In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ancient levantine deity”. Today it says “ancient semitic deity in the southeastern ancient levant that became the national god of the iron age kingdoms”.
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The opening as it read in 2025
Ancient Semitic deity in the ancient Levant This article is about the ancient Semitic deity of weather and war in the ancient Levant. Yahweh was an ancient Semitic deity of weather and war in the ancient Levant , the national god of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel , and the head of the pantheon of the polytheistic Israelite religion . Although there is no clear consensus regarding the geographical origins of the deity, scholars generally hold that Yahweh was associated with Seir , Edom , Paran , and Teman , and later with Canaan . The worship of the deity reaches back to at least the early Iron Age , and likely to the late Bronze Age , if not somewhat earlier. In the oldest biblical texts , Yahweh possesses attributes that were typically ascribed to deities of weather and war, fructifying the Land of Israel and leading a heavenly army against the enemies of the Israelites . The early Israelites engaged in polytheistic practices that were common across ancient Semitic religion , because the Israelite religion was a derivative of the Canaanite religion and included a variety of deities from it, including El , Asherah , and Baal . Initially a lesser deity among the Cannanite pantheon, Yahweh in later centuries became conflated with El; Yahweh took on El's place as head of the pantheon of the Israelite religion, El's consort Asherah, and El-linked epithets, such as ʾĒl Šadday ( אֵל שַׁדַּי ), came to be applied to Yahweh alone. Characteristics of other deities, such as Asherah and Baal, were also selectively absorbed in conceptions of Yahweh. As Israelite Yahwism eventually developed into Judaism and Samaritanism , and eventually transitioned from polytheism to monotheism , the existence of other deities was denied outright, and Yahweh was proclaimed the creator deity and the sole deity to be worthy of worship. During the Second Temple period , Jews began to substitute other Hebrew words , primarily ăḏōnāy ( אֲדֹנָי , lit. ' My Lords ' ), in place of the name Yahweh. By the time of the Jewish–Roman wars —namely following the Roman siege of Jerusalem and the concomitant destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE—the original pronunciation of the name of the deity was forgotten entirely. Additionally, Yahweh is invoked in the Aramaic -language Papyrus Amherst 63 from ancient Egypt , and also in Jewish or Jewish-influenced ancient Greek -language Greek Magical Papyri in Roman Egypt dated to the 1st to 5th centuries CE. The letters YHW are incised just above the hawk(?) which the god holds in his outstretched left hand, Fig. 23. He wears a himation, leaving the upper part of the body bare, and sits upon a winged wheel. The right arm is wrapped in his garment. At his feet is a mask. Because of the winged chariot and mask it has been suggested that Yaw had been identified with Dionysus on account of a somewhat similar drawing of the Greek deity on a vase where he rides in a chariot drawn by a satyr. The coin was certainly minted under Greek influence, and consequently others have compared Yaw on his winged chariot to Triptolemos of Syria, who is represented on a wagon drawn by two dragons. It is more likely that Yaw of Gaza really represents the Hebrew, Phoenician and Aramaic Sun-god, El, Elohim, whom the monotheistic tendencies of the Hebrews had long since identified with Yaw…Sanchounyathon…based his history upon Yerombalos, a priest of Yeuo, undoubtedly the god Yaw, who is thus proved to have been worshipped at Gebal as early as 1000 BC". There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
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The opening as it stood in 2010
See God in Judaism and God in Abrahamic religions for conceptions of God. The name Yahweh in modern Hebrew script: the four consonants (top band) read (right to left) YHWH; the vowel-points are below. Yahweh is the personal name of God in the Hebrew Bible . This form is a modern scholarly convention: Hebrew scripts write it as four consonants, rendered in Roman letters as YHWH , due to the fact that most alphabets, prior the Greek alphabet , did not display vowels, and required that vowels be mentally pronounced in the proper places. The most likely meaning of the name may be “He Brings Into Existence Whatever Exists," but there are many theories and none is regarded as conclusive by scholars. The Bible describes Yahweh as the one true God who delivered Israel from Egypt and gave the Ten Commandments : "Then God spoke all these words. He said, ‘I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you lived as slaves. You shall have no other gods to rival me.’” Yahweh revealed himself to Israel as a jealous God who would not permit his people to make idols or follow gods of other nations or worship gods known by other names, "I am Yahweh, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, or my praise to idols." Yahweh demanded the role of the one true God in the hearts and minds of Israel, "Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one: and you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." "Yahweh." Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 10 Dec. 2009 Exodus 20:1-3, New Jerusalem Bible, On-line link to alternate version: Exod. 20:1–3 Exodus 20:2-6, JPS Jewish Study Bible, On-line link to alternate version: Exod. 20:2–6 Isaiah 42:8, Holman Christian Standard Bible, On-line link to alternate version: Isa. 42:8 Deuteronomy 6:4-5, World English Bible, On-line link to alternate version: Deut. 6:4–5
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A drachm (quarter shekel ) coin from the Persian province of Yehud , apparently showing the god YHW (Yahweh) as a bearded man seated on a winged and wheeled throne.Yahweh ( / ˈ j ɑː hw eɪ / , or often / ˈ j ɑː w eɪ / in English; ) was the national god of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah , although probably never worshiped exclusively.His name may have begun as an epithet of El , head of the Bronze Age Canaanite pantheon , but the earliest plausible references to it place him among the nomads of the southern Transjordan .In the oldest biblical literature he is a typical ancient Near Eastern "divine warrior" who leads the heavenly army against Israel's enemies; he later became the main god of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and of Judah , and over time the royal court and temple promoted Yahweh as the god of the entire cosmos, possessing all the positive qualities previously attributed to the other gods and goddesses.By the end of the Babylonian exile (6th century BC), the very existence of foreign gods was denied, and Yahweh was proclaimed as the creator of the cosmos and the true god of all the world.
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God of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah A 4th century BCE drachm (quarter shekel ) coin from the Persian province of Yehud Medinata , possibly representing Yahweh seated on a winged and wheeled sun-throne.Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols .Yahweh was the national god of the kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) and Judah .His origins reach at least to the early Iron Age and apparently to the Late Bronze Age , and in the oldest biblical literature he is a storm-and-warrior deity who leads the heavenly army against Israel's enemies.At that time the Israelites worshipped Yahweh alongside a variety of Canaanite gods and goddesses , including El , Asherah and Baal , but in time El and Yahweh became conflated , El-linked epithets such as El Shaddai came to be applied to Yahweh alone, and other gods and goddesses such as Baal and Asherah were absorbed into the Yahwistic religion .From the 9th into the 6th centuries BCE the Yahwistic religion separated itself from its Canaanite heritage as Yahweh became the main god of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and of Judah , and over time the royal court and Temple in Jerusalem promoted Yahweh as the god of the entire cosmos, possessing all the positive qualities previously attributed to the other gods and goddesses.By the end of the Babylonian captivity (6th century BCE), the very existence of foreign gods was denied, and Yahweh was proclaimed as the creator of the cosmos and the one true God of all the world.During the Second Temple period, speaking the name of Yahweh in public became regarded as taboo .Jews began to substitute the divine name with the word adonai (אֲדֹנָי), meaning "Lord", and after the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE the original pronunciation was forgotten.Outside Judaism, Yahweh was frequently invoked in Graeco-Roman magical texts from the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE under the names Iao , Adonai , Sabaoth , and Eloai .There are <ref group=Notes> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a template (see the help page ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963472812.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 6 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Ancient Levantine deity This article is about the ancient Levantine deity.A 4th-century BCE silver coin from the Persian province of Yehud Medinata , possibly representing Yahweh enthroned on a winged wheel Yahweh was an ancient Levantine deity, and national god of the Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah .Though no consensus exists regarding the deity's origins, scholars generally contend that Yahweh emerged as a "divine warrior" associated first with Seir , Edom , Paran and Teman , and later with Canaan .The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age , and likely to the Late Bronze Age , if not somewhat earlier.In the oldest biblical literature he possesses attributes typically ascribed to weather and war deities , fructifying the land and leading the heavenly army against Israel's enemies.The early Israelites were polytheistic and worshipped Yahweh alongside a variety of Canaanite gods and goddesses , including El , Asherah and Baal .In later centuries, El and Yahweh became conflated and El-linked epithets such as El Shaddai came to be applied to Yahweh alone, and other gods and goddesses such as Baal and Asherah were absorbed into Yahwist religion .Towards the end of the Babylonian captivity , the existence of other gods was denied, and Yahweh was proclaimed the creator deity and sole divinity to be worshipped.During the Second Temple period , speaking the name of Yahweh in public became regarded as taboo , and Jews instead began to substitute other words, primarily adonai ( אֲדֹנָי , "my Lord").In Roman times, following the Siege of Jerusalem and destruction of its Temple, in 70 CE , the original pronunciation of the god's name was forgotten entirely.Yahweh is also invoked in Papyrus Amherst 63 , and in Jewish or Jewish-influenced Greco-Egyptian magical texts from the 1st to 5th century CE.There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
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Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ancient levantine deity”. Today it says “ancient semitic deity in the southeastern ancient levant that became the national god of the iron age kingdoms”. Read the current article and compare.
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2025
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What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since October 7, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
ancient levantine deity
Now
ancient semitic deity in the southeastern ancient levant that became the national god of the iron age kingdoms
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
