El
El

El

“El” is a definitive article. It commonly indicates the ascendancy. This would usually mean one of a few things:

In Arabic names, "El" (or "Al") at the beginning of a family name or surname typically means "the," similar to "the" in English. It is used to usually indicate a specific family, tribe, or ethnicity.

The ‘El’ is often written with a hyphen (e.g., "El-Faed") or as a separate word (e.g., "El Faed"). It is important to note that the usage of ‘El’ in Arabic names does not always have a specific significance beyond indicating a common naming convention in Arabic-speaking cultures.

That said, ‘El’ for the Canaanites and ancient Levantine region as a whole was the “Supreme God,” the father of mankind and all creatures. He fathered many Gods, most importantly, “Baal, Yam, and Mot,” each sharing similar attributes to the Greco-Roman Gods, “Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades” respectively.

In the Hebrew language, ‘El’ means “Deity” or “God,” and is a generic word that could be used for any God, including “Hadad, Moloch, or Yahweh (YHWH).” In the ‘Tanakh’ (Hebrew Bible), “Elohim” is the normal word for “God, great God, or Gods”, given that the 'im' suffix makes a word plural in Hebrew.

‘El’ is a common Semitic root for God, and it is related to the Arabic word “Allah.” In the Tanakh, ‘El Shaddai’ (Almighty God) and ‘El Elyon’ (God Most High) are also ways to refer to YHWH.

'El' was the head of an early Israelite pantheon, with Yahweh as its Warrior‐God. Texts that mention both El and Yahweh but not as the same figure (Genesis 49; Numbers 23–24), (Psalm 82) suggest an early accommodation of the two in some early form of Israelite polytheism.

They are not necessarily equivalent, however. Whereas the name ‘YHWH’ is typically associated with Hebrew, ‘El’ is in the Levant the classical designation of the “Chief God.” The question of whether ‘YHWH’ and ‘El’ were in origin the same Deity is still being debated.

There are other variations of ‘El,’ like “Elo’ah” (an Aramaic variation) or “El Elyon,” which means “God Most High” (Genesis 14:18), or “El Shaddai,” which most likely means “God of power” (Genesis 17:1). But while the Israelites used the various titles of their Canaanite neighbors, they did not believe the Gods of their neighbors were the one true God. They actually believed that all these words pointed to the God who revealed himself to Abraham and Moses—and this God had a name.

Among ancient neighbors, people referred to the most powerful God as “El,” which is not actually a name, but an ancient Semitic title, “God.” It could refer to many Gods, but the chief Deity of all the other Gods was simply titled “El,” meaning “the God.”

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for God is most often ‘Elohim,’ which is used over 2,000 times to refer to the 'God of Israel' and a few dozen times in reference to other Gods. You can see by the shape of the word that “El-ohim” is a longer form of “El"...

 

Food for thought!

Riadh Al Rabeh

Retired at Gloucester University

6mo

In addition to your very interesting exposition of El Lord Edwin, I myself noticed something interesting in relation to El that might change the views of many. The word ‘Israel’ or ‘Ishrael’ can be interpreted as the 'ten of El', the ten fingers of El, or the 'ten commandments'. This is made clear when we see the Goddess figurine 'Ishtar' is depicted as a beautiful young girl coming out of the sea(by the look of the fins on the feet) and showing her ten fingers to the looker, and carrying the sign of life of a ‘ring and stick’. As if she is saying that you must follow the ten commandments in order to live- or love thy neighbour etc in order to live as a happy society. regards.

Like
Reply

To view or add a comment, sign in

Insights from the community

Others also viewed

Explore topics