Summary: Could the First Temple Period stone seal recently discovered in Jerusalem belong to the “insolent man” from Jeremiah 43?
When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there…’” – Jeremiah 43:1-2 (ESV)
Rare Signature Seal
A stunning stone seal from the First Temple Period has been discovered in Jerusalem bearing a fascinating inscription with exciting Biblical connections – perhaps even pertaining to the drama of the Jeremiah account. Carved into the seal is a winged figure, framed by a paleo-Hebrew inscription reading, “Belonging to Yehoezer, son of Hoshayahu.”
The “extremely rare and unusual” stone seal, found during excavations along the southern wall of the Temple Mount in the Davidson Archaeological Garden, was announced last month in a press release by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the City of David Foundation.
“The seal, made of black stone, is one of the most beautiful ever discovered in excavations in ancient Jerusalem and is executed at the highest artistic level,” said Dr. Yuval Baruch and Navot Rom, directors of the dig.
This seal adds another extremely important find to those attesting to biblical figures living in Jerusalem during the days of the Biblical Kings before the Babylonian exile.
Administrative Seals and Their Impressions
Drilled through the seal’s length is a hole for a chain or string, allowing it to be worn around the neck. The words on the seal read left to right, but Hebrew only was written and read right to left at this time late in the Judahite monarchy. However, the seal was designed for reading the clay seal impression that it created, so for the direction of reading on its seal impression to be correct, the writing on the seal needed to be “mirrored” or backwards. An object like this, with mirrored writing, would have been used to “sign” or stamp legal documents – like a modern signature that would identify someone individually. Some have speculated that these types of seals may also have doubled as amulets.
Hundreds of stamped clay seal impressions, called bullae, have been found in Jerusalem. However, it is much rarer to uncover the actual stone seals that made the impressions.
About three dozen seals have been found in Jerusalem, the highest number of epigraphic Iron Age seals found in any city in this region. In contrast, five seals have been found in the Judean city of Arad, and four have been uncovered in Lachish. Comparatively, this speaks to the administrative importance of the capital city of Jerusalem.
Israeli Minister of Heritage Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu praised the piece as a “spectacular and unique find” that “opens another window for us into the days of the Kingdom of Judah …and attests to the administration’s international connections.”
“In doing so, it demonstrates the importance and centrality of Jerusalem already 2,700 years ago,” Eliyahu said. “It is impossible not to be moved by such an unmediated and direct encounter with a chapter of our past, a time in which the First Temple stood in all its glory.”
Assyrian Winged Figure
The seal displays a winged genie or demon in the style of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. According to the excavating team, this symbol demonstrates the influence of the Assyrians in the region during the 8th and 7th centuries BC.
The image is “depicted in profile… with wings, wearing a long, striped shirt. The figure has a mane of long curls covering the nape of the neck, and on its head is a hat or a crown. The figure raises one arm forward, with an open palm; perhaps to suggest some object it is holding,” the IAA said.
“This is an extremely rare and unusual discovery,” said IAA archaeologist and assyriologist Dr. Filip Vukosavović, who studied the seal. “This is the first time that a winged ‘genie,’ a protective magical figure, has been found in Israeli and regional archaeology.”
Dual Nature of the Artifact
Figures of winged demons, considered a kind of protective symbol, are known in Neo-Assyrian art of the 9th – 7th centuries BC. The seal’s owner most likely “chose a demon to be the insignia of his personal seal,
“Yet within that feeling, this Yehoʼezer also held firmly onto his local identity, and thus his name is written in Hebrew script, and his name is a Hebrew name, which belongs to Judah’s culture,” he added.
“In recent years, the archaeological evidence is increasing, especially in the City of David excavations and at the base of the Temple Mount, regarding the extent of the Assyrian culture’s influence in our region, and especially in Jerusalem,” said Baruch.
“The figure of a winged man in a distinct Neo-Assyrian style is unique and very rare in the glyphic styles of the late First Temple Period,” he continued. “The influence of the Assyrian Empire, which had conquered the entire region, is clearly evident here.”
“Judah in general, and Jerusalem in particular at that time, was subject to the hegemony [authority] of the Assyrian Empire and was influenced by it – a reality also reflected in cultural and artistic aspects,” Baruch explained.
” to express “that he belonged to the broader cultural context, just like people today in Israel who see themselves as part of Western culture,” Baruch said.
Yeho’ezer, son of Hosh’ayahu
Because of the distinct difference in carving styles, researchers suggested that “originally the demon image alone appeared [and] was worn as an amulet around the neck of a man named Hoshayahu, who held a senior position in the Kingdom of Judah’s administration.” They also assert that later, his son, Yeho’ezer “inherited the seal, and then added his name and his father’s name on either side of the demon,”
“The name Yehoʼezer is familiar to us from the Bible in its abbreviated form, Yoʼezer [or Joezer], one of King David’s fighters” named in 1 Chron. 12:6, said the IAA. Additionally, the name “Azar’iah ben Hosh’aya” [Azar’iah son of Hosh’aya] is mentioned in the book of Jeremiah, which depicts events that occurred during the same period that the seal was in use (Jer. 43:2). “Hosh’aya” is the abbreviated form of Hoshʼayahu.
Dr. Doug Petrovich’s Translation
Translation from Hebrew to English sometimes gets confusing, in part because the written form of early Hebrew did not contain vowels. They were inserted later to aid in pronunciation. Hebrew words are also sometimes abbreviated as in ayahu to aya.
Dr. Douglas Petrovich, professor at Brookes Bible College and featured in the Patterns of Evidence film The Moses Controversy, also suggests that the seal’s owner “Yehoezer son of Hoshayahu” is the same prominent figure “Azaryah(u) son of Hoshayah(u)” or “Azariah the son of Hoshaia” of Jeremiah 43:2. He was one of the “insolent men” of Judah who rejected Jeremiah’s prophecy from God that the survivors of the Babylonian invasion in Jerusalem must not relocate to Egypt.
When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there.’” So … all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. – Jer. 43:1-2, 4 (ESV)
Petrovich explained that the paleo-Hebrew script on the seal reads horizontally, left to right, top to bottom. He translated the inscription on the seal “LeYahuʼazar ben Hoshʼayahu” as follows:
- Le – belonging to
- Yahu – He-who-goes-on-existing
- Azar – has helped
- Ben – son of
- Ayahu – He-goes-on-existing
- Hosh(a)- has saved
According to Petrovich, Hebrew word order is quite flexible, so the two halves of the names are interchangeable.
- Yahu’azar son of Hosha’yahu (name on seal)
- Azar’yah son of Hosha’yah (name in Jer. 43:2)
The parts of the names in bold all refer to the Israelite God, which often is transliterated into English as Yahweh. This is called theophoric, having the name of a god. The yahu ending, יהו, is simply a longer form of yah (spelled iah in many Bible versions), יה, and is often used interchangeably. On the seal, one form has the theophoric, divine “Yahwist”-element (יהו) at the start of the name, and the other at the end (עזריהו vs. יהועזר).
The second parts of the names appear quite different in English but are closely related in Hebrew. Ezer or azar is the Hebrew word for “helper” and hosh(a) means “savior.” So, the names effectively have the same meaning, “Yahweh aids.”
Petrovich noted that the reason for ezer to azar is that Hebrew vowels tend to change when words are made compound (e.g., dog + catcher = dogcatcher, though no vowels change here in English). Ezer is correct if alone. Azaryahu is correct if ezer forms this compound.
When comparing the name on the seal with the name in the Bible, the two parts of the first name azar and ezer are written in reverse order; (Azar-yah, alternatively Azar-iah in the ESV) in the Bible compared to the seal owner’s name (Yahu-azar). The second name is the same (Hosh-ayahu) on the seal, appearing in its abbreviated form (Hosh-aya) in the Bible.
Even though the name found in the Biblical text matches the name on the newly discovered seal, some suggest this still doesn’t prove the man who owned the seal is the same man as mentioned in Jeremiah 43:2. Nevertheless, it is fascinating that the two men were from the same time period, in the same location, with the same status as high officials, had fathers named identically, and had the same name themselves.
Hebrew Words: Ezer and Hosh(a)
The first time we see the Hebrew word ezer in the Bible is in Genesis 2:18, where it is used for Eve to describe her as Adam’s “helper.” The next time we see the word, it is used to describe help from God. In Exodus 18:4, Moses’ son is named Eli’ezer because Moses said: “My father’s God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.” Throughout the rest of the Hebrew Bible, ezer is most often applied to God as helper. This gives an amazing perspective on Eve’s relationship to Adam when she was first created.
Also fascinatingly, the names Hosha, Joshua, Yehoshua and Yeshua come from the original Hebrew verb yasha, which means to deliver or save. If Bibles were translated more consistently between Hebrew and Greek, it would be easier to see how the Old and New Testaments relate. There is a disconnect because the New Testament uses the Greek translation for Yeshua as Jesus and the Hebrew translates it as Joshua. It is easy for the reader to miss how Jesus’ name means savior and all the times that word appears in the Hebrew Bible.
Ironically, although the name of the owner of the seal reflects the powerful truth about God as helper and savior, Azaryahu (Azariah ESV) son of Hoshayahu (Hoshaiah ESV) apparently had no desire to follow God, said Petrovich. After receiving God’s instructions through the prophet Jeremiah, Azariah son of Hoshaiah didn’t listen and led “all the people” into disobedience.
Conclusion
The rare stone seal’s Assyrian motif insinuates more than just artistic influence. It portrays the tragic influence of a worldly religious view as well, about which God constantly warned his people. Even though the seal’s owner chose the symbol of an Assyrian winged genie as protection, his Hebrew name says something far different. Somewhere in his family’s history an ancestor knew Yahweh, the true helper and savior of all humankind.
“This singular find joins the list of countless archeological discoveries in the City of David. the historic site of Biblical Jerusalem, affirming Jerusalem’s Biblical heritage,” said Ze’ev Orenstein, director of International Affairs for the City of David Foundation.
“It similarly serves as yet another affirmation of the thousands-of-year-old bond rooting the Jewish people in Jerusalem, not simply as a matter of faith, but as a matter of fact.”
Keep Thinking!
TOP PHOTO: Rare First Temple-era seal found in Jerusalem, in an image released on August 29, 2023. (credit: Eliyahu Yanai/City of David)
