House of Yahweh (biblical term)

"House of Yahweh" or "House of YHWH" (Hebrew: בֵּית יהוה Bēt YHWH) is a phrase found throughout the Hebrew Bible, and on at least one extrabiblical inscription. Numerous "houses of (God)" are mentioned in the text of the Tanakh, and they did not always represent a physical structure – however, in the context of the "House of Yahweh", the phrase is primarily taken to refer to a temple dedicated to the worship of Yahweh.

Jerusalem

Most modern religious scholars focus primarily upon Solomon's Temple, the First Temple in Jerusalem. However, there have been two other structures identified as "a House of Yahweh." One is located in Elephantine, Egypt; the other structure is a temple at Tel Arad.

New Testament

The New Testament refers to the phrase "house of God" in Mark 2:26; Luke 6:4; 1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 10:21; and 1 Peter 4:17. Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7 – "… My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations" (NKJV) – in Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; and Luke 19:46.

Tel Arad

In 1962 Yohanan Aharoni excavated a Judean temple at Tel Arad. The incense altars and two "standing stones" may have been dedicated to Yahweh and Asherah.^[1] An inscribed pottery shard found at the site, known as Ostracon 18, mentions a "House of YHWH," which scholars suggest may reference the temple at Arad or the Temple in Jerusalem.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Elephantine

See Elephantine: Jewish temple.

References

^ Mazar, Amihai. The Divided Monarchy: Comments on Some Archaeological Issues. Pages 159–80 in ‘’The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archaeology and the History of Early Israel (Archaeology and Biblical Studies)’’ Society of Biblical Literature (Sep 2007) ISBN 978-1-58983-277-0 p.176
^ Aharoni, Yohanan (1981). Arad Inscriptions. University of Virginia: Israel Exploration Society. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
^ Dever, William G. ‘’What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It?: What Archaeology Can Tell Us About the Reality of Ancient Israel’’ Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (June 2002) ISBN 978-0-8028-2126-3 p.212
^ King, Philip J.; Lawrence E. Stager ‘’Life in Biblical Israel’’ Westminster/John Knox Press, U.S.; 1 edition (19 April 2002) ISBN 978-0-664-22148-5 p.314

[1] Mazar, Amihai. The Divided Monarchy: Comments on Some Archaeological Issues. Pages 159–80 in ‘’The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archaeology and the History of Early Israel (Archaeology and Biblical Studies)’’ Society of Biblical Literature (Sep 2007) ISBN 978-1-58983-277-0 p.176

[2] Aharoni, Yohanan (1981). Arad Inscriptions. University of Virginia: Israel Exploration Society. Retrieved 2008-09-15.

[3] Dever, William G. ‘’What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It?: What Archaeology Can Tell Us About the Reality of Ancient Israel’’ Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (June 2002) ISBN 978-0-8028-2126-3 p.212

[4] King, Philip J.; Lawrence E. Stager ‘’Life in Biblical Israel’’ Westminster/John Knox Press, U.S.; 1 edition (19 April 2002) ISBN 978-0-664-22148-5 p.314

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