Celsus

Actually, it seems to be a problem with any translation that the names of God must be rendered in English, for which no real adequate translation can be given. As with all translations, only the speakers of the original tongue will really know what was meant. For example:

Variant names of God:
El - Canaanite chief deity, generic name for god
Eloha - sometimes used in place of Elohim
Elohim - God or gods or Gods
Elyon - Most High, (Canaanite pseudonym for El?) mostly patriarchal usage

Yahweh:
YHWH - special Hebrew name revealed to Moses in Exodus 6. "'ehye 'asher 'ehye" - "I am that shall be"
Now if YHWH is derived from etiologically Exodus 6, then perhaps so too was Asherah? A few artifacts have been found with the following captions: "Blessed ... by YHWH .. and his Asherah" (Khirbet-el-Kom), and "May X be blessed by YHWH and his Asherah" (Kuntillet Ajrud). The Bible never condemns the Israelites for worshipping YHWH and Asherah together, and in fact, possible Yahwist shrines in Palestine have been found with what appear to be sockets for the practice of erecting Asherah poles (which were admonished by the Bible, but only in Deuteronomic history).

Unique to Genesis:
El Olam - God the Everlasting One
El Bethel - God of Bethel
El Ro'i - God of Vision

Others:
El Shaddai - God Almighty or of the Mountains
Baal - Lord, Canaanite agricultural deity

Notice in early names that the only names associated with YHWH were Joshua and possibly Jochebed. Both were closely associated with Moses, and according to tradition, YHWH was only revealed to Moses. Egyptologists also indicate that the God of Midian (where Moses was exiled) is referred to as Shasu: Yhw3. Other early names, especially Gideon (Jerubbaal) and Saul's household (Mephibaal and Ishbaal - '-baal' was altered to '-bosheth') associate themselves with Baal. These folk heros were probably coopted by later Yahwists.

Because of millenia of Christian usage of Lord, Most High, Almighty and so on, translations will always struggle to get the meaning across to the non-native reader. I think this probably happened with the Israelites after coopting Hebrew (i.e. Canaanite) deities. For example:

Deuteronomy 32:7-8

Earlier polytheism? More likely they were henotheists by the Deuteronomic stage (believing in many Gods, but worshipping only one). How ever, the passage does imply that YHWH was subordinate to Elyon, and appeals (internally) to old traditions.

Another example:
Lamentations 3:37-38

Does this resolve a controversy about the origins of evil?

Translations will always face a problem through familiarisation of certain words such that they become recognisable only as pseudonyms for God. There's no real point in stating whether one is better than another.

P.S. Isra-El - Fighter of/with/for/from El The etiological myth of Genesis 32 gets the meaning correct (of course).

[ October 28, 2002: Message edited by: joejoejoe ]</p>