Elyon: The name or epithet or word ‘Elyōn (Masoretic pronunciation of Hebrew עליון), is traditionally rendered in Samaritan Hebrew as illiyyon, and means something like 'higher, upper'. It derives from the Hebrew root ‘lh, Semitic root ‘ly 'go up, ascend'. ‘Elyōn when it means God or is applied to God is often translated 'Most High'. The Septuagint renders it as ὕψιστος (hypsistos 'most high'). The Masoretic Text (MT) is the Hebrew text of the Tanakh approved for general use in Judaism. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... The Samaritan Hebrew language is a descendant of Biblical Hebrew as pronounced and written by the Samaritans. ... 14th century BC diplomatic letter in Akkadian, found in Tell Amarna. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... The Septuagint: A column of uncial text from 1 Esdras in the Codex Vaticanus, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brentons Greek edition and English translation. ...

Biblical use

Mundane use

The term also has mundane uses, being applied to a basket in Genesis 40.17, a chamber in Ezekiel 42.5 and others. For other uses, see Genesis (disambiguation). ... Book Of Ezekiel is rapper Freekey Zekeys debut album and debut on Diplomat Records/Asylum. ...

Divine Use

The compound Ēl ‘Elyōn

The compound name Ēl ‘Elyōn 'God Most High' occurs in Genesis 14.18–19 as the god whose priest was Melchizedek king of Salem. The form appears again almost immediately in verse 22, used by Abraham in an oath to the King of Sodom. In this verse the name of God also occurs in apposition to Ēl ‘Elyōn in the Masoretic text but is absent in the Samaritan version, in the Septuagint translation, and in Symmachus. Ä’l (אל) is a Northwest Semitic word and name translated into English as either god or God or left untranslated as El, depending on the context. ... For other uses, see Genesis (disambiguation). ... Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek — by Dieric Bouts the Elder, 1464–67 Melchizedek or Malki-tzédek (מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק / מַלְכִּי־צָדֶק, Standard Hebrew Malki-ẓédeq / Malki-ẓádeq, Tiberian Hebrew Malkî-ṣéḏeq / Malkî-ṣāḏeq), sometimes written Malchizedek, Melchisedec, Melchisedech, Melchisedek or Melkisedek, is a figure mentioned by various sects of both Christian and Judaic traditions. ... “Abram” redirects here. ... Sodom can refer to: Sodom and Gomorrah, Biblical cities Sodom (band), a German thrash metal band Sodom, an album by the band Sodom Sodom (Final Fight), a character from Street Fighter and Final Fight Il Sodoma, an Italian Mannerist painter (1477-1549) Sodom, South Georgia, a song by Iron & Wine... The Masoretic Text (MT) is the Hebrew text of the Tanakh approved for general use in Judaism. ... Symmachus can refer to several different people of Roman antiquity. ...

Its occurrence here was one foundation of a theory first espoused by Julius Wellhausen that Ēl ‘Elyōn was an ancient god of Salem (for other reasons understood here to mean Jerusalem), later equated with God, and that the Zadokite priests of Jerusalem claimed to be descended from this Melchizedek or at least to have inherited his position. Julius Wellhausen (May 17, 1844 - January 17, 1918), was a German biblical scholar and Orientalist. ... For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ... The sect of the Sadducees (or Zadokites and other variants) - which may have originated as a Political Party - was founded in the 2nd century BC and ceased to exist sometime after the 1st century AD. Their rivals, the Pharisees, are said to have originated in the same time period, but...

The only other occurrence of the compound expression is in Psalm 78.35: Psalms (from the Greek: Psalmoi) (originally meaning songs sung to a harp, from psallein play on a stringed instrument, Ψαλμοί; Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים) is a book of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh or Old Testament. ...

And they remembered that God (’^elōhīm) was their rock,
and God Most High (’ēl ‘elyōn) their redeemer.

‘Elyōn standing alone

The name ‘Elyōn 'Most High' standing alone is found in many poetic passages, especially in the Psalms.

It appears in Balaam's verse oracle in Numbers 24.16 as a separate name parallel to Ēl. It appears in Moses' final song in Deuteronomy 32.8 (a much discussed verse). A translation of the Masoretic text: Balaam (Hebrew בִּלְעָם, Standard Hebrew BilÊ»am, Tiberian Hebrew Bilʻām; could mean glutton or foreigner, but this etymology is uncertain), is a prophet in the Bible, his story occurring in the Book of Numbers. ... The Book of Numbers is the fourth of the books of the Pentateuch, called in the Hebrew ba-midbar במדבר, i. ... Moses with the Tablets, 1659, by Rembrandt This article is about the Biblical figure. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

When the Most High (‘Elyōn) divided to the nations their inheritance,
he separated the sons of man (Ādām);
he set the bounds of the people
according to the number of the sons of Israel

However 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 fragment 4QDeut^j reads bny ’lwhm 'sons of God'. This reading also makes more sense in respect to the following verse: The Dead Sea scrolls comprise roughly 900 documents, including texts from the Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves in and around the Wadi Qumran (near the ruins of the ancient settlement of Khirbet Qumran, on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea) in the West Bank. ...

For God's portion is his people;
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. Jacob Wrestling with the Angel – Gustave Doré, 1855 Jacob or Yaakov, (Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: يعقوب, ; holds the heel), also known as Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: اسرائيل, ; Struggled with God), is the third Biblical patriarch. ...

This passage appears to identify ‘Elyōn with Elohim, but not necessarily with God. It can be read to mean that ‘Elyōn separated mankind into 70 nations according to his 70 sons (the 70 sons of Ēl being mentioned in the Ugaritic texts), each of these sons to be the tutelary god over one of the 70 nations, one of them being the God of Israel. Alternatively, it may mean that ‘Elyōn, having given the other nations to his sons, now takes Israel for himself under his name of God. Both interpretations have supporters. The Ugaritic language is known to us only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit since its discovery by French archaeologists in 1928. ... It has been suggested that Yahweh be merged into this article or section. ...

In Isaiah 14.13–14 ‘Elyōn is used in a very mystical context in the passage providing the basis for later speculation on the fall of Satan where the rebellious prince of Babylon is pictured as boasting: This article is about the Book of Isaiah. ... This article is about the concept of Satan. ... For other uses, see Babylon (disambiguation). ...

I shall be enthroned in the mount of the council in the farthest north [or farthest Zaphon]
I will ascend about the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High.

In this context it would be natural to avoid the name Yahweh and use a more general term for the high god.

But ’Elyōn is in other places firmly identified with God, as in 2 Samuel 22.14: The Books of Samuel (Hebrew: Sefer Shmuel ספר שמואל), are part of the Tanakh (part of Judaisms Hebrew Bible) and also of the Old Testament (of Christianity). ...

God thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered his voice.

Also Psalm 97.9:

For you, God, are Most High (‘elyōn) over all the earth;
you are raised high over all the gods.

Scholarship

The critical scholar and Reform rabbi Abraham Geiger asserted that Elyōn was a word of late origin, dating it to the time of the Maccabees. However, its use in the Ras Shamra tablets has proven it to be pre-Mosaic (Hertz 1936) Reform Judaism can refer to (1) the largest denomination of American Jews and its sibling movements in other countries, (2) a branch of Judaism in the United Kingdom, and (3) the historical predecessor of the American movement that originated in 19th-century Germany. ... For the town in Italy, see Rabbi, Italy. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Wojciech Stattlers Machabeusze (Maccabees), 1844 The Maccabees (Hebrew: מכבים or מקבים, Makabim) were Jewish rebels who fought against the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was succeeded by his infant son Antiochus V Eupator. ... Ugarit (modern site Ras Shamra 35°35´ N; 35°45´E) was an ancient cosmopolitan port city, sited on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria a few kilometers north of the modern city of Latakia. ...

The most likely option for Deut. 32.8, in view of the Dead Sea scrolls, is to reflect two gods, one is the Most High who has many sons, and Yahweh (presumably one of his sons) is the god of Jacob and his descendants.

Non-Biblical use

Sfire I Treaty

Outside of the Biblical texts the term occurs seldom. The most controversial is in the earliest of three Aramaic treaty inscriptions found at Sfire 16 miles southeast of Aleppo . The Sfire I inscription (KAI. 222.I.A.8–12; ANET p. 659) date to about 750 BC 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 w‘lyn meaning '’Ēl and ‘Elyōn', seemingly also two separate gods, followed by further pairs of deities. Aleppo (or Halab Arabic: , ) is a city in northern Syria, capital of the Aleppo Governorate. ... Centuries: 9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC Decades: 800s BC 790s BC 780s BC 770s BC 760s BC - 750s BC - 740s BC 730s BC 720s BC 710s BC 700s BC Events and Trends 756 BC - Founding of Cyzicus. ...

It is possible that these indicate two aspects of the same god. Or it might be a single divine name. The Ugaritic texts contain divine names like Kothar-wa-Khasis 'Skilful-and-Clever', Mot-wa-Shar 'Death-and-Prince' (or possibly 'Death-and-Destruction'), Nikkal-and-Ib which is in origin the name of the Sumerian goddess named Ningal combined with an element of unknown meaning. Therefore Ēl-wa-‘Elyōn might be a single name 'God-and-Highest' identical in meaning with Biblical Ēl ‘Elyōn even though this would be unqiue. Frank Moore Cross (1973) accepts all three interpretations as possibilities. The Ugaritic language is known to us only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit since its discovery by French archaeologists in 1928. ... Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq. ... Nanna is a god in Sumerian mythology, god of the moon, son of Enlil and Ninlil. ...

Sanchuniathon

Yet in Sanchuniathon's euhemeristic account of the Phoenician deities, Elioun, whom he calls Hypsistos 'the highest' and who is therefore certainly ‘Elyōn, is quite separate from his Elus/Cronus who is the supreme god Ēl. Sanchuniathon tells only: Sanchuniathon or Sanchoniathon or Sanchoniatho is the purported Phoenician author of three works in Phoenician, surviving only in partial paraphrase and summary of a Greek translation by Philo of Byblos. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

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.

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. The ruins of the Crusader castle in Byblos. ... Autochthon may mean: Autochthon, the original inhabitants (indigenous peoples) of a place Autochthonous language, the language of an indigenous people Autochthonous church, the indigenous church of a people Autochthon, the indigenous flora and fauna of a region; see native species Autochthon, a sediment or rock that can be found at... Look up autochthonous in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

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 Alulu who fathered Sky (and possibly Earth) and who was overthrown by his son Sky, who was in turn overthrown by his son Kumarbi. A similar tradition seems to be at the basis of Sanchuniathon's account. Relief of Suppiluliuma II, last known king of the Hittite Empire The Hittites were an ancient people from KaneÅ¡ who spoke an Indo-European language, and established a kingdom centered at Hattusa (Hittite URU) in north-central Anatolia from the 18th century BC. In the 14th century BC, the Hittite... The Hurrian father of the gods. ...

As to Beruth who is here ‘Elyōn's wife, a relationship with Hebrew b^ərīt 'covenant' or with the city of Beirut have both been suggested. For other uses, see Beirut (disambiguation). ...

Circle Trilogy

Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy uses "Elyon" as an allegorical name for God. The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker is a series of books about a man named Thomas Hunter who, after a head injury, wakes up in an alternate reality every time he goes to sleep. ... Ted Dekker is a novelist currently under contract with Thomas Nelson. ... The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker is a series of books about a man named Thomas Hunter who, after a head injury, wakes up in an alternate reality every time he goes to sleep. ...

Land of Elyon

The Land of Elyon is a fantasy trilogy for children written by Patrick Carman. The Land of Elyon is a trilogy of novels by Patrick Carman. ... The Land of Elyon is a trilogy of novels by Patrick Carman. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

See also

• El (god)
• The names of God in Judaism
• Sanchuniathon
• Helios.

Ä’l (אל) is a Northwest Semitic word and name translated into English as either god or God or left untranslated as El, depending on the context. ... At the bottom of the hands, the two letters on each hand combine to form יהוה (YHWH), the name of God. ... Sanchuniathon or Sanchoniathon or Sanchoniatho is the purported Phoenician author of three works in Phoenician, surviving only in partial paraphrase and summary of a Greek translation by Philo of Byblos. ... For other uses, see Helios (disambiguation). ...

References and External links

• Cross, Frank Moore (1973). Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-09176-0.
• Hertz, J.H. (1936). The Pentateuch and Haftoras. Deuteronomy. London: Oxford 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.
• Bartleby: American Heritage Dictionary: Semitic Roots: ^cly
• The Divine Council: "Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God", by Michael S. Heiser (PDF.)