Q. I have been told that El and Elohim are pagan words that were taken from heathen worship.  Is this true?

A.  The Hebrew Bible records the history of creation as well as the beginning of mankind.  Moses is credited with writing the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  Moses wrote in Hebrew.  Genesis begins with the Hebrew, “In the beginning Elohim...”
            If Yahweh did not want us to use El and Elohim in referring to Himself, why did He inspire Moses to introduce these titles in the very book through which He reveals Himself?
            In giving the law the second time to the new generation of Israelites, Moses again warns mankind that Yahweh alone is the One to be worshiped.  We are not to worship a likeness of anything in heaven or earth: “Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I Yahweh thy Elohim [G-d] am a jealous El...” (Deut. 5:9)
            Notice that these are Yahweh’s own words.  Yahweh calls Himself Elohim and El!  The generic meaning of El is “mighty one.”  Eloah is the poetic form and means basically the same as El.  Elohim is the plural form, meaning “mighty ones.”  El and Elohim are perfectly good Hebrew words given us by Yahweh and did not first come from paganism.
            The titles El and Elohim can refer to either the true Mighty One, Yahweh, or pagan deities, just as the English equivalent G-d can refer to Yahweh (improperly so) or g-d can refer to a pagan idol or anything that is worshiped.

Titles: Some common Hebrew titles and their English translations:
El Shaddai, G-d Almighty
El Elyon, Most High G-d
El Olam, Everlasting G-d
El Roi, G-d that sees
El Gibbor, Mighty G-d (Isa. 9:6 = Yahshua)
Elohim, Mighty Ones
Abir, Mighty One (Gen. 49:24)

The Classic Bible Dictionary points out that Hebrew is mentioned in Isaiah 19:18 as the language of Canaan; in 2Kings 18:26, 28 as the Jewish language.  The descendants of Shem are said to speak the Semitic languages classified as:

  1. Aramean (Chaldee and Syriac).
  2. The Arabic or southern.
  3. Hebrew and Phonecian or Canaanitish.  Samaritan is placed between Aramean and Hebrew; Ethiopic is between Hebrew and Arabic.

            A number of liberal sources attempt to show that the Hebrew language derived from Canaan, or that Hebrew is not an original language.  Isaac E. Mozeson’s book, The Word, goes to great lengths to show that the source of all language is Hebrew.  Hebrew is the mother tongue spoken before Genesis 11, when the whole earth was of one speech.
            The New Bible Dictionary by J.D. Douglas states that in the “Ras Shamra tablets...El is a proper noun, the name of the Canaanite ‘high G-d’ whose son was Ba’al.”  Just because the Canaanites appropriated to themselves the title “EL” does not make it a pagan word.  Carnal man has a history of taking that which is right, good, and proper and perverting or corrupting it.  This is what happened with the Hebrew noun “EL.”
            Through Moses we learn that Yahweh conversed with Adam and Eve and used Hebrew words and expressions.  Yahweh’s Name appears the first time in Genesis 2:4 in combination as “Yahweh Elohim,” the Creator.  Yahweh is speaking Hebrew in Genesis 2:16-17, and Adam names the creatures, Genesis 2:19-20.
            We who believe the Bible understand that Hebrew was the sole language spoken in the garden of Eden and continued for 1757 years to be the one language, the one speech of the earth until the confusion of tongues at Babel, Genesis 11.
            The offspring of Shem’s son Eber (from which we get the word Hebrew, Genesis 10:21-32) did not get involved in the building of the tower at Babel.  “The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country,” Genesis 10:30, NIV.  The city and the tower were constructed in the plains of Shinar, the Hebrews resided in the foothills.  The Hebrew language survived as they were not involved in the ziggurat construction.
Scribes replaced Yahweh’s Name in the Hebrew text with Adonai, and brought on the erroneous Christian aberration, “Jehovah.”
            If we believe the Bible to be inspired, then we must agree that Moses used both El and Elohim in referring to Yahweh.  Many of us continue to use the Hebrew El and Elohim instead of G-d to call attention to the fact that Yahweh is the Mighty One of the Hebrews.

 
                   
         
     
                   
               
                         
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