The Strange Case of God Qos
Why is the Edomite/Idumaean Deity not mentioned in the Bible?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47182/rb.85.n1-2-2023349Keywords:
Qos, Yahweh, Hebrew Bible, Edom, IdumaeaAbstract
In the Hebrew Bible, there is no direct reference to the Edomite/Idumean
god Qos, despite the plethora of epigraphic and archaeological evidence that attest
the worship of this deity throughout the first millennium BCE. This has led some
scholars to suggest that the cults of Israel and Edom were closely related and that
even Yahweh and Qos shared similar characteristics, if not that they were the same
god. The objective of this article is to contextualize the cult of Qos on the basis of
the available evidence, to study some possible (but veiled) biblical references to Qos present in theophoric names and play words, and on this basis to explain the
historical context that led to the historical amnesia of Qos in the Hebrew Bible.
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