“The LORD thundered

from heaven
2 Samuel
22:14
and the Most High
uttered his voice.”
 VOCAB MALONE
7/12/23

EL
ELYON

THE
MOST HIGH
GOD
EL (God) ELYON (Most High) in Psalm 78
v 35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God their redeemer.
---------------------------------------
v 56 Yet they tested and rebelled against
the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies.

v 17 Yet they sinned still more against him,

rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
The Name “El”
Over 200 times in Hebrew Bible, best translated as “God” Root word?

1. Ul: means “to be first” or “to be strong”

2. Alah: “to precede,” suggests “leader”, “commander”
can mean “to be afraid,” thus, God is the one to be feared
3. El: preposition (“to, toward”)
idea of “one giving self to others”, “one to whom others go for help”
4. Alim: “to bind,”; “the strong one binds and holds firm control”

Common to these four suggested root meanings:

strength, power, supreme excellence, greatness
• El in the OT is used particularly in the
earlier books, where it describes God’s
exercising dynamic power as distinguished
from authority.
• El speaks of God as the great doer and
producer.
• He is the One who exercises such power
that whatever is made, done, kept, or
destroyed is his doing (cf. Ex 15).
• El is also used to express the idea that God
is not to be identified as part of creation but
as the One who is above, behind, and
beyond creation (Ps 19:1).
• In relation to man, the crown of creation,
God as El is totally other (Ez 28:2; Hos
11:9).
 “EL”
MEANS
“GOD”
 EL ELYON ->

Psalm 57:2

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who fulfills his purpose
for me.
Numbers 24:16

“The oracle of him

who sees the vision of
who hears the words
the Almighty, falling
of God, and knows
down with his eyes
the knowledge of the
uncovered”
Most High,
GOD
MOST
HIGH

ELOHIM
ELYON
 Genesis 14:17–22
17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him,
the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s
Valley).
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God
Most High.)
19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of
heaven and earth;
20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for
yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the LORD, God Most
High, Possessor of heaven and earth…”
God Most High Reveals God as …

1. High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity

2. The Ascended One in the “highest place”
3. The Highest who guards, rules over all things
4. He who makes everything work to his given end
5. Stresses: strength, sovereignty, supremacy
Isaiah 57:15

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who
inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the
high and holy place, and also with him who is of a
contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the
lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Psalm 97:9

“For you, O Lord, you are exalted

are Most High far above all
over all the earth; gods.”
“For the Lord, the Most High,
is to be feared,

Psalm 47:2
a great king over all the
earth.”
 “Let them know that you,
whose name is the LORD,
that you alone are
the Most High over all the
earth”
Psalm
83:18
Daniel 4:25 -Aramaic word “Hilay”
“…you shall be driven from among men, and your
dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall
be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet
with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time
shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High
rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.”
APPLICATIONS
1. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both
calamities and good things come? (Lam. 3:38)
2. I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his
purpose for me (Psalm 57:2).
3. “that the Most High [El Elyon] is sovereign over all kingdoms on
earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.” (Daniel 4:32)
4. It is good to praise the LORD and make music to
your name, O Most High (Psalm 92:1).
 THE MOST HIGH & JESUS CHRIST
LXX: ho theos ho hupsistos

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the
Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David ... The angel
said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born
will be holy; he will be called Son of God'" (Luke 1:32, 35).
love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in
return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of
the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Lk 6:35

ALSO: Mark 5:7; Acts 7:48; 16:17; Hebrews 7:1

Isaiah 14:13–14
You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the
stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the
mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make
myself like the Most High.’
 Hebrews & Canaanites use El for g/God
as strong powerful / first, preeminent one

• Tablets inscribed with poems about Canaanite deities

• “Epic of Baal” found at Ras Shamra, written in patriarchal times
• Baal as chief hero, El [or Il] is referred to numerous times
• Father of gods Baal, Amoth, Mot, male counterpart of Asherah (70 sons)
• Referred to as creator of creatures, father of mankind
• Highest of all Canaanite deities; king, ruler, strong one over things, people
• Hosea accuses Judah of unfaithfulness because he still is roaming with El
• Therefore, God of the Scriptures, not to be identified as Canaanite god El
• Canaanite god was mortal, Hebrew El as eternal Living One
Temple of Baal
UGRATIC
CLAY
TABLETS
STELE OF
THE
UGARITIC
EL