- Yahweh was an ancient Levantine deity, the national god of the Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Though no consensus exists regarding the deity’s origins, scholars generally contend that Yahweh is associated with Seir, Edom, Paran and Teman, and later with Canaan. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age, if not somewhat earlier. Although the religion of Israelites was polytheistic prior to the Babylonian captivity, the deity of Yahweh later evolved into the concepts of God in Judaism and Samaritanism, which are strictly monotheistic.
