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u/HereticPreacher avatarHereticPreacher
1y
Chemosh Beat Yahweh in a Battle
Bible Debate
Would you believe that sometimes Yahweh actually loses to other deities or armies in the Bible? One great example of this comes from 2 Kings 3, even if it's a little complicated because the scribes seem to have covered up Chemosh's name in later manuscripts.
In 2 Kings 3, Moab was a vassal to Israel, and it decided to rebel against Israel. (v. 4-5) Israel, Judah, and Edom decide to strike back. They stop by the prophet Elisha to get Yahweh's word on whether they will be victorious. Elisha prophecies that "(Yahweh) will also deliver Moab into your hands. You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town." (v. 18-19)
This appears to be the case, and every major city is destroyed except Kir Hareseth, or "Fortified City of Dirt." Over and over, Moab is defeated. But, suddenly, in verse 27, the Moabite king sacrifices his own child, and "divine wrath" fell on Israel, causing them to retreat. The Hebrew word there, קֶצֶף, is exclusively used in Classical Hebrew to describe the wrath of a deity. But which deity?
Certainly not Yahweh. Why would he respond to a Moabite human sacrifice, break his own prophecy of victory, and force his own armies into retreat? Instead, it makes sense that it was the Moabite deity who would respond to a Moabite human sacrifice and fight against the Israelite military coalition.
We also have a Moabite stele with this exact scenario inscribed, paralleling 2 Kings 3: "Omri was king of Israel, and oppressed Moab during many days, and Chemosh was angry with his aggressions... and I took from it the vessels of Jehovah, and offered them before Chemosh... And the king of Israel fortified Jahaz, and occupied it, when he made war against me, and Chemosh drove him out before me."
This parallel is clear. in 2 Kings 3, Yahweh's prophecy of victory is a failure, and a Moabite god's wrath drives Israel into retreat. In the Moabite Inscription, Chemosh's wrath ends in Yahweh's defeat and the fleeing of Israel. Yahweh is not some sort of omnipotent being in much of the Bible. He is one of many gods, and he is a god that can be beaten.
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