When the Most High ( ʽElyōn) divided nations,Īccording to the number of the sons of Israel It appears in Moses' final song in Deuteronomy 32:8 (a much discussed verse). It appears in Balaam's verse oracle in Numbers 24:16 as a separate name parallel to Ēl. The name ʽElyōn 'Most High' standing alone is found in many poetic passages, especially in the Psalms. The phrasing in Genesis resembles a retelling of Canaanite religious traditions in Philo of Byblos's account of Phoenician history, in which ʻElyōn was the progenitor of Ouranos ("Sky") and Gaia ("Earth"). It has been suggested that the reference to "ʼĒl ʻElyōn, maker of heaven and earth" in Genesis 14:19 and 22 reflects a Canaanite background. The name is repeated later in the chapter, but with a variation: verse fifty-six says ʼElohim ʻElyōn. The only other occurrence of the compound expression is in Psalms 78:35: "And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer." Its occurrence here was one foundation of a theory first espoused by Julius Wellhausen that ʼĒl ʻElyōn was an ancient god of Salem (for other reasons understood here to mean Jerusalem), later equated with God. In this verse the name of God also occurs in apposition to ʼĒl ʻElyōn in the Masoretic Text but is absent in the Samaritan version, in the Septuagint translation, and in Symmachus. The form appears again almost immediately in verse 22, used by Abraham in an oath to the king of Sodom. The compound name ʼĒl ʻElyōn 'God Most High' occurs in Genesis 14:18–20 as the God whose priest was Melchizedek, king of Salem.
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