Mon 22 May 00 20:45
Elohim
The genus of which ghosts, Chemosh, Dagon, Baal, Jahveh, etc., were
species. The ghost or spectre which appeared to Saul (1 Sam. xxviii.
14-20) is called Elohim. "I see Elohim coming up out of the earth,"
said the witch; and Saul asked, "What is HE like?" (Huxley: Nineteenth
Century, March, 1886.)
Elohistic and Jehovistic Scriptures.
The Pentateuch is supposed by Bishop Colenso and many others to have
been written at two widely different periods, because God is invariably
called Elohim in some paragraphs, while in others He is no less
invariably called Jehovah. The Elohistic paragraphs, being more
simple, more primitive, more narrative, and more pastoral, are said to
be the older; while the Jehovistic paragraphs indicate a knowledge of
geography and history, seem to exalt the priestly office, and are
altogether of a more elaborate character.
Excerpted from: THE DICTIONARY OF PHRASE AND FABLE BY E. COBHAM BREWER
ELOHIM
As most of the book of Genesis comes from Egypt, Babylon and Persia, the
word probably derives from Egyptian Ali, Babylonian ili, or the 7 Gods
of the original Cosmos. The names of the original seven Hebrew, pre-
Judaic elohim were probably, Ialdabaoth, Jehovah, Sabaoth, Adonai,
Oreus, Eloeus and Astanphaeus. The last three have obviously been
altered through Gnosticism, which explains their anomalous Graeco-Latin
endings.
Excerpted from: THE MAGICIAN'S DICTIONARY BY E.E. REHMUS
(posted TO: Steve Kemp)
FTN-Posted-By: Mark Kimes
FYI, the following sources all define "Elohim" as "the gods." The singular
version is "El" or "Eloi."
Browning, W.R.F. A Dictionary of the Bible. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1996.
Cross, F.L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2nd ed. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1983.
Freedman, David Noel. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. vol. 4. New York:
Doubleday, 1992.
"The collection of texts and stories which characteristically use 'Elohim'
to refer to God are referred to as the 'E,' or 'Elohist,' texts of the OT.
So too, those that characteristically use 'Yahweh' are referred to as the
'J' or 'Yahwist' texts (in Hebrew, the letters 'j' and 'y' are
interchangeable)."
It is generally accepted by all but fundamentalists that early Hebrews were
polytheists, but early on gave their special allegiance to Yahweh, while
recognizing that other gods existed. This is "monaltry." Monotheism, in
which the existence of other gods is denied (Christianity is a
bastard-monaltry, not just because of its three-headed god, but because of
its _other_ gods, like Satan -- actually a step "backward" from Judaism as
far as monotheism is concerned), came considerably later. For example, in
the tale of Moses, the gods of Egypt perform miracles through their priests,
just as did Moses, and the commandment reads "Thou shalt have no other gods
_before me_," not "There are no other gods."
Hec
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STEVE KEMP
Elohim
FTN-Posted-By: Steve Kemp
http://www.hectorplasmic.atfreeweb.com
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