Al (ʿly/ʿlw): Short Form of Elyon, “Most High,” and the Name of Yahweh
1. What is Al (ʿly/ʿlw)? Shorter, Older Forms Tied to Elyon
Hebrew Al (spelled ʿly or ʿlw) has been identified as a shorter and more ancient form of the divine epithet Elyon (ʿlywn), “Most High.” Elyon is well documented in biblical poetry and is explicitly associated with Yahweh: “The LORD thundered from heaven; the Most High uttered his voice” (cf. 2 Sam 22:14 = Ps 18:14; see also Ps 21). In other words, within Israel’s Scripture, Elyon is not an anonymous sky-god; Elyon is YHWH.
Modern scholarship, however, exploring the wider Levant, argues that Elyon first functioned as a Canaanite divine epithet or name and only later entered early Yahwistic tradition. That reconstruction relies on several lines of evidence beyond the Hebrew Bible: Ugaritic usage, personal names (onomastica), and later Phoenician historiography as preserved by Philo of Byblos. Within this frame, Al (ʿly/ʿlw) represents an abbreviated, archaic form of “Most High,” sometimes surfacing in extra-biblical texts and names, though—as we will see—its presence as a standalone form in the Hebrew Bible is doubtful.
2. Al/Elyon in the Ancient Levant: Ugarit, Phoenicia, and Beyond
Several extra-biblical data points illumine how “Most High” language circulated across the region:
Ugaritic texts: One passage calls Baal “ʿly” (Most High)—bʿl ʿly (KTU 1.16 iii:5–9). Elsewhere, a syllabic text mentions “the fields of ʿaliyu” (RS 18.22), suggestive—by analogy with “the fields of Ishtar”—of a divine epithet or name, “the Ascendant.” Another composition (KTU 1.111:17–18) closely pairs Elyon and El in parallel, hinting at how “Most High” might function alongside or as a title of the chief god El.
Ebla/Mari: A debated form ḫal- (= ʿal-?) appears in onomastic contexts. Whether it relates to Hebrew ʿly/ʿlywn is unclear; it could reflect an unrelated Semitic root.
Philo of Byblos (via Eusebius): In later Phoenician tradition, Elioun (Elyon) is presented as Most High/hypsistos, the progenitor of Kronos; Elos is then equated with El. This late retelling preserves a memory of Elyon as distinct from El, even while interweaving Greek mythic categories.
These witnesses suggest that “Most High” functioned widely as an epithet of supremacy—sometimes attached to El, sometimes linked to Baal, and, in Israelite faith, identified with Yahweh.
3. Al in Ancient Hebrew Names: Onomastics as Theological Clues
Even if ʿly does not clearly appear in the Hebrew Bible text as an independent divine name, Hebrew inscriptions preserve the element ʿly within personal names:
Bullae (6th c. BCE) attest forms like yhŵly (“Yahu is Most High”), ywʿly (“Yaw is Most High”), ʿlyhw (“Most High is Yahu”), ʿlyw (“Most High is Yaw”).
An 8th c. BCE ostracon from Samaria records yḥwʿly, plausibly “May the Most High give life.”
These names show that Israelite worshipers could confess Yahweh as “Most High” by combining Yahu/Yaw with ʿly. Whatever the pre-Israelite background of Elyon, Israel’s lived piety deliberately absorbed and reoriented the title so that Elyon = YHWH.
4. Does the Short Form ʿly Occur in the Hebrew Bible? Four Tested Passages
A handful of biblical verses are sometimes reconstructed to include ʿly (“Most High”) in short form. The evidence, however, is consistently fragile or leans against that reading.
Deuteronomy 33:12: Some have posited ʿly (“Most High”) in the first occurrence of ʿlyw. Yet major versions (Samaritan, Syriac, Vulgate) omit that first form, and the Greek (“ho theos”) does not use hypsistos here. The parallelism that would demand “Most High” is not secure.
1 Samuel 2:10: NRSV prints “the Most High will thunder,” but the Masoretic reading supports “He will thunder against them,” and ancient versions (Syriac, Targum, Vulgate) favor ʿal + suffix (“against them”) rather than ʿly as a title. The Greek renders a verb of ascending, not a divine epithet.
2 Samuel 23:1: Some translate “the man whom the Most High raised up,” taking ʿal as a divine name. But Qumran (4QSama) reads ʾēl (“God”), aligning with the Greek “ho theos.” Alternatively, ʿāl can be the noun “height.”
Hosea 11:7: Proposals to read ʿal as “Most High” rest on Hosea’s Baal-polemic and Ugaritic analogies (cf. Hos 7:16; 10:5). Yet the Masoretic yields “when called upward, it does not rise,” and the LXX diverges independently. Given the tenuous cases elsewhere, it is unlikely that ʿly functions here as a short divine epithet.
Bottom line: While Elyon (ʿlywn) is thoroughly biblical, the short form ʿly/ʿlw as a standalone divine name does not clearly appear in the Hebrew Bible.
5. Eli and the Question of a “Most High” Priest
The priest Eli (ʾēlî) at Shiloh has sometimes been invoked as evidence for ʿly (“Most High”) inside Israelite tradition. But the name Eli can be explained without positing a prior Canaanite cult of ʿly. It might simply be a theophoric or abbreviated form (“my God”), or, if it echoed “Most High,” that would most plausibly reflect a title already appropriated by Yahweh. The narrative note that “the word of the LORD was rare in those days” (1 Sam 3:1) speaks to prophetic scarcity, not to the absence of Yahwism in Israel. Historically, nothing requires that Eli served a non-Yahwistic ʿly.
6. Theology of Titles: How “Most High” Becomes a Confession of Yahweh
Seen across the Levant, Most High language functions as a rank-title—the deity above all others. Israel’s Scripture decisively reframes that rank-title:
Monotheistic confession: In psalms and poetry, Elyon is Yahweh, not a rival deity.
Sanctifying shared terms: Israel often reclaims common religious vocabulary (e.g., “El,” “Elyon”), filling it with the identity of the covenant LORD.
Polemic and praise: Where surrounding cultures toggled “Most High” between Baal and El, Israel’s praise fixes the title on YHWH alone, collapsing the pantheon’s ambiguity into a single, saving Name.
This is not syncretism; it is sanctification of language. The epithet is captured for Israel’s worship and made to serve the self-revealed God.
7. Gospel Trajectory: “Most High” in the Fulness of Time
In the New Testament, the title reaches its telos. The angelic promise names Jesus “Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32); the Spirit’s overshadowing is tied to “the power of the Most High” (Luke 1:35); even hostile spirits confess “Jesus, Son of the Most High God” (Mark 5:7). The confession Israel learned to make—Elyon is YHWH—is now focused on the Son who reveals the Father.
In this way, the Most High is not an abstract superlative. He is the covenant Lord who thunders in Israel’s hymns, shelters the faithful (Ps 91), and, in the fulness of time, exalts the lowly by sending his Son. The same “Most High” who reigns in ancient songs stoops in incarnation, and the same Lord who is “over all” raises up the downcast, fulfilling the hope that runs from Israel’s poetry into the church’s praise.
Conclusion: Al and Elyon—Short Form, Long Story
The shorter forms Al (ʿly/ʿlw) likely preserve an older way of saying “Most High,” a title broadly attested across the Levant and thoroughly claimed by Israel for Yahweh. Extra-biblical texts and names show the spread and weight of the epithet; biblical poetry secures it to the Name above every name in Israel’s worship. Attempts to find the short form as such inside the Hebrew Bible, however, do not hold up under textual scrutiny.
Yet the theological music is unmistakable: the Most High of Israel’s songs is the Lord who reveals himself fully in Jesus. That is why the church gladly speaks of the Son of the Most High—not as a borrowed piece of ancient rhetoric, but as the living confession that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reigns on high and draws near to redeem.
Bible Verses on “Most High” (Elyon)
“And Melchizedek king of Salem… blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth.” (Genesis 14:18–19)
“The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice.” (2 Samuel 22:14)
“For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.” (Psalm 21:7)
“I will give thanks to the LORD… I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.” (Psalm 7:17)
“I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” (Psalm 9:2)
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1)
“For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.” (Psalm 47:2)
“I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever.” (Daniel 4:34)
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” (Luke 1:32)
“What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” (Mark 5:7)
