The Significant Name of God (19)

The riches of the Title אֵל שַׁדַּי - ’El Shaddai

André H. Roosma
17 June 2020 (NL original: 27 April 2020)

וַיְהִי אַבְרָם בֶּנ־תִּשְׁעִים שָׁנָה וְתֵשַׁע שָׁנִים וַיֵּרָא יְהוָה אֶל־אַבְרָם וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֲנִי־אֵל שַׁדַּי הִתְהַלֵּךְ לְפָנַי וֶהְיֵה תָמִים וְאֶתְּנָה בְרִיתִי בֵּינִי וְּבֵינֶךָ וְאַרְבֶּה אֹותְךָ בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד
When ’Abram was ninety-nine years old, YaHUaH appeared to ’Abram and said to him: I am ’El Shaddai, walk before My face, and be upright, I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.

Genesis 17: 1-2

וְאֵל שַׁדַּי יְבָרֵךְ אֹתְךָ וְיַפְרְךָ וְיַרְבֶּךָ וְהָיִיתָ לִקְהַל עַמִּים
And ’El Shaddai bless you, He make you fruitful and multiply you, such that you become a multitude of peoples.

Genesis 28: 3

וַיֹּאמֶר לֹו אֱלֹהִים אֲנִי אֵל שַׁדַּי פְּרֵה וְּרְבֵה גֹּוי וְּקְהַל גֹּויִם יִהְיֶה מִמֶּכָּ וְּמְלָכִים מֵחֲלָצֶיךָ יֵצֵאוְּ
And God said to him, I [am] ’El Shaddai, be fruitful and multiply; a nation, yes a company of nations shall become from you, and kings shall come out of your loins.

Genesis 35: 11

One of the names or titles used in the source text of the Bible for the God of Isra’el is אֵל שַׁדַּי - ’El Shaddai. Above you see the first three Bible passages in which this Name or title appears. Recently I have started to study this Name a bit more closely. This article is the result of this.

What I had always learned was that אֵל שַׁדַּי - ’El Shaddai was best translated as 'The Almighty' – the translation most Bible translators have indeed used. That would be based on the translation used in the early Greek translation of the First Testament, the Septuagint, and on the root of a related Hebrew verb.
However, the Septuagint translators used several Greek words to translate ’El Shaddai. In the above passages they used the Greek word παντοκράτωρ - pantokrator. The panto- in this means something like 'everything', and in krator we recognize the same root as in our words 'democracy' etc. - which stands for 'to govern'. Based on this, a translation for ’El Shaddai is then: 'He Who rules over everything'. That is close to, but is yet still more active and involved than our word 'Almighty'. Incidentally, it should be noted that in the Greek source text of the New Testament - eg in Revelation 1: 8; 4: 8 - the word translated Almighty is also pantokrator, and thus that too can better be replaced by 'He Who rules over all'.
Then the Hebrew verb that is often considered related. That is שָׁדַד - shádad, which stands for: to destroy / to deal violently with / to ruin / to devastate / to spoil / to ravage, to be powerful / violent; possibly also: to be big / heavy / tough. In the context of the above texts, I cannot see the connection. There are other creatures to whom this seems more appropriate, and whose title may be more appropriately linked to a derivative of this verb stem. They are referred to in the Bible (Deut. 32:17; Psalm 106: 37) as שֵּׁדִים֙ - shedim, commonly translated as: demons! God YaHUaH is above all a creative God, not primarily a destructive God, so the contrast with the God of Isra’el could hardly be greater ...¹
So I searched a little further ...

The better dictionaries also refer to the Akkadian² word shadu - mountain. ’El Shaddai would then mean something like 'God of the mountain(s)'. Indeed, in the Bible, God is often found on a mountain, for example, the Sinai. So this statement is not very strange, although it remains to be seen whether this is the first and main characteristic of YaHUaH, the God of the Bible, by which He revealed Himself to ’Abraham ... The context does not make this very plausible either. ...

In my elaborated study of the ancient signs of the West Semitic and Paleo-Hebrew script³, I express the conjecture that the ancient Hebrew letter shin (at the time likely called shad) probably has two roots: one in the horns of the auroch, which could be very destructive, and the others in the breasts of a woman or the udders of a female animal - the Biblical-Hebrew word שַׁדּ - shad (in some other Semitic languages, such as Arabic still: thad). In the Song of Solomon we thus find a.o. the following text:

​צְרֹור הַמֹּר דֹּודִי לִי בֵּין שָׁדַי יָלִין
My lover is a bundle of myrrh, resting between my breasts (shadai).

Song of Songs 1: 13;
note that shadai here and shaddai as a title for God can only be distinguished from each other in a small dagesh-sign (a little dot in the dalet) that Jewish scholars in the Middle Ages added as a reading aid; so definitely not in the Paleo-Hebrew original!

The Hebrew word for womb: רַחַם - racham also stands for mercy/ compassion, because the womb of a healthy and loving mother is so full of mercy, protection and nurturing towards the unborn baby – in the event of scarcity even allowing all nourishment to go to the child at the expense of the mother. This word - in plural form - is in the Bible often applied to God YaHUaH. Could it be that the original word for the maternal breast: שַׁדּ - shad, also represents the nurturing love, nourishment and fertility that God YaHUaH wants to give generously to His children? Compare the following two passages:

וְיָנַקְתְּ חֲלֵב גֹּויִם וְשֹׁד מְלָכִים תִּינָקִי וְיָדַעַתְּ כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה מֹושִׁיעֵךְוְגֹאֲלֵךְ אֲבִיר יַעֲקֹב ...
שִׂמְחוְּ אֶת־יְרוְּשָׁלִַם וְגִילוְּ בָהּ כָּל־אֹהֲבֶיהָ שִׂישׂוְּ אִתָּהּ מָשֹׂושׂ כָּל־הַמִּתְאַבְּלִים עָלֶיהָ לְמַעַן תִּינְקוְּ וְּשְׂבַעְתֶּם מִשֹּׁד תַּנְחֻמֶיהָ לְמַעַן תָּמֹצּוְּוְהִתְעַנַּגְתֶּם מִזִּיז כְּבֹודָהּ כִּי־כֹה אָמַר יְהוָה הִנְנִי נֹטֶה־ אֵלֶיהָ כְּנָהָר שָׁלֹום וְּכְנַחַל שֹׁוטֵף כְּבֹוד גֹּויִם וִינַקְתֶּם עַל־צַד תִּנָּשֵׂאוְּ וְעַל־בִּרְכַּיִם תְּשָׁעֳשָׁעוְּ כְּאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר אִמֹּו תְּנַחֲמֶנּוְּ כֵּן אָנֹכִי אֲנַחֶמְכֶם וְּבִירוְּשָׁלִַם תְּנֻחָמוְּ
And you will suck the milk of the nations, and you will suck the breast (shad) of kings; and you will know that I am YaHUaH, your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya‘aqobh. ...
Rejoice with Yerushalaim and shout about her, all of you who love her. Rejoice over her with joy, all you who mourn over her, that you may suck and linger on her comforting breast (shad), so that you may fully enjoy the abundance of her glory. For thus says YaHUaH: behold, I make peace (shalom) flow to her like a river and the glory of the nations like an overflowing brook, then you will suck, you will be carried on the hip and cherished on the knees. As someone’s mother comforts him, so I will comfort you, yea, you will be comforted in Yerushalaim.

Isa. 60:16; 66:10-13; cf. also Isa. 55

The meaning of ’El Shaddai as 'the God Who is able to nurture, meet needs, quench your thirst, make you fertile and satisfy you' would fit very well in the context of the passages from Genesis quoted above, and perhaps even more clearly in the context of the following passsage:

מֵאֵל אָבִיךָ וְיַעְזְרֶכָּ וְאֵת שַׁדַּי וִיבָרְכֶכָּ בִּרְכֹת שָׁמַיִם מֵעָל בִּרְכֹת תְּהֹום רֹבֶצֶת תָּחַת בִּרְכֹת שָׁדַיִם וָרָחַם
... by the God of your father, Who will help you, and by ’El Shaddai, Who will bless you with blessings from heaven above (especially rain!), with blessings from the flood of water below (springs of water!), with blessings from breasts (shadaïm; perhaps also: spiritual-emotional thirst quenching?) and from the womb (racham; also: compassion, tender love).

Genesis 49: 25

Near the Euphrates in Syria is a mountain, partly built up of rubble from old cities, called Tell eth-Thadein in Arabic; this name means: mountain of the two breasts. Most likely, this mountain was called Shaddai during the Amorite times. In Hebrew shadaïm means 'two breasts' and shadai 'my breasts'. It is likely that the Sumerian city of Tuttul once lay on the site of this mountain. Tuttul is Sumerian for 'two breasts' ...
This links the previous two explanations together. Both breasts and mountains form an elevation in the environment. Shaddai could therefore also stand for 'The Exalted'. And perhaps even more to the point: rivers originate in the mountains; in other words: mountains provide the inhabitants with water through rivers, and breasts provide drinking for the little ones. In Shaddai, this notion could originally lie of 'lovingly supplying moisture and thus life, vitality and fertility'.

In Proverbs 5, a woman’s breasts are compared to a source of living water, which is only for her husband’s delight (and for no one else). He may enjoy it, and be constantly drunk on it, the Proverbs poet even says, also as a safeguard against adultery or fornication.
Likewise, God wants to satisfy us with His living water.

Jewish rabbis have read in Shaddai 'the All-sufficient One', based on the fact that the Hebrew דַּי - dai stands for 'enough'.
The Septuagint does not always translate ’El Shaddai by the Greek pantokrator - Ruler over all. Sometimes, as in Ruth 1: 20-21, it translated it by: ὁ ἱκανός - o ikanos, 'He who is enough'. This is very much in line with the above. When we are full of the great love of God, and fully rejoice in Him, we no longer need what the adversary wants to offer us.

In addition to shadad, there is, according to the well-known Hebrew dictionary by Brown, Driver & Briggs / Gesenius (p.995; see also the one by Fürst, p.1345), another Hebrew verbal root that can be associated with the title Shaddai, and that is: שָׁדַה - shadah - to pour out, to moisten, to give to drink, to suckle. This does remarkably correspond to the above, and fits very well in the given Biblical contexts (and also in all other, not yet mentioned here, as I found out⁴). All in all I find in this the most plausible interpretation of Shaddai, although I do not completely exclude the others. YaHUaH is pre-eminently the God Who lovingly pours His blessing like water / rain on His own in the form of life, love, fertility, joy, et cetera - ultimately in the form of His Spirit (cf. eg also Psalm 36; Isa. 55; John 1:16; 4:14; 7: 37-39; 15 [juices from the true Vine!]; and Rev 21: 6-8). What a glorious God is ’El Shaddai !

Hallelu YaHUaH !

Postscript (9 July 2021)

Jesus / Jeshua‘ made God known to us. In John 10:10 (NET) He said:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

I pose the question: Is this an underpinning to interpret Shaddai as title for God from the root shadad or from shadah?

Notes

With regard to the above I think of the Dutch song of Sela,

Bij U is de bron (With you is the source) (Psalm 36)

Text editing and music: Anneke van Dijk-Quist. © 2019 Sela Music Foundation

1	Compare what the Jewish Encyclopedia says under the heading Shaddai and ’Elyon, among others: “The word Shaddai (שַׁדַּי), which occurs along with El, is ... commonly rendered "the Almighty" (in LXX., sometimes παντοκράτωρ). The Hebrew root "shadad," from which it has been supposed to be derived, means, however, "to overpower," "to treat with violence," "to lay waste." This would give Shaddai the meaning "devastator," or "destroyer," which can hardly be right. It is possible, however, that the original significance was that of "overmastering" or "overpowering strength," and that this meaning persists in the divine name. ...” (emphasis added).
2	Akkadian was the Semitic language spoken in Mesopotamia at the time ’Abraham moved from there. As such, the language is partly at the basis of the language of ancient Isra’el: early Biblical Hebrew.
3	For more on the ancient pictographic Semitic script referred to here, see: André H. Roosma, ‘The Written Language of Abraham, Moses and David – A study of the pictographic roots and basic notions in the underlying fabric of the earliest Biblical script’ , Hallelu-YaH Draft Research Report, 1st English version: 18 April 2011 (1st Dutch original: January 2011).
4	Shaddai appears in the following Bible texts: Gen.17:1-2 When ’Abram was ninety nine years old, YaHUaH appeared to ’Abram and said to him, I am God Shaddai, walk before Me, and be upright, I will make My covenant between Me and you, and make you extremely numerous. Gen.28:3-4 And God Shaddai bless you, make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you become a multitude of peoples. And may He give you the blessing of ’Abraham, you and your offspring with you, so that you will possess the land, where you are a stranger, that God has given to ’Abraham. Gen.35:11-12 And God said to him, I am God Shaddai, be fruitful and multiply, a people, even a multitude of nations, shall come out of you, and kings shall come out of your loins. And this land which I have given to ’Abraham and Yitschaq I will give to you, and to your seed I will give this land. Gen.43:14-15 And God Shaddai give you mercies (rachamim) before that man, that he may let your other brother go, as well as Benjamin. And as for me, if I have to be robbed of children, then I will be robbed. Then the men took the present and they took double money with them, besides Benjamin, they rose up and went on a journey to Egypt and stood before Yoseph. Gen.48:3-4 And Ya‘aqobh said to Yoseph, God Shaddai appeared to me in Luz in the land of Kena‘an, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make you fruitful, multiply you and make you into a multitude of nations, I will give this land to your offspring as an everlasting possession. Gen.49:25-26 By the God of your fathers, Who will help you, and Shaddai, Who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, with blessings of the flood of water, with blessings of the breasts [shadaim] and of the womb [racham] [i.e. food and mercy]. The blessings of your father exceed the blessings of my forefathers, reaching to the most precious of the eternal hills, they will come on the head of Yoseph, on the crown of the chosen one among his brothers. Ex.6:3-5 I have appeared to ’Abraham, Yitschaq and Ya‘aqobh as God Shaddai, but by My Name YaHUaH they have not fully known Me. Not only have I made My covenant with them to give them the land of Kena‘an, the land of their pilgrimage, where they sojourned as strangers, but I also heard the complaint of the Isra’elites, whom the Egyptians enslaved, and I remembered My covenant. Num.24:4-5,16 (Bil‘am:) “... The oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of Shaddai, while he falls down with open eyes. How good are your tents, O Ja‘aqobh, your tabernacles, O Isra’el! ...” “... The oracle of him who hears the words of God, and who knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of Shaddai, as he falls down with open eyes ... " Deut.32:17 They offered to the evil spirits [la-shedim], who are not gods, to gods they did not know, new gods who had come up shortly before, for whom your fathers had not shuddered. Ruth 1:20-21 But she said to her, do not call me No‘omi (my pleasure / joy), call me Mara (bitterness), for Shaddai has dealt very bitterly with me. I went full, but YaHUaH has made me return empty. Why would you call me No‘omi, since YaHUaH testified against me and Shaddai harmed me? Job 5:17 ("Eliphaz:) Behold, blessed is the man whom God corrects, therefore do not despise the discipline of Shaddai. Job 6:4 (Job:) For the arrows of Shaddai protrude into me, the poison of which draws into my mind, God’s horrors line up against me in battle order. Job 6:14 (Job:) He who withholds pity from his friend, forsakes the fear of Shaddai. Job 8:3,5 (Bildad:) Does God pervert judgement, or would Shaddai pervert justice? ... But if you seek God earnestly and beg Shaddai for mercy, Job 11:7 (Sofar:) Can you fathom the secrets of God, fathom Shaddai to the end? Job 13:3 (Job:) But still, I want to speak to Shaddai, I wish to plead my case before God. Job 15:25 (’Eliphaz:) For he has stretched out his hand against God and defied Shaddai, Job 21:15,20 (Job:) What is Shaddai that we should serve Him, and what good is it for us to pray to Him? ... His own eyes shall see his ruin, and he himself shall drink from the wrath of Shaddai. Job 22:3,17,23,25-26 (’Eliphaz:) Is it any pleasure to Shaddai that you are righteous, or gain, if you keep your way pure? ... who said to God, move away from us! And: what can Shaddai do to them? ... If you return to Shaddai, you will be built up, if you remove the injustice from your tent, ... And Shaddai will be your supply of gold ore and your silver treasure, then you will delight in Shaddai and lift up your face to God. Job 23:16 (Job:) For God has made my heart faint, Shaddai troubles me, Job 24:1 (Job:) Times are not hidden for Shaddai, why do those who know Him not see His days of judgment? Job 27:2 (Job in last speech:) As God lives, who withholds my right from me, and Shaddai, who has filled my soul with bitterness, Job 27:10-11,13 (Job:) Can he enjoy Shaddai, call on God at all times? I will teach you about the hand of God, what Shaddai has in mind, I will not hide. ... This is from God the portion of the wicked man, the inheritance of the violent, which they receive from Shaddai: Job 29:4-5 (Job:) As I was in the heyday of my life, when God’s intimate association [sod ’Eloah] was in my tent, when Shaddai was still with me, and my children were around me, Job 31:2 (Job:) For what is the portion, ordained by God from above, the inheritance, determined by Shaddai from on high? Job 31:35 (Job:) Well, that someone listened to me! Here is my signature - Shaddai answered me - also the piece that my accuser wrote. Job 32:8; 33:4; 34:10,12; 35:13; 37:23 (’Elihu) Verily, it is the spirit in the mortals and the breath of Shaddai that gives them insight. ... The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of Shaddai makes me live. ... Therefore, you sensible people, listen to me: God is far from wickedness, Shaddai from injustice. ... Yes indeed, God does not act unjustly, Shaddai does not bend justice. ... Truly, God does not hear the vain cry, Shaddai does not care. ... Shaddai, whom we do not understand, is great in strength and justice, he who is great in righteousness does not bend her. Job 39:35/40:2 (YaHUaH Himself:) Will the reprover argue with Shaddai? The accuser of God reply! Ps.68:14 When Shaddai dispersed the kings, it snowed on the Salmon. Ps.91:1 He who dwells in the refuge of the Most High shall rest under the shadow of Shaddai. Cf. also: Psalm 106:37 They offered their sons and their daughters to the evil spirits [la- shedim], and they also shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, which they offered to the idols of Kena‘an, so that the land was desecrated by bloodguilt. Isa.13:6 Wail, for the day of YaHUaH is near, it comes as a destruction (ke-shod) from Shaddai (a play on words). Ezek.1:24 When they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the roaring of many waters, like the voice of Shaddai (Who gives rain; heavy rain on your tent is an impressive sound), a rainstorm roaring, like of an army; when they stood still, they let down their wings. Ezek.10:5 The sound of the wings of the cherubims was heard even unto the outer court, as the voice of God Shaddai, when he speaks. Joel 1:15 Woe to that day, for the day of YaHUaH is near, as desolation it comes from Shaddai (as in Isa.13:6).

In Numbers 1:5 there is a man called שְׁדֵיאוּר- Shedei’ur - my outpourer (שְׁדֵי- Shedei from shadah) of light (אוּר- ’ur/’or). Some dictionaries erroneously relate the Shedei part to the root sadeh with a sin, which makes no sense at all; it appears as if this root shadah has often been overlooked in explaining Shaddai and other words because Strong did not include it in his coding. (The name re-appears in Num.2:10; 7:30,35; 10:18.)

Wikipedia also has an article on ’El Shaddai.

In the Dutch Geïllustreerde Encyclopedie van de Bijbel (Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Bible, Gaalyahu Cornfeld, Ed.; G.B. Van Goor, The Hague NL, 1976) in the explanation of ’El Shaddai I came across the following sentence which also brings together some of the notions above: „In the Hebreew narrating literature, as in the Pentateuch and Ruth the designation El Shaddai or especially Shaddai designates the power, that determines fertility or infertility (in other words: full destruction). Therefore it seems to be so, that this designation was given to the god (sic!) of life, who gives life or witholds it and who sometimes destroys it.”

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