Chemosh

Chemosh (pronounced /ˈkimɑʃ/) (from Hebrew כמש, pronounced /χeˈmoʃ/), was the primary god of the Moabites (Num. 21:29; Jer. 48:7, 13, 46).

Moabite source

Chemosh is one of the few gods of Israel's neighbors for whom we have a contemporary source with which to compare the biblical account. Account to the Moabite stone, and inscription of the Moabite King Mesha, Chemosh was the supreme Moabite deity who brought victory in battle when his people honored him properly, but allowed their victors to prevail when they fell into sin. Also known as the "Mesha Stele, this remarkable monument was erected about 850 B.C.E. as a record of Mesha's victories in his revolt against the Kingdom of Israel after the death of his overlord, Ahab.

Mesha identifies himself as the son of Kemosh-yatti, who had ruled over Moab for 30 years. He attributes his successes to his god. "I made this high-place for Kemosh in Qarcho because he has saved me from all kings, and because he has shown me to all my enemies. Omri (the father of Ahab) was the king of Israel, and he oppressed Moab for many days, for Kemosh was angry with his land. And his son (Ahab) replaced him; and he said, "I will also oppress Moab"... But I looked down on him and on his house. And Israel has been defeated; has been defeated forever... Kemosh restored (the land) in my days. And I built Baal Meon, and I built a water reservoir in it... The men of Gad lived in the land of Atarot from ancient times; and the king of Israel built Atarot for himself. And I fought against the city and captured it. And I killed all the people of the city as a sacrifice for Kemosh and for Moab. And I brought back the fire-hearth of his uncle from there; and I brought it before Kemosh in Qerioit, and I settled the men of Sharon there, as well as the men of Maharit. And Kemosh said to me, "Go, take Nebo from Israel." And I went in the night and fought against it from the daybreak until midday, and I took it and I killed it all: seven thousand men and (male) aliens, and women and (female) aliens, and servant girls. Since for Ashtar Kemosh I banned it. And from there I took the vessels of Yahweh, and I brought them before Kemosh.

From this we can deduce a number of probable facts about Chemosh. First, he was Moab's national god. Like the Israelite god Yahweh, he punished his people by allowing neighboring tribes or nations to subjugate or harass them. In this case, Chemosh allowed the Israelites to "oppress" Moab for many years, a clear reference to the the events confirmed by the biblical account during the reigns of the northern kings Omri and Ahab. However, Mesha boasts that Chemosh has blessed him with success, apparently the result of his piety.

Chemosh communicated with his people, probably through a form of divination similar to the many biblical references to the Israelites "inquiring of the Lord." Also similar to the Israelite tradition is Chemosh's direct involvement in military decision such as his telling Mesha to "go and take Nebo from the Israelites." Mesha does so, slaughtering all of the town's inhabitants and placing it under a "ban." Here we see a direct parallel to the policy of holy war practiced by the Israelite commander Joshua, King Saul, and others, in which no booty or slaves could be taken, but a city's who population would be killed in Yahweh's name. Indeed, Saul was reportedly rejected by God for failing to carrying such a ban fully enough when he slaughtered an entire population of Amalekites but allowed his men to capture cattle instead of destroying them along with the human population.

We also see that Chemosh was associated with the Semitic mother-goddess Ashtar, and she with him, probably in the relationship of husband and consort. "Ashtar" here is equivalent to "Astarte," the Canaanite fertility goddess. Some, however, believe that "Ashtar" is could be a masculine name here, and another name for Chemosh—the compound "Ashtar-Chemosh" being formed like "Yhwh-Elohim" (translated as "the Lord God in English).

Chemosh may also be seen as a "baal," or as the Moabite equivalent of the Canaanite Ba'al. Some hold that the Moabite god "Baal-peor" of Num. 25:3 is essentially the same god as Chemosh, who is also identified with the name (or place) Baal-meon above.

Biblical data

According to the Hebrew Bible, the worship of this god, "the abomination of Moab," was introduced at Jerusalem by Solomon (1 Kings 11:7), but was abolished by Josiah (2 Kings 23:13). On the Moabite stone, Mesha (2 Kings 3:5) ascribed his victories over the king of Israel to this god, "And Chemosh drove him before my sight."

According to Morris Jastrow, Jr. and George A. Barton in the Jewish Encyclopedia

The etymology of "Chemosh" is unknown. The name of the father of Mesba, Chemosh-melek ("Chemosh is Malik," or "Chemosh is king"; compare Moabite Stone, line 1), indicates the possibility that Chemosh and Malik (or Moloch) were one and the same deity. Judges xi. 24 has been thought by some to be a proof of this, since it speaks of Chemosh as the god of the Ammonites, while Moloch is elsewhere their god (compare I Kings xi. 7, 33). Several critics rightly regard the statement in Judges as a mistake; but such an error was not unnatural. since both Chemosh and Moloch were developed, in different environments, from the same primitive divinity, and possessed many of the same epithets.

On critical occasions a human sacrifice was considered necessary to secure his favor (compare II Kings iii. 27), and when deliverance came, a sanctuary might be built to him (Moabite Stone, line 3). An ancient poem, twice quoted in the Old Testament (Num. xxi. 27-30; Jer. xlviii. 45, 46), regards the Moabites as the children of Chemosh, and also calls them "the people of Chemosh."

Solomon is said to have built a sanctuary to Chemosh on the Mount of Olives (I Kings xi. 7, 33), which was maintained till the reform of Josiah (II Kings xxiii. 13). This movement by Solomon was no doubt to some extent a political one, but it made the worship of Chemosh a part of the religious life of Israel for nearly 400 years".

However, according to II Kings xi. 7, evidence is given that Chemosh and Moloch were two different gods or perhaps two manifestations of the same god, at least to the peoples who worshiped them. Solomon had "high places" built for both gods at the same time and in the same location, "on the mountain which is East of Jerusalem." Both Chemosh and Molech may have had the same origins but if so, by Solomon's time they had been denominated into differing objects for different peoples, Chemosh for the Moabites and Moloch for the Ammonites. Interestingly, according to Genesis xix. 30-38, both the Moabites and the Ammonites were descended from the two sons of Lot (themselves half-brothers by his two daughters), Moab and Ben-ammi. It is not unreasonable then to speculate that the origins for Chemosh (and Moloch) were borrowed from gods worshiped by the inhabitants of Sodom in which Lot's daughters had lived prior to its destruction.

This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.

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