856 ALL OUR IDEAS DERIVED 



word fvn, or from the noun rttiT, which has been 

 variously written by different authors, lao, lei, 

 Yeye, Yehovah, and lastly Jehovah, signifying 

 the primitive essence of all existence or being.* 

 But as the letter o was originally employed in- 

 stead of o>, which was added to the Greek alpha- 

 bet at a later period, it is evident that o>v is in 

 reality the same word as On, which, among the 

 Egyptians, Phoenicians, and other oriental na- 

 tions, signified the sun. Hence it was, that many 

 of the Greek philosophers employed the words 

 TO Qv and TO Ev, to represent the primitive source 

 of all existence. And it is remarkable that the 

 words Qv and Ev are used in the first chapter of 

 the Apocalypse, v. 8, to represent the Supreme 



Jehovah, 'O wv, Kai o r?v, /cat o fpx/tytevoc, " He 



who was, and who is, and who is to come." 



Nor can there be a rational doubt, that the 

 earliest impressions of mankind in regard to the 

 existence and attributes of the Great First Cause, 



* Parkhurst further states, that the Hebrew word mi Ruah, 

 signifying the spirit of God that was breathed into man when 

 first created, also means air or breath. He moreover observes, 

 that it has precisely the same meaning as the Greek word Trj/ev^ua, 

 as in John c. iv. v. 24, where it is said that " God is a Spirit." 

 But he maintains that Tr^w/m denotes also an incorporeal sub- 

 stance, distinct from the animal soul termed dv^r), which man 

 hath in common with the brutes ; because he is represented as 

 consisting of soul, body, and spirit, as in Thess. ch. v, v, 23, 

 and Hebrews, ch. iv. v. 12. Yet he admits that both Trva^a 

 and xf^X 7 ? mean breath, the air in motion, animal life, the human 

 soul, and spirit. (See Greek Lexicon, under these words). 



