According to the Deuteronomists, as scholars call these Judean nationalists, the treaty with Yahweh would enable Israel’s god to preserve both the city and the king in return for the people’s worship and obedience. This revision was expressed in the Deuteronomistic history, the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings, which interpreted the Babylonian destruction as divinely-ordained punishment for the failure of Israel’s kings to worship Yahweh to the exclusion of all other deities. The major deities were not numerous – El, Asherah, and Yahweh, with Baal as a fourth god, and perhaps Shamash (the sun) in the early period. Yahweh, the national god of both Israel and Judah, seems to have originated in Edom and Midian in southern Canaan and may have been brought to Israel by the Kenites and Midianites at an early stage. They serve as diviners, and because of their special relationship with Yahweh, they are also said to possess miraculous powers: the Bible records instances of prophets curing the sick, raising the dead, multiplying bread and oil, and bringing rain after a drought. Whether you are heading out for just a short jaunt on the trail or going to the sub-alpine meadow, you will need a few essentials.

Panama and Colombia is where you will find the Kuna people. The coronation seemed to take place in a sacred place, and was marked by the anointing of the king who then becomes the “anointed one (māšîaḥ ,the origin of the word Messiah) of Yahweh”; the end of the ritual seems marked by an acclamation by the people (or at least their representatives, the Elders), followed by a banquet. The kings actually had to succeed one another according to a dynastic principle, even though the succession was occasionally decided through coups d’état. Silly Putty® is one of America’s favorite stocking stuffers. The role of the prophets in shaping Yahwism and Monotheism is not clear. The prophets were sometimes supporters of the king’s initiatives and his advisors; at other times, they were fierce opponents. Judah at this time was a vassal state of Assyria, but Assyrian power collapsed in the 630s, and around 622 Josiah and his supporters launched a bid for independence expressed as loyalty to “Yahweh alone”. In some Psalms that appear to be related to the coronation of kings, they are referred to as “sons of Yahweh”.

722 BCE. Refugees from the northern kingdom fled to Judah, bringing with them laws and a prophetic tradition of Yahweh. As evidenced by ancient inscriptions, dialect variations existed, particularly between the northern Kingdom of Israel (“Israelian Hebrew”) and the South (Judah). Finkelstein, Israel, (2019).First Israel, Core Israel, United (Northern) Israel, in Near Eastern Archaeology 82.1 (2019), p. Finkelstein, Israel, and Eli Piasetzky, 2010. “The Iron I/IIA Transition in the Levant: A Reply to Mazar and Bronk Ramsey and a New Perspective”, in Radiocarbon, Vol 52, No. 4, The Arizona Board of Regents in behalf of the University of Arizona, pp. In the kingdom of Israel, they competed with Ba’al-related prophets. Finkelstein, Israel, (2020). “Saul and Highlands of Benjamin Update: The Role of Jerusalem”, in Joachim J. Krause, Omer Sergi, and Kristin Weingart (eds.), Saul, Benjamin, and the Emergence of Monarchy in Israel: Biblical and Archaeological Perspectives, SBL Press, Atlanta, GA, p. Finkelstein, Israel (2020). “Saul and Highlands of Benjamin Update: The Role of Jerusalem”. Finkelstein, Israel; Silberman, Neil Asher (2001). The Bible unearthed : archaeology’s new vision of ancient Israel and the origin of its stories (1st Touchstone ed.).

Broshi, Maguen (2001). Bread, Wine, Walls and Scrolls. Strict monotheism emerged among the priests of the Temple establishment during the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, as did beliefs regarding angels and demons. Although it has frequently been argued that the prophets were merely intermediaries for the wishes of the Yahwist elites of the court and the Temple, it is possible that they were instrumental in the development and spread of monotheism. The context of this function’s performance in the Bible is unclear; prophets can be found alone or in groups, at the royal court or in temples (as is most common in other regions of the Near East). Harper’s Bible Dictionary, ed. It is particularly well-known thanks to the prophetic books (“Nevi’im”) of the Hebrew Bible. The Bible and Interpretation. The attributions of most of these dignitaries remain debated, as illustrated in particular by the much-discussed case of the “king’s friend” mentioned under Solomon. The Bible’s descriptions of the lists of dignitaries from the reigns of David and Solomon show that the king is supported by a group of high dignitaries. Those include the chief of the army (Hebrew: שר הצבא, romanized: śar haṣṣābā), the great scribe (Hebrew: שר הצבא, romanized: śar haṣṣābā) who was in charge of the management of the royal chancellery, the herald (Hebrew: מזכיר, romanized: mazkîr), as well as the high priest (Hebrew: כהן הגדול, romanized: kōhēn hāggādôl) and the master of the palace (Hebrew: על הבית, סוכן, romanized: ʿal-habbayit, sōkēn), who has a function of stewardship of the household of the king at the beginning and seems to become a real prime minister of Judah during the later periods.