Who is this god, exactly? (I am vaguely familiar with the "I AM" speculations of theosophists.) Is this explanation correct? From Scriptural Research Institute, Dodeka: Book of the Prophets [2021], p.101:
The Septuagint continues the usage of the name On, introduced in Exodus, implying this was the name of a Hebrew or Canaanite god. The Semitic god with the most phonetically similar name is An (Anu), the Mesopotamian (Akkadian, the Mesopotamian (Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian) Sky-father deity. An is not documented in Canaan unless he was the god of On/Aven. The name On/Aven is believed to be the name of a Canaanite god, like most of the other places named after the ancient temples, such as Beth-Horon and Beth-Shemesh, however, the god On/Aven is currently unknown from the archaeological record, so the association of An and On/Aven cannot be confirmed.
I've actually mentioned it before, but (honestly) I'd never wondered about the Origin of this God-Name or God-Concept. I presumed it was an Alexandrian/Egyptian philosophical abstraction -- Not a God's Name. Is 'Horon' the 'Son of On'??? Who is the Wife of 'On'?
billd89 wrote: ↑Sun May 29, 2022 5:00 pm Recall that Plutarch studied under Ammonius (c.66 AD), who had learned Alexandrian philosophy from yet older Neopythagorean teachers in Philo's day c.25 AD, (Link):Ammonius taught that God is transcendent, above Time or Motion, but always Being. He is not composite but pure and indestructible. This Being (τὸ ὄν) is also One (τὸ ἕν).77 The identification of God as τὸ ἕν, amongst other things, positions Ammonius within the Neopythagorean tradition.78
On Philo's Jewish interpretation of 'The Being', see esp. De Vita Comtemplativa 2; cf. De Praemiis et Poenis 40, Quaestiones in Exodum 2.68; also τὸ ὄν and the ὁ ὤν (he who is [Exod 3:14]) with the τὸ ὄν of Platonism; e.g., Leg. 1.99; Det. 160 [cf. Exod 3:14]; Post. 21, 175; Deus. 11, 52, 55, 69, 108, 109; Plant. 21, 22; Ebr. 107, 108; Conf. 95; Migr. 169; Her. 95, 229; Mut. 11, 27; Mos. 2.161; Spec. 1.270, 313, 344,345; Virt. 34, 215; Praem. 27, 56; Prob. 43; QG 1.100; QE 2.47.
billd89 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 16, 2021 7:48 pmAs stated here unequivocally, 'Being' is the 'God' that the Pythagorean Therapeutae worship. However, we need to remember that elsewhere Philo indicates other formulations, definite examples of 3-fold or 4-fold iterations of 'God'. This is illustrative of the Philonic context, a caution against gross oversimplification or blatant misunderstanding.
DVC 2: ἐπαιδεύθησαν θεραπεύειν #1: τὸ ὄν, ὃ καὶ #3: ἀγαθοῦ κρεῖττόν ἐστι καὶ #4 ἑνὸς εἰλικρινέστερον καὶ #2 μονάδος ἀρχεγονώτερον.
DVC 2: they are raised to worship 'Being' {#1: Προαρχή, Μονότης = Foresource, Monotes}, superior to 'The Good' {#3 Noetic Paradigm} and purer than 'The Unity' {#4 Ἑνότης The Henad: The All}, and primordial to 'The Monad' {#2 All-Source, One God}
The Four-fold Hypostases of 'God':
1. Primordial Being: Unknown/Unbegotten Absolute Being
2. Monad (Logos): First Son, Creator, Author
3. Divine Reality: Noetic Paradigm of Creation
4. Henad: Cosmic Reality (Creation: 'Heaven and Earth')