You may be surprised that I employ the expression, “elevation in rank, quality, and power,” and you may say, “How can you assert that several distinct expressions denote the same thing?” It will be explained later on (chap. l. seqq.) that those who possess a true knowledge of God do not consider that He possesses many attributes, but believe that these various attributes which describe His Might, Greatness, Power, Perfection, Goodness, etc., are identical, denoting His Essence, and not anything extraneous to His Essence. I shall devote special chapters to the Names and Attributes of God; our intention here is solely to show that “high and exalted” in the passage quoted denote elevation in rank, not in space. CHAPTER XXI In its primary signification the Hebrew ʻabar, “to pass,” refers to the motion of a body in space, and is chiefly applied to living creatures moving at some distance in a straight line, e.g., “And He passed over (ʻabar) before them” (Gen. xxxiii. 3); “Pass (ʻabor) before the people” (Exod. xvii. 5). Instances of this kind are numerous. The verb was next applied to the passage of sound through air, as “And they caused a sound to pass (va-yaʻabiru) throughout the camp” (Exod. xxxvi. 6); “That I hear the Lord’s people spreading the report” (maʻabirim) (1 Sam. ii. 24). Figuratively it denoted the appearance of the Light and the Divine Presence (Shechinah) which the prophets perceived in their prophetic visions, as it is said, “And behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed (ʻabar) between those pieces” (Gen. xv. 17). This took place in a prophetic vision, for the narrative commences, “And a deep sleep fell upon Abram.” The verb has this latter meaning in Exodus xii. 12, “And I shall pass (ve-ʻabarti) through the land of Egypt” (denoting “I shall reveal myself,” etc.), and in all similar phrases. The verb is next employed to express that a person has gone too far, and transgressed the usual limit, in the performance of some act, as “And as a man who is drinking wine has passed (ʻabarv) the proper limit” (Jer. xxiii. 9).