Elyon
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Elyon ( he, ''ʿElyōn'') is an
epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
of the
God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
of the
Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
in the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
Hebrew: ''Tān ...
. ' is usually rendered in English as "God Most High", and similarly in the
Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...
as ("God the highest"). The term also has mundane uses, such as " upper" (where the ending in both roots is a
locative In grammar, the locative case (abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by". The locative case belongs to the general local cases, together with the ...
, not superlative or
comparative In general linguistics, the comparative is a syntactic construction that serves to express a comparison between two (or more) entities or groups of entities in quality or degree - see also comparison (grammar) for an overview of comparison, as wel ...
), "top", or "uppermost", referring simply to the position of objects (e.g. applied to a basket in
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
40.17 or to a chamber in
Ezekiel Ezekiel (; he, יְחֶזְקֵאל ''Yəḥezqēʾl'' ; in the Septuagint written in grc-koi, Ἰεζεκιήλ ) is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Ezekiel is acknow ...
42.5).


Hebrew Bible


The compound ''ʼĒl ʻElyōn''

The compound name ʼĒl ʻElyōn 'God Most High' occurs in
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
14:18–20 as the God whose priest was
Melchizedek In the Bible, Melchizedek (, hbo, , malkī-ṣeḏeq, "king of righteousness" or "my king is righteousness"), also transliterated Melchisedech or Malki Tzedek, was the king of Salem and priest of (often translated as "most high God"). He is f ...
, king of Salem. The form appears again almost immediately in verse 22, used by
Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
in an oath to the king of Sodom. In this verse the name of God also occurs in apposition to ʼĒl ʻElyōn in the
Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
but is absent in the Samaritan version, in the Septuagint translation, and in Symmachus. Its occurrence here was one foundation of a theory first espoused by
Julius Wellhausen Julius Wellhausen (17 May 1844 – 7 January 1918) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist. In the course of his career, he moved from Old Testament research through Islamic studies to New Testament scholarship. Wellhausen contributed to t ...
that ʼĒl ʻElyōn was an ancient god of Salem (for other reasons understood here to mean
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
), later equated with God. The only other occurrence of the compound expression is in : "And they remembered that God Ēlōhīm''was'' their rock, and the high God Ēl ʻElyōntheir redeemer." The name is repeated later in the chapter, but with a variation: verse fifty-six says ʼElohim ʻElyōn. It has been suggested that the reference to ʼĒl ʻElyōn, maker of
heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
and earth" in
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
14:19 and 22 reflects a Canaanite background. The phrasing in Genesis resembles a retelling of Canaanite religious traditions in Philo of Byblos's account of
Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
n history, in which ʻElyōn was the progenitor of
Ouranos In Greek mythology, Uranus ( ), sometimes written Ouranos ( grc, Οὐρανός, , sky, ), is the personification of the sky and one of the Greek primordial deities. According to Hesiod, Uranus was the son and husband of Gaia (Earth), with w ...
("Sky") and
Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenog ...
("Earth"). Genesis 14:18–20


''ʽElyōn'' standing alone

The name ''ʽElyōn'' 'Most High' standing alone is found in many poetic passages, especially in the Psalms. It appears in
Balaam Balaam (; , Standard ''Bīlʿam'' Tiberian ''Bīlʿām'') is a diviner in the Torah (Pentateuch) whose story begins in Chapter 22 of the Book of Numbers (). Ancient references to Balaam consider him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son of Beo ...
's verse oracle in
Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
24:16 as a separate name parallel to Ēl. It appears in
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
' final song in
Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...
32:8 (a much discussed verse). A translation of the Masoretic text: Many Septuagint manuscripts have in place of "sons of Israel", ''angelōn theou'' 'angels of God' and a few have ''huiōn theou'' 'sons of God'. The
Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the nor ...
fragment 4QDeutj reads ''bny ’lwhm'' '
sons of God Sons of God ( he, בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים, Bənē hāʾĔlōhīm, literally: "sons of the Elohim") is a phrase used in the Tanakh or Old Testament and in Christian Apocrypha. The phrase is also used in Kabbalah where ''bene elohim'' ...
' ('sons of ’Elohim'). The
New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches.Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he posse ...
. It can be read to mean that ʽElyōn separated mankind into 70 nations according to his 70 sons (the 70 sons of Ēl being mentioned in the
Ugaritic Ugaritic () is an extinct Northwest Semitic language, classified by some as a dialect of the Amorite language and so the only known Amorite dialect preserved in writing. It is known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeologis ...
texts), each of these sons to be the
tutelary deity A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety and ...
over one of the 70 nations, one of them being the God of Israel, Yahweh. Alternatively, it may mean that ʽElyōn, having given the other nations to his sons, now takes Israel for himself under the name of the
Tetragrammaton The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew language, Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', ''he (l ...
. Both interpretations have supporters. In
Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
14:13–14 ʽElyōn is used in a very mystical context in the passage providing the basis for later speculation on the fall of
Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
where the rebellious prince of
Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
is pictured as boasting: But ’Elyōn is in other places firmly identified with Yahweh, as in 2 Samuel 22:14: Also Psalm 97:9: "For you, Lord
HWH HWH may refer to: *HWH, the Indian Railways code for Howrah railway station, West Bengal, India *HWH, the National Rail code for Haltwhistle railway station, Northumberland, England {{Disambiguation ...
are Most High elyōnover all the earth; you are raised high over all the gods."


Non-biblical use


Sfire I Treaty

Outside of the Biblical texts the term "Most High" occurs seldom. The most controversial is in the earliest of three Aramaic treaty inscriptions found at al-Safirah southeast of
Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...
.''The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures,'' p305. James B. Pritchard, Daniel E. (FRW) Fleming - 2010 "The block of basalt on which the portion of the treaty designated Sfire I is inscribed was broken horizontally into two parts, with the loss of a few lines in between. In addition to the text inscribed upon the front and the back of the " The "Sefire I" inscription (''KAI.'' 222.I.A.8–12; ''ANET'' p. 659), which dates to about 750 BCE, lists the major patron deities of each side, all of them in pairs coupled by "and", in each case a male god and the god's spouse when the names are known. Then, after a gap comes ''’l wʽlyn'' * This possibly means "’Ēl and ʽElyōn", seemingly also two separate gods, followed by further pairs of deities. * It is possible also that these indicate two aspects of the same god. * It might be a single divine name. The
Ugaritic Ugaritic () is an extinct Northwest Semitic language, classified by some as a dialect of the Amorite language and so the only known Amorite dialect preserved in writing. It is known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeologis ...
texts contain divine names like '' Kothar waḪasis'' "Skillful-and-Clever", ''Mot waShar'' "Death-and-Prince" (or possibly "Death-and-Destruction'), ''Nikkal-and-Ib'', which is in origin the name of the Sumerian goddess
Ningal Ningal ( Sumerian: "Great Queen"), also known as Nikkal in Akkadian, was a Mesopotamian goddess of Sumerian origin regarded as the wife of the moon god, Nanna/Sin. She was particularly closely associated with his main cult centers, Ur and Harran, ...
combined with an element of unknown meaning. Therefore, ''Ēl waʽElyōn'' might be a single name 'God-and-Highest' identical in meaning with Biblical ''ʼĒl ʽElyōn'', even though this would be unique.
Frank Moore Cross Frank Moore Cross Jr. (1921–2012) was the Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages Emeritus at Harvard University, notable for his work in the interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, his 1973 ''magnum opus'' ''Canaanite Myth and ...
(1973) accepts all three interpretations as possibilities.


Sanchuniathon

In
Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...
' account of Philo of Byblos (c. 64–141 CE) record of
Sanchuniathon Sanchuniathon (; Ancient Greek: ; probably from Phoenician: , "Sakon has given"), also known as Sanchoniatho the Berytian, was a Phoenician author. His three works, originally written in the Phoenician language, survive only in partial paraphras ...
's euhemeristic account of the Phoenician deities, ''Elioun'', whom he calls '' Hypsistos'' 'the highest' and who is therefore possibly ʿElyōn, is quite separate from his Elus/
Cronus In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or , from el, Κρόνος, ''Krónos'') was the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans, the divine descendants of the primordial Gaia (Mother Earth) and ...
who is the supreme god Ēl. Sanchuniathon tells only:
In their time is born a certain Elioun called "the Most High," and a female named Beruth, and these dwelt in the neighbourhood of
Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 880 ...
. And from them is born Epigeius or Autochthon, whom they afterwards called Sky; so that from him they named the element above us Sky because of the excellence of its beauty. And he has a sister born of the aforesaid parents, who was called Earth, and from her, he says, because of her beauty, they called the earth by the same name. And their father, the Most High, died in an encounter with wild beasts, and was deified, and his children offered to him libations and sacrifices.
According to Sanchuniathon it is from Sky and Earth that Ēl and various other deities are born, though ancient texts refer to Ēl as creator of heaven and earth. The Hittite theogony knows of a primal god named
Alalu Alalu or Alala was a primordial figure in Mesopotamian and Hurrian mythology. He is also known from documents from Emar. While his role was not identical in these three contexts, it is agreed that all three versions share the same origin. Hurrian ...
who fathered Sky (and possibly Earth) and who was overthrown by his son Sky, who was in turn overthrown by his son
Kumarbi Kumarbi was an important god of the Hurrians, regarded as "the father of gods." He was also a member of the Hittite pantheon. According to Hurrian myths, he was a son of Alalu, and one of the parents of the storm-god Teshub, the other being Anu ...
. A similar tradition seems to be at the basis of Sanchuniathon's account. As to Beruth who is here ʿElyōn's wife, a relationship with Hebrew ''bərīt'' 'covenant' or with the city of
Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
have both been suggested.


See also

*
Al-Ala Al-Aʻlā ( ar, الأعلى, “The Most High”, “Glory To Your Lord In The Highest”) is the eighty-seventh chapter (''surah'') of the Qur'an, with 19 '' ayat'' or verses. Al-A'la describes the Islamic view of existence, the Oneness of ...
*
Enlil Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Bab ...
*
Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the deity, god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyper ...
* Hyperion * The
Hypsistarians Hypsistarians, i.e. worshippers of the ''Hypsistos'' ( el, Ὕψιστος, the "Most High" God), and similar variations of the term first appear in the writings of Gregory of Nazianzus (''Orat''. xviii, 5) and Gregory of Nyssa (''Contra Eunom''. ...
, worshippers of the Most High God (Theos Hypsistos), were a distinct non-Jewish monotheistic sect which flourished in Asia Minor and Greece from about 200 BC to about AD 400. *
Illiyin ''Illiyin'', ''Illiyun'' or ''Elliyoun'' ( ar, عِلِّيِّين, عِلِّيُّون, ʿilliyyīn, -ūn literally: heaven, upperworld) is a Quranic term referring to either the "most high" and "supreme" places above Jannah, i.e. the Garden ...
*
Names of God in Judaism Judaism considers some names of God so holy that, once written, they should not be erased: YHWH, Adonai, El ("God"), Elohim ("God," a plural noun), Shaddai ("Almighty"), and Tzevaot (" fHosts"); some also include Ehyeh ("I Will Be").This is th ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * Cross, Frank Moore (1973). ''Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic.'' Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. . * "The treaty between ''KTK'' and Arpad" (1969). Trans. Frans Rosenthal in ''Ancient Near Eastern Texts'', 3rd ed. with Supplement. Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN, 0-691-03503-2.
The Divine Council: "Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God", by Michael S. Heiser
(PDF.) Deities in the Hebrew Bible Hebrew words and phrases Names of God in Judaism Superlatives in religion West Semitic gods El (deity)