"Clues to a Canaanite worship service" by Stephen M. Miller Bible blog of award-winning bestselling Christian author, Stephen M. Miller.
"Clues to a Canaanite worship service" by Stephen M. Miller
BOW NOW. Ancient Middle Eastern figurines like this one are the kind many people kept in their homes and prayed to when they needed good weather, healthy animals, and more kids. Photo by Stephen M. Miller.
BIBLE EXPERTS would love to know why the Bible says God ordered Joshua and the invading Jews to commit genocide, and “completely destroy” (Deuteronomy 20:17) every last Canaanite living in what is now Israel – men, women, children, and even their critters.
The Bible’s explanation doesn’t seem to describe a crime fit for this punishment:
“This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God”(Deuteronomy 20:18).
One theory is that Canaanites sacrificed humans – male children, in particular. A couple of nasty Jewish kings did just that, possibly picking up the local custom:Manasseh and his grandpappy Ahaz.
There’s an archaeological dig going on at the ruin of a Canaanite city. It seems to offer a few clues about Canaanite worship services.
Archaeologists call the site Tel Burna. It’s about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Jerusalem. The dig director, Itzick Shai, reports in on his discoveries so far; he wrote the report for the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review (September/October, 2015, pages 30-31).
There at Tel Burna, a few inches underground, they found the remains of a site dated to about the time of the Jewish conquest of the land. They’ve dated the site to about 1550-1200 BC.
In what Shai says was a building of yet-undetermined size they found:
- Animal bones
- Two ovens
- Goblets
- Cups with saucers
- Fragments of two masks the size of a human face
- Several figurines, including one with a nude woman holding two children at her breasts.
Nothing yet to suggest human sacrifice.
I thought the report was interesting because scholars seem to know very little about how Canaanites worshipped their gods.
Wouldn’t it be nice if some archaeologist turned up a Canaanite worship bulletin?
- Prayer
- Chant
- Drink wine
- Sacrifice goat
- Eat goat
- Dance
- Prayer
- Sacrifice and burn newborn son of Yassib’s wife
- Prayer
- Drink wine
- Closing chant
For more about the Canaanites
- God in a holocaust frame of mind?
- “Operation High Ground: Joshua’s strategy for killing Canaanites,” A Quick Guided Tour Through the Bible, pages 62-63
- “God orders a Holocaust,” Complete Guide to the Bible, page 59
- “Canaan,” Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible 2.0, page 77
- Bill Allison
- Barry Reed
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