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immense altitude of 29,140 feet, while a hill is any eminence up to 1,000 feet. Surely
then the exaltation of the mountain of the Lord's house huperano ton bounon cannot be
likened to the position of a lid in relation to a box, nor can we accept the view that
huperano denotes position, but never distance.
The first occurrence of huperano is in Gen. 7: 20. The context here is exceedingly
illuminating, for in verse 17 and 19 we have the phrase epi tes ges, "upon the earth",
while in verse 18 we have apo tes ges, "off the earth".
"And the flood was upon the earth, forty days and forty nights, and the water
abounded greatly and bore up the ark, and it was lifted (hupsothe) from off the earth
. . . . . and the water prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, and covered all the high
mountains which were under heaven. Fifteen cubits upwards (huperano) was the water
raised, and it covered all the high mountains" (Gen. 7: 17-20, Septuagint).
Will any one have the temerity to say that huperano knows nothing of distance, when
this very word is linked with a measurement of 15 cubits in a book which has influenced
the phraseology of the N.T. on almost every page? Moreover, while the flood was
necessarily upon the earth, i.e., actually in contact with the earth, it should be noted that
the same Greek words in the same narrative are also used to indicate how far these waters
prevailed over the earth, and that this reference is explained in the next sentence by the
word huperano. If epi with the word "earth" can be used, as it is here, to indicate not
only close contact with the surface of the earth, but also 15 cubits above the top of the
highest mountain, and if this meaning is expressed by the word huperano, what can we
say of the "criticism" that denounces this same interpretation when the same words epi
and huperano are used of heaven?
Whatever our own opinions may be, there is enough evidence here in these two
passages--Isa. 2: 2 and Gen. 7: 17-20--to liberate any who may have been led captive
by error. We are now, therefore, free to proceed to the investigation of the sphere of the
Mystery, described by the words en tois epouraniois, "in the heavenly places". This we
propose to do in a future article. Meanwhile let us remember that God's "nobility" bow
the knee to no human authority--they search and see "whether these things are so".
May we then be numbered among the faithful and the free.