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El Shaddai
Excerpt from the Lexham Bible Dictionary, the most advanced Bible dictionary.
One of the names applied to Yahweh in the Old Testament (Gen 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; Exod 6:3). The name El Shaddai appears mainly in the book of Genesis. In Exodus 6:3, Yahweh says El Shaddai was the name by which He was known to the patriarchs. Ezekiel uses the name once (Ezek 10:5). The label “Shaddai” alone is used more frequently as a name for God. The meaning of shaddai is uncertain. El Shaddai is traditionally translated as “God Almighty.” For further information, see this article: Names of God in the Old Testament.
Lexham Bible Dictionary
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The Lexham Bible Dictionary
El Shaddai
El Shaddai (אֵל שַׁדָּ֥י‎, el shadday). One of the names applied to Yahweh in the Old Testament (Gen 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; Exod 6:3). The name El Shaddai appears mainly in the book of Genesis. In Exodus 6:3, Yahweh says El Shaddai was the name by which He was known to the patriarchs. Ezekiel
The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated)
El Shaddai
El Shaddai (el shad´i), a name for God used in stories of Israel’s ancestors (Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Leah, Zilpah, Rachel, and Bilhah). It is regularly translated “God Almighty” in the nrsv. Apart from passages dealing with those ancestors (Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3) it occurs
Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
El Shaddai
El Shaddai (Heb. ʾēl šadday)A name of God (Exod. 6:3). It was this name by which the patriarchs and matriarchs of Israel knew God (e.g., Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 35:11), in contrast to the name shared with Moses, Yahweh (Exod. 6:3). Over time, El Shaddai became identified with Yahweh.The exact origin, history,
Eerdmans Bible Dictionary
El Shaddai
El Shaddai [ĕl shădˊī] (Heb. ˒ēl šadday).† An ancient name for God, generally translated “God Almighty” in English versions (from LXX, NT Gk. pantokrátōr); it also occurs in the form Shaddai. Scholars generally interpret the name to mean “God of the (cosmic) mountain” (Ugar. ṯdy, originally
Harper’s Bible Dictionary
El Shaddai
El ShaddaiEl Shaddai (el shad´ī), a name that God used to reveal himself to the patriarchs in the Priestly source of the Pentateuch. Outside of the passages Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; and Exod. 6:3, it occurs only in Ezek. 10:5. El Shaddai is like other Hebrew names of God in Genesis beginning
The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 2, D–G
El Shaddai
El Shaddai el-shad’i (אֵל שַׁדַּי‎ H446 + H8724, derivation disputed). Also El Shadday. Transliteration of an epithet of God used in the patriarchal narratives and as an archaism in many poetic passages of the OT. The term is usually translated “God Almighty” (Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; Exod.
The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Volumes 1–5
EL SHADDAI
EL SHADDAI el-shad´i [אֵל שַׁדַּי‎ ʾel shadday]. According to Exod 6, God was known as El Shaddai prior to the revelation of the name YAHWEH to Moses (Gen 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; Exod 6:3; Ezek 10:5). The LXX and Vulgate translate the designation as “God Almighty,” although other ancient translations
1. El Shadday
1. El ShaddayThis divine name occurs 7 times in the Bible, while the shorter form, shadday by itself, appears 38 times. The name is not unique to Israel, for an analogous form of it appears in Ugaritic, il shd (CTU 1.108.102), and apparently as a theophoric element in Egyptian transcriptions of West
c. ʾel Shadday
c. ʾel shadday. The name ʾel shadday (אֵל שַׁדַּי) is linked to the ancestral traditions (e.g., Gen 17:1; 28:3, texts often associated with the P tradition), with roots in Canaanite religion. The identification of this name with Yahweh is evident in Exod 6:3. Its common usage in poetic texts is especially
Key passages
Ge 17:1

When Abram was ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to Abram. And he said to him, “I am El-Shaddai; walk before me and be blameless

Ge 28:3

Now, may El-Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, so that you become an assembly of peoples.

Ge 35:11

And God said to him, “I am El-Shaddai. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and an assemblage of nations shall be from you, and kings shall go out from your loins.

Ex 6:2–3

And God spoke to Moses, and he said to him, “I am Yahweh. And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Shaddai, but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them.

See also
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