Chemosh

כמוש , an idol of the Moabites, Num 21:29. The name is derived from a root which in Arabic signifies to hasten. For this reason, many believe Chemosh to be the sun, whose precipitate course might well procure it the name of swift. Some identify Chemosh with Ammon; and Macrobius shows that Ammon was the sun, whose rays were denoted by his horns. Calmet is of opinion that the god Hamanus and Apollo Chomeus, mentioned by Strabo and Ammianus Marcellinus, was Chamos, or the sun. These deities were worshipped in many parts of the east. Some, from the resemblance of the Hebrew Chamos with the Greek Comos, have thought Chamos to signify Bacchus. Jerom and most interpreters consider Chemosh and Peor as the same deity; but some think that Baal-Peor was Tammuz, or Adonis. To Chemosh Solomon erected an altar upon the Mount of Olives, 1Ki 11:7. As to the form of the idol Chemosh, the Scripture is silent; but if, according to Jerom, it were like Baal-Peor, it must have been of the beeve kind; as were, probably, all the Baals, though accompanied with various insignia. There can be little doubt that part of the religious services performed to Chemosh, as to Baal- Peor, consisted in revelling and drunkenness, obscenities and impurities of the grossest kinds. From Chemosh the Greeks seem to have derived their Κωμος, called by the Romans Comus, the god of feasting and revelling.

Che´mosh is the name of a national god of the Moabites (1Ki 11:7; 2Ki 23:13; Jer 48:7; who are for this reason called the ’people of Chemosh,’ in Num 21:29), and of the Ammonites (Jdg 11:24), whose worship was introduced among the Israelites by Solomon (1Ki 11:7). No attempt which has been made to identify this god with others whose attributes are better known, are sufficiently plausible to deserve particular notice. The only theory which rests on any probability is that which assumes a resemblance between Chemosh and Arabian idolatry. Jewish tradition affirms that he was worshipped under the symbol of a black star; and Maimonides states that his worshippers went bare-headed, and abstained from the use of garments sewn together by the needle. The black star, the connection with Arabian idolatry, and the fact that Chemosh is coupled with Moloch, favor the theory that he had some analogy with the planet Saturn.

The national god of the Moabites, and of the Ammonites, worshipped also under Solomon at Jerusalem, Num 21:29 ; Jdg 11:24 ; 1Ki 11:7 ; 2Ki 23:13 ; Jer 48:7 . Some erroneously identify Chemosh with Ammon.\par

Che’mosh. (subduer). The national deity of the Moabites. Num 21:29; Jer 48:7; Jer 48:13; Jer 48:46. In Jdg 11:24. He also appears as the god of the Ammonites. Solomon introduced, and Josiah abolished, the worship of Chemosh at Jerusalem. 1Ki 11:7; 2Ki 23:13. Also identified with Baal-peor, Baalzebub, Mars and Saturn.

The "abomination" (i.e. idol, in Scripture’s contemptuous phrase) of Moab (Num 21:29; Jer 48:7; Jer 48:13-46). Depicted on coins with sword, lance, and shield, and two torches at his side. Ammon, from its close connection with Moab, also worshipped Chemosh, but Moloch (kin) was their peculiar deity (Jdg 11:24). Solomon introduced, and Josiah overthrew, Chemosh worship in Jerusalem. A black star, according to Jewish tradition, was his symbol, whether as identical with Mars or Saturn. Jerome states that Dibon was his chief seat of worship.

A black stone was the Arab symbol of him. The inscribed black stone set up at Dibon, lately discovered, is full of the Moabite king Mesha’s praises of Chemosh as the giver of his martial successes against Israel. (See MOAB; DIBON.) Derived from kabash, to vanquish. Idolatry originated in appropriating to separate deities the attributes combined in the one true God. "Ashtar Chemosh," mentioned on the Moabite stone, connects the Moabite and the Phoenician worship. Ashtar is the masculine of Astarte, an androgynous god, combining the active and passive powers of nature. Chemosh required human sacrifices as god of war; Mesha, after taking Ataroth, offered all the warriors in sacrifice.

(Hebrews Kemosh´, כְּמוֹשׁ, perh. subduer, or [as Fürst prefers] fire-god; Sept. Χαμώς), the national deity of the Moabites (Num 21:29; Jer 48:7; Jer 48:13; Jer 48:46). In Jdg 11:24 (see Kraft, Chamos a Jephtha derisus, Erlang. 1766), he also appears as the god of the Ammonites, but not of the Amorites (as De Wette states, Archiol. p. 328). Solomon introduced, and Josiah abolished, the worship of Chemosh at Jerusalem (1Ki 11:7; 2Ki 23:13). SEE IDOLATRY. With regard to the meaning of the name, and the position which Chemosh held in mythology, we have nothing to record beyond doubtful and discordant conjectures. Jerome (Comm. in Isa 15:2) identifies him with Baal- Peor (comp. Selden, De diis Syr. p. 165, 341); others with Baal-Zebub, on etymological grounds (Hyde, De rel. vet. Pers. 100:5); others, as Gesenius (Thesaur. p. 693), with Mars, or the god of war, on similar grounds; and others (Beyer ad Selden, p. 323) with Saturn, as the star of ill omen, Chemosh having been worshipped, according to a Jewish tradition (comp. Pococke, Specim. p. 307), under the form of a black stone; and Maimonides states that his worshippers went bareheaded, and abstained from the use of garments sewn together by the needle (see Calmet, Dissertt. 2:277 sq.). This last identification is favored by the connection of the name Chemosh with that of Moloch or Milcom (1Ki 11:7; 2Ki 23:13), and by the sacrifice apparently of children to him (see 2Ki 3:27). Hackmann, however (Diss. de Chemoscho, Brem. 1730; also in Oelrich’s Opusc. histor. philol. theol. I, 1:19 sq.), makes the name to be equivalent to royal deity. Jerome (ut. sup.) notices Dibon as the chief seat of his worship. Eusebius asain (Onomast. s.v. Α᾿ρινά, i.e. Α᾿ριήλ) names Ariel (?fire-god) as the chief deity of Ar-Moab (thence called Areopolis), and in this character he is represented on coins (Eckhel, Doctr. Numbers I, 3:504). SEE SATURN.

Chemosh (kç’mŏsh), subduer. The national deity of the Moabites. Num 21:29; Jer 48:7; Jer 48:13; Jer 48:46. In Jdg 11:24 he also appears as the god of the Ammonites. Solomon introduced, and Josiah abolished, the worship of Chemosh at Jerusalem. 1Ki 11:7; 2Ki 23:13. Also related to Baal-peor, Baal-zebub, Mars, and Saturn.

[Chemosh’]

One of the chief gods of the Moabites and the Ammonites, the worship of which was introduced at Jerusalem by Solomon, and abolished by Josiah. Num 21:29; Jdg 11:24; 1Ki 11:7; 1Ki 11:33;

2Ki 23:13; Jer 48:7; Jer 48:13; Jer 48:46. On the ’MOABITE ’ STONE, q.v., this ’god’ is mentioned. The king, referring to the king of Israel, says, "Chemosh drove him before my sight."

By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., George A. Barton

The national god of the Moabites. He became angry with his people and permitted them to become the vassals of Israel; his anger passed, he commanded Mesha to fight against Israel, and Moabitish independence was reestablished (Moabite Stone, lines 5, 9, 14 et seq.). A king in the days of Sennacherib was called "Chemoshnadab" ("K. B." ii. 90 et seq. ; see Jehonadab). Chemosh was a god developed out of the primitive Semitic mother-goddess Athtar, whose name he bears (Moabite Stone, line 17; compare Barton, "Semitic Origins," iv.). Peake wrongly holds that Ashtar-Chemosh was a deity distinct from Chemosh, while Moore and Bäthgen ("Beiträge zur Semitischen Religionsge. schichte," p. 14) regard "Ashtar" in this name as equivalent to "Astarte," who they believe was worshiped in the temple of Chemosh. "Ashtar" is more probably masculine here, as in South Arabia, and another name for Chemosh, the compound "Ashtar-Chemosh" being formed like "Yhwh-Elohim" or "Yhwh-Sebaoth." There seems to be no good reason for denying that Chemosh was a "baal," and that the names "Baal-maon" (Moabite Stone, line 30) and "Baal-peor" (Num. xxv. 3; Hosea ix. 10) apply to what was practically the same god as Chemosh. The way Mesha brings Baal-maon into his inscription identifies the latter with Chemosh; for when Baal-maon is pleased Chemosh speaks to Mesha (Moabite Stone, lines 30, 31). Whatever differences of conception may have attached to the god at different shrines, there is no adequate reason for doubting the substantial identity of the gods to whom these various names were applied. Hosea ix. 10 is proof that at some period (according to Wellhausen, at the time of the prophet himself) the impure cult of the Semitic goddess was practised at Baal-peor (compare Wellhausen, "Kleine Prophetell"; Nowack's Commentary; and G. A. Smith, "Twelve Prophets," ad loc.). Chemosh, therefore,was in general a deity of the same nature as Baal. 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."

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.

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.

CHEMOSH.—The national god of the Moabites (Num 21:29; in Jdg 11:24 probably ‘Chemosh’ is a scribal or other error for ‘Milcom’ [wh. see], who held the same position among the Ammonites). His rites seem to have included human sacrifice (cf. 2Ki 3:27). It was for this ‘abomination of Moab’ that Solomon erected a temple (1Ki 11:7), later destroyed by Josiah (2Ki 23:13).

N. Koenig.

kē´mosh (כּמושׁ, k^emōsh; Χαμώς, Chamō̇s):

1.    Moabites, the People of Chemosh

2.    Solomon and Chemosh Worship

3.    Josiah Putting Down Chemosh Worship

4.    Chemosh and Ammonites

5.    Moabite Stone

6.    Mesha’s Inscription and the Old Testament

7.    Chemosh in the Inscription

8.    Parallels Between Inscription and Old Testament Record

9.    Ethical Contrast

Literature

1. Moabites, the People of Chemosh

The national God of the Moabites, as Baal of the Zidonians, or Milcom (Moloch, Malcam) of the Ammonites. The Moabites are apostrophized in an old Hebrew song as the “people of Chemosh” (Num 21:29). Jeremiah in his oracle of doom upon Moab has recourse to the same old song and calls the people “the people of Chemosh.” The impotence of the god to deliver his people is described by the prophet in figures representing him as going into captivity with them, his priests and princes together, and Moab is to be ashamed of him as Israel was of the Golden Calf of Bethel, which did not avail to save the Northern Kingdom from the conquering Assyrian power (Jer 48:7, Jer 48:13, Jer 48:16).

2. Solomon and Chemosh Worship

For Chemosh, “the abomination of Moab,” as for Moloch, “the abomination of the children of Ammon,” Solomon, under the influence of his idolatrous wives, built a high place in the mount before Jerusalem (1Ki 11:7). It was natural that they should desire to worship still after the manner of the gods of their native land, but although the effect of all this was seen in the moral and spiritual deterioration of Solomon himself there is no indication that the immoralities and cruelties associated with such worship were then practiced in Jerusalem. In the days of Ahaz and Manasseh, even as early as the days of Abijam of Judah, they were (1Ki 15:12, 1Ki 15:13).

3. Josiah Putting down Chemosh Worship

Josiah found these abominations of alien worship, which had been introduced by Solomon and added to by Ahaz and Manasseh, flourishing when he came to the throne. Moved by the prohibitions of the Book of the Law (Deu 12:29-31; Deu 18:10), Josiah pulled down and defiled the high places and the altars, and in order to make a clean sweep of the idolatrous figures, “he brake in pieces the pillars,” or obelisks, “and cut down the Asherim,” or sacred poles, “and filled their places with the bones of men” (2 Ki 23:1-20).

4. Chemosh and Ammonites

There is one passage where Chemosh is designated the god of the Ammonites (Jdg 11:24). Jephthah is disputing the right of the Ammonites to invade territory which belongs to Israel because Yahweh has given it to them by conquest. And he asks: ’Shouldst thou not possess the territory of those whom Chemosh, thy god, dispossesses, and we the territory of all whom Yahweh, our god, dispossesses?’ It may be that he is called here the god of the Ammonites by a mere oversight of the historian; or that Moab and Ammon being kindred nations descended from a common ancestor, Lot, Chemosh may in a sense belong to both. We notice, however, that Jephthah’s argument in meeting the claim preferred by the king of Ammon passes on to Israel’s relation to the Moabites and makes mention only of well-known Moabite cities. Chemosh is accordingly named because of his association with Moab, the cities of which are being spoken of, although strictly and literally Milcom should have been named in an appeal addressed as a whole to the Ammonites (Jdg 11:12-28; compare Moore at the place).

5. Moabite Stone

The discovery of the Moabite Stone in 1868 at Dibon has thrown light upon Chemosh and the relations of Moab to its national god. The monument, which is now one of the most precious treasures of the Louvre in Paris, bears an inscription which is the oldest specimen of Semitic alphabetic writing extant, commemorating the successful effort made about 860 or 850 bc by Mesha’, king of Moab, to throw off the yoke of Israel. We know from the Old Testament record that Moab had been reduced to subjection by David (2Sa 8:2); that it paid a heavy tribute to Ahab, king of Israel (2Ki 3:4); and that, on the death of Ahab, Mesha its king rebelled against Israelite rule (2Ki 3:5). Not till the reign of Jehoram was any effort made to recover the lost dominion. The king of Israel then allied himself with the kings of Judah and Edom, and marching against Moab by the way of the Red Sea, inflicted upon Mesha a defeat so decisive that the wrath of his god, Chemosh, could be appeased only by the sacrifice of his son (2Ki 3:6).

6. Mesha’s Inscription and the Old Testament

The historical situation described in the Old Testament narrative is fully confirmed by Mesha’’s inscription. There are, however, divergences in detail. In the Book of Kings the revolt of Mesha’ is said to have taken place after the death of Ahab. The inscription implies that it must have taken place by the middle of Ahab’s reign. The inscription implies that the subjection of Moab to Israel had not been continuous from the time of David, and says that ’Omri, the father of Ahab, had reasserted the power of Israel and had occupied at least a part of the land.

7. Chemosh in the Inscription

It is with what the inscription says of Chemosh that we are chiefly concerned. On the monument the name appears twelve times. Mesha’ is himself the son of Chemosh, and it was for Chemosh that he built the high place upon which the monument was found. He built it because among other reasons Chemosh had made him to see his desire upon them that hated him. It was because Chemosh was angry with his land that ’Omri afflicted Moab many days. ’Omri had taken possession of the land of Medeba and Israel dwelt in it his days and half his son’s days, but Chemosh restored it in Mesha’’s days. Mesha’ took ’Ataroth which the king of Israel had built for himself, slew all the people of the city, and made them a gazing-stock to Chemosh and to Moab. Mesha’ brought thence the altar-hearth of Dodo, and dragged it before Chemosh in Kerioth. By command of Chemosh, Mesha’ attacked Nebo and fought against Israel, and after a fierce struggle he took the place, slaying the inhabitants en masse, 7,000 men and women and maidservants, devoting the city to ’Ashtor-Chemosh and dragging the altar vessels of Yahweh before Chemosh. Out of Jahaz, too, which the king of Israel had built, Chemosh drove him before Mesha’. At the instigation of Chemosh, Mesha’ fought against Horonaim, and, although the text is defective in the closing paragraph, we may surmise that Chemosh did not fail him but restored it to his dominions.

8. Parallels Between Inscription and Old Testament Record

Naturally enough there is considerable obscurity in local and personal allusions. Dodo may have been a local god worshipped by the Israelites east of the Jordan. Ashtor-Chemosh may be a compound divinity of a kind not unknown to Semitic mythology, Ashtor representing possibly the Phoenician Ashtoreth. What is of importance is the recurrence of so many phrases and expressions applied to Chemosh which are used of Yahweh in the Old Testament narratives. The religious conceptions of the Moabites reflected in the inscription are so strikingly like those of the Israelites that if only the name of Yahweh were substituted for that of Chemosh we might think we were reading a chapter of the Books of Kings. It is not in the inscriptions, however, but in the Old Testament narrative that we find a reference to the demand of Chemosh for human sacrifice. “He took his eldest son,” says the Hebrew historian, “that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land” (2Ki 3:27). This appears to indicate that the Israelites had to give up their purpose to fasten the yoke of bondage again upon Mesha’ and that they returned empty-handed to their own land. But this fortunate result for Moab was due to the favor of Chemosh, and in particular to the human sacrifice by which he was propitiated.

9. Ethical Contrast

If we find in these representations of Chemosh in the Old Testament narrative and in Mesha’’s inscription a striking similarity to the Hebrew conception of Yahweh, we cannot fail to notice the lack of the higher moral and spiritual elements supplied to the religion of Israel by the prophets and indeed from Moses and Abraham downward. “Chemosh,” says W. Baudissin, “is indeed the ruler of his people whom he protects as Yahweh the Israelites, whom he chastises in his indignation, and from whom he accepts horrible propitiatory gifts. But of a God of grace whose long-suffering leads back even the erring to Himself, of a Holy God to whom the offering of a pure and obedient heart is more acceptable than bloody sacrifices, of such a God as is depicted in Israel’s prophets and sweet singers there is no trace in the Moabite picture of Chemosh. While Mesha’ is represented as offering up his own son in accordance with the stern requirements of his religion, Old Testament law-givers and prophets from the beginning condemned human sacrifice” (RE³, article “Kemosh”).

Literature

RE³, article “Kemosh”; Cooke, Text-Book of North-Semitic Inscriptions, “Moabite Stone,” 1-14; W. Robertson Smith, Prophets of Israel, 49ff; Sayce, Higher Criticism and the Monuments, 364ff.

.

Bordering Israel in the region east of the Dead Sea was the nation Moab, whose national god was Chemosh. In times of religious corruption, Israel copied Moabite religious practices (Jdg 10:6; 1Ki 11:7; 1Ki 11:33), and in times of reformation got rid of them (2Ki 23:13). The Moabites looked for help from Chemosh through offering child sacrifices (2Ki 3:26-27; cf. Jdg 10:6; Jdg 11:30-31; Jdg 11:39), but Chemosh was powerless to save them from the judgment of God (Jer 48:7; Jer 48:13; Jer 48:46; see MOAB).

The national god of the country

of Moab.