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Does the term in Hebrew "El" always refer to God, by itself and within other words?

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  • Yabash
    Lv 4
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    "El" is the generic Hebrew word for "god". It can refer to the Hebrew G-d or to other (e.g: Canaaite) gods. The difference can be inferred from the context:

    Mi khamokha ba-ELim YHVH = Who of the other gods is like you, YHVH? In this case "Elim", the plural of "El", is referring to other gods.

    El Shaddai = (literally) G-d of my breasts, which is usually transated into English as "G-d Almighty". In this case, "El" is referring to the Hebrew G-d.

    Elohim = A proper name of the Hebrew G-d. In at least one context, it refers to other gods. The first sentence of the Ten Commandments says "you shall have no other gods before Me", and it uses "elohim". I don't know of any other uses of Elohim to refer to other gods.

    A lot of Hebrew names begin or end with "El", and these contexts equate it to the Hebrew G-d:

    Daniel = G-d is my judge

    Michael = The one who is like G-d

    Raphael = G-d heals

    Elchanan = G-d is gracious

    Gabriel = G-d is my hero

    Ariel = G-d is my lion

    Uriel = G-d is my light

    Uzziel = G-d is my strength

    Azriel = G-d is my help

    Imanuel = G-d is with us

    Another name is Elijah, which means "Yah is my G-d", but "El' doesn't appear to be a proper name in this context.

    Another Hebrew word pronounced "El" and spelled with the same consonants in Hebrew means the preposition "to". The Israeli airline "El Al" literally means "to the sky".

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    In the bible it means strenght or ram or god

    God is a term. The hebrew God is one or I am usually not written because he is thee God with out name .So el can be in words or names and are not referring to God of the Hebrews but when its used within Gods people usually it is like the word DaniEL( god is judge) emannuEL, joEL etc.ect

    as written below me el isnt( to) in spanish el is (the)

    Source(s): The King James 1611 the strongs concordance http://www.familyradio.com/
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Some of the times, but "el" also means "to" (as in "the boy walked _to_ school")

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