What is the origin of God?

Answer 1

A:The Israelites were actually polytheistic until later in the first millennium BCE. The two principal Gods appear to have been called 'Elohim and YHWH, later becoming syncretised as one national God, YHWH, but with many lesser gods. The earlier name appears to have been 'Elohim, but YHWH is also quite early (in modern Hebrew pronunciation, this became YHVH).

Because Jews ceased to say the name YHVH aloud since before the Common Era, the pronunciation was lost and with it the knowledge of what vowels were implied in this four-consonant word, the tetragrammaton. From the poetic books of the scriptures, they believe it was pronounced 'Yahweh', and this spelling is commonly used in English translations, as well as the derivative, Jehovah.

Scholars are uncertain as to its ancient meaning for YHWH, but one meaning seriously considered is 'He blows'. This is based on archaeological evidence (see Keel and Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God: In Ancient Israel) that the early role of Yahweh was as the storm God. Other possibilities include 'He is' and 'He creates'.