I am not sure what you are looking for. You view YHWH as a later construct, I don't... He predates "all things." Of course, I place my faith in the fact the bible is trustworthy and His word... which if true, places Him before the beginning before "beginning" denotes time... which He is outside of.
So, what exactly are you asking me?
Thanks.
Ken
The Israelite's come out of Canaan with the YHWH he isn't mentioned before this time. Abraham comes from Ur (later Ur of Chaldeas) hence he is Sumer. So we don't see Sumer concepts directly in the Israelite culture, we see Canaanite concepts in the Israelite culture. Ba'al is related to the storm God as is YHWH, much later in the New Testament myths we see Jesus as being able to calm storms. But, pre Israel we don't at all see YHWH, so when you say YHWH is a pre time deity, this is a foreign and inconclusive claim. Reason for this is that YHWH is constructed alongside Israelite's and not in earlier polytheistic cultures, as YHWH is head of the Israel pantheon and not any other culture's.
There is an inherent issue concerning the Bible as it is diversely a religious writing or collection of writings, and from its beginnings with St Moses who penned the Deuteronomy about 1700 BC indicates a history of (at least from one side) neighboring cultures, with inferences to other cultures and not necessarily specifics.
A short history of Israel and Ba'al worship, in biblical record the worship of Baal threatened Israel from the period of the Judges down to the monarchy.
It's assumed in 1 Kings 11:4 that this was the case for Solomon’s reign. Names with ba‘al as the theophoric element, such as Jerubbaal, Eshbaal, and Meribbaal, have been taken to indicate that Israelite society, including some royal circles, viewed the worship of Baal as a legitimate practice. Indeed, some scholars interpret these names as evidence both that ba‘al was a title for Yahweh and that the cult of Baal coexisted with the cult of Yahweh.
Inscriptions from Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom, provide an important witness for the ninth or eighth century. These inscriptions, called the Samaria ostraca, contain at least five names with the theophoric element of ba‘al as opposed to nine names with the Yahweh component.
By way of contrast, no personal names with ba‘al as the theophoric element are extant from Judah. These data have prompted some scholarly speculation about the widespread acceptance of Baal from the period of the Judges down through the fall of the northern kingdom in, especially in the north. According to 1 Kings 17-19, the ninth century marked a critical time for the cult of Baal in Israel. The biblical and extrabiblical sources provide a wide array of information pertaining to the cult of Baal in Israel and Phoenicia during this period. The biblical record dramatically presents the spread of the cult of Phoenician Baal in Samaria. Jezebel, daughter of Ittobaal, king of Tyre,
and wife of Ahab, king of the northern kingdom, strongly sponsored the worship of Baal (1 Kings 16:31). First, Ahab built a temple to Baal, which is said to have been in Samaria (1 Kings 16:32). From 2 Kings 13:6, it is clear that Baal had his own temple in the environs of Samaria, apart from the cult of the national god, Yahweh (cf. 1 Kings 16:32; 2 Kings 10:21-27). Ahab also erected an asherah, whose location and relationship to Baal are not specified. Elijah, the enemy of Ahab, and the measures that Ahab and Jezebel took to support the worship of Baal in the capital are presented in 1 Kings 17-19. Jezebel persecuted the prophets of Yahweh (1 Kings 18:3), but provided income to the prophets of Baal and Asherah (1 Kings 18:19). Later, in a speech to Yahweh, Elijah says that he is the only prophet of Yahweh to have escaped Ahab and Jezebel
(1 Kings 19:10).
To judge from the biblical sources, the baal of Jezebel was a god with power over the rain, like Ugaritic Baal. In 1 Kings 17- 19 is stressed Yahweh’s power over nature, which corresponds to various phenomena associated with Baal in the Ugaritic texts. These powers include dominion over the storm (1 Kings 17:1-17; 18:41-46). The prophets of “the baal” compete with Elijah on Mount Carmel to see whose god truly has power over nature (1 Kings 18). One of the functions of 1 Kings 17-19 is to prove that Yahweh has power over all of these phenomena, but unlike the baal of Jezebel, Yahweh transcends these manifestations of divine power (1 Kings 19, esp. v. 11).295 Jezebel’s own name, ’izebel, “where is the Prince?” (e.g., 1 Kings 16:31; 18:4f.; 19:1; 21:5f.; 2 Kings 9:7), recalls the specific wording of human concern expressed over Baal’s death, attested in
the Ugaritic Baal cycle (KTU 1.6 IV 4-5).
That the biblical baal was a Phoenician god with power over the storm may be deduced from extrabiblical texts. The baal is identified either with Melqart or Baal Shamem. Nothing in the meager Phoenician sources bearing on this god directly contradicts an identification with Melqart. Perhaps he was the main city god of Tyre, since in KAI 47:1 he is called the “lord of Tyre” (b‘l ṣr).299 Furthermore, it might be argued that the baal of Jezebel should be Melqart, since his name means “king of the city,” presumably referring to Tyre (although this point perhaps presupposes that his name and cult originated at Tyre, a conclusion beyond the scope of the currently available information). A primary feature of his cult seems to be his “awakening” from death. Melqart is the Herakles whom Josephus calls the “dead hero” (hērōi enagizousi) who receives offerings. Josephus (Antiquities 8.146) also mentions that Hiram “brought about the resurrection of Herakles” (tou hērakleous egersin epoiēsato). The title “raiser of Herakles” (egerse[itēn tou] herakleou
) occurs in a Roman period inscription from Philadelphia. This cult likely underlies the title mqm ’lm, “the raiser of the god(s),” in a second-century Phoenician inscription from Rhodes (KAI 44:2). Arguments identifying the Baal of 1 Kings 17-19 with Melqart rely largely on viewing the taunt of 1
Kings 18:27 as an allusion to this rite of “awakening.” Yet the ancient Near Eastern notion of the “sleeping god” in this verse is wider than the specific cult of Melqart. Sleep is attributed to deities in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Canaan, including Yahweh (Pss. 44:24[E 23]; 78:65).301 There is no evidence indicating that Melqart was a storm-god, although appeal might be made to his lineage presented in Philo of Byblos (PE 1.10.27): “Demarous had a son Melkarthos, who is also known as Herakles.” From this connection between Melqart and Demarous, a title of Baal Haddu in the Ugaritic texts, it might be inferred that the nature of Melqart was meteorological.
