CYCLOPEDIA of BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL and ECCLESIASTICAL LITERATURE God- Gyrovagi by James Strong & John Mcclintock
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THE AGES DIGITAL LIBRARY REFERENCE CYCLOPEDIA of BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL and ECCLESIASTICAL LITERATURE God- Gyrovagi by James Strong & John McClintock To the Students of the Words, Works and Ways of God: Welcome to the AGES Digital Library. We trust your experience with this and other volumes in the Library fulfills our motto and vision which is our commitment to you: MAKING THE WORDS OF THE WISE AVAILABLE TO ALL — INEXPENSIVELY. AGES Software Rio, WI USA Version 1.0 © 2000 2 God from the same Saxon root as good, thus beautifully expressing the divine benignity as the leading attribute of the most general term for the Deity, and corresponding almost invariably to two Hebrew words, both from a common root (lWa, au, to be strong). Hengstenberg, however, regards the simpler of these words (lae, El) as a primitive (Auth. of Pent. 1:251), while some consider the extended form (H/leEa, Elo'dh) as derived from a different root (the obsolete Hl;a;, found in Arabic = to worship). The corresponding Shemitic terms are: Arabic, Al or Allah (q.v.); Syriac, Ilo or Eloho; Samar. El or Chilah (= powerful; Castell, in Walton's Polyglot Bible, 6, s.v.); Phoenician El (hjl or ijl), as in En-el (&Enulov, lany[), Gag-el (Gagilus, lagg), Ejloei>m (Sanchon.). SEE ALMIGHTY. The only other Hebrew word generally employed in naming the Supreme Being is Jehovah, h/;hy], which some (so Havernick, Historische-critsche Einleitung ins alte Testament, Berlin, 1839) propose to point hw,h]yi, Jahveh, meaning "the Existing One," holding that Elohim is used merely to indicate the abundance and super-richness contained in the Divine Being. With such, therefore, Jehovah is not of the same origin as the heathen Jove, but of a strictly peculiar and Hebrew origin. Both names are used by Moses discriminately, in strict conformity with the theological idea he wished to express in the immediate context; and, pursuing the Pentateuch nearly line by line, it is astonisling to see that Moses never uses any of the names at mere random or arbitrarily, but is throughout consistent in the application of the respective terms. Elohim is the abstract expression for absolute Deity apart from the special notions of unity, holiness, substance, etc. It is more a philosophical than devotional term, and corresponds with our term Deity, in the same way as state or government is abstractly expressive of a king or monarch. Jehovah, however, seems to be the revealed Elohim, the Manifest, Only, Personal, and Holy Elohim: Elohim is the Creator, Jehovah the Redeemer, etc. SEE JEHOVAH. The translators of the Eng. A.V. have invariably translated this last Hebrew word by " Lord," which is printed in those passages in small capitals in our common Bibles, but whenever the two words which they thus render occur together, Adonai-Jehovah, the latter is rendered "God," in order to prevent the repetition of " Lord." The Greek has qeo>v (either with or without the 3 art.). Jerome and the Rabbins enumerate ten Heb. words as meaning God; but they relate rather to his attributes. SEE LORD. I. Usage of the Hebrew terms properly rendered "God." 1. lae, El. This term is used in the most general way as a designation of Deity, whether of the true God or of the false gods, even the idols, of the heathen. In the latter reference it occurs <234410>Isaiah 44:10, 15; 45:20; 46:6; and in the plur. µylæae, Elim', <021511>Exodus 15:11; <271136>Daniel 11:36; though in both these last instances it may be questioned whether the word is not used in the sense of mighty ones. To render the application of the term in this reference more specific, such epithets as rjeai, other, foreign (<023414>Exodus 34:14), rz;, strange, hostile (<198110>Psalm 81:10), rk;ne, strange (<053212>Deuteronomy 32:12), are used. When used of the true God, lae is usually preceded by the article (laih;, <013113>Genesis 31:13; <050709>Deuteronomy 7:9), or followed by such distinctive epithets as yDivi, Almighty (<020603>Exodus 6:3); µl;/[, eternal (<012133>Genesis 21:33; <234028>Isaiah 40:28); ˆ/yl][i, Supreme (<011418>Genesis 14:18); yji, living (<060310>Joshua 3:10); roBGæ, mighty (<230905>Isaiah 9:5); or such qualifying adjuncts as d/bK;, of glory (<192903>Psalm 29:3); tm,Ea, of truth (<193106>Psalm 31:6); twolmuG], of retributions (<245156>Jeremiah 51:56); laeAtyBe, of Bethel (<013113>Genesis 31:13). laer;c]yæ, of Israel (<013320>Genesis 33:20); ˆWrvuy] (<053326>Deuteronomy 33:26). In poetry lae sometimes occurs as a sign of the superlative; as laeAyrerihi, hills of God, very high hills (<193607>Psalm 36:7); laeAyzer]ai, cedars of God (<198011>Psalm 80:11). The phrase µylæaeAyneB]. occurs <192901>Psalm 29:1; 89:7; and is supposed by some to refer to angels; but others take µyla here for µylya, and translate Sons of the mighty (see Rosenmuller, ad loc.). There is no instance of lae in the singular being used in the sense of mighty one or hero; for even if we retain that reading in <263111>Ezekiel 31:11 (though thirty of Kennicott's codices have the reading lya, and the probability is that in those which present la the y is implied), the rendering "God of the nations" may be accepted as conveying a strong but just description of the power of Nebuchadnezzar, and the submission rendered to him; compare <470404>2 Corinthians 4:4. In proper names la is often found sometimes in the first member of the compound word, e.g. hyla, Elijah; ddla, Eldad, etc., and 4 sometimes as the last member, e.g. lawmv Samuel; lawml, Lemuel; labf, Tabeel, etc. SEE EL. 2. Hi/lEa, Elo'ah, plur. µyhælEa, Elohim'. The singular form occurs only in poetry, especially in Job, and in the later books, such as Daniel, Nehemiah, and Chronicles. It is used as well of idol deities as of the true God (<271137>Daniel 11:37, 38; <350111>Habakkuk 1:11; <053215>Deuteronomy 32:15; Psalm 1, 22; <350303>Habakkuk 3:3, etc.); once in the former case with the addition of rk;ne (<271139>Daniel 11:39), and in the latter with that of bqo[}yi (<19B407>Psalm 114:7). The more common usage is that of the plural. This pervades all the books of the Old Test., from the earliest to the latest. Thus it is used principally of the true God, and in this case frequently with the article prefixed (<010522>Genesis 5:22; 6:9, 11; 17:18), as well as with such adjuncts as µyæmiV;hi (<160104>Nehemiah 1:4), or with the addition of /r,a;h;w] (<012403>Genesis 24:3); ˆmea; (<236516>Isaiah 65:16); qDæxi (<190402>Psalm 4:2); t/aB;Xihi (<300313>Amos 3:13), etc. When the relation of Israel to God is to be indicated, the phrases God of Israel, Jacob, Abraham are used (<260501>Ezekiel 5:1; <192002>Psalm 20:2; 47:10, etc.); and in this case, as the term Elohim is equivalent in effect to Jehovah, it is often used interchangeably with that term; thus Moses, who is designated hw;hoy] db,[e, Ebed-Jehovah (<053405>Deuteronomy 34:5), is called in the same sense µyhælEa 8 [, Ebed-Elohim (<270911>Daniel 9:11); and the same object is designated indifferently hw;hoy] jiWr, Ruach-Jehovah, and 8r µyhælEa, Ruach-Elohim (comp. <070310>Judges 3:10, and <023103>Exodus 31:3, etc.). Not unfrequently the two terms are combined (<031802>Leviticus 18:2, 4, etc.; 19:2, etc.; <100510>2 Samuel 5:10; <110136>1 Kings 1:36; 14:13; <191829>Psalm 18:29, etc.). Most commonly, however, they are used distinctively, with respect, probably, to the difference between their primary meanings (see Hengstenberg, Auth. d. Pent. 1:181 sq.). In the Pentateuch this discriminative usage has given ground for certain hypotheses as to the composition of that work. SEE PENTATEUCH. In the earlier historical books, Jehovah is more frequently used than Elohim; in Job, Jehovah is more frequently used in the poetical, Eloah or Elohim in the prosaic portions; in the Psalms, sometimes the one, sometimes the other predominates, and this has been thought to afford some criterion by which to judge of the age of the psalm, the older psalms being those in which Elohim is used; in Proverbs we have chiefly Jehovah; in Ecclesiastes, Daniel, and Jonah almost exclusively Elohim, and in the other prophets chiefly Jehovah. Elohim is also used of idol deities or false gods, because 5 these are worshipped as if they were God (<021920>Exodus 19:20; 32:31; <062420>Joshua 24:20; <240211>Jeremiah 2:11; <320105>Jonah 1:5, etc.); and, like El, it is used as a superlative (<196816>Psalm 68:16; 65:10, etc.). Kings and judges, as the vicegerents of Deity, or as possessing a sort of repreasentative majesty, are sometimes called Elohim (<198201>Psalm 82:1, 6; <022106>Exodus 21:6; 22:8). Whether the term is used of angels may be made matter of question. This is the rendering given to µyhæloEa by the Sept.,Vulg., Targ., Syr., etc., in <010305>Genesis 3:5; <190806>Psalm 8:6; 82:1, 6; 97:7; and 138:1; but in the majority of these instances there can be little doubt that the translators were swayed by were dogmatical considerations in adopting. that rendering; they preferred it because they avoided thus the strongly by anthropomorphic representation which a literal rendering would have preserved. In all these passages the proper signification of µyhæloa may be retained, and in some of them, such as <010305>Genesis 3:5; <198201>Psalm 82:1, 6, this seems imperatively required.