MOST HIGH
Most High
Name for God, occurring frequently in the Old Testament and New Testament. Used also for Christ in the doxology “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.”
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Most High
The Hebrew title rendered ‘Most High’ is Elion (), for which the LXX usually has the reading , the Highest. The word Elion, however, is not confined to this sacred use. It is found in Gen 40:17; 1Ki 9:8; 2Ch 7:21; 2Ki 18:17; 2Ch 23:20; 2Ch 32:30; Neh 3:25; Jer 20:2; Jer 36:10.
This title is first applied to God in the account of Melehizedek (Gen 14:18-22); it is used by Balaam, who ‘knew the knowledge of the Most High’ (Num 24:16); and Moses adopts it when he speaks of the Most High dividing the earth among the nations (Deu 32:8; compare Act 17:26). It occurs also several times in the Psalms, e.g. Psa 18:13, ‘The Highest gave his voice;’ Psa 78:35, ‘They remembered that God was their Rock, and the High God their Redeemer.’ in Psa 89:27, this title is applied to the Messiah:–‘I will make him my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth.’
When we read of the Most High God in Mic 6:6, the Hebrew Marom (), exalted, is used; compare Psa 99:2; Psa 113:4; Psa 138:6; and Isa 57:15, where a simpler form of the same word is rendered High, and applied to God.
Fuente: Synonyms of the Old Testament
Most High
MOST HIGH (Elyn) occurs as an epithet of El, God (Gen 14:18 f., Gen 14:20; Gen 14:22, Psa 78:35), or Jahweh (Psa 7:17); or it stands by itself as a title of God (Num 24:16, Deu 32:8, Psa 21:8 etc.). We find it first in a somewhat mysterious chapter (Gen 14:1-24) which cannot be traced to any identified source; the date is also uncertain. In this chapter Melchizedek is described as priest to the Most High God (El Elyon), and since in later times the Salem where he lived was generally identified with Jerusalem, the double function of priest and king ascribed to him caused him to be regarded by the Jews as a type of the ideal king, and by the Christians as the type of Christ. Hence the name of the God whom he worshipped (El Elyon), which may possibly, in the first instance, have had reference merely to the lofty situation of Jerusalem, became in later generations a mysterious and exalted title of Jahweh. At the same time there is the possibility that the title Elyon came originally from the Phnicians: Philo of Byblus (quoted by Driver, Genesis, p. 165) mentions a deity of this name in the Phnician theogony, and the corresponding Greek word is frequent in inscriptions of the Grco-Roman period, especially in the neighbourhood of the Bosporus. Whatever the origin of the title Elyon, it never occurs in strictly prose passages of the OT, though we find it in the Songs of Balaam (Num 24:16), Moses (Deu 32:8), and David (2Sa 22:14). The Aramaic equivalents are fairly frequent in Daniel.
The uses of the Greek rendering in the NT are instructive. In the story of the Annunciation it is ordained that the child whom Mary is to bear shall be called Son of the Most High (Luk 1:32); and a little later on (Luk 1:76) John the Baptist is spoken of as prophet of the Most High. The contrast is completed in the Ep. to the Hebrews, where Melchizedek is brought forward as priest of the Most High (cf. Heb 7:1 with Heb 7:28). It is worth noting, too, that the title is twice found in the mouth of demoniacs (Mar 5:7 = Luk 8:28, Act 16:17). The word, then, does not belong to the language of everyday life: it is reserved for poetry and elevated style, and it seems by its origin to have suggested something archaic and mysterious, whether it referred to the lofty dwelling-place or to the majestic nature and attributes of God.
H. C. O. Lanchester.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Most High
MOST HIGH, MOST HIGHEST
We find frequent mention made, in holy Scripture, of the Lord JEHOVAH under these appellations; and very blessed and proper they are, when speaking of him. The latter of them, except with an eye to him, would be a breach of grammar, but becomes beautiful, in compounding two superlatives, in reference to the Lord JEHOVAH, of whom it must be truly said, without exceeding the bounds of language, as one of the sacred writers expresseth it, “There is no end of his greatness.” (Psa 145:3)
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
MOST HIGH
a title given Jehovah
Deu 32:8; 2Sa 22:14; Psa 7:17; Psa 47:2; Psa 83:18; Dan 4:17
–SEE Living God, LIVING GOD