Yahweh and Elohim: Yahweh is Not Benevolent

Yahweh and Elohim Part 6

This is part 6 of a multipart series.

We have already seen many counterexamples to the idea that the God of the Old Testament is benevolent. This is probably the most important lesson to take away from these essays. It’s important because this history of abuse profoundly affects who we are today. Having grown up in a devout Christian family, the pain of original sin weighs on my psyche, even though my rational self rejected the concept from the very beginning. If you were not raised in an Abrahamic religion, I can mention two good reasons why it still matters to you. First, over 4 billion people in this world were raised in an Abrahamic religion, and it would help to have a handle on where half of the people in the world are coming from. Second, the mythos from your own culture might have some similarities to this story which would surprise you, and getting a glimpse into the driving forces of this other culture might help you come to terms with your own cultural history.

Just to drive this important point home, I am going to present a handful of examples of Yahweh’s anti-benevolent behavior that I find particularly striking. I think they help flesh out his character. After this, we’ll take a step back and consider just what kind of god this Yahweh is. What are his motivations? What are his fears?

In Genesis 2:17, Yahweh lies to Adam, telling him he will surely die if he were to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve end up eating the fruit, and it does not kill them. Was this a little white lie? No. He did not want the humans to eat the fruit, so he made up a story that it would kill them.

In Genesis 2:16-19, he severely punishes Adam and Eve for eating the fruit:

To the woman He said,
“I will terribly sharpen your birth pangs,
in pain shall you bear children.
And for your man shall be your longing,
and he shall rule over you.

And to the human He said, “Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree that I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat from it,’

Cursed be the soil for your sake,
with pangs shall you eat from it all the days of your life.
Thorn and thistle shall it sprout for you
and you shall eat from the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread
till you return to the soil,
for from there you were taken,
for dust you are
and to dust shall you return.”

That’s pretty harsh! Especially for something that might be considered an an innocent mistake. Adam and Eve were, after all, like children when they were in the garden.

In Genesis chapter 7, he kills nearly every living being on the Earth because he doesn’t like how things are going. His motivations are explained in Genesis 6:11-13:

And the earth was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with outrage. And God saw the earth and, look, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth. And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the earth is filled with outrage by them, and I am now about to destroy them, with the earth.”

Robert Alter translates חָמָס (chamas) as “outrage,” which is normally translated as “violence,” and can also mean malice, injustice, or cruelty. The word for “corrupt” here is שָׁחַת (shachath), which can also mean destroyed or wasted. Perhaps Yahweh could have come up with a less drastic solution to the problem of wide-spread corruption and violence? A lot of people died here.

In Leviticus 27:1-7, Yahweh places a value in silver on human lives, based on the age and gender of the human:

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites, and you shall say to them, ‘Should a man set aside a votive offering in the value for persons to the LORD, the value for the male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels by the sanctuary shekel. And if it is for a female, the value shall be thirty shekels. And if it is for someone from five years old up to twenty years old, the value shall be twenty shekels for the male and for the female ten shekels. And if it is someone from a month old up to a year, the value of the male shall be five silver shekels and for the female the value three silver shekels. And if it is someone from sixty years old and above, if a male, the value shall be fifteen shekels and for the female ten shekels.’”

He seems to have overlooked the toddlers. Ages one to four are not given a value in silver here. This passage reveals how Yahweh values human lives. They are a commodity.

In Numbers 31, after exterminating the Midianites in battle, they divide up the booty, and some of it goes directly to Yahweh. Numbers 31:37-40:

And the levy for the LORD from the sheep came to six-hundred seventy-five. And the cattle, thirty-six thousand head, and their levy to the LORD, sixty-one. And human persons, sixteen thousand, and their levy to the LORD, thirty-two persons.

These thirty-two persons are all female virgins, because literally every other Medianite has been killed. In Numbers 31:17-18, Moses addresses the fact that the troops have returned with women and children as captives:

“And now, kill every male among the little ones, and every woman who has known a man in lying with a male, kill. And all the little ones of the women who have not known lying with a male, let live.”

What does Yahweh, an Elohim, need with thirty-two female virgins? Whatever he has in store for them, I can’t imagine that it would be pleasant.

In the book of Job, Yahweh ruins a man’s life over a bet with Satan. He allows Satan to take away all of Job’s possessions and kill most of his servants. He allows Satan to kill all of his children. Then he lets Satan afflict him with a nasty disease. Job describes his affliction like so in Job 7:5: “My flesh is clothed with worms and earth-clods, my skin rippled with running sores.” Job complains, Yahweh rebukes, and Job repents. And to make up for all the suffering, Yahweh gives Job twice the possessions he had before, and Job fathers a new set of sons and daughters.

This Yahweh is quite a character! He is chiefly interested in military conquest. He bears a firm disregard for human life. He is vengeful and quick to anger. He gaslights the people of Israel by constantly blaming any problem or hardship they face on their own shortcomings. Because they fail to follow his commands, or because they worship other gods. He is jealous, and insecure. And at least in the back of his mind, he fears even us.

Imagine how it must have been for the people of Israel to have had such an Elohim lording over them, generation after generation. We’ll consider this carefully in the next essay.