Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

A. Philip Brown II wrote:

> Shalom B-Haverim,
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> I'm uncertain how to read HALOT's (KB3) entry for (ELYOWN, and would like
> some others' "read."
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> Under section B, it reads
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> "B. in the OT (EL' is no longer a special deity…, but a divine epithet,
> which occurs either by itself (in parallelism) or as an attribute…; )EL (EL'
> Gn 14:18-20, YHWH )EL (EL' 22, (YHWH missing in Sept. Pesh., also GnAp 2221,
> see Fitzmyer GenAp2 178f); OSArb. Àl tÁly “El the Most High” (Oldenburg ZAW
> 82 (1970):190), cf. Schatz 207ff, Ps 7835; (ELYOWN meaning: God Nu 24:16
> (parallel with lae), Dt 3:28 2S 22:14/Ps 18:14 (parallel with YHWH), …"
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> The element that is problematic to me is “meaning: God.”  
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> I can hardly believe they mean "meaning." Surely they mean "referent"?  The
> first line of this section seems to support the conclusion that they actual
> mean that God is the referent for (ELYOWN in the following references;
> whereas the term itself is an epithet or attribute meaning Highest or Most
> High.
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> How do others read this entry?
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>  

HH: Yes, that's right. It is the referent.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard

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