Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB BLB AICNT OEB WEB WMB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE MOF JPS ASV DRA YLT DBY RV WBS KJB BB GNV CB TNT WYC SR-GNT UHB Related Parallel Interlinear Dictionary Search
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XY Z
EL*
Ancient Semitic name for deity, perhaps meaning “power” (cf. Gn 17:1); used by the Hebrews generally in a poetic sense to denote the true God of Israel. The same word was used for the senior Canaanite god and the god in Ugaritic mythology. The “Il” or “El” of ancient Canaanite mythology (before 3500 BC in the region of Syria) was not as active as the god Baal, who struggled with Death and triumphed over Chaos. But Il was the father god of the Canaanite pantheon. OT critics have suggested that the Hebrews adopted the clan gods of the Canaanites, including Il. Yet Phoenician and Ugaritic literature use Il in the feminine form for the names of goddesses. The Hebrew avoids such usage. El is combined with other adjectives to describe the numerous attributes of God; for example, God Most High (Gn 14:18-24), the seeing God (16:13), the jealous God (Ex 20:5), the forgiving God (Neh 9:17), and the gracious God (v 31).
See also Canaanite Deities and Religion; God, Names of.