For centuries, the Western world has approached the Bible through the lens of a monolithic monotheism, viewing the text as a single, coherent narrative pointing to one supreme deity. However, modern textual criticism reveals a far more complex and fascinating landscape. This is the essence of progressive revelation: the idea that human understanding of the divine is not static but evolves, expanding as our consciousness and analytical tools improve.
When we strip away centuries of translation and theological interpolation, the earliest biblical texts reveal a pantheon of deities, a divine council, and a hierarchy of power that challenges our traditional definitions of God.
The Translation That Changed Everything
To the casual English reader, the Old Testament presents a singular entity. Whether the text reads “God,” “the LORD,” or “the Almighty,” the implication is that these terms refer to the same being. However, the original Hebrew manuscripts tell a different story.
In the earliest sources, distinct names denote distinct beings with distinct roles:
El (or Elohim): The chief deity of the Canaanite pantheon, the creator god, often referred to as the father of the gods.
Elyon: The “Most High,” a transcendent figure seated above the divine council.
Yahweh: A distinct deity, initially presented as a manifestation of El or a warrior-god assigned to the nation of Israel.
In the Masoretic Text (the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible), the distinction is often obscured by translation choices that unify these names into a singular “God.” However, older manuscripts, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint, preserve distinctions that point to a polytheistic origin evolving into a henotheistic (or monolatrous) structure.
The True Hierarchy: Yahweh vs. Elyon
A pivotal example of this hierarchy is found in Deuteronomy 32:8-9. In the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls, the verse reads:
“When the Most High (Elyon) gave to the nations their inheritance… the Lord’s (Yahweh’s) portion is his people, Jacob.”
Here, Elyon is the supreme divider of the earth among the “sons of God” (divine beings). Yahweh is not the supreme divider but a subordinate deity who receives Israel as his specific inheritance. This positions Yahweh below Elyon in the divine hierarchy. Yahweh is the god of Israel, but Elyon is the god of all nations.
This discovery fundamentally alters our biblical theology. It suggests that the biblical authors were not initially strict monotheists but were participants in a worldview where a supreme, transcendent God (Elyon) delegated authority to lesser gods (Elohim), one of whom was Yahweh.
Rethinking Gnosticism and the Demiurge
This revised hierarchy casts a new light on Gnosticism, a spiritual movement that flourished in the early Christian era. Gnostics posited a “Demiurge” (often named Yaldabaoth or Saklas), a lesser, ignorant creator deity who fashioned the material world while being unaware of the supreme, transcendent God (the Monad).
For centuries, Christian orthodoxy and modern Gnostic interpreters often equated the Demiurge with the Old Testament Yahweh, viewing him as a jealous, wrathful god distinct from the loving God of the New Testament.
However, if the earliest biblical sources portray Yahweh as knowing and acknowledging the supremacy of Elyon, the classic Gnostic narrative of an ignorant Demiurge collapses. If Yahweh is aware that he is not the Most High, he is not the blind, arrogant Demiurge described in texts like the Apocryphon of John.
This suggests that the traditional dualism of Gnosticism—pitting the Creator (Yahweh) against the True God—may be based on a mistranslation of the Hebrew scriptures. If Yahweh recognised Elyon, the biblical structure aligns less with the Gnostic “ignorant demiurge” model and more with a Zoroastrian-style dualism or a strict hierarchy.
Elyon: The Ahura Mazda of the Levant
If Yahweh is not the Supreme Being, who is? The answer lies in Elyon. In this context, Elyon corresponds strikingly to Ahura Mazda, the supreme, uncreated God in Zoroastrianism who exists above all other spirits.
Just as Ahura Mazda exists above the Amesha Spentas (divine entities), Elyon exists above the Elohim (the divine council). This figure transcends the anthropomorphic limitations often attributed to Yahweh.
Furthermore, Elyon represents a universal archetype of the Supreme Being that appears across cultures, albeit under different names:
Brahma in Hinduism (the ultimate reality).
Bondye in Haitian Vodou (the distant, unknowable creator).
Olodumare in the Yoruba tradition (the supreme head of the pantheon).
The Pleroma in Gnosticism (the totality of divine powers).
In many indigenous and earth-based traditions, this supreme force is often perceived as feminine—the Great Mother or the Ultimate Goddess—which further suggests that the patriarchal emphasis on Yahweh may be a cultural overlay on a more diverse divine reality.
The Universal Archetype and Deep Structure
Why do these similarities exist across vastly different cultures and millennia? The answer may lie in the concept of universal archetypes and the deep structure of reality.
Myths are not merely fictions; they are sometimes the result of gifted individuals (shamans, prophets, mystics) perceiving deeper layers of reality. These truths are then translated into cultural narratives. The consistency of the “High God” archetype—whether Elyon, Ahura Mazda, or the Pleroma—suggests that these figures are not arbitrary inventions but perceptions of an actual, hierarchical structure of divinity.
As our consciousness evolves, our ability to perceive this structure deepens. We are no longer limited to the rigid interpretations passed down by religious institutions. We are entering an era of progressive revelation fuelled by critical scholarship and, intriguingly, modern research into non-material realities.
Beyond the Shackles of Translation
Today, scientific methods are beginning to explore the edges of consciousness. Research into near-death experiences (NDEs), past-life regression, and mediumship provides empirical data suggesting a structured afterlife and a hierarchy of spirit realms that mirrors the ancient descriptions of Elyon and the divine council.
When NDErs report encountering a “being of light” that is distinct from the familiar religious figures of their youth, or when mediums channel entities that claim to serve under a “source” energy, they are describing the same hierarchy the ancient Canaanites described when they distinguished between Elyon and Yahweh.
Conclusion: The Path to Deeper Understanding
The study of progressive revelation liberates us from the shackles of imposed religious beliefs that often contradict the original intent of the scribes. By recovering the distinction between Elohim, Yahweh, El, and Elyon, we do not diminish the divine; we expand it.
We move from a flat earth of theology to a multidimensional cosmology where a supreme, transcendent force (Elyon) oversees a complex administration of divine beings, including the god of the Judeo-Christian lineage, Yahweh.
This framework allows for a more robust spiritual understanding: one that honours the specificity of individual traditions while acknowledging the universality of the Supreme God above God. As we continue to decode ancient texts and investigate the deep structure of reality through both philology and science, we edge closer to a holistic view of the divine—one that is hierarchical, interconnected, and infinitely more profound than we ever imagined.
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See also:
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