Who Was YHVH Before YHVH?

 From an objective viewpoint and through research, there is little reason to assume that the advent of Jewish monotheism began anywhere beyond Canaan, and after centuries immersed in the Canaanite culture, there is little reason anymore to doubt that Judaism is an outgrowth of the Canaanite culture. In fact, it may also be possible that YHVH, who expends much effort fighting against the Canaanite gods in the Old Testament, actually began life as a Canaanite god!

Let us consider the "divine council" that seems quite at odds with the basic theology of Ha'Torah, and yet turns up in the Old Testament more than once. As we have observed, multiple ancient states, such as Egypt and China, seem to have modeled their pantheons at least partly after governmental structures. Mesopotamia, in particular, featured a deliberative "assembly" of gods — a council. Given that Mesopotamia is within the general vicinity of Canaan, it would not be very shocking to discover some such assembly in the early Canaanite tradition.

This is exactly what we find in Ugarit, the ancient city in northern Canaan whose translated texts have shed light on the context of Judaism. At the end of the Bronze Age, on the eve of Israel's birth, was a divine council.

Of the god most often depicted as its chief — a god named "El" — bears a curious resemblance of YHVH. Both gods were masculine yet sensitive. El was seen as a "bull," yet was deemed "Kind El, the compassionate."

Likewise, YHVH, even in the earliest appearance as a warrior god, was compassionate towards the Israelites — "thy steadfast love" for "the people whom thou hast redeemed." Both Yahweh and El appear in dreams and visions, become patrons for the dreamers, and communicated through prophets. Both were paternalistic creator deities: El was "creator of creatures" and "father of humanity."

The Ugaritic terminology for the divine council in Canaan was "Council of El." Interestingly, if one were to glean the Hebrew rendering of the "divine council" in Psalm 82, we find the term:

Ad'at El — transliterated as "Council of El."

Furthermore, if one searches the Hebrew text thoroughly, the Hebrew term "YWVH" is not found, but the Hebrew name El. Given the Canaanite term El appears in the historical records of the Hebrews before the name Yahweh, one may conclude that YHVH actually emerged from the Canaanite El or began life as El and renamed at a later time.

To add, in Genesis, the blessed Jacob erected an altar in honor of El. It was called "El-Elohe-Israel," which is transliterated as "El, God of Israel." El was also considered to be the top god of the pantheon in northern Canaan at the time. This may also shed more light on the quote in Genesis 1:26: "Let Us make man in Our tzelem (image), after Our demut (likeness).