Lord of Flies

Sometimes things are named after what they look like. Such as the color orange is named after the fruit, the orange, the name of the fruit which is derived from Sanskrit nāranga "orange tree", and not used as a name for the color until the 1540s.

Fly on Orange, pencil and marker drawing by Julie O. /chthonickore

Sometimes things are named after what they do as well. Like the insect, the fly, originally from Proto-Germanic *fleugon "flying insect", literally "the flying (insect)". 

Beelzebub or Beelzebul, referred to as Lord of Flies, is derived from the Philistine god known as Ba'al Zevûv or Ba'al Zebub, Baal of Flies, literally Lord (Ba'al) of Flies (Zebub). 

"Beelzebub and them that are with him shoot arrows" from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (1678)

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince (ruler) of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."  Matthew 12:24

Lord of Hosts is one of the names of God as translated from the Old Testament. "Hosts" meaning organized body of angels. A transliteration to English being YHWH Sabaoth. 

However, Satan or Beelzebub, is Lord of the hosts as well, i.e., the army of demons, which could be called his nasty "flies". Flies in this sense is meant to be derogatory showing that this host is made up of demons and not angels of God. They are a host of flyers, metaphorically a swarm of flies. Swarm, in Hebrew is arob "swarm, swarm of flies". It is used to describe the fourth plague inflicted upon Egypt in the book of Exodus, known as The Plague of Flies. 

And the LORD did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by flies [arob].  Exodus 8:24

Because the kings of Israel were said to have fallen away from true worship of the one God, YHWH / YHVH (Yahweh), God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, and to have fallen into idolatry and were leading the people astray, their LORD, Ba'al Zebub, Beelzebub (also associated with the Canaanite god, Ba'al as well), came to be bosheth "shameful thing", and their "LORD" labeled as a major demon associated with Satan. Whereas, YHWH is often translated as LORD. Ba'al, which also means Lord, is left as Ba'al, not translated. So the more complex context is lost in English because not many people know that Ba'al simply means "Lord" in a different language.

The stele of Baal with Thunderbolt found in the Ruins of Ugarit

It is clear from this translation, below, of a passage from Hosea, how this word Ba'al was at times even used to refer to YHWH (the Tetragrammaton often translated as the LORD [Hebrew "Adonai"], instead of the supposed transliteration Yahweh). 

"And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me 'My husband,' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal.' Hosea 2:16, ESV

It is a confusing passage to translate because the words translated here as "My Husband" ish (man), and "My Baal" bali (my master), have similar definitions. So why is it that YHWH is making a distinction between the two nouns? 

It is true that ish sometimes translated as "husband" as in Genesis, Adam is ish "man, male, husband", and Eve (isha)"woman, wife, female", however these words are differentiated from THE ADAM "man, mankind, all men and women", the creature that God (Elohim) made having two sides, i.e., ish-masculine and isha-feminine, out of the dust or from adamah (f.) "the ground, earth, red earth, blood of the earth".

      Adam and Eve, Lucas The Elder Cranach, 1533

                             

And Baal, also, can be translated as "husband, master, lord, owner". So, rather than it being important so much how the words are are translated into English, it seems that the connotation of meaning behind the words is important. Maybe the passage is meant to distance YHWH from erroneous concepts which sprang up around the use of the title Baal, meaning LORD. Baal having a harsher ownership, i.e., master to slave understanding, than ish, the complimentary masculine half of an intimate partnership, i.e., husband of Israel? So, YHWH is talking about a free partnership [love], not owneship [dominance].

But back to Beelzebub . . .
Ahaziah, son of Ahab and Jezabel, followed after his parents in the worship of Ba'al Zebub, and when Ahaziah was injured in an accident and sought to consult this god, the Angel of YHWH then sent Elijah to condemn Ahaziah and tell him he would die.

Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice [sebakah] of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury." 

But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?' 2 Kings 1:2-3

This passage states that Ahaziah fell through the lattice. In Hebrew the word used is sebakah "lattice-work, network" the feminine form of sobek "lattice, network of boughs, nets of network, networks, webbing."  Lattices are built for shade, and privacy. They can also oppositely be used for peering, lurking, and spying. 

The Who / Tommy album cover, 1969

Sobek can even be a trap or snare as in the case of Absolam, son of King David, who was entagled in the branches of a tree and was then easy prey for Joab, comander of the king's army.

Now Absalom happened to meet David's men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches [sobek] of a large oak, Absalom's hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept going. 2 Samuel 18:9

It is interesting then that Sobek, Sbk is also the name of an Ancient Egyptian deity / god [nTr] associated with the Nile crocodile. Sobek was often depicted with the head of a crocodile. Crocodile skin has a definite lattice [sobek] print to it. 

Hermès Graphite Shiny Porosus Crocodile Birkin 35 PHW

Sobek is also a Lord of Hosts, associated with pharaonic sovereign power, military prowess, patron of armies / hosts, and additionally a protective deity. He symbolized raw strength, known as "The Rager", a formidable patron for the army. He also was seen as an assister of the just dead, and associated with the fertility, known as "The Lord of the Waters".

... many scholars believe that the name Sobek, Sbk, is derived from s-bAk, "to impregnate", others postulate that it is a participle form of the verb sbq, an alternative writing of sAq, "to unite", thereby meaning Sbk could roughly translate to "he who unites (the dismembered limbs of Osiris)." Sobek: Character and Surrounding Mythologies 

Alex Grey’s Cardiovascular System: Painting 1980, Oil on Linen

Our bodies are joined together by many systems or networks, like the lattice (sobek) of the cardiovascular system. It may be fitting then that Sobek helped to united the body of Osiris. Sobek was at certain times considered to be an aspect of Horus taking the form of a crocodile to retrieve the parts of Osiris' body lost in the Nile after being murdered by his brother Set / Seth, in this way helping the healer, Isis, in her quest to restore her husband's, Osiris', body (knit it back together). So in this way, he IS Sobek "he who unites", or it could also be translated perhaps as he who "collects, pulls together". This uniting may not be unlike the tangled collection or network [lattice] of branches in a river jumbled together along the shore which make an excellent place for an ambush predator, like a crocodile, to hide. 

Since their speed and agility on land is rather outmatched by most terrestrial animals, they must use obscuring vegetation or terrain to have a chance of succeeding during land-based hunts. wikipedia, Nile Crocodile

Whether on land or in the water, crocodiles rely on stealth to surprise and capture their prey. Grass, reeds, sticks, and branches serve as a lattice or network which the crocodile can silently peer through waiting for the right moment to strike. Think of those crocodile eyes just above the surface of the water as it waits patiently, then suddenly erupts, the rager!

A crocodile lurks amid the rushes along the Nile at Murchison Falls in Uganda.

ERNST HAAS/ERNST HAAS/GETTY IMAGES

There is a kind of sewing together or knitting involved with this lattice like uniting. Nit, Neith, Net is the primordial goddess of war and mother goddess of Ancient Egypt, and the mother of Sobek. She is the network (lattice) of the universe, the mother of all the gods who wove the universe (matrix) on her loom (some more neat things about Neith in this post). 

Neith, From the Tomb of Khaemwaset, Valley of the Queens, Luxor

And interesting! Her son is named Sobek, which has the meaning of "network," in Hebrew, and his skin, in his association with the crocodile displays his very name. 

Perhaps it is even possible that this Hebrew word was somehow influenced by the name of the Egyptian god. Not unlike how the color name "orange" was influenced by the orange (fruit). The Israelites spent a long and intimate time in Egypt. Think of the high positions of Joseph, second only to Pharaoh Genesis 41:40, and Moses who grew up in the house of Pharaoh. They would have seen Sobek depicted as a crocodile, and crocodiles sport lattice print hides, therefore it is possible that the name Sobek could come to be associated with the look of the crocodile skin, i.e., lattice patterned skin, or Sobek-like.

Sobek in his crocodile form, 12th Dynasty. Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, Munich. Photo:Einsamer Schütze

Sobek did not have the title "Lord of Flies", however swarms of flies generally would be associated with the marshy areas along the Nile where crocodiles live, so in that sense Sobek would be Lord of Flies. He was somewhat a chaotic god, both protective, but also fearful.

Scene in the Nile Marshes, Louvre Museum, Paris

Another creature that might be found along the Nile are snakes, such as the Egyptian cobra, a deadly venomous snake, definitely to be respected, as much as the Nile crocodile. The Ancient Egyptian goddess Wadjet was a snake goddess. Wadjet was synonymous with the Eye of Horus or Eye of Ra, she is the risen (like a cobra) one, the open eye, like the Sun, Ra, opening his eye in the morning at the break of day, from darkness then suddenly the world is illuminated. She is this mysterious, mystical, powerful, enlightening, searing, penetrating, fearful / awesome energy. She has certain similarities with the concepts of Kundalini, from Sanskrit, meaning "coiled (snake) one", and the third eye, and / or Ajna chakra. In fact Wadjet, depicted as a cobra (Uraeus) is often seen at the third eye point on the crowns of the Pharaohs. She sat as "the raised / risen one" on their brows denoting protection, wisdom, and right of rulership.

                                                Uraeus(Wadjet) on the Crown of burial mask of Tutankhamen

                                             The Eye of Horus (AKA Wadjet) Bracelet, c 890 BC- Cairo Museum

Winged Uraeus(Wadjet) with Sun Disk

Bronze Uraeus(Wadjet) with Sun Disk

With an understanding of this snake goddess symbolism, the story of the Israelites and the bronze snake in the wilderness Numbers 21:9  takes on new meaning and makes a lot more sense. What kind of sense does it make for God to command Moses to put a serpent on a pole?

When the people speak against God, YHWH sends nachash ("serpents") seraph (fiery serpents") Num. 21:6, generally translated as "venomous snakes", and they nashak ("bite") the people. Then when the people speak to Moses about the serpents Num. 21:7, they refer to the snakes simply as nachash ("serpents"), then YHWH tells Moses Num. 21:8 to make a seraph (?) and to put the seraph on a pole . . . so then what does Moses do? Moses makes a nachash ("serpent") nechosheth ("bronze") and puts it on a pole! So this seraph is represented by a bronze snake? Just as Wadjet is often represented in bronze and gold as the Uraeus? [The Israelites were out of gold probably because of the golden calf incidence, amirite?] And was not Wadjet a seraph ("fiery serpent"), one of her title's being "Lady of Flame"? Basically Moses makes something that resembles Uraei and puts it on a pole . . . and these people have just recently left their home in Egypt.

Then when you look at all the extended meanings of these words related in Hebrew, having to do with nachash and seraph things get even more interesting.

Nachash: phonetic spelling (naw-khawsh') "serpent, serpents, snake"

Nachash: (naw-khash') "to practice, divination, observe signs”

Nachash:  (nakh'-ash) "divination, enchantment, omen"

Nechash:  (nekh-awsh') "copper, bronze”

Seraph: (saw-raf') “to burn”

Seraph: (saw-rawf') "fiery serpent, seraph"

From saraph; burning, i.e. (figuratively) poisonous (serpent); specifically, a saraph or symbolical creature (from their copper color) -- fiery (serpent), seraph - Strong’s Concordance 

Seraph / Seraphim: in Isaiah chapter 6, six-winged, fear inducing, heavenly beings flying around with hot coal 

Serappim: (sar-af') “disquieting thoughts, anxious thoughts”

Whatever you want to say about it, there is definitely more to the story than people simply being bitten by venomous snakes. I'm not saying that the people in the story were necessarily not being bitten by literal snakes, but then again, is the story something that necessarily literally took place? What else could this story be alluding to possibly? When you look at the connotation of serpents having to do with divining, enchantment, cunning (as the serpent in the garden of Eden), and, then, these serpents being the cause of certain, mental distress, falling into darkness, or anxiety, it begins to look a lot like a testing or a dark night of the soul. 

They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! Revelation 6:16

". . . he drove out the man (the adam) . . . And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life." Genesis 3:24

According to this understanding, just as Jesus went out into the wilderness to be tested and had all sorts of "hallucinations" of demons and angels, so too, the Israelites were tested in the wilderness when they spoke against God. Intense stuff! That bites! 

Jesus and the Devil (Beelzebul [?]), The Children's Bible, copyright 1965, Western Publishing Co., photo by Julie O. /chthonickore

Perhaps this is why Jesus says, "Lead us not to the test (or temptation, Gk. peirasmos/perasmon), but deliver us from evil (or the evil one)" Mt. 6:13. It is because it is fearful and not just anyone can survive it, and you certainly DO NOT want to bring it upon yourself by speaking against God like the Israelites did. 

Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. Numbers 21:6

So after God sends the Israelites this "punishment" (at least it was perceived as punishment because they were guilty of sin), or could we say this "teaching moment", he then gives to the people the seraph, as a sign of hope, a savior of sorts, for, " . . . anyone who is bitten can look at it and live" Numbers 21:8. It had to be something they could believe would have power to save them, a savior with a face so to speak. However, YHWH was wanting them to understand that the power to heal from this seraph came from him. 

For when the dire venom of beasts came upon them and they were dying from the bite of crooked serpents, your anger endured not to the end.

But as a warning, for a short time they were terrorized, though they had a sign of salvation, to remind them of the precept of your law.

For he who turned to it was saved, not by what was seen, but by you, the savior of all. Wisdom 16:5-7

If we are to suppose that this punishment / consequence of unbearably disturbing, anxious thoughts, searing, was brought upon the Israelites because of their grumblings, who do we say is the author of these thoughts, these biting snakes? Are the fiery serpents the devil, Satan "the accuser", Lord of Lies, Beelzebub? Are they the goddess Wadjet, Lady of flame, the risen eye of Ra? Are the biting serpents Seraphim, the fiery Angels of God? Or is the difference only in your mind? 

In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eye will see strange sights and your mind will imagine confusing things.  Proverbs 23:32-33

Neo stops the flying bullets, Lord of Fliers, The Matrix

King of the Jungle

   

Jungle Oasis

The word jungle comes from Sanskrit  jangala "arid, sparsely grown with trees", and Hindi jangal "desert, forest, wasteland, uncultivated land." So the meaning of the word jungle was originally not just the lush tropical, almost mythical, place we think of now. It had the meaning of any uncultivated place, even a desert, a wilderness, as in the place of testing from the bible, or the deshret, the "red (deshr) land," of the ancient Egyptians, ruled by the god of chaos, Set, the place of burial.  It seems that jungle as we use the word today has a more limited meaning; a tropical overgrown, tangled forest with vines. Like the place where we imagine Tarzan would be found.

    Tarzan Lord of the Jungle, by Edgar Rice Burrows 1928

But maybe a lot of this perception comes from movies. We see Tarzan encountering all kinds of creatures in the jungle, when actually not all of them may be found there. The lion is called "King of the Jungle," however because lions don't actually live in the jungle, it must mean "jungle" in the sense of "uncultivated land." The usual natural habitat of lions is prairies, semi-arid planes and Savannah grasslands on the continent of Africa. There are regions of tropical and sub-tropical rainforest in Africa, but lions aren't usually found there. Other members of the genus Pathera are found in jungle regions, such as tigers, leopards, and jaguars.

In the Gnostic tradition, the solar god is Yaldabaoth, the offspring of Sophia (Greek "Wisdom"). He is also called the lion-faced, Ariel "Ari (lion) +  El (God)." He is thought of as the demiurgic "creator", God, as opposed to the unknowable God. He is sometimes equated with YHWH.

    Yaldabaoth - the Lionfaced

Lion in Greek is leon λέον. If we put this word with  bab, a word meaning "gate" we get  Bab + leon, which sounds a lot like how we say Babylon. So, by this sound association the word Babylon might call to mind the lion. However, Babylon Βαβυλών, comes from the Greek rendition of the Akkadian Bab-ilani, meaning "gate of the god(s)," according to the Online Etymology Dictionary,

the Greek rendition of Akkadian Bab-ilani 'the gate of the gods,' from bab 'gate' + ilani, plural of ilu 'god'."[OE]

This name and its rendering has always been ripe with confusion. 

Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of the earth. Genesis 11:9

In the Septuagint (i.e., the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible) the name of the city in Genesis 11:9 [Babel], is translated as Synchysi Σύγχυσις "Confusion," from syncheo συγχέω

meaning "confuse, confound" in Greek, rather than Babel or Babylon (which is the Greek rendering used in the Book of Revelation). However in Hebrew the word used in the passage said to mean "confuse," balal "mingle, mix, confuse, confound," is only similar to the name given to the city, i.e., Babel, and not itself the same word, regardless of what the passage seems to imply.

Bet, Bet, Lamed  //  Bet, Lamed, Lamed Genesis 11:9

In the Vulgate (the Bible translated into Latin) the name of the city is transliterated as Babel, however, balal, is translated as confusum "confounded, confused," so the similarity is lost. 

Et idcirco vocatum est nomen ejus Babel, quia ibi confusum est labium . . . Genesis 11:9

This is the same thing we get from the English translations, which gives rise to the impression that the name Babel means confusion.

It is confusing. 

And who knows? Perhaps the Hebrew passage even means that the city was called Babel, due to the confusion, or rather mixing (balal) between the words used for "God" in the name of the city, rather than because of any similarity with the Hebrew word for confusion and the name Babel. The Latin word confusum also has this meaning of "mixed, mingled" as well. What if the passage, instead, read like this?

There the LORD mixed the language of all the earth, therefore its name was called Babel . . . And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of the earth.

In Hebrew the word for God is El and Elohim (the plural is used also for the singular "God"). So instead of the city being called Bab "Gate" +  ilani "God(s)," as in Akkadian, it was called Bab + el "God."  But then that causes balal (confusion) with a Hebrew speaker, because in Hebrew the word for "gate" is shaar, which would make Babilani into Shaarel   translated rather than Babel. Perhaps we might say that it is even particularly in naming and borrowing names (rather than translating meaning), that things get most confused and confounded. What a shame! And in Hebrew the word for "name" is shem (shame). This same thing is illustrated, for example, with the name of many gods, such as Uranus, in English. Uranus is just a name without its original meaning of "sky." And unfortunately, Uranus too has become a name of shame due to the fact that is sounds like Ur (your) + anus. So too, Babel, is just a name in English without its original meaning of "Gate of God," and instead is given the name of shame, i.e., confusion.

And it is sometimes true, that in mixing languages and borrowing / sharing names, ironically, division is created because people forget that they are talking about the same things. They can be communicating and understanding each other but a lot is lost in translation. It's the confusion that isn't seen or noticed that can create division.  

Credit: Lawrence Sromovsky, University of Wisconsin-Madison/W.W. Keck Observatory/NASA

We might also compare Babilani or Babylon with  Bab + Elyon. Ilani "God(s)" is similar sounding to Elyon a title given to God many times throughout the Old Testament. In Hebrew Elyon has the meaning "The Most High."

The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice. 2 Samuel 22:14

And El Elyon is "God Most High,"

Then Melchizedek king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, since he was the priest of God Most High. Genesis 14:18

God (El) is the one up there, yon-der, you might even say, alien (from Latin alius, an"other"). And really what is higher than the heavens? The gods are the ELevated and ILUmined ones.

In Latin elegantem (nominative elegans) has the meaning "choice, fine, tasteful", but originally a term of reproach, elegans meaning "dainty, fastidious". Maybe it is elegans (pronounced not so much differently from elyon, especially in French), like being of the highest quality, or like the dress of the most high (elyon), a king. This is a good example of how words can be given either positive or negative connotation. For example the dress of a pope could be said to be elegans. Is the manner of dress either good or a bad thing, elegant or over the top? It is a matter of opinion.

    Pope Pius XII, reign 1939-1958 in his dress "Most High" or elegans

How did this word leon, then, which is like elyon, come to be the name of the animal? Lion comes by way of Latin and French, from the Greek leon, which is said to come from "a non-Indo-European language, perhaps Semitic." Lion has the connotation in biblical Greek of being dignified or of high quality, as in Revelation 5:5 when it speaks of "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah hath prevailed . . . " And in Greek the prefix ari- means "very" and is in words like aristos "best, brave one," so ari means "muchiness." However, in Hebrew ari אר׳ means "lion." So, perhaps the Greeks took the word meaning "most high," in Hebrew, i.e., elyon and made it the word to describe the ari (best) or most high (elyon) animal, the lion (ari). In Greek the leon is aristos (the lion is the best), and in Hebrew the ari is elyon (the lion is the most high) . . . And in Spanish El león is "The lion".

We do say that the lion is king, i.e., the most high, elyon, of the animal kingdom. Furthermore, the Ishtar gate of Babylon, which was initially known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was the main entrance to the city of Babylon. If you were walking into the city by this gate you would proceed down the Processional Way which was over a half mile long, and was adorned with flowers and 120 images of lions. The walls stood fifty feet tall on each side, rather impressive! It led to the temple of Marduk (Hebrew Merodach), Ba'al, "the Lord"(East Semetic Bel, Greek Belos, Latin Belus), the chief god of Babylon. [And it should be noted that "bel" is a word with etymological connections to "bright, light, shining one," as in Beltaine / Beltain / Beltine / Bealtaine / Bealltainn / Boaldyn, the Gaelic May Day fire festival that marks the beginning of summer to honor the god Belenus (Gaulish) / Bel / Bile (Irish) / Beli (Welsh),  the god of "light and healing."]

    Leones on the Processional Way of the Ishtar Gate, Babylon

So, imagine a person entering the city of Babylon by the main (or lion mane) gate. It is a gate with lions,  bab + leon. We might think that Babylon means "Lion Gate." And perhaps there is even a certain kind of truth in that incorrect interpretation. * The Problem With Language

Certain gods such as Ba'al "The Lord" and Moloch / Molech /  Molek, etc., from the Hebrew m-l-k root meaning "king" were given sacrifices in the burning furnace. In biblical Hebrew "hearth, altar-hearth" is ariel, so that would be, "lion of God". The opening to the fire might be thought of as representing the face of their god who was also represented at times by the bright fiery disk of the sun, whose face is like a lion with his mane; powerful and fearful. The lion is often used in connection with sun symbolism and sun gods. 


    A Lion. In Hebrew there are a few words for lion, Ari (from arah "to gather, gathered, pick, pluck"), also Arieh/Aryeh [Aramaic],  Layish (from "crusher" luwsh "kneed"), Shachal ("fierce lion" from the roar) and Kephir ("young lion")

Adonay / Adonai a name for God used in the Hebrew bible is translated as "The LORD." Adonay in Hebrew is from adon "lord, master, owner." Sometimes the Tetragrammaton, the four letter name of God, transliterated as YHWH / YHVH, is translated as "The LORD" as well, such as when the text says YHWH Elohim, it is translated as "The LORD God." Other times YHWH is translated as "God," when it is used with Adonay; Adonay YHWH "The LORD  God." 

However, YHWH is called not just, "The LORD," but he is qualified as "The LORD, the God of Abraham, the God of Issac and the God Jacob"(Ex 3:15). And we would say, also, this Lord is the God of Elijah, whose name means "Yah is my El" or "The LORD is my God." As opposed to - their - "Lord", i.e., Ba'al. (1 Kings18:20-40) [so they made a test to determine who's God was idle (didn't preform) and therefore the idol.]

Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD [YHWH] is God [Elohim], follow him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people remained silent. 1 Kings 18:21

Moloch / Molek ("king") is the god infamously known for requiring child sacrifice. If it was ever practiced as literal "passing through fire," or putting the child as a burnt offering into the fiery furnace, it is not so much different than what YHWH asked of Abraham to do to his "only begotten son," Issac on Mt. Moriah. (Genesis 22)

   Abraham prepares to Sacrifice Issac, Children's Illustrated Bible, 1994

The Lord asked Abraham to sacrifice Issac on an altar as a burnt offering. So, this is maybe what people were doing, what they thought their God wanted, the ultimate most precious sacrifice to prove their love and loyalty to him. Abraham thought his God wanted him to do this, so he was going to do it as a true sacrifice. It was very hard for him, but his LORD had asked him. What was he to do? Who can question God?

Woe to him who strives with his Maker, an earthen vessel with the potter! Does the clay say to him who fashions it, "What are you making?" or "Your work has no handles"? 

Woe to him who says to a father, "What are you begetting?" or to a woman, "With what are you suffering labor pains?"

Thus says the Lord the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: "Will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands? 

I made the earth, and created man upon it; it was my hands that streached out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. Isaiah 45:9-12

However, we see that after God (elohim) sees the faithfulness of Abraham that the "angel of the LORD" malak YHWH, tells him to not kill his son and provides a ram stuck in a thicket in place of Isaac.

There seems to be a lot of overlapping and possible confusion with words having do with gods and their etymological connections with words for "light, bright, shining", "lion, most high", and even the words for "word" (words being the illuminators, bringers of knowledge and light). The words may not seem connected on the surface, however, we can see how this could happen by association between cultures and languages. 

In Greek leukos is "bright, shining, white," in Latin lucere "to shine," and Welsh llug "gleam glimmer" and llygedyn "glimmer, ray, gleam" (pron. as a palital hlah-ge-den). The Welsh god Lleu (pron. hlah/hlai), is also sometimes called Llew which is Welsh for "lion." He is thought to be the counterpart of the Irish Lugh/Lug (which sounds similar to "Luke" in pron.),  Gaulish Lugus, the god "skilled in many arts," who is sometimes, either correctly or incorrectly called a sun god. Lugh was identified with Mercury / Hermes by the Romans, the god of communication. The etymology of the name is not clear, many have thought that the name was connected to words having to do with light, and therefore sun symbolism, but others say Lugh is not a sun god and therefore that etymlogy is incorrect. In that respect, Lugh would have more in common with the Greek logos "word, speech, discourse", or "reason", and legein "to say, speak " lego "I say", than leukos "bright, shining, white".  

    Apollo and the Satyrs, by Gustave Moreau (1826-1898)

Apollo (Greek Apollon) was known as Phoebus (Gk. Phoibos "bright, radiant"), Helios "sun", Phanaios "giving or bringing light," Lukeios Proto-Greek "light", and by the Romans, Sol Latin "sun". However many of the gods are described as being "shinning" even when they are not a sun god. In fact the word deity comes from the proposed PIE root *dyue- "to gleam, shine" which is also the root of words for "sky" and "day."  So the English word deity comes from the idea of the gods being gleaming or shining ones.

The word for "light" in Latin is lux, and lucere means "to shine." In Greek logos is "word, reason, thought, speech." There seems to be certain connection between the two concepts that isn't at first obvious. Jesus is said to be both the "Light of the World," and the "Word of God." 

In Genesis it states that "in the beginning" God made light (Latin lux, Greek phos).

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 

Dixitque Deus: Fiat lux. Et facta est lux. Genesis 1:3

At the start of the gospel of John,  Jesus is equated with the "Word," translated from the Greek logos (it is Verbum in the Vulgate), also said of "in the beginning,"

In the begining was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the begining with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:1-5

And Jesus says of himself in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world . . ."

Church of St. Brendan the Navigator, Bantry, County Cork, Ireland, [detail of third window of north wall]

It is also interesting that the English word "lung"comes from the word "light", but it is light as in, "light in weight." Lung is from Old English lungen, with the meaning of the "light in weight organ" from PIE root *legwh - "not heavy, having little weight; easy, agile, nimble" In Latin this became levis but in Old English it is leoht, however, leoht ALSO had the meaning of light, as in "light, daylight; luminous, beautiful".

We might wonder what the connection is between "little in weight" and "bright." In the underworld of the Ancient Egyptians, called the Duat / Tuat, there was a judgment ceremony after death called the "Weighing of the Heart." If the heart was found to balance with the feather of Ma'at "truth, order, justice," upon the scales of ma'at, that is, if it was light as the feather and light like the truth, the individual was able to pass on to the Afterlife, but the one who had a "heavy" heart was devoured by Ammit ("devourer, soul-eater"), who was a female demon, part lion, hippopotamus and crocodile, known as "Devourer of the Dead", "Eater of Hearts, and "The Great Death."

    Anubis and Ammit at the Weighing of a Heart against the Feather of Maat, Papyrus of Hunefer, c. 1375 BC

We see Jesus, "the Light of the world," as making burdens light. "Light" in Greek is phos and elephros "light, easy to bear, not burdensome".

The Greek word elephas / (genitive) elephantos has the meaning of both "elephant" and "ivory." It was used by ancient Greeks, such as Homer, to refer primarily to ivory (being the part go the animal they would most usually be dealing with),

The Greek word elephas, to which certain Western languages (English, French, German) owe the etymology of their word for elephant, when first used by the Greeks themselves primarily referred to ivory, not the animal. This is Homer's use of it (also Hesiod's and Pindar's); and for a considerable time thereafter, tangible experience of the Greeks of the elephant appears to have been restricted to tusks, an item of trade long before the Greek travelers had encountered the animal who carried them.  A Note on the Etymology of "Elephant", by Merlin Peris, JSTOR

Elephas is said to "probably come from a non-Indo-European, likely via Phoenician (compare Hamitic elu 'elephant' . . . or possibly from Sanskrit ibhah 'elephant' [OE]." So the name of the animal seems to have the connotation of (ele )"ivory; elphant" +  words having to do with "light"(phaino, phos, or phantos "visible"). 

However, the Phoenician word for "god / deity," El / Il or Ilu, is itself similar to the word for ivory / elephant, so perhaps the name of the ivory is connected to the idea of deity the "shining"  one(s). The elevated ones. The leukos "bright, shining, white," like ivory.

In ancient Egyptian ab was "elephant," and in Coptic ebu "ivory", which is similar to "ivory" (ab / ebu-ory [maybe like ab + hr.w (Horus) "the distant one"]. Ab in Latin has the meaning "off, away from." Ab is also related to a name for God (El) as well, as in Ab / Abba "Father (God)" the head, and the power, Allah (from al "the" - Ilah "God", cognate with Aramaic elah). Elephant is an animal that is a beast that carries heavy burdens easily, and is a bearer of the white, bright ivory. Like the symbolism of the lion the elephant and its ivory seem to have been connected to the imagery of the shining god / divinity, the most high god.

In Hebrew "to be or become light" is or / ore meaning "shine." To become like that first light, by the Word of God. In Latin Oremus is "Let us pray." So "Be the light" with the notion of  "Be like the light of God, or "Raise yourselves to the Light" ele-phros, the Word of God, and your burdens become light (light as a feather [ma'at]?). Learn from Me!

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke (zugos, "yoke; balance, measuring scales," in Hebrew mot) upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy (chrestos) and the burden light (elephros)." Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus the Christ is the "light of God", like the Hindu, Jains, Buddhist god, Ganesha / Ganapti. Some have translated this name as "Lord of Hosts"(that would be YHWH Sabaoth in Hebrew). From Gane ("group, multitude, categorical system") + isha "lord or master" in Sanskrit, or Gana ("group") + pati ("lord, master"). He is also called the "Lord of letters and of learning," so we could connect him to Logos, and he is also said to personify the primordial sound OM or AUM, which is the Word of God.

As Vinayaka "Lord of Obstacles," Ganesha is called the remover of obstacles, or, we might say, the one who makes burdens light (elephros).

  Ganesha, Lord of the Ganas, Lord of Hosts

And in that day, says YHWH, you will call me, "My husband" (Ishi 'my man' [as in a male, not female], thus 'husband'), and no longer will you call me, "My Baal"(Baali 'my Baal', meaning 'Lord, Master')"Hosea 2:16

So it is saying they will call the Lord, their Is / Ish "man", as Eve (isa / isha "wife, woman") called Adam, her husband (man), rather than calling him "Lord, Master" specifically Baal, however Adonay and Yah both have the meaning of "Lord" as well . . .  

Well, I hope this has served to shed some light on a few things. 
Did I tell you? We are all connected.

Namaste!