Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>]

The deity "El" was a very common deity in the Fertile Crescent, mostly in 
Syria-Palestine. He was
viewed as the father of the pantheon of gods and his wife was Asherah. He 
presided over the divine
assembly as a kind of divine president, much like Greek Zeus (though El 
probably corresponds more
with Kronos). At a later stage, El was essentially supplanted by Baal as the 
president deity. His
name is also used as a common noun for "god". We can compare this with "Zeus" 
whose name might be
derived from an Indo-Aryan word meaning "god". (Compare the word in many 
modern languages - 'Deus'.
The Roman god, Jupiter was the "Deo-Pater", the "father-god" or "godfather".)

--
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
GEORGE ATHAS
 Dept of Semitic Studies,
 University of Sydney
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Tel Dan Inscription Website is at
http://members.xoom.com/gathas/teldan.htm
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::