Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Chavoux:

אל is used as a generic word for “god” Genesis 46:3, Deuteronomy 3:24, 4:31,
5:9 and many other verses. It was not a name in Biblical Hebrew.

Karl W. Randolph.

On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 11:48 AM, Chavoux Luyt <chavoux AT gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi every-one
>
> I have read in various (archaeological) sources that the "chief god"
> of the Canaanite pagans were called "El" with the implication that
> "El" was a personal name rather than being the generic word for "god".
> Of course in the Hebrew religion of the Bible, there was only one God
> and it would be legitimate to simply call Him "God" as a "personal
> name" of sorts. It seems to me however, the in the Hebrew Scriptures
> the term "Ha-Elohim" ("the Gods", but with singular verbs) is normally
> used instead of only "El" and that when "El" is used as a personal
> name it is normally as part of a compound name (e.g. El Shaddai, El
> Gibor, El Elyon etc.).
>
> My question is basically this: is there any evidence that the Hebrews
> used "El" on its own as a personal name? Or is it rather used as the
> generic term for "God" only? Can this be considered as a semantic
> difference between Hebrew and Canaanite usage or may the
> interpretation of "El" as a personal name instead of a generic term
> for "god" in ANE archaeology simply be mistaken?
>
> Regards
> Chavoux Luyt