SPECIAL TOPIC: SHADDAI and EL SHADDAI

Shaddai
1. This is the non-Hebrew term/title, Shaddai (always PLURAL), not the common “El shaddai,” which was the Patriarch’s name for Deity, cf. Exod. 6:3). The word Shaddai (BDB 994, KB 1420) is an unknown root. Notice the possibilities.
  1. שׁדד, BDB 994 , KB 1418, a VERB that means “to deal violently with” or “despoil” (NOUN, “violence” or “havoc,” BDB 994)
  2. שׁד, BDB 993, KB 1417, an Assyrian or Akkadian word for a protecting spirit or a demon
  3. שׁד, BDB 994, KB 1416, a woman’s breast or mother (cf. Job 24:9)
  4. שׁדה, BDB 994, KB 1420, a rare word, possibly “to pour out” (i.e., God as rain giver)
  5. שׁדי, BDB 994-5, KB 1420-1422, root meaning unknown; here are some guesses
    1. self-sufficient (rabbis)
    2. mighty (from #1 and/or Arabic root)
    3. rain giver (from #4)
    4. high god (Assyrian) or mountain god (Akkadian)
2. The book of Job uses several names for Deity.
  1. Elohim ‒ only in Job 1-2
  2. El ‒ many times, first in Job 5:8
  3. Eloah ‒ many times, first in Job 3:4
  4. Shaddai ‒ 31 times, first in Job 5:17, but mostly in chapters 21-22; 27
    It is first used without “El” in Num. 24:4,16 and again in Ruth (cf. Ruth 1:20,21). It is found in the Psalms only twice without “El” (cf. Ps. 68:14; 91:1). It is found in the Prophets only in
    1. Isa. 13:6
    2. Ezek. 1:24
    3. Joel 1:15
El Shaddai
The title “God Almighty” is El Shaddai. Rabbinical Midrash says that it means “self-sufficiency.” The LXX and Vulgate follow this understadning by translating it “God (El) Almighty.” Apparently this was the patriarchal name for God (cf. Exod. 6:3). It is used six times in Genesis and thirty-one times in Job (both in the historical settiing of the second millennium B.C.. Although the etymology of the trilateral Semitic root is uncertain, there are several theories about its origin
1. Albright asserted that it is from an Akkadian root that can mean “mountain” or “rock” (cf. Ps. 18:1,2). If the term implies “God of the mountain” as the true meaning, then it must reflect Canaanite mythology (cf. Isa. 14:13; Ezek. 28:2).
2. Babylonian religion (i.e., ziggurats being raised on human-built mountains, cf. Genesis 10) on which to worshp their gods.
3. Whatever the original intent, as early as Exodus 19-20 the focus will change to the God of Mt. Sinai (cf. Jdgs. 5:5).