Bible Understanding of a Name Final Part & Conclusion
El-Shaddai
God first revealed Himself as El-Shaddai at the time of the covenant with Abram and in connection with the promise of progeny: Genesis 17:1,2
1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty (El-Shaddai); Walk before Me, and be blameless. 2 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.”
This promise by El-Shaddai is given on the heels of promise to make Abraham’s descendants innumerable (see Gen. 12,13, 15). The context immediately following this passage is the renaming of Abram, thus God’s covenant promise to him became part of Abraham’s identity. Is there significance to Moses’ choice of the name, El-Shaddai?
The word, El is the word from which the name Elohim is derived. It is translated “God” over 200 times in Scripture with the general significance of might, power, and omnipotence.
For example, “You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples” (Ps. 77:14; see also Ps. 68:35). The name, El, is also used by Isaiah and Nehemiah in reference to His mighty deeds (Is. 40; Neh. 9:32).
The word el is also a more generally understood term for “power” (Gen. 31:29; Micah 2:1). What about Shaddai? This name is used 48 times in the Old Testament, most often in Job (31 times).
Only seven of its occurances is it prefaced by el. Usually Shaddai is translated “Almighty”.
Reasonable suggestion for the meaning of this word are:
1. It is connected to the Hebrew verb shadad, which means “to destroy” and therefore the name for God would mean, “my destroyer.”
2. It is connected with the Akkadian, sadu, which means “mountain” and therefore El-Shaddai would mean “God of the mountain;” or God’s abode. This is the “most widely accepted” view, championed by W. F. Albright, among others.
Leon Morris draws the conclusion after a survey of the various possiblities regarding the meaning of sadday, that etymology yields nothing! He cites S. R. Driver in saying that neither Hebrew nor any other of the cognate Semitic languages offer any sufficient explanation of it. In a general sense, he sees this name as communicating the thought of God’s power either in blessing, protection, or punishment.
In light of the lack of information provided by etymology, we can look to helpful clues from the context. The context for the use of the name Shaddai outside of Job, is the covenant. First, to Abraham (as we have seen in Gen. 17:1), then to Isaac (Gen. 28:3), and finally to Jacob (Gen. 35:11; 43:14; 48:3).
Gen. 28:3 “May God Almighty (El-Shaddai) bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.
Gen. 35:11 God also said to him, “I am God Almighty (El-Shaddai); Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you.
Stone suggests that Shaddai is derived from the similar word, shad, which the Bible translates, “breast.” This occurs 21 times in the Old Testament, some of which are found in Song of Solomon and Hosea, refering to sensual situations, in the prophecies of Isaiah and Ezekial as gestures of mourning and arrival at the maturity of young adulthood (see Is. 32:12; Ezk. 23:34, “he smote upon his breast”; Is. 28:9; Ezk. 16:7, “Those just weaned . . . taken from the breast”). There is an interesting verse in Genesis 49:
From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), 25 From the God (El) of your father who helps you,
And by the Almighty (Shaddai) who blesses you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts (shad) and of the womb. 26 “The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers (24-26).
Victor P. Hamilton connects the word shad to the blessing of fertility and progeny in this verse (Gen. 49:25). Stone connects the name, Shaddai with shad, and suggests that “Shaddai signifies one who nourishes, supplies and satisfies. Connected with the word for God, El, it then becomes the “One mighty to nourish, satisfy, supply.” El-Shaddai then, is the God “who abundantly blesses with all manner of blessings”.
Stone supports his argument with some passages from Isaiah which reinforce the connections between the promise of blessing to Israel and the illustration of nourishment and blessings of the breast.
Isaiah 60:15,16 15 “Whereas you have been forsaken and hated With no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, A joy from generation to generation. 16 “You will also suck the milk of nations And suck the breast of kings; Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
Isaiah 66:10-13 10 “Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,
11 That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, That you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom.” 12 For thus says the LORD, “Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. 13 “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
Stone also argues that many ancient near eastern cultures worshipped idols that incorporated breasted female images in order to bring forth blessings of rain which would yield the fruit of the field necessary to sustain and nourish life. He also notes that the “common Hebrew word for field, (sadeh) . . . is simply another form of the word shaddai. It is the field as cultivated earth which nourishes and sustains life.”
“From all this it is felt that the name El-Shaddai or God Almighty is much better understood as that El who is all sufficient and all bountiful, the source of all blessing and fullness and fruitfulness.”
With this in view, it makes sense that the God who will bless Abraham with a son in fulfillment of His promise, would be El-Shaddai, source of all blessing. It is also not surprising that the other instances of this name occur in the context of the promise of progeny and the command to “be fruitful and multiply” to Isaac and Jacob as well. Shaddai blesses, nourishes and sustains the progeny of promise.
Walter Kaiser identifies the “blessing” motif as the earliest expression of the promise. He says: For men, it involved more than the divine gift of proliferation and “dominion having.” The same word also marked the immediacy whereby all the nations of the earth could prosper spiritually through the mediatorship of Abraham and his seed: this too, was part of the “blessing.” Obviously, pride of place must be given to this term as the first to signify the plan of God.
The argument that the name El-Shaddai is properly and fully understood in terms of blessing, specifically blessing of progeny in the covenant to the patriarchs appears reasonable. But what are we to make of the majority of occurances of El-Shaddai in the book of Job? In light of the probable early origins of Job (quite possibly during the patriarchal period), and the fact that the book is about the removal of blessing from Job in order to test his faith, the choice of El-Shaddai as God’s name seems most appropriate if understood as the God of blessing, nourishment and sustenance!
In support of this, there are other passages in which El-Shaddai is used in connection with suffering. Consider Naomi’s words in 1:20, 21: “She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty (Shaddai) has dealt very bitterly with me. 21″I went out full, but the LORD (Yahweh) has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD (Yahweh) has witnessed against me and the Almighty (Shaddai) has afflicted me?”
Could it be true that El-Shaddai, the God of blessing, is the same God who afflicts her? The lesson here is the same as it was for Job and Abraham (in his inability to conceive a child), that being that in order to experience God’s sufficiency and receive His blessing, we must understand our insufficiency. Stone comments, “The less empty of self we are, the less of blessing God can pour into us; the more of pride and self-sufficiency, the less fruit we can bear. Sometimes only chastening can make us realize this.” We have to understand that God’s ultimate purpose is that we know God and His great love for us.
Conclusion:
There is little doubt that God fully intended His name/names to be full of meaning regarding His nature and character. His character is incontravertably tied up in His covenant with the nation of Israel and therefore, so is His name. There is no way to divorce the name of the meaning it possesses. We have seen examples from Moses writings, David’s, other psalmists, Jeremiah, Ruth, Isaiah, and Job. All of them seem to carry an awareness of the meanings of names for God and use them appropriately. The fact that often the names are used together gives the reader insight into the frustration of the author to communicate the whole character of Israel’s God. The most important aspect of these names for God, and the element that connects them to the unfolding of the Promise plan, is the aspect of covenant which we find in varying degrees and with varied richness in all of them. God wants Israel to know and understand Him this way. He wants them to understand His ever-faithful longsuffering, and their required response of obedience and faith.
Yahweh stands out as the name by which God reveals His own nature, but the others aid in filling the vaccuum of our finite minds. There are, no doubt, places where the names used are due to author preference, but even there, we will not find an inappropriate name used.
Our Western Culture names a child after ourselves or someone who is of importance to us, or because we like the name. Even thus, I find that over time, we tend to take on the persona of the meaning of our name. Names are important and do convey characteristics that are or become embedded in the personality of the individual carrying the name.