Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Ian Hutchesson <mc2499 AT mclink.it>]

Lloyd asked the list:

>Do you think it is conceivable that the alleged family relationship between 
>(El) Elyon and Yahweh was forged when the Yahwist David established his 
>kingship in Jerusalem, the traditional home of both Melchizedek and of 
>El Elyon?

Dear Lloyd,

If you noticed from the responses your earlier poll received, your
respondents didn't accept your basic proposition of a separation between El
and Yahweh, yet you assume that proposition in your question. What sort of
responses do you expect, given the built-in problem?

There are quite a few assumptions to the relatively few lines containing them:

1) that David was a historical figure;
2) that he was Yahwist (as against the chroniclers);
3) that a "family relationship" was forged between (El) Elyon and Yahweh; and
4) (it would seem) that a tradition regarding Melchizedek and El Elyon
existed in the reputed time of David.

Do I understand correctly that despite your acceptance of some form of
documentary hypothesis that the sources involved are fundamentally a
reflection of the epoch they refer to rather than of the epoch they were
written in?


Ian