An important article relating to the etymology of Elkenah ("Elkkener" in the Kirtland Egyptian Papers and 3 of the 4 pre-publication manuscripts) in the Book of Abraham is that of:
Patrick D. Miller, Jr., "El, The Creator of Earth," Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental
Research, no. 239 (Summer, 1980): 43-46
Miller notes that the expression 'el qôneh šamayim wā'āreṣ is
attested in the following (pp. 43-44):
(a) In the Hittite divine name Ilkunirša,
occurring in a myth borrowed from Canaan prior to 1200 B.C.
(b) 'l qn'rṣ in the
8-century Karatepe inscription in a list of gods.
(c) [ ] qn'rs in the
Jerusalem inscription Miller discussed on p. 42 (8th-7th century B.C.).
(d) 'lqwnr' in an Aramaic
1st century A.D. inscription from Palmyra, which, with G. Levi Della Vida, is
to be read 'l qn (')r '(')
(e) 'lqnr' in four
tesserae from Palmyra
(f) b'šmyn qnh dy r'' in
an inscription form Hatra
(g) 'l qn 'rṣ in a
Neo-Punic inscription from Leptis Magna (2nd century A.D.)
In the Hebrew of Gen 14:19, we
read
אֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן קֹנֵ֖ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ
The KJV translates this as
"most high God, possessor of heaven and earth"; the verb קנה,
however, can also be translated as "maker/creator" (e.g., NRSV; 1985
JPS Tanakh). A transliteration of the above would be:
ʾēl ʿelyôn qōnē šāmayim wāʾāreṣ
Why do I start this post like
this? Well, “Mike” of the website LDS Discussions, has the
following to say about Elkenah in the Book of Abraham:
Apart from a "google it!" smacks of a lazy learner, I did google it, and there are the top results:
Here are the two articles listed in the google search. I do strongly recommend one reads them as it frankly shows how full of crap “Mike” of the LDS Discussions Website truly is:
Kevin L. Barney, “On Elkenah as
Canaanite El,” Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration
Scripture 19, no. 1 (2010): 22-35
"The
Idolatrous God of Elkenah," Pearl of Great Price Central
TL;DR for Mike:
