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