The epithet "Most High" occurs on several occasions in non-biblical texts:
Sefire I Treaty The most controversial of these texts is in the earliest of three
Aramaic treaty inscriptions found at
al-Safirah, southeast of
Aleppo. The "Sefire I" inscription (
KAI 222.I.A.8–12;
ANET p. 659), which dates to about 750 BCE, lists the major patron deities of each side, all of them in pairs coupled by "and", in each case a male god and the god's spouse when the names are known. Then, after a gap comes
’l wʽlyn • This possibly means "’Ēl and ʽElyōn", seemingly also two separate gods, followed by further pairs of deities. • It is possible also that these indicate two aspects of the same god. • It might be a single divine name. The
Ugaritic texts contain divine names like
Kothar waḪasis "Skillful-and-Clever",
Mot waShar "Death-and-Prince" (or possibly "Death-and-Destruction'),
Nikkal-and-Ib, which is in origin the name of the
Sumerian goddess
Ningal combined with an element of unknown meaning. Therefore,
Ēl waʽElyōn might be a single name 'God-and-Highest' identical in meaning with Biblical
ʼĒl ʽElyōn, even though this would be unique.
Frank Moore Cross (1973) accepts all three interpretations as possibilities.
Sanchuniathon In
Eusebius' account of
Philo of Byblos' (c. 64–141 CE) record of
Sanchuniathon's
euhemeristic account of the Phoenician deities,
Elioun, whom he calls
Hypsistos,
the highest, and who is therefore likely ʿElyōn, is quite separate from his Elus/
Cronus, who is the supreme god Ēl. Sanchuniathon tells only: In their time is born a certain Elioun called "the Most High," and a female named
Beruth, and these dwelt in the neighbourhood of
Byblos. And from them is born
Epigeius or Autochthon, whom they afterwards called Sky; so that from him they named the element above us Sky because of the excellence of its beauty. And he has a sister born of the aforesaid parents, who was called Earth, and from her, he says, because of her beauty, they called the earth by the same name. And their father, the Most High, died in an encounter with wild beasts, and was deified, and his children offered to him libations and sacrifices. According to Sanchuniathon it is from Sky and Earth that Ēl and various other deities are born, though ancient texts refer to Ēl as creator of heaven and earth. The
Hittite theogony knows of a primal god named
Alalu who fathered Sky (and possibly Earth) and who was overthrown by his son Sky, who was in turn overthrown by his son
Kumarbi. A similar tradition seems to be at the basis of Sanchuniathon's account. As to Beruth who is here ʿElyōn's wife, a relationship with Hebrew
bərīt 'covenant' or with the city of
Beirut have both been suggested.
Hasmonean dynasty The
Mishnah recounts that
Hasmonean rulers used to identify themselves as "High Priest of El Elyon": "When the Hasmonean kingdom became strong and defeated the Greeks, they instituted that people should mention the name of Heaven even in their legal documents. And therefore they would write: In year such and such of
Yoḥanan the High Priest of the God Most High." Scholars have observed that the Hasmoneans used Melchizedek's example of monarch-priest to justify occupying both offices. ==See also==