Many scholars reject the historicity of the Patriarchs arguing that the patriarchal traditions were later writings dating from Josiah’s time when Judean editors/authors wrote Israel’s history considering Deuteronomic Law. Here I will argue for both a patriarchal religion distinct from Mosaic religion, and that the religion of the Patriarchs was like the religion of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The book of Genesis gives its own testimony that the Patriarch’s religion was distinct from Mosaic religion. The Patriarch’s cultic practices, such as altars, pillars, tithes, vows, and ritual purity reflect Israel’s faith, a faith without an Exodus narrative found in Judah. The sources for the book of Genesis are largely from the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the “hero” of the book of Genesis is Joseph, and not Judah.  Let us look at the Patriarch’s religion in Genesis and compare that with the Mosaic religion of Judah, and practices from the Ancient Near East (ANE) in the millennium before the Second Temple. I will conclude by comparing the Patriarch’s religion in Genesis with the Prophetic messages of Elijah and Elisha, prophets to Israel, who do not share the Mosaic prophetical messages of the other Prophets in the TaNaK.

The portrayal of God and his covenant with the Patriarchs is unique. The Patriarchs' involvement in their rituals show no comparison to that of the ANE or Mosaic Judah. The Patriarchs are described as engaging in rituals to maintain their religious piety. The portrayal of these practices is distinctive to their religion and lifestyle. In the ANE altars were not built by individuals but were largely built by organized cults at sanctuaries where priests presided. Planting trees or raising pillars to worship God is explicitly prohibited in later Mosaic Judah. The book of Genesis, contrary to Mosaic law, portrays the patriarchal practices as accepted by God. Prayer, tithing, vow making and purification rituals were common in the ANE and Israel/Judah, but they largely took place at established sanctuaries with priests and were performed with detailed legislation. In the patriarchal narratives, by contrast, the Patriarchs themselves performed the rituals with no legislation relating to any of these practices. Patriarchal altars were outside of settled communities and distinct from public holy sites. The occasions for their sacrifices were prompted by theophany, relocation, covenant, and life guidance. Unlike in the ANE and Mosaic Judah, they had no festivals or sacrifices for healing or for battle. The purpose of Patriarchal altars is less clear, though it seems mainly to have been for worship, and occasionally for the fulfilment of vows or for thanksgiving. Prayer in the patriarchal narratives occurs in the family and other informal settings, unlike in the ANE and Mosaic religion. Prayer is shown entirely as conversation between the Patriarchs and God. The intercession of Abraham over Sodom and Gomorrah is an example of this. The content, setting and theology of prayer in the patriarchal narratives is distinct from that of both the ANE and Mosaic Judah. The range of problems for which the ANE and Mosaic Judah approached the deity are surprisingly lacking in the Patriarchal narratives, in that there is no prayer for sin and guilt, oppression by enemies or abandonment by the deity, although the Patriarchs experienced all these problems. Another distinctive aspect of Patriarchal prayer is the making of blessings, which is never cultic as in the ANE. One of the most distinctive features of patriarchal religion is the raising of pillars by Jacob. These pillars are unique in that they signify theophanies, worship and commemoration of God and an establishment of a contractual bond with him. Pillars were strongly condemned in later Mosaic Judah. In the ANE they are not attested as being raised in response to theophanies but were found only in ritual areas as fulfilled promises by the practitioners. The Patriarchs' tithes, vow making, and purification rites were similarly distinct, and compatible only with their lifestyle and worship. The un-vowed tithe paid by Abraham to the Canaanite priest-king Melchizedek was not a regular, annual, obligatory tithe as in the ANE and Mosaic Judah. Abraham was following a custom attested both in the ANE and Mosaic Judah where a portion of booty was paid to the deity. This single activity does not establish his allegiance to the Canaanite deity El, since his normal pattern of worship involved building altars and calling on the name of YHVH. (Deuteronomy 6:3 implies that El and YHVH did become one and the same God. Deuteronomy 6:3 claims that the Patriarchs only knew Him as El Shaddai despite YHVH being used in the Patriarchal narratives of the book of Genesis.)

The ideas of purification attested in the patriarchal stories are unlike those attested in the ANE and Mosaic Judah.  Although death, burial, and mourning customs are frequently attested in the ANE, in Genesis there is only one possible allusion to uncleanness by death, and that is in the Joseph story in Egypt. This idea is given no significance, in contrast to its paramount importance in the Priestly system in Mosaic Judah. In Jacob’s narrative, ANE concepts of purification are seen before approaching a holy place and foreign gods are carefully buried to affirm loyalty to one's own god, as Jacob buries his family’s old idols in Genesis ch35. That Jacob was following such a practice is demonstrated from his own experience at Bethel, in Paddan-Aram, and at Shechem. Jacob's practice is distinct from Mosaic Judah, which would destroy the idols and not bury them. It is also distinct from ANE practices, because the place where Jacob went to meet with God had no organized cult or priest. Alone Jacob called for purification, buried the idols and on arrival at the holy place built an altar for God. Therefore, the patriarchal religious practices are compatible with their worship pattern and their belief in a family God who went along with them wherever they went. The patriarchal religion is family oriented, clan based and compatible with the semi-nomadic lifestyle of the patriarchs. The Genesis account of patriarchal religion is therefore not likely to be a product of later imagination but understood in the religion of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The patriarchs are living as aliens in the land and as aliens to the indigenous cult of the land. Their social and political relations with the natives were peaceful, but on the basis that they were still foreigners. Their ethnicity is different from the Canaanites and so were their religious rites. Religious syncretism became an issue only later (in Mosaic Judah’s staunch monotheism) when Israel claimed the land as her own and wanted to become like the native inhabitants. The local religious customs of Canaan became forbidden in Mosaic Judah, but this was not a problem for the Patriarchs.

Israel’s prophets prove that the Northern Kingdom of Israel worshipped YHVH the same way the Patriarchs did.  By “Israel’s prophets” I mean the Northern Kingdom’s prophets.  Let me make my case.  Elijah and Elisha are the two major prophets in the book of Kings, and both Elijah and Elisha are prophets to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  Elijah and Elisha (unlike all the prophets to Judah) build altars outside of the Tabernacle/Temple, which is forbidden in Mosaic Law.  Elijah and Elisha never talk to Judah nor its kings. Elijah and Elisha never claim that the worship of YHVH should be in one place only, even though their prophetic careers were long after King Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem.  Their careers are recorded between 1 Kings chapter 17 and 2 Kings chapter 9. Elijah and Elisha do not have ministries concerned with talking to Israel about its lack of dedication to Deuteronomic ideals outside of worshipping YHVH only. Elijah even rebuilds a demolished altar to YHVH at a High Place on Mt Carmel (1 Kings 18:30), which is a practice outlawed in Deuteronomy twenty-one times. 1 Kings 18:30 “And Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me," and all the people came near to him, and he repaired the torn down altar of YHVH.” After defeating the prophets of Baal, Elijah never sanctions Israel for worshipping YHVH with an altar at the Mt Carmel High Place instead of Jerusalem, at Solomon's Temple. Elijah and Elisha serve YHVH in Israel (Samaria), Phoenicia (Lebanon), and Aram, but never Judah. Unlike other Judean prophets, Elijah and Elisha are doing miracles of resurrection, multiplying oil, being fed by Ravens, and bringing about famine and rain (Baal was the god of Agriculture in Canaan, YHVH bringing famine was a direct attack against Baal.)  A foreigner (Aramean) is even cured of leprosy by washing in the Jordan River. Elijah and Elisha have three consistent messages in addition to their miracles: a) Israel must not worship Baal and Asherah, b) instructions to individuals on succession matters concerning Israel’s kingship and c) how to conduct battles against Israel’s enemies, specifically against Moab and Aram.  Both Elijah and Elisha do not write prophetic books unlike Judean prophets. Unlike all the other prophets of Judah, Elijah and Elisha never give “follow the Torah of Moshe or be exiled” prophecies.  Disobedience to Torah leads to exile is the overwhelming concern of Judean prophetical books and the book of Deuteronomy.  What is known about Elijah and Elisha appears to come from a source the book of Kings mentions several times: “The Book of the Words of the Days of the Kings of Israel.” It is clear, Judean scribes writing the Judean book of Kings appropriated Israel’s prophets into Judean works, and for some reason did not edit Elijah’s and Elisha’s careers to include messages to “stop serving Baal or Assyria will exile you.”  The Judean writers did not edit Elijah and Elisha’s stories well enough to weed out all sections that contradict Deuteronomy and Leviticus. In 1Kings 19:14, Elijah tells YHVH that Israel has destroyed all YHVH’s altars, when in reality, the Torah states over two dozen times that worship can only be done at “the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (the Tabernacle)” or the “place YHVH would chose (Jerusalem’s Temple).” Elijah said, “I have been zealous for the Lord, the God of Hosts, for the Children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, they have torn down Your altars, and they have killed Your prophets by the sword, and I alone remain, and they seek to take my soul.” 1Kings 19:14 In this passage, Elijah has no idea that altars outside of the Jerusalem Temple is sinful, contrary to the Torah of Moses.  This all proves that the Elijah and Elisha’s stories are those of Israel, and their faith is the same as the Patriarchs. These small details show that the Mosaic Torah was unknown to Elijah and unknown in Israel, and therefore, the Exodus story was also most likely unknown in Israel during Elijah’s time.

In the ancient Israelite religion, places of worship are referred to as high places (Hebrew: במה bamah and plural במות bamot). Bamot were found in many towns and villages in ancient Israel (and Judah). From the TaNaK and from existing archaeological remains we can reconstruct a historical Israelite place of worship. It was often on the hill above the town, as at Ramah (1 Samuel 9:12–14); there was a stele (matzevah), the seat of the deity, there was a stone altar (מִזְבֵּחַ mīzbēaḥ "slaughter place"), and built of unhewn stones on which offerings were burnt; a cistern for water, and low stone tables; sometimes also a hall (לִשְׁכָּה līškā) for feasts. Ancient Israelite religion was centered on these sites; at festival seasons (New Moons and Sabbaths/Full Moons), or to make or fulfil a vow. An Israelite might journey to more famous sanctuaries a distance from home, but ordinarily offerings were made at the bamah of his own town.  There are many passages showing this in the book of Samuel as well as the book of Kings. Let’s look at the text of 1 Samuel 9:8-19. The context of 1 Samuel chapter 9 is Samuel being sent by YHVH to anoint Saul of the tribe of Benjamin, as first king of Israel. Saul’s family is not following the Deuteronomic law code, but the monotheistic Yahwism of the Patriarchs. The same is true for the prophet/judge Samuel!  Before Samuel finds Saul, we have our passage showing Israelite religion, with Saul looking for the Seer: 1 Samuel 9:8-19 “The lad answered Saul again, and said, "Behold, I have in my possession a fourth of a shekel of silver, and I shall give it to the man of God (Elohim), that he may tell us our way." Formerly, in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God (Elohim), he would say, "Come and let us go to the seer (ro’eh)," for he who is called a prophet (navi) today, was formerly called a seer (ro’eh). As they were going up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens coming out to draw water, and they said to them, "Is the seer (ro’eh) here?" And they answered them and said, "He is. See, he is before you. Hurry now, for today he has come to the city, for the people will have the sacrifice of the day in the high place (Bamah).   When you come to the city, straightway you will find him, before he ascends to the high place (Bamah) to eat, for the people will not eat until he comes, for he will bless the sacrifice, and afterwards the invited guests will eat. Now go up, for at this time, you will find him.” And they went up to the city. As they were coming into the midst of the city, behold, Samuel was coming out toward them, to ascend the high place (Bamah). Now, YHVH had revealed to Samuel one day before Saul's coming, saying, "At this time tomorrow, I shall send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be a ruler of my people Israel, and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have looked upon My people, for their cry has come to Me."  And Samuel saw Saul, and the Lord said to him, "Behold, the man about whom I said to you, 'This one will rule over My people.' "  And Saul approached Samuel inside the gate and said, "Tell me now, which is the house of the seer (ro’eh)?" And Samuel answered Saul, and said, "I am the seer (ro’eh), and you shall eat with me today, and I shall send you away in the morning, and all that is on your mind, I shall tell you.”

It is clear from this text that Israel had seers in High Places, and even Samuel had no problem going to high places. This is despite Deuteronomy stating veneration can only be done at “the place YHVH will chose” 21 separate times, as well as Leviticus chapter 17 making clear that sacrifices can only be done at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (the Tabernacle).  This text shows the last Judge, Samuel, not having knowledge of the Mosaic law for sacrificing only at the Temple/Tabernacle. Another great passage that shows Samuel was unaware of Mosaic Law is 1 Samuel 7:15-17: "And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.  And he walked as needed year by year surrounding Bethel, Giglal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. And his dwelling was in Ramah, for there was his house, and there he judged Israel, and there he built an altar." I can give many examples of Israel and Judah doing sacrifices at high places in the NaK.  I conclude that many passages in the TaNaK, imply Ancient Israel, the Northern Kingdom, had a religious faith like that of the Patriarchs, and later, Deuteronomic scribes re-wrote Israel’s history from Judah’s Levitical point of view.

In our goal to reconstruct the earliest Israelite understanding of YHVH, we must go to both archaeology, and biblical scholars who specialize in textual criticism.  Getting to the oldest texts and comparing these to the archaeological finds is a must, in our quest to understand early Israelite Yahwism.