Sacred Text
Canaan Narrative on The Children of El
At the seashore we find El who has gone there to create two women over a fire. He is aged now, and if he is impotent, the women he creates will be his daughters and remain childless (lean years); if he is virile, the women he creates will be his wives and bear offspring (fat or fertile years).
He shoots a bird. The bird is plucked, cleaned and roasted over a fire. While it is roasting, if the women cry:
O husband, husband
thy rod is lowered
The staff of thy hand has fallen....
(they are the wives of El forever).
But, if the women cry:
O father, father
thy rod is lowered
The staff of thy hand has fallen....
(they are the daughters of El forever).
What the women say determines the future. In the narrative the women say, "Husband, husband.."
He bends, their lips he kisses
Lo their lips are sweet, sweet as pomegranates
From kissing there is conception
From embracing, impregnation.
The women go into labor and bear Dawn (Sahar - Morning Star) and Dusk (Salem - Evening Star). The women proceed to bear El seven sons. El then directs his sons to the wilderness...
There ye shall sojourn among the stones and trees, seven full years even 8 circling years. Ugaritic Manual, Section 10
Note on a Hebrew Tradition:
Moses at Hebron goes to the hill with the rod of God in his hand to survey the battle between the Israelites, led by Joshua, and the Amelkites. When the rod is raised up, the Israelites prevail, when lowered, the Amelkites prevail. Exodus 17:9
The traditional ending of a name with "el" in Hebrew denotes a relationship to the high God El. Beth-el means "God's house." Similarly, the names of angels identify them as aspects of God: Gabri-el (The power of God) "I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak to you." Lk. 1:19 , Michal-el (Who is like God), Rapha-el (the medecine of God) "God sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah. I am Raphael, one of the Seven Holy Angels who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of the Glory of the Holy One." Tob. 12:14; and so on.
There is an tradition recorded in Gen.6:1-2 and elaborated on in the pseudepigrahon 1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch, that the sons of God came down from heaven and joined with the daughters of men.
(1)"In those days, when the children of man had multiplied, it happened that there (2) were born unto them handsome and beautiful daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw them and desired them; and they said to one another, 'Come, let us choose us wives for ourselves from among the daughters of man and beget us children.' "
(6)"And they were altogether two hundred; and they descended into 'Ardos which is the summit of Mount Hermon. And they called it Mount Armon, for they had sworn (7) and bound one another by a curse. And these are the names of their leaders: Semyaz, the leader of Arakeb, Rame'el, Tam'el, Ram'el, Dan'el, Ezeqel, Baraqyal, (8) As'el, Armaros, Batar'el, Anan'el, Zaq'el, Sasowaspe'el, Kestar'el, Tur'el, Yamayol, Arazyal. These are their chiefs of tens." ( 1Enoch, Chapter 6).
(1)"And Azaz'el taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all (2) alchemy. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they (3) were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Amasras taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, 'Armaros the resolving of enchantments, Baraqiyal (taught) astrology, Kokarer'el the constellations, Tam'el taught the seeing of the stars, Ezeqel the knowledge of the clouds, Araqiel the signs of the earth, Shamsiel the signs of the sun, and Asder'el the course of the moon as well as the deception of man. And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to heaven ...." (2Enoch, Chapter 8).
Note on an Arab Tradition:
Sahar and Salem are the children attributed by pagan Arabs to Allah, an idea rejected by the prophet Mohammed in the Surah LIII, An-Najm (Pleiades) - The Star. "Have you thought on Al-Lat and Al-Uzah, and thirdly on Manat? Is he to have daughters and you sons? This is indeed an unfair distinction! They are but names which you and your fathers have invented: Allah has vested no authority in them."
Note on Melchizedek:
Melchizedek, whose name means "king of righteousness," is mentioned in scripture in Genesis, Psalm 110 and the Letter to the Hebrews. Mention of him as high priest is also made in Philo, Qumram documents (11QMelch) and gnostic sources (2Enoch1).
In the Genesis narrative, Melchizedek is both king of Salem (meaning "peace") and high priest. Melchizedech is a priest of the most high god El. "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God (L'AL in literal Hebrew). And he blessed him, and said, 'Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:' " Gen14:19-20.
In the epistle which is by tradition attributed to Paul and designated for an audience said to be Hebrews (written between 75 and 120 c.e.) we are introduced to a Cristology which claims Jesus is a priest "after the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 5:9-10; 6:20. The manner in which Melchizedek is described renders him as a non-levitical priest, "...without father, without mother, without pedigree, nor beginning of days, nor having an end of life, having been made like but the Son of God - he remains a priest in perpetuity." Hebrews 7:17.