Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/25

ELOHIST AND YAHWIST. II (c.950 B.C.) for the oldest sections of the work, though it is safer 1o bring il down to the ninth century, for its general tone indicates that the struggle between the Yahwch and I'.aal mil-, which reached its climax in the days of Ahali, is past. The relations to the surrounding na- tions are of a friendly character and the outlook hopeful, which points to a time prior to the menaces of the Assyrian period. The Yahwistic history is marked by the easy flow of the narra- tive. The stories and traditions are related in a vivid .manner and in a style that is full of charm. The piety of the writers is also an im- pressive feature. Their confidence in Yahweh is unbounded, and corresponding to this con- fidence is the feeling of gratitude and devotion to Yahweh for all the mercies shown to His people. The second historical compilation which con- sistently uses 'Elohim' as the designation of the deity is of a different character. It also is a product of the northern kingdom of about the middle of the eighth century B.C.. but is con- sidered to have been revised by a Judsean editor. Like the Yahwistic history, the Elohistic compila- tion views the past from a religious point of view, but the point is more clearly defined. The gen- eral tone indicates a large amount of self-con- sciousness, and, in keeping with the avoidance of the personal name of the national deity, we find the relations between Elohim and his worshipers less direct. Elohim does not converse directly with men, but by means of a heavenly or divine voice. The Elohist, moreover, aims to remove some of the features in the old stories which ap- peared objectionable to a more advanced view of divine government. There is also an element of sadness in the work which is lacking in the Yah- wistic history. The text is full of sombre recol- lections which do not augur well for the future. While the outlook is still hopeful, it is the pro- found faith of the writer which prompts his optimism; but there is an undercurrent of gloom and there are traces of the depression which be- gins to settle upon Jewish history as the roar of the advancing Assyrian power is heard in the distance. The first distinct traces of this his- tory are met with in the narrative about Abraham, so that it is not certain whether the Elohist began his work with the creation of the world, but it also extends through the period of the conquest of Canaan. About the middle of the seventh century the Yahwistic and Elohistic histories were combined by a 'Yahwistic' editor into a single work whose purpose it was to preserve the variant versions of the old narratives which had assumed by this time a decidedly sacred character. His plan consists in giving a story according to that source which is the most complete, interspersing it or adding to it details derived from the other. It is this combined source', designated convention- ally as .TE. which the post-exilic compiler (e.400 B.C.) who combined JE with the various legal codes (see Hexateuch) into the present Penta- teuch had before him. Consult the Introductions to the Old Testa- ment by Driver, Strack. Bleek-Wellhausen, Co- ruill; and, especially. Kautsch. History of Old Testament Literature, translated bv Tavlor (Lon- don, 1808). ELOMIRE, a'ld'mer'. An anagram formed from the name of Moliere, and used in an attack Vol. VII.— 2. EL PASO. made on him by an unknown writer signing him- self Le Boulanger de Challussay, in the indi nt play Elomvre hypocondre, ou les midecins venges (HiTO). The name had been employed also by De Villiers in ZelAnde, an earlier attack. ELONGATION (ML. elongatio, from Lat. elongare, to lengthen, from e, out -f longus, long; connected with Goth, laggs, Icel. langr, OHG., Ger. lang, AS. lang, long, Eng. long), Angle of. The angle measuring the distance on the sky be- tween a planet and the sun, a- seen from t In- earth. The close circumpolar stars (such a^ Polaris) are sometimes said to be in elongation when their azimuth (q.V.) measured from the north point of the horizon has its greatest possi- blc value. ELOPEMENT (from elope, from Dutch ont- loopen, to run away, from ont, away + loopt ». Eng. lope, to run). In law, the act of a married woman who abandons her husband and cohabits with another man. In the early period of English law, before the right of divorce was recognized, it was provided by the Statute of Westmin- ster II. (13 Edw. I., c. 34) that an eloping wife should lose her dower in her husband's lands. To-day the consequence of the act is to free the husband from his common-law liability for her support. Where the elopement is notorious, he is not bound to pay debts of her contracting, and whoever, with notice of the separation, gives her credit, does so at his own risk. See Husband and Wife. EL-ORDEH, elor-da', or New Dongola. The capital of the Province of Dongola, in the Egyp- tian Sudan, situated on the left bank of the Nile (Map: Africa. H 3). It is a prosperous town, with a number of public buildings and fine ba- zaars. It has a population of about 10.000. Sev- enty-five miles above El-Ordeh, on the right bank of the Nile, lies Old Dongola or Dongola Ajusa, once a flourishing place, now reduced to an in- significant sand-swept village. EL'OTHE'RITJM (Neo-Lat., from Gk. Uoc, liclos, marsh + 0>/piov, therion, wild beast). A large fossil pig of the Miocene rocks of Europe and North America, and differing from the other Miocene members of the family in the re- duction of the number of toes on both hind and fore feet to two. See Swine. ELOY'SIUS, Saixt. See Eligiis. EL PASO, el pii'sij. A city, port of entry, and county-seat of El Paso County, Tex., on the Rio Grande River (Map: Texas, A 4). It is of great commercial importance as a gateway of the trade between Mexico and the United States, and also as a railroad centre, being the terminus of the Texas and Pacific, the Atchison. Topeka and Santa Fe, and the Mexican Central railroads. The Southern Pacific and other railroads also reach here. The city has extensive cattle-raising, min- ing, smelting, and cigar-manufacturing interests. Among the more important structures are the Federal building, county court-house, city hall, post-office, high school, hospital, and Hotel Shel- don. The educational institutions include Saint Joseph's Academy, a school of mines, and the Congregational Training School and Theologi- cal Seminary. The government is administered under a charter of 1889, revised two years later, which provides for a mayor, elected bien- niallv. and a unicameral citv council. All munic-