Jehovah, the Jewish Jupiter?

​What we know about the chief Roman god, Jupiter, is that he is, or was, a vengeful deity, quick to hurl lightning bolts at—from his perspective—misbehaving mortals. It was a matter of be good or else! Strangely, my Jewish ancestors in the Holy land some 2500 years ago had a one-and-only god called Yahweh, the name based on Biblical Hebrew, or Jehovah, its Latinized version. Strange! Both deities had names that began with the J sound. And, as it turns out, that’s not the only thing they had in common.

Consider this passage from the Second Book of Kings, the 21st Chapter, in the Old Testament:

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. . . . He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, following the abominable practices of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. . . . The Lord said by his servants the prophets, “Because King Manasseh of Judah has committed these abominations . . . and has caused Judah to sin with his idols; therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such evil that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. . . . I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. . . .” (verses 1-13, partim, New Revised Standard Version)

Not only does this version of the Creator seem a close copy of Jupiter, but for a historical Jewish king to do right in the eyes of the Lord, the former and the people he lead must strictly follow the 613 dos and don’ts prescribed in the Laws of Moses. The worst sins seem to be worshipping idols of wood and stone in high places, setting up sacred poles, having one’s sons walk through fires, practising soothsaying and augury, dealing with mediums and wizards, and—worst of all—worshipping Baal. As we may recall, the Deity told Moses that He was “a jealous God,” visiting retribution on the people, not just the kings, to the fourth and fifth generations and beyond. Oy!

I remember a book I read some years ago, Children’s Letter to God. One particularly poignant missive was sent by a late elementary-school girl named Jane. It read, “Dear God, I learned in Sunday School that you are a jealous God. But why should you be jealous? You already have everything. Love, Janie.” Indeed! Jealousy seems such a petty, negative attitude for anyone to have, especially the Master of the Universe!
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Fortunately, the later prophets leading up to Jesus favored a loving, forgiving Deity. In the 15th century C.E. Luther among others emphasized Grace over Works, that God was not transactional and that the divine favor could not be bought by accruing merit badges for good behavior. In short, God was not a Mafia Don but was slow to anger and characterized by loving mercy. And, in fairness, it’s important to say that later and contemporary Judaism came to embrace this characterization of the One God as well, with the possible exceptions of its Orthodox version. So that leads me to ask, who is God for you? He’s sure not Jupiter for me.

An angry Jehovah

And an angry Jupiter