On the Hebrew Word ShDI (Shaddai), Translated "The Almighty" Author(s): J. P.

Lesley Source: Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 23, No. 122 (Apr., 1886), pp. 303-312 Published by: American Philosophical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/983244 . Accessed: 20/03/2013 05:23
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1886.

303
ABSA'ROKA.

LLesley.

This tribe is generally knownas theCrows, a wordoriginating no doubt fromthe gesture-sign used to designatethemselves, whichis made by placing the flathands, palms down, in front of and outward fromtlle shoulders, then imitating the movement of a bird's wings whenflyinig. The first portion ofthewordabsarokais from abita, ab, an arrow-point, i mouth and 'ta tokill,i. e.,tokillwith an arrow-pointed mouth, clearly signifying thehabitofan accipitrine bird. The Indiansstated tothewriter that thetrueAbsa'rokawas a white,or nearly white, bird,exactly resembling
the sparrow-hawk-Falco spariverius. No specimen of the true absa'roka

has beenseen formany years,and it appearsprobablethat the birdis a mythicone, particularly as it is describedas white,or partlywhite. Animalsand birdsheld as sacredare invariably white, andalbinos,probably on accountoftheir rarity, beingdeemedas endowedwithsupernatural and mystic powers. A partial synonomy is herewith added: Absa'roka. Tribaldesignation. Absoroka. Drake. Book ofIndians. 1848. p. v. Absarakos. Warren. Nebraska and Arizona(1855-7)1875. p. 50. Upsaraukas. Brown(J.M.). Beach'sInd. Miscellany.1877.p. 83. Apsaruka. Maximilian. Travels. 1843. p. 174. "Their own " name. Atsharoke. De Smet,Letters. 1843. p. 51. Gens des Corbeau. Lewis and Clark. Disc. 1806. p. 41. " So-calledby theFrench." Kee-kat-sa. Bradbury. Travels in America. Liverpool. 1817. Keeheet-sas. Kiqatsa. Crows. M'Vickar. Hist. Exp. Lewis and Clark. 1842. i. Map. Am. Naturalist, Oct. 1882. p. 829. By authors generally.
p. 19.

On theHebrewWordShDI (Shaddai), translated "The Almighty." By J. P. Lesley. theAmerican (Read before Philosophical Society, January15, 1886.) Severalyearsago I was led to examineall theHebrewtextscontaining thisword,and was surprised to see thattheylend no countenance to the commontranslation of it; and tbat theyteach a derivation of it from sourcesforeign to theHebrewtheology. In theseven centuries which elapsed betweentheSeventy translators in Egypt and St. Jerome's Latin translation Christianity effected a greatchange in the view men tookof things, both sacred and profane.
of the LXX had a very differentmeaning from the

The 7rayroparwp

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Lesley.]
omnipoten8 of the Vulgate.

304
The "power"

[Jan.15, of the first was not the

"power" of the second. What was destructive abilitybeforeChrist becameconstructive ability after Christ. The terrible had been presented as the beneficent. flavroKparwp was to be feared, for what strength could resisthis blows, what coat of mail turnthe pointof his arrow? Omnipotens was to be confided in; forthe universewas his handiwork; and he was able to do for his creatures moreand better than theycould ask or think. In his namethere was no hintof violence; it meantabsoluteand infinite ability ofactionas against any conceivable hindrance. On the contrary or at leastviolentforce; as Kparoqmeantdestructive,
we see fromKpadaeat, Kpaaacyecy to brandish weapons; Kpa,etyto scream;

resistless;Kparepoq valiant,cruel, violent; Kparree to rule,subKpa,ratoq due, seize; allied to our wordscrushand crash. In viewof thisGreek lhabit of languagewe have a rightto say that,when theLXX selected as theirsynonyme fortheHebrewdivinenameSlhDI,they ravroKparwp musthave conceived ofhimas an all-destroyer; at least as one who had exhibited his powerin a violentmanner; if theydid not actuallyregard himas thedivinespirit ofevil; whichis hardly to be supposed;although, I have been led by mystudyof thecontexts to believe thatthisconceptionlay behindthatof whichtheywereavowedlyconscious. For they wrotein Egypt,and this was the recognized character of the almighty Set. The Greeksof the Delta identified Set withthe typhonic spiritof theuniverse. The LXX translators beingexilesanddescendants ofexilesfrom Judaea, musthave been perfectly acquaintedwiththe etymological force of the word, and to an extent somewhat, perhaps much, greater thanwe can be; forit is not likelythat the wholeHebrewlanguageof theirday,mueh less ofSalomonicand Mosaicdays,was represented in our codexof their sacredbooks. How manywordsand phrasesare lost we do not know, but the dra! Aerojpseatell a story of loss. But our reasoning mustbe baseduponthelanguageas preserved in thosebooks,and ithappens tobe veryrichin wordsfor power. Some ofthem are puremetaphors, such as finger hand (1'), right hand (pT), arm(Xt'), horn(tT1),shoulder (y7ZYk), resented purelypassive power,strength to endure or resist assaults(like that of a bone) or wealth,or highposition(=TV, lp?r.) Manyof them the delegatedpowerof a magistrate, represented or ruler,or hereditary n&n,nV3,nU.) prince(CV5W, , l1'W0, Severalofthem meantheroic as power,strenigth of body,stalwartness (MInI, lOf: nlD) and especially pFl; compare T.V in actsofstrength putforth (TV, strength ofJehovalh, JTV, 'VV mystrength). The word"very" (1NO)is usedas a 5R't; God's power, noun,with themeaning power (itRD lhis power). The word"god" (5X,5'X) is usedinthesamesense(5?5;and 5'fn-). Buttheabstract ideaof8trength was expressedby XV1(Ecc. 9 :16), translated withniceexactness by the LXX into t,Zu;, whichofitself slhows it with thatthey did notconfound
xpato;.

(DOW?), thunder(=V'),

a firman( cDW), chariot(Y'fl). Some of them rep-

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305

[Lesley.

None of all these wordshave a basis of ideal violence,but merely involve violence as an accident of strength, of theexercise not necessary but occasional. For violencetheyused fnn, Onn,pw; fl'bt; all in 71VIM, 3 pR', reference to violation of peace and law, robbery, of plunder,destruction cropsand goods,oppression by rulers, &c. For a violent ragetheyused TU?. But their specialword forwastingand desolation, plunderand destruction, oppression, persecution, devourment, and utterde. demolition struction was 14, ShUD (Masoretic ShOD), theverbalform beingShDaD. Hence theycalled thedemons ShDIM (Deut. 32: 17), and robbers ShDDIShDDIM.* Even in composition ShD keeps its terriblemeaning,for ShDF in Gen. 41: 23, 27, meanstheblasting of grainby thedesert wind; and ShDFUN in Gen. 41: 6, 1 K. 8: 37, Amos 4: 9, Deut. 28: 22, the The pointon whichI wishtofix is this: The LXX translators attention musthave beenalive to the two facts: 1. That if thenameof thedeity forwhichtheywereto find a Greekcorrelative was a Hebrew name and had a Hebrewetymology, theymustselectfrom thelistofHebrewwords meaning power the only one which was like ShDI, namely ShD, a or ShDD, to commit demon, violence, laywaste,desolate, oppress, destroy. 2. That in adopting thisetymology theydid it withtheknowledge that ShDD never meantto be strong, powerful, exceptIn a bad sense. For Gesenius himself admitsthis,whileadvocatingthe opinion thatEl ShDI againstthe contrary opinionof Verbrugg(De nominorum Hebraeorum, 1752)and Ewald (Heb. Gram.pp. 298,423).t Without thepoints theword is notnecessarily a plural; ShDIM wouldbe plural. It wouldperhaps be treating theMasorites too harshly to suspectthattheypointedthe word Shaddaiintentionally to assimilate it withAdonai; buteven ifthecharge was just it would notprovea plural. rivedfrom a Hebrewroot,carry a malign, dreadfQil, destructive meaning, and it onlyremains forthosewho believeit to be an epithet ofJehovah to explain its use by reference to thatterrible side of his character so often paintedin theHebrewscriptures. The opposite aspectof Jehovah as a god of long suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, is also frequently presented. A common toneis given
*As the Hebrew PRK is represented in the Latin frangere,fractirni, English break, broken,so the Hebrew ShD is represented in the English shatter,but not in Latin. t The proper name ShDIAUR of Num. 1: 5, 2: 10,is translated by Gesenius the Darting of Fire. tIn Ps. 17: 9, Prov. 1l: 3, Is. 33: 1,Jer. 5: 6,47: 4,48:1,49: 29,itmeans topractice violence, oppress, destroy. In Is. 15:1, 33: 1 it expresses the horrors of a foreigni invasion. In Ob. 5, "robbers of the night." In Judges 5: 27, murdered. In Ps. 137: 8, Jer. 25: 36,48: 8, 18,51: 55,56, to desolate a land. In Micab 2 : 4, and other prophets, to lay waste.
PROC. AMER. PITILOS. Soc. XXIII.

same.t

was a

pluralis

excellentice,

an epithet of Jehovah as almighty, omnipotent,

The ShDI, 7raioroKpa-rwp of the LXX, must necessarily thereforeif de-

122. 2M.

PRINTED

MARCH

9, 1886.

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306

lJan. 15,

to all theHebrewwritings adoration bythefrequent ofJehovah inhistwo moodsof affection forhis people and violent hatred forthosewho are not his people. This toneis veryharshin theearlierbooks,but softens and sweetens in latertimes, untilthemodernidea of God as the all-father is almostcompletely developed. But thatis notthesubjectof this paper. I wish to keep in view the sole question, whetherShDI could have been an epithet of Jehovah; or whether, on thecontrary, he was nota different deity, moreancient, and to Palestine. To help settle foreign thisquestion I shall quote everypassage in whichthewordoccurs, both in the earlier and laterbooks,to see what the contextin each instancesuggests. I hope in anothercommunication to discussthe questionin a broaderway, by comparing data obtainable in countries outside thelimits ofPalestine. It is necessary however to add one moreitemto these prefatory statements,viz: the factthatthe Hebrew language had two wordswritten ShD, which must have been differently it is impronounced, although possibleto say whatthedifference was. In theearlyChristian centuries Hebrew scribesdistinguished thesetwo wordsby marking one to be pronouncedshort and theother long,Shad and Shad, or Shed and Shed, like the English ship and sheep. But whetherthis Masoretic punctuation preserved thetradition oftheancient correctly ofpronunciation difference is a matter of debate among the best scholars.* It is, however,a very convenient way ofdistinguishing thetwowords:Sh8D,a demon, as above described, and ShaD, the femalebreastor teat,tfrom whichI wouldderive a word forwife,ShDE, which occurs only once in the Hebrew Scriptures (Ecc. 2 : 8). It is a curiousfact, and bearsuponoursubject, that Geseniusrejects thisplausibleetymology and prefers to derive ShDE, fromthe otherShD (whichhe now says means simply power, although he has elsewhere said that it nevermeant power exceptin a bad ordestructivesense),translating it notwife, butmistress, domina. I leave to others to explainlhowtwo such irreconcilable ideas came to be expressed by thesame word; how ShD could be used to expressboth destruction and nutrition, a midnight robbery and a woman's brea.st, the ofsavage enemies invasion and thesuckling ofchildren. But I will show thatboththesetwoirreconcilable ideasareinvolved inthetexts relating to thedeityShDI, who is regarded in the same passage) as the (sometimes god of vengeanceand destruction and as the god of covenantpromise of
* I cannot see how it can be of any value, seeing that it is not consistent with itself; forin Lam. 4 3, the word is pointed short, 'NW/; iD Job. 21: 9, Is. 60: 16,long 8), and in Hosea 9 14,Cant. 4: 5, Gen. 49: 25,also long =-le? the two breasts. Gesenius derives this ShaD from an obsolete Sha dah, allied tq the Chaldee and Arabic verbs " to cast, shoot, pour, moisten, irrigate." In other words, it has no known Hebrew etymology. It certainly has nothing to do with the old Egyptian BNTT (Benti), the two dugs (Pierret's Diet., p. 131),nor with the Coptic form MNOT, mamma.

t ShD in Hebrew exactly corresponds to Trerfri and teat.

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rethathe is in a veryespecialmanner andposterity; boundless prosperity is a form and in so striking and increase, gardedas thegod of generation oflogic be any violation thathis name mightwithout he thuspresented, or teat. breast from ShD thefemale derived first of ShDI in theMosaicbooks. 1. This is the appearance 17: Gen. first appearance his appropriate If El Shaddaimeant God the Almighty, of the creation. But the word is notused until would be in thestories withAbramis reached. oftheCovenant thestory This covenantis sealed by a change of Abram's name to Abraham. is promised;nationsand kings progeny Firsta son,and thena countless is enjoined; him; Caananis tobe possessed;circumcision are to comefrom Sarai's name is changedto Sarah; Isaak is onlypromised;butIshmaelis himand a greatnation; and are to comefrom blessed,and twelveprinces ofthe Ishmaeland therest windsup withtheact ofcircumcising thestory household. story,of unknown date, opens with the words: This remarkable years old, Jehovah appearedto "And when Abram was ninety-nine me and be Abram and said to him, 'I am El SheDi, keep walkingbefore is notagain mentioned, nor is El Shedi faultless.'" After this,Jehovah but El recurs eighttimes. repeated, wasborrowed from theArabs, that thestory bytheHebrews It is evident subis itshero,and Isaac is of no account. A greatnation, forIshmael is todescend from each,withitsown princedom dividedintotwelvetribes Ishmael,forwhomAbrampleads,and whom El speciallyblesses. The is apparently to be realized promiseto Abramof a countlessposterity seemsto Ishmael; Isaak is notyetborn. The Hebrewcompiler through of the Arab story the two great features (the change of have imitated left of Ishmael) with the onlymaterials Abram'snameand the blessing to him,to save the amour propreof the Hebrews,by changingSaral's Isaak. nameand promising whythe it is easy to understand be one thus borrowed, If the story verse in a Hebrewsense by the insertion Hebrewwriter glossedthefirst and theexplanation was El Shedi. thathe, Jehovah, ofthewordJehovah ownancestral as toldoftheir bytheChildren beginning The original story, yearsold oftheDesert,probably began: " When Abramwas ninety-nine alwaysto be thegod Shedi appearedto him and warnedhimto continue it is well known that the servant." As to circumcision, his faultless it in ages preceding any date assignable Egyptiansand Libyanspracticed to Abram. of El Shedi occursin an Idumaean Gen. 28: 3. The nextappearance to kill Jacob. She by Rebecca threatening legend: Esau is overheard and pretends to Isaac thatshe fears Jacobwill marry advisesJacobto fly, some Hittitegirl, that is, some young beduine of the Kadish Barnea sends his son to Mesopotamia fora Chaldean country. Isaac therefore wife,saying: "and El Shedi will bless thee and maketheethe fruitful

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[Jan.15,

sireofa hordeofnations, and hispromand givetheeAbraham's blessing ised lands." Afterdescribing Esau's marriages and settlement, of Jacob's the story journey is taken up, and then,and notuntilthen,comes in the name Jehovah,"I am Jehovah Elohi Abraham, thyfather," &c., who pronises hima greatcovenant people. Jacob,awakenedand affrighted, erected a stoneand called theplace, notBethj(ah, but Bethel. Gen.35: 11. Thethird El Shediappears time itis under similar precisely circumstances; Jacob returns fromMesopotamia to Bethel,witha great household and buildsan altar,thistimededicating it by the nameof (not Jehovah, but) El-Beth-El,"because El had appeared to himwhen there he fledfrom his brother." And El now again appearsto himand repeats the blessing; changeshis name from Jacob to Isra-El, saying, "I am El Shedi,be fruitful and multiply;a nation, a hordeof nations shallbe ofthee,and kingsshallcomefrom thyloins; " theland was again promised,and then " El ascendedfrom himin theplace wherehe talkedwith " him. Gen.43: 14. The fourth place thenameappears is in the story of the famine, and from Jacob'smouth. "Take also yourbrother (Benjamin) and arise,go back to theman (Joseph, nowprince ofEgypt) and El Shedi giveyou mercy before theman,thathe maysendback to me yourother brother and Benjamintoo.* But if I be bereaved(of my children) I am " i. e., El Shedipromised bereaved. them to me at Bethel,andifhe takes themaway again,I mustbe resigned. There is here again no mention of Jehovah. El Shedi is evidently the tutelary deityof the Abrahamic nomades. And he is evidently in somemysterious way thegod thatgives increase. Gen. 48 3. The nextoccurrence of the word carriesout thisidea exactly. It is again Jacobwho saysto Joseph" El Shediappeareduntome at Luz (Bethel) and blessedme and said to me, ' Lo, I make theefruitful * * * a hostofpeoples,and givethisland to thyseed forever.' " There is no reference to Jehovah. Gen. 49: 25 is veryremarkable. El Shedihereoccursin Jacob'sblessing,and in thatpartof it addressed to Joseph (Ephraimand Manasseh, thetentribes, and notat all toJudah),buthe divides theEl from theShedi, and assigns themtwo separatetasks:-I By the El of thyfather who shall helpthee,and by the Shediwhoshall bless theewithblessings," &c. " then &c. If Shaddai be as the commentors fancy" theAlmighty, Jacob oughtto have reversed theparts ofhisblessing, and said: " By Shediwho shall help thee,and by El who shall blessthee," &c. It is elear thatthe idea ofa blessedposterity, fruitfulness, &c., is organically involved in the wordEl Shedias used six times in Genesis. It mustbe notedno article is prefixed to El norto Shedi; but a curious poeticbalanceis preserved by inserting PN beforeShedi. It reallymeans
*IfJoseph was under the Hyksos, he also must have had the god Seti as his god, and this reference to Shedi's influence over Joseph has a double value.

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1886.]

U09

[Lesley.

nothing, butit balancesthe 7KEl ofthefirst division oftheverse. In the fiveprevious occurrences, whichare all prose,El and Shedioccurin combination;in this sixth occurrence, in a poem,the El and the Shediare butinstead ofEl Shedithepoetwrites separated, Et Shedi. Exodus 6: 3. Here we have a legendary on theuse of El commentary Shediin Genesis. " Then Jehovah said to Moses * * * I am Jehovah. I appearedto Abraham, Isaac and Jacobas (")* El Shedi,and by myname Jehovah was I notknowntothem; andI established with them mycovenant will bring you outof Egypt," &c., &c. It is surprising how the ideas of covenant and land clingto thistermEl Shedi,and how nota suggestion of violence,or the needof almightiness, is made in any of the legends which carry thetermEl Shedi. The god thus named is evidently the or tribal family deityofthe Abrahamidse, from theJehovah quitedifferent ofthelaterJewish cult. This is the onlyplace in the book of Exodus whereEl Shedsappears,nordqes it appearat all in Leviticus. But in Numb. 24: 4, it turns intherhapsody up again and significantly enough oftheChaldeanprophet Balaam Ben Beor: "And he tookup hisparable and said: Balaam Ben Beor speaks; the manof open eyes speaks; he speakswho hearsthewordsofEl, who sees thevisionofShedi,entranced " &c. Hereagain El Shediare poetically (?) open eyed, forsake of parted therythm. But the same old themeis harpedupon. It is always El Shedi's covenantand promise of Canaan to Abram: "How goodlyare thytents oh Israel ! * * * As the valleys * * * gardens * * * trees * * * * * * his kinghigher thanAgag, his kingdom exalted. El brought him out ofEgypt,strong as a unicorn, he shall eat up thenations his enemies, breaktheir bones,piercethemwitharrows, like a lion," &c. crouching Here we see thefirst and current idea offertility (shet),supplemented at length by theidea ofviolence (shet),and thetwo combined in themost poeticstyle. It is needlessto add that all thought of Jehovah is absent. The story belongsto Moab or thelands east ofthe Dead sea. Ruth1: 20, 21. We meetwithno El Shediin Deuteronomy, which is whollygivenup to Jehovah worship, norin Joshua, norin Judges. But in another Moabitelegend-thatofRuth-Naomi saystoherold acquaintances in Bethlehem, afterher return from Moab: " Call me notNaomi (the pleasing),call me Mara (bitterness), forShedihas dealtverybitterly withmle. I wentoutfullandJehovah has brought mehomeempty. Why call me Naomi,since Jehovahhas testified against me, and Shedi has afflicted me. In the Arabic poemofJob(included amongthesacred booksoftheJews) we mightexpectEl Shedi to appear frequently, fromthe factsalready and also from mentioned, thestriking factthatthename Jehovahoccurs
* If this :I were a Dl we could account for it; but an exact translation with n should read " I appeared to Abraham .. . in El Shedi," as if it were the name of a place, i. e. Bethel. It is hardly possible that 52 should here be Baal.

to give them the land of Canaan * * * I remembermy covenant * * * I

planted * * * pour water from his buckets * * * seed in many waters

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of theutter onlyoncein thewhole book: " Then Job arose (afterhearing destruction ofhis wholefamily and all his possessions) and rent hismantle and shaved his head and fell on the groundand worshiped, said: anwd Naked I issued from thewombof mymother, and nakedshall I return thither;Jehovahgives and Jehovahtakes,let the nameof Jehovah be blessed. In all these Jobsinned not,and gavenotspit(;l?tlT) toElohim." This singleallusionto Jehovah occursin an evidently proverbial form, at theclose of a historical prose introduction to the originalpoem; an introduction which mayor maynot be ascribed to theJewish compiler. At all eventsthetotalabsenceof thenameof the Jewishdeityfromthe poemitself renders itsoccurrence in theprologue sufficiently suspicious. In strong contrast to thisabsenceof the name Jehovahis theconstant use ofthenamesEloeh,Elohim, and Shedi. The introduction opensthus avoidedsin." And in thebeginning ofthepoem(Job3: 4): "Job opened his mouth and cursedhis day * * * Let thatday be darkness; let Eloeh " &c. It is evident notlook at it from above, thattherace to which Job a deitycalled Elohim (or worshiped belongedworshiped it gods,Elohim, would be hardto decidewhich), forin theopening verseofthe2d chapter theyare called Beni Elohim, just as the Hebrewswerehabitually called Beni israel. The deitynameShedioccurs(not in theintroduction, norin theconclu. sion, but) in thepoemitselfthirty-one and thedeitybearing this times, nameis described as inscrutible (11: 7, 37: 23), omniscient (24: 1, 40: 2) and life(32: 8, 33: 4), just in judgment giverofinspiration (8 :3, 31 : 35, 34 :10, 34 :12), payingno regardto complaints thatare silly (35 :13), open to prayer (8: 5, 13: 3), punishingthe wicked (27 : 13), wrathful whenoffended (21: 20), building up,defending, and beingwith delighting his worshipers (22: 23, 25, 26, 29 5). At thesametimeJobcomplains that"the arrows of Shediare (sticking) in him(5: 4), that El has killed his heart (11M for;Vol) and Shedi has him(23: 16), thatShedihathvexedhis soul (27 : 2). But appatroubled he vents thesecomplaints without rently feeling anydisrespect towards the deity. In the samenientalmood, Eliphaz the Temanite, says (5: 17) "Lo I and the chastisement Happy the man whom Eloeh correcteth, of Shedi (1?t ND1M) despisenot." Job replies(6 : 14): "To the afflicted a froma of Shediheforsaketh.""The wicked friend pity!and (but)thefear man" hishandagainstEl (nateh (15: 20) is described by Eliphaz as " stretching a heroagainstShedi" (v el Shediithgabar) himself el el ido) and making " (21: 7) as saying, " thewicked (15: 23). And Jobin histurndescribes " What is Shedi(meh $hedi) thatwe shouldservehim,and how shallwe to him he asks (27: 10) "Will he ?" Of the hypocrite profit by praying or rather, does he makehimself an objectof pleasure delighthimself, to Shedi (im ol Shedi ithonan),does he ever call on Eloeh (iqra eloe b'col oth)?"
(Job 1: 1): "There was a man * ** who * * * feared Elohim and

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Eliphaz seemsto have a veryunanthropomorphic notion of Shedi. He beginsone ofhis discourses thus(22: 2) "Can a hero(geber)be profit to El, as a sage is profit to himself? Is it delightfuil to Shedi that thou art righteous(zedek), and is it gainful(to him) that thy ways are good (tam)?" And thenhe goeson to showJobthatShedisimply him regards as a sinner himas such, and not at all out of any personal and punishes considerations. One morereference to Shediis madein thispoem,and itrequires separate consideration, because it takes us back to theideas of covenant and inheritance. Job(31: 2) is attesting "I madea covenant his uiprightness. withmyeyes,and whyshould I thinkon a maid,and what has Eloeh allotted(as myportion) from on high,and whatShedias nmy inheritance? Is notdestruction the lot of the unrighteous, and misfortune thatof the evil doers? Does he not see myways,and countmysteps?" &c. It remains onlyto drawattention to thepoetical balancing ofEt (Eloeh) against Shedi,provingthatthe full namewas El Shedi,or Eloeh Shedi, throughout thebook. Theabsence ofany article would provethevulgartranslation of Shedias "'thealmighty," tobe a mistake, all other from apart arguments. It would be just as reasonableto expect an articlewithEl or Eloeh, "the god." Shediis evidently as personal a proper name,as Baal, or Jehovah, or Seti. " falls to theground The translation " thealmighty withtheetymology of Shedi, from Shedstrong;and we have seenthatShed,amongitsvarious has one whiehdoes notmeanstrong, meanings, butviolent. It is truethattheEl ShediofthepoemofJobis rather an amiable deity. But thishe would undoubtedly be in theeyesof his originalworshipers in Arabia. The poem hints plainlyenough thathe couldbe a typhonic demonto "the wicked," that is to people who worshiped otherdeities and carednothing forShedi. In thePsalms thenameShedioccursonlytwice. Ps. 68 :14. This superbchant,beginning"Let Elohim arise,let his foesbe scattered ; let his hatersfleebefore him. As smokeis driven, as wax is melted, let thewickedperish from thefaceof Elohim;but let the righteous rejoice," &c. "Extol the cloud-rider by his name Jehov,ah." 'Jehovah gavethesongofvictory, " messengers ofvictory tothegreat host. "'The kings of the hosts flee, theyflee,and the housewife dividesthe booty;whenye restamongthecattlestalls,where doves'wingsare silver withgoldenfeathers." " In Paras Shedi,kingstherein, white, it snowed in Salmon." No clear meaning can be made out of this part of the Psalm, but eitherParas Shediwas the nameof a place "the scattering of Shedi," or Shediwas supposedto routthe kings on the snow-covered Salmon. At all eventsthemixture of Jehovah, Elohimand Shediin this wild war songis veryremarkable. Ps. 91: 1. We have in thissong no mention of Elohim,buta mingling of Oliun, Shedi and Jehovah, none of themwith an article: "Sitting beneaththeprotection of Oliin (thehighest), resting in theshadeof Shedi,

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I say to Jehovah, mysafety place, and myfortress, mygod (';1t), I confide in him." It is evidently a songof thedesert. The angels bear him up lest he stumbleamong the rocks; he is saved from thelion and the snake and the dragon (whateverthat was). It looks as if "under the shadeof Shedi,"was a proverbial expression amongtheBeduin. Isaiah has Shedionlyonce (13: 6): "'Howl ! fortheday of Jehovah comes, it comes like devastationfromShedi (k-ShD m-ShDI). The alliteration suggeststhat Shedi was the Typhonicdemon,and nothing couldbe moreappropriate; forIsaiah is prophesying againstBabylon's utterdestruction, to be producedby an invasion from themountains of many nations. DeWitte translates ShD "verheerung." It is notto be supposedthat Isaiah would not have frequently employedShedi,if it " as an epithet meant " almighty forJehovah. This is theonlytimehe uses theword. Jeremiah appearsnotto have knowntheword. Ezechielusesitonlyonce (1 24),indescribing creatures thefour-visaged whichappeared to himout ofthefiery cloudin Chaldea; theirheadssupa platform ported ofcrystal, (firmament) on whichwas a throne ofsapphire, and on thethrone sata manofamber-colored fire, over-arched bya rainbow; " thiswas theappearance ofthelikeness oftheglory ofJehovah,"a wellguarded expression. The creatureshad living wheels,self-intelligent, "theirspirit being in the wheels," and "the voice (6?lp)of their wings was likethevoiceofmighty like thevoiceofShedi" (k-qcd waters, Shedi); probably meaning "like a roaring stormwindin the desert." Compare " qol Jehovah" breakeththe cedars of Lebanon. "When theymoved theymadea noiselike a wholehost." Daniel. This book does not mentionShedi,butit makes mysterious " (11: 38). reference to a "god offorces Joelalone among the prophets of Palestine speaksof Shedi,and that onlyonce (1: to), and thenin thesenseofa destroyer. " Alas theday t for the day of Jehovah, and it will come like destruction fromShedi (u k ShD m*ShDI ibua). Joel repeatsprecisely the phrasein Isa. 13 : 6, with its alliteration; whichseemsto settle it beyond doubt that Isaiah and JoelusedShad Shedi, as a well understood a popularexpression formula; perhaps fora razzia of orperhaps for a sandstorrn.But whatever Beduins, specialmeaning ithad musthavebeenbasedon a conception ofthetyphonic demon ofdestruction like the Seti of the Egyptian monuments, and the Shaitan (devil) of Mohammedan literature.*
*It is interesting to compare Seti, cut stoneand heap of stones with the modern Mohammedan pract.ice of throwing stones at Sheitan, resulting in the accumulation of piles of stones, at certain fixed places, all of them regarded as either sacred or accursed.

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