EL Shaddai

The KJV translates Strong's H7699 in the following manner: breast (22x), teat (1x), pap (1x).

Exodus 6:2 And ELoHIM spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am YHVH: 3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of EL Shaddai, but by my name YHVH was I not known to them.

Song of Solomon 7:8 I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts H7699 shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;

Song of Solomon 8:8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: H7699 what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?

So what does this teach us? Well it teaches me that EL Shaddai is not a God, EL Shaddai is a Goddess.

Genesis 49:25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, H7699 and of the womb:

מֵאֵל אָבִיךָ וְיַעְזְרֶךָּ וְאֵת שַׁדַּי וִיבָרְכֶךָּ בִּרְכֹת שָׁמַיִם מֵעָל בִּרְכֹת תְּהוֹם רֹבֶצֶת תָּחַת בִּרְכֹת שָׁדַיִם וָרָחַם

בשלשים ושתים נתיבות פליאות חכמה חקק יה יהוה צבאות אלהי ישראל אלהים חיים ומלך עולם אל שדי רחום וחנון רם ונשא שוכן עד וקדוש שמו מרום וקדוש הוא וברא את עולמו בשלשה ספרים בספר וספר וספור:

With 32 mystical paths of Wisdom/ engraved YaH/ YHVH of Hosts/ ELoHY of Israel/ EL CHIIM/ King of the universe/ El Shaddai/ Merciful and Gracious/ High and Exalted/ Dwelling in eternity/ Whose name is Holy -/ He is lofty and holy -/ And He created His universe/ with three books (Sepharim),/ with text (Sepher)/ with numbers (Sephar)/ and with communication (Sippur)....

Note the Hebrew word for engraved, חקק engraved as removing material (to make room for creation to take place) as in cuneiform where material is removed to record information.

The tzimtzum or tsimtsum (Hebrew צמצום ṣimṣūm "contraction/constriction/condensation") is a term used in the Lurianic Kabbalah to explain Isaac Luria's doctrine that God began the process of creation by "contracting" his Ohr Ein Sof (infinite light) in order to allow for a "conceptual space" in which finite and seemingly independent realms could exist.

‎יה יהוה צבאות אלהי ישראל אלהים חיים ומלך עולם אל שדי

הַלְלוּ יָהּ הַלְלוּ־אֵל בְּקָדְשׁוֹ הַלְלוּהוּ בִּרְקִיעַ עֻזּוֹ׃

1 Praise ye YaH. Praise EL in his sanctuary: Praise him in the firmament of his power.

Here we have Halleluyah and HalleluEL, Halleluyah means Praise to YaH and HalleluEL means Praise to EL.

Now I’ve seen people associate the Shin on the Temple Mount with the Name Shaddai which is a reach, an overreach actually. It looks to me like the aforementioned Shin represents the word שָׁכַן Shâkan, root of Shekhinah
Strongs #7931

Exodus 25:8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell H7931 among them.

Exodus 29:45 And I will dwell H7931 among the children of Israel, and will be their ELoHIM.

Exodus 29:46 And they shall know that I am YHVH their ELoHIM, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell H7931 among them: I am YHVH their ELoHIM.

In classic Jewish thought, the shekhinah refers to a dwelling or settling in a special sense, a dwelling or settling of divine presence, to the effect that, while in proximity to the shekhinah, the connection to God is more readily perceivable.

In some sources, Shekhinah represents the feminine attributes of the presence of God, shekhinah being a feminine word in Hebrew, based especially on readings of the Talmud.

Did you notice the word Shâkan in Chapter 1 of the Sefer Yetzirah? She’s there as well.

So who is this EL Shaddai and what does She represent? Looks to me like She is none other than Mother Nature Herself. Now we know Her name...

No, not "godess" nor Mother Nature. The LORD is Sovereign, King of kings and Lord of lords. And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.

Grammatical Description

Shaddai is often translated as “God Almighty;” however, this does not seem to be the best translation of the name. The focus does not seem to be so much on power and might (although that is implied) but more on sovereignty and kingship.

The most likely proposal is that the name Shaddai means “God, the one of the mountain.” The closest association of Shaddai is to the Akkadian word Shadu, which means “mountain.”

In the Hebrew the word for “mountain” is har, but Hebrew does have the word shad, which means “breast.” One can see the connection between mountain and breast, which is also a play on words for fertility and blessings (Ex. 49:25; see Uses of El Shaddai below).

Occurrences of El Shaddai

The use of the name El Shaddai is the name that is associated with the patriarchal period and seems to fade away after that.

The first occurrence of El Shaddai is in Gen. 17:1 when God is giving Abraham the sign of His covenant with him. “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am the Sovereign God.’”

In Ex. 6:3 God tells Moses that the patriarchs knew Him by only the name El Shaddai. “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as the Sovereign God, but by my name ‘Yahweh’ I was not known to them.”

The divine name El Shaddai occurs 48 times in the Bible. Out of the 48 occurrences it appears 42 times in the patriarchal period: 9 times in the Torah, 2 times in Ruth and 31 times in Job. It occurs only 6 times outside of this period: 4 times in the prophets and 2 times in the Psalms.

Uses of El Shaddai

Mountains in the ancient cultures were seen as the dwelling places of the gods and represented their thrones and their sovereignty and kingship upon sitting on them. In Hebrew literature Mount Zion was seen as the mountain from which El Shaddai rules.

“Certainly the Lord has chosen Zion; He decided to make it his home.” (Ps. 132:13)

“Sing praises to the Lord, who rules in Zion! Tell the nations what He has done!” (Ps. 9:11)

“May the Lord bless you from Zion, that you might see Jerusalem prosper all the days of your life, and that you might see your grandchildren. May Israel experience peace!” (Ps. 128:5-6)

When God reveals Himself as El Shaddai in Genesis, it is in connection with blessings of fertility and multiple descendants.

In Gen. 17 when God reveals Himself as El Shaddai, He exhorts Abram to go the extra mile in obedience and then He will confirm His covenant with Abram of multiple descendants. “Then I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants” (Gen. 17:2). God goes on and elaborates on how He will bless Abram with fertility and multiple descendants, saying, “…because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you extremely fruitful” (Gen. 17:5).

In Jacob’s farewell address in Gen. 49:25 Jacob makes a connection between the title of El Shaddai and the promises of blessings of the breast and womb, which is a word play between Shaddai and shad (breast). “…because of the Sovereign God, who will bless you with blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and womb.”

Throughout the rest of the Bible, the title El Shaddai is used in the context of the sovereign God of blessing, and it will bring with it all of the concepts of the God of the covenant of multiple descendants as developed in Genesis. (The Meaning of El Shaddai)

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