Tell Halif Syncretism 1

Coogan (1987:115) properly cautions that it is false to consider such occurrences as "syncretistic". Rather, Israelite religion must be observed as a subset of Canaanite religion. See also the comments by Albertz (1994:63) which implies that the "polytheism" in the later Israelite and Judaean cultures may have been a natural development, since polytheism of "the other Near Eastern religions is related to a social order with this kind of rich division [social differentiation, division of work, institutional division of society (ed)]. The multiplicity of the world of the gods reflects the manifold competing interests and the complicated social conditions of the high cultures of the Near East." See also his comment (p. 64): "It is certainly no coincidence that the monotheistic tendency of Yahweh religion could only be realized fully in the exile, after the collapse of society and beyond the level of a political national religion."

To be noted are such references in Hosea to religious activity contrary to the orthodoxy of the prophet; the condemned Israelite activity is not syncretism but apostasy.

Bibliography

Albertz, Rainer. 1994. A History of Israelite Religion in the Old Testament Period. Volume I: From the Beginnings to the End of the Monarchy. The Old Testament Library. John Bowden, tr. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press.

Coogan, Michael D. 1987. Canaanite Origins and Lineage: Reflections on the Religion of Ancient Israel in Ancient Israelite Religion: Essays in Honor of Frank Moore Cross. P.D. Miller, P.D. Hanson and S.D. McBride, edd. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.