GODS – Encyclopedic Dictionary of Bible and Theology

The biblical world had a multitude of gods, as many as man could invent. In the ancient world there was only one religion that everywhere had similar characteristics (H. Frankfort, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Columbia University Press, New York, NY, 1948, p. 3). Originally, the religion was monotheistic, but it degenerated due to idol worship, and the true God and his attributes began to be represented by idols, cultic objects, and fetishes. Since God was invisible and transcendent, men set up idols as materialistic expressions of him. Soon created things were worshiped as God instead of the Creator. Thus, each nation had its main god and as many others as they thought were necessary. Not only idols were used, but also various forms of nature such as heavenly bodies, mountains, seas, rivers, insects, birds, and animals.

  1. Egypt. In Egypt, the supreme god was worshiped under different names depending on the religious center. In Heliopolis he was called Aton Ra-Hepri (sun god); at Elephantine, Khnum-Ra; at Thebes, Amun-Ra (king of the gods); and at Tel El Amarna, Atum-Ra, the sun disk. The scarab, khepera or khepri, was generally accepted as a form of Ra, the supreme god. The most commonly found idol is that of the scarab, which retained its sacred meaning even when used for other purposes.

The supreme god was the head of a triad or trinity like Ptah, Sekhmet and Nefer Tem, that is, father, mother and son; Amun-Ra and Mut (mother goddess), Khensu (moon god), father, mother and son; and also that of Osiris (god of death), Isis (his wife), and his son Horus (sky god). The thought of a trinity united by family relationship was an ancient conception among the Egyptians.

There are minor gods that should be noted such as: Apis or Serapis, the deified ox of Memphis who was the god that the children of Israel worshiped as the golden calf (Ex. 32; 1 Kings 15:25-33); Hapi, the Nile god; Hathor, the goddess of love and beauty; Maat, the goddess of law and order; Sothis, the star god; Sekor, the god of the underworld; Shu, the god of air; Thoth, the scribe of the gods, as well as a multitude of sacred animals and birds. In total, the number of gods mentioned in the Pyramid texts is more than two hundred, while in the Book of the Dead and other writings it is about twelve hundred. Since Pharaoh was the descendant and successor of the supreme god, he was considered divine and entitled to receive worship.

  1. Mesopotamia. In Mesopotamia (land that includes Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians), the inhabitants worshiped a multitude of gods. In Babylon a list of more than seven hundred has been made. It should be noted that when the land was conquered, the conquerors accepted the gods they found, adding them to their own pantheon. In some cases, the same god could have a Sumerian and a Babylonian name. Here, as in Egypt, the same general conception of a creator was maintained. The concept of monotheism is not so clear because there was a succession of great gods, sometimes worshiped together in the same city. They had the same creative power and were given credit for the creation of the universe, the earth, and man, as well as the lesser gods.

The first great god is Anu (the god of the heavens), of whom there is no pictorial representation. He is called “Father and King of the gods”. His wife was Antu, and his children were counted among the minor gods of the underworld. Antu was later surpassed by Istar, the goddess of love. The main center of the cult of Anu was Lagash.

The second great god was Enlil (god of the earth), who was later replaced by Marduk. The main center of the cult of Enlil was Eridu. His wife was Damkina and his son was Marduk. This last group formed a trinity of father, mother and son. When Babylonia achieved hegemony, the earlier gods were replaced by the Semitic named god, Marduk. There was confusion about the creative acts of these main gods. Other gods and goddesses had part with them. The mother goddess Ninmack or Aruru was associated with Ea in the creation of man. Asur became the chief god of Assyria, taking the place of Ea.

It is worth noting three other great gods of Semitic origin. They were Sin (or Nannar in Sumerian) the moon god, Shamash, the sun god, and son of Sin, and Adad or Hadad, the storm god. Sin’s wife was Ningal, mother of Shamash the sun god. His main cities were Ur and Haran. The goddess Ishtar is also associated with these three divinities. She was previously designated by her Sumerian name, Inina. She became the main female goddess, displacing the wives of the six great gods. Closely related to her, however, was Tammuz (Sumerian name Dumuzi), the god of plants and vegetation, her husband. Istar’s descent into the underworld to seek him and her return to earth is the story of the death of vegetation in winter and the rebirth of new vegetation in spring. As goddess of fertility and love, her descent into her underworld prevented the production of fruit during her absence. She was the most important of all the goddesses and her relationship with the six great gods and with Tammuz shows the low conception of moral standards. The worship of Tammuz was practiced in Israel until quite advanced dates (Ez. 7:14).

Other important gods and goddesses were: the goddess Ereshkigal (Semitic Allatu), ruler of the underworld; Namtar, herald god of death with his train of sixty diseases; Irra, the plague god; Kingsu, goddess of Chaos, and her husband, Apsu, god of the ocean of hell; Nabu, patron god of science and learning; and Nusku, the fire god. The confusion in the Mesopotamian pantheon is undoubtedly due to the conquest of the land by various invaders: the Sumerians who were Hamites, and the Assyro-Babylonians who were Semites.

In addition to Tammuz, the following Mesopotamian gods are mentioned: Adramelec, god of Sefarvaim (Sippar), perhaps Adad-Milki (2 Kings 17:31); Anamelech, also god of Sepharvaim (Sippar), was perhaps Anu-Melik (2 Kings 17:31); Bel, mentioned in Jer. 51:44, and 50:2 it is found associated with Merodach (Marduk) and in Is. 46:1 with Nebo; Merodach (Babylonian, Marduk) as noted earlier, in Jer. 50:2; Nebo (Nabu), mentioned in Isa. 46:1 (a mountain in the Abarim range east of the northern end of the Dead Sea is named after him); Nergal, patron god of Cuta (2 Kings 17:30), is found in the compound name of the Babylonian general Nergal-Sharezer (Jer. 39:3, 13); Nisroc, the Assyrian god who was so important that there was a temple to him at Nineveh (2 Kings 19:37); Sucotbenot, a god of the men of Babylon, who has yet to be identified (2 Kings 17:30); and Tartac, an as yet unidentified god of Ava (2 Kings 17:31).

III. Palestine and Syria. In Palestine and Syria, only Yahveh (Jehovah) claims exclusivity as Creator of the universe, heaven and man. The gods of the neighboring nations of the Hebrews were not in the range of the gods of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and other world powers. They all seem to be of a national level and, as noted, these nations also worshiped the gods of the great powers, along with their own. Jehovah remains supreme and superior, with his lofty attributes and his holy spiritual nature and the highest moral demands on the worshipers of him.

The gods of Syria were also known and worshiped by the people of Palestine, so we will consider them together.

The Ugarit pantheon shows El as the supreme god, who was later replaced by his son Baal, god of the storm and vegetation. After achieving victory over the god Mat, lord of the sea, he established his right to reign over all gods as their king. This supremacy was evidently recognized by most of the people of Syria and Palestine (Num. 22:41; 1 Kings 18; 2 Kings 17:16; Hos. 11:2; Rom. 11:4; and fifty and eight more references in the OT). At Tivo he was supreme, and during the reign of Ahab he was the chief god of Israel. His name was linked to the Palestinian Baalzebub, god of flies; Baal of lightning; Aleyan Baal, the storm god, and Baal Sapuna at Ugarit. The cities as centers of his worship joined Baal to his name, as Baal-peor in Moab (Hos. 9:10; Ps. 106:28). This was the center of the main god, Chemosh of Moab. Since Baal, meaning ‘lord’, was applicable to other gods as well, he became a composite deity combining a number of important activities. Even the plural “Baals” is used in the OT with reference to him in his various forms. His sister was Asherah, the goddess of Tyre, who was also worshiped in Samaria by the Israelites (1 Kings 15:13; 18:19; 2 Kings 21:7; 23:4). In RV09 and the LXX Asherah’s name was translated “woods”, but more recently found inscriptions have shown that she was a goddess. The goddess Anat was her sister and was worshiped in Syria, especially in Ugarit. There were several goddesses, such as Kadesh, called “mistress of the skies, patron saint of all the gods of Syria”; the Syrian goddess Min; Hepa, a goddess whose idol was found at Ugarit and who may be a Hurrian; Ashtoreth, also known as Ishtar (Egypt), Astarte (Greece and Phoenicia), and Venus (Rome), queen of heaven (Jer. 7:18; 44:17–19, 25), and also goddess of fertility. She is known in Bible lands by the names mentioned above (Judges 2:13; 10:6; 1 Kings 11:5, 33; 2 Kings 23:13). The goddess “Lady of Byblos” whose idol wears the headdress of Hathor, the goddess of love, shows Egyptian influence. In addition to those mentioned, several unknown goddesses have been discovered that show the low cult of fertility.

Among the male gods are: Dagon, god half fish, half man, supreme god among the Philistines, who held that Baal was the son of Dagon (Josh. 15:41; Jud. 16:23; 1 Sam. 5:1-7 ); Asima, the god of Hamath who was deported to Samaria by Sargon II of Assyria (2 Kings 17:30); Quiun, planetary god, named after Saturn, and mentioned in Am. 5:26; Hch. 7:43; Gad, the god of Fortune who was worshiped by the Israelites (Isa. 65:11), a name found as a god in Phoenician, Assyrian, and Aramaic; Men, god of perhaps Egyptian origin (Menu), god of destiny and good luck, possibly an astral god, one of the Pleiades or representing all that group of stars, named together with Gad (Fortune) in Is. 65 :eleven; Mekal, the main god of Bethsan, who is shown holding the “ankh” Egyptian symbol of life, showing Egyptian influences; Milcom, “abomination” of the Ammonites (1 Kings 11:5, 33; 2 Kings 23:13), their god and perhaps Molech himself (Moloc, or Molech was the god designated “Melec” whose cult required human sacrifices burned with fire, Lev 18:21; 20:1–5); Rimón (Rammon, Thunderer or Fulminator), the chief god of Damascus (2 Kings 5:18) related to the Mesopotamian god Adad (Hadad); Resef, Syrian god of war, accepted not only by Syro-Palestinians, but has also been found carved in Egypt holding the “ankh”, Egyptian emblem of life.

In addition to all these gods, there were images of the sun; the cult of serpents, as seen…

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