Kyle Davison Bair
2 min readNov 20, 2024

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Hello Herman, thanks for taking the time to share all this.

I've encountered these ideas before. Unfortunately, they don't pass the muster.

Deuteronomy 32:8-9 is a Hebraism. It's using Hebrew parallelism, stating the same idea twice for emphasis. As such, Elyon and Yahweh are not disparate beings, but the same God, being addressed in two separate ways, as is often the case in Hebrew parallelism.

After all, El is the God of Israel. Yahweh isn't a separate god being given the people of El. El and Yahweh are two ways that the same God is referred to, as evidence by the fact that both names are using for the God of the people of Israel.

It's also why God is often referred to using BOTH names -- as Yahweh Elohim, as in Genesis 2:5 and Psalm 59:5.

Likewise, Psalm 89, which you mention, does not depict Yahweh as a separate deity in the council of El. It depicts "Yahweh Elohe," the LORD God of Hosts, in 89:8. This is one God, whose names include both Yahweh and El, who is Lord of all the heavenly hosts.

Further, Jesus claims to be Yahweh in the flesh. He never claims to usurp Yahweh, or replace Yahweh, or act in any way that El is separate from Yahweh.

You're correct that Jesus receives the Name above every name. But that means Jesus is God, the Highest God, not a lesser deity. There is no sense of El being the Highest, and Jesus replacing Yahweh as a lesser deity.

If Jesus bears the Name above every name, that includes El. Jesus' Name is above EVERY name, no exceptions. It means Jesus cannot be a lesser deity, or a deity in a council of deities, or a lesser Yahweh to a greater El.

Jesus IS God, the only God, being the Name that only the Most High God can bear -- the Name above EVERY other name.

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Kyle Davison Bair
Kyle Davison Bair

Written by Kyle Davison Bair

Every honest question leads to God — as long as you follow it all the way to the answer. New books and articles published regularly at pastorkyle.substack.com

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