July 24, 2026
God lore? The comments smite back
How the God of Israel Was Born
Ancient God origin story drops, and the comments instantly turn into a theology cage match
TLDR: The article argues that belief in Israel’s God formed gradually by blending older religious traditions, not in one sudden moment. Readers immediately split between “this fits the history” and “slow down, that’s not settled,” while others gleefully piled on reading lists, comics, and rival influence theories.
An article about the birth of Israel’s God has sent readers straight into full comment-section detective mode. The piece argues that early Israelite religion did not arrive all at once as a neat one-God package, but grew out of older traditions: a northern world linked to El, a high god known from Canaanite religion, and a southern tradition tied to YHWH, who may originally have been one deity among many before later writers merged and elevated the figure. In plain English: the article says monotheism may have been less lightning bolt, more long, messy rewrite.
And wow, the community was ready. One camp jumped in with extra reading lists like it was finals week, tossing around Yale’s Old Testament course and books like Fields of Blood as if everyone needed homework immediately. Another crowd pushed back on the idea that this version is settled fact, warning that textual criticism is not the final word and linking a tweet thread like a rebuttal exhibit in court. Meanwhile, history nerds widened the fight by dragging in Egypt’s Atenism and Persian Zoroastrianism, turning one article into a sprawling “who influenced whom?” franchise crossover.
The funniest vibe? Half the thread sounds like people saying, “I came for ancient ruins and stayed for a thousand-year fandom war.” Even the comic-book angle showed up, with one reader admitting R. Crumb’s illustrated Genesis sent them down the rabbit hole. So yes: archaeology dropped a bombshell, but the real spectacle was the comments section becoming Bible Cinematic Universe discourse.
Key Points
- •The article says archaeology and textual criticism portray the rise of Judaism as a gradual historical process rather than a single completed revelation.
- •It describes the Hebrew Bible as a layered compilation of sources, supported by manuscript evidence from Qumran and later codices.
- •It cites scholarship that distinguishes a northern Canaanite tradition associated with El and a southern desert tradition associated with YHWH.
- •It uses Ugaritic discoveries to compare early Israelite religion with a Canaanite pantheon headed by El, accompanied by Asherah and a divine council structure.
- •It argues that older readings of Deuteronomy 32:8-9 in 4QDeutj and the Septuagint suggest YHWH was once portrayed as subordinate to Elyon/El.