El Shaddai

An Etymology and Scriptural Study on the name El Shaddai:

El Shaddai is one which God Himself used to introduce Himself to the fathers of faith: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
It is one of the oldest names for God recorded in the Scriptures, alongside Elohim, El Elyon, and El Olam, all found early in Genesis.
El Shaddai is usually translated as Almighty God in our Bibles, but in spite of the common Biblical consensus, it is still one of the most contested translations in the Scriptures.

In fact, my first exposure to the debate occurred over tea with my Israeli friend, who humorously recounted her first introduction to the name El Shaddai long ago as a student in elementary school. As the teacher explained the names of God found in the Torah (first five books of Moses), twitters of laughter arose when she reached El Shaddai, and ever after the proposed meaning of this name became the favourite subject of playground humour. You see, in Hebrew, shad means breast, or teat. The children found it hilarious that God apparently referred to Himself as the God of Boobs.

Furthermore, those who more seriously take this as the correct interpretation of El Shaddai often conclude that the origin of the name must be from a female fertility goddess of the Caananites that the Hebrews later adopted and masculinized. For any true believer in God, who takes the scriptures as the inspired Word of God, this explanation rings very hollow, and rightly so.
Others, with much more respect for the divine origin of Scripture, explain that in calling Himself El Shaddai, God was merely introducing Himself to the Patriarchs as the God who would bless and prosper them, making them fruitful. And indeed, the oldest passages in which this name is found are in the context of fertility blessings and family legacy.

In Genesis 17:1-21, El Shaddai renames Abram Abraham, and Sarai Sarah, promising them the land of Canaan, a multitude of descendants, and that nations and kings would comes from their loins. God reiterates this promise to each of Abraham’s heirs in turn, [Gen.28:3], 35:11, 43:14, 48:3, 49:25] with Genesis 49:25 specifically even mentioning the “blessings of the breasts and of the womb.”
Other scholars point out that the ancient Akkadian word for mountain, shadu, [lit. “high”], could likewise be the origin and meaning of the name El Shaddai. Since mountains and breasts both share a similar mound shape, it can be assumed that perhaps this is the reason that they share the same root letters, and thus that El Shaddai might instead mean the “God of Mountains.” As He was already established as El Elyon, God Most High, [Gen.14:18], the idea that He is the God of mountain heights is not too different.

While He is most certainly the God of the mountains, and the seas, and the plains, and the stars, etc., this interpretation still feels too narrow of a name for the Almighty Creator God.
Another possibility with similar narrowness is the “God Who Pours Forth” from the Hebrew shadah, perhaps implying that God is the giver of rain, symbolic of blessing.
The most popular interpretation of El Shaddai: Almighty God comes from the Hebrew shadad, meaning burly, powerful, impregnable, to ravage, oppress, spoil, destroy. This may explain the use of the name El Shaddai in Isaiah and Joel’s prophecies about the great and terrible Day of YHVH [Isaiah 13:6, Joel 1:15] While this is also a reasonable conclusion, as God is omnipotent and His power uncontested, shadad implies a sort of violent power that makes little sense in the context of El Shaddai’s nurturing promises in Genesis.
The final possibility for El Shaddai’s etymological origin is found in the deconstruction of the name with a different set of root letters for emphasis. Rather than looking to the shad portion for meaning, if you instead consider dai as the root, you will discover something significant. Dai in Hebrew means “sufficient,” or “enough.” The most popular use of the word is found in the annual Passover Song about God’s deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt: “Dayanu”. The song is a response hymn, where the great acts of God are recounted one by one, followed by a chorus of “Dayanu”, which means literally, “Sufficient for us.” If you sing it in English, you say, “It would have been enough.”

In Hebrew, a “sh” prefix on a word means “that, which, or who.” So putting all the parts together: el + sh + dai, you get the meaning, “God who is Enough” or “God who Suffices.” If God introduced Himself to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph as the God who Suffices, He was saying that He would provide all that they needed and WAS all that they needed. He has and IS enough. He is the All Sufficient God.

This etymology is supported, I believe, by God’s own words to Moses in Exodus 6:3, “And I appeared to Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name El Shaddai, but by My name YHVH was I not known to them.” Moses had asked God by what Name he should tell Pharaoh he had been sent to demand the release of the Israelite slaves, and God had replied with a new name: I AM that I AM, or simply the I AM, which is what YHVH means. He is the Existent One, the Creator, the Origin of Everything. God told Moses that He was increasingly revealing Himself to Israel since His first introduction as the El Shaddai.

It would stand to reason that God would reveal Himself in names exhibiting the attributes of His nature and existence. Elohim reveals the plurality of the Godhead. El Elyon, His loftiness above all other gods. El Olam, His eternality. El Shaddai, His all sufficiency. YHVH is a Name above all these. He is the God who is eternally self existent outside of Creation and the Author of Creation. If El Shaddai meant merely the God of Mountains, or symbolically the God of Breasts, or the God who pours forth rain or blessings, this name would not fit within the context of God’s increasing revelation of Himself as the I AM.
Rather than arguing for or against one etymological origin over another, I actually propose that all of the mentioned interpretations taken together culminate in the understanding that El Shaddai means the All Sufficient One. I believe that El Shaddai is not in actuality a derivative of any combination of root letters, but is rather the origin of them! Instead of seeking to discover what the name means by looking at lesser words from which El Shaddai is supposedly derived, I assert that El Shaddai, being the name God gave for Himself, is the source for the meanings of the words taken from it.
El Shaddai is like the name YHVH, in that God’s enormity and preeminence are revealed through it. The same God who will bless Jacob in the land of Canaan, give him flocks and herds and a family legacy is the same God who will judge the wicked and bring sudden destruction upon the world as prophesied by Isaiah and Joel. El Shaddai is the One who will scatter kings, as David saw Him in Psalm 68:14, or protectively shelter him under His shadow in Psalm 91:1.

Out of the 48 times that God is referred to as El Shaddai, 30 of them are in Job, and Job’s description of God is wide and varied. God appears to be both as gentle and nurturing as a mother with breasts, and as violently powerful as a mighty man or thundering mountain.
I believe the Greek speaking Jews understood the meaning of the name when they interpreted El Shaddai in the Septuagint as Pantokrator, a Greek word meaning “ALL HOLDING.” Panto is from the prefix pas, meaning “all”, (expressing oneness, wholeness, or totality), and krator is from krateo, “to hold on.” God, the One who holds all things together. This reminds me of Hebrews 1:3, where Jesus is described as “upholding all things by the word of His power,” or Colossians 1:17, where it says of Jesus again, “in Him all things consist.”

This name, El Shaddai, is the name of the Great God of all Creation, by Whom and for Whom are ALL THINGS. Almighty God only conveys His strength, whereas El Shaddai would imply something far more. He is not only all mighty, but He is all holy, all loving, all merciful, all compassionate, all EVERYTHING. Little wonder that He later clarified His nature in simply calling Himself the I AM.

He is everything we could ever want or need. And this El Shaddai put on human flesh to further introduce Himself to us, for as BIG and all sufficient as He is, He cares for each one of us. Our big God has an equally big heart, and that heart hungers for a relationship with you, me. So when you read in your Bible Almighty God, remember that His name is El Shaddai, the God who is EVERYTHING we need.

- by Heather Wathen, Bible study leader/teacher at Mosaic Church in Victoria, British Columbia
heatherwathen@gmail.com