Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Daryl F. Jefferies" <djefferi AT chorus.net>]

Chris, Trevor, and others,

I've always found the connection of Shaddai and "breast(s)" following 
from a "lost" goddess/consort image very interesting (though I don't 
have bibliography at hand to share).  Any comments on why this is 
apparently seldom considered?

Daryl Jefferies


>  >===== Original Message From Chris Watts-westmaas <watts-westmaas AT zonnet.nl>
> =====
> > The next word that has bugged me is the word: SHADDAI, root sdy.  I have
> > read briefly that this finds itself back to the akkadian: SADU/SADDU'a,
> > meaning 'mountain';  Also that 'SADU' - mountain wilderness and 'SADEH' -
> > uncultivated field go back to the root - Shin, Dalet, Yud.
>
> There are other suggestions as to the etymology. George Mendenhall suggested
> in a presentation at the SBL meeting last month in Toronto that it is a
> geographical referent. I forget where the pair of mountains he was considering
> were located. But he added repeatedly that the biblical writers probably did
> not remember where the name originated. They simply knew it as a traditional
> designation for a particular deity.
>
> > In view of all
> > this how on earth do we arrive at Shaddai to mean Almighty in the context
> > of GOD Almighty.  Could it not possibly be that God revealed Himself to
> > Abraham in the context of his wilderness wanderings as 'GOD of the
> > WIlderness'?
>
> As with any other word study, etymology should be considered only with
> significant reservations, especially when dealing with proper nouns, which can
> have varied (and questionable) traditional etymologies. I don't know that God
> Almighty is the best translation--probably better, as with any proper noun, to
> transliterate it. It might have some support from versions, but I don't have
> any handy here to check right now.
>
> Trevor Peterson
> CUA/Semitics
>
>
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--
*****************************
Daryl F. Jefferies, Ph.D.
djefferi AT chorus.net
http://userpages.chorus.net/djefferi