Lexicon

H0410 - el

Strong's: H0410 · BLB lookup Pronunciation: ale Part of speech: masculine noun OT occurrences: ~245 Greek equivalent (LXX): typically theos (G2316)

Semantic range (BDB / HALOT)

God, divine being (the dominant biblical usage)
Mighty one, strong one, applied occasionally to humans (Ezek 31:11) or angels (Job 41:25)
Power, strength in some contexts
A god (lower-case), applied to false gods or as generic divine-being term

The base meaning is strength / might, the divine being is the mighty / strong one. The term is part of the broad Semitic divine-name family (Akkadian ilu, Ugaritic El, Arabic Ilāh), often used as the head-deity name in West Semitic religion.

Theological force

El as biblical-theological name

In OT usage, El often appears in compound names identifying specific aspects of God:

El Shaddai (Genesis 17:1; 28:3; 35:11), Almighty God / God All-Sufficient
El Elyon (Genesis 14:18-22), God Most High
El Olam (Genesis 21:33), Eternal God
El Roi (Genesis 16:13), God Who Sees
El Bethel (Genesis 35:7), God of Bethel
El Berith (Judges 9:46), God of the Covenant
El Gibbor (Isaiah 9:6), Mighty God, see Isaiah 9.6
El Qanna, Jealous God (Exodus 20:5; Deut 4:24)
El Emet, God of Truth (Psalm 31:5)

Each compound name highlights a divine attribute or a specific revelatory encounter.

Plural Elohim, the related form

H0430 - elohim (אֱלֹהִים) is the plural / intensive-plural form, used uniformly with singular verbs and adjectives when referring to Israel's God. The relationship: El (singular base) → Elohim (intensive / majestic plural). The singular El is preserved in compound names; Elohim dominates in general-creator-God references (Gen 1:1, etc.).

El in Christological prophecy

Isaiah 9.6, El Gibbor, "Mighty God", applied to the Messianic child. This is one of the most concentrated OT divine-title applications to the coming Messiah. The conservative Christological reading: Isaiah 9:6 explicitly attributes deity to the Messiah (called El Gibbor), confirmed by NT Christology (see Christology).

El and ancient-Near-Eastern religion

The term El appears in surrounding ANE religious literature (Ugaritic Baal-cycle texts; Canaanite religion). Critical scholarship sometimes argues that biblical El is borrowed from Canaanite religion. Conservative response (M. G. Kline; Bruce Waltke; Allen Ross): biblical El deliberately contrasts with Canaanite El, Israel's El is the Creator, transcendent, holy, jealous; the Canaanite El was a remote sky-god who delegated power to lesser gods. The shared vocabulary emphasizes the polemical contrast, not religious-historical borrowing.

Notable verses

Compound names

Genesis 14:18-22, El Elyon
Genesis 16:13, El Roi
Genesis 17:1, El Shaddai
Genesis 21:33, El Olam
Exodus 6:3, God known to patriarchs as El Shaddai; now revealed as YHWH
Isaiah 9.6, El Gibbor (Messianic)
Psalm 22:1, 10; Psalm 89:7, El
Daniel 11:36, El elim, God of gods

El used for false gods (rare, contextual)

Deuteronomy 32:12, there is no other el
Judges 9:46, El Berith (Shechemite cult; idolatrous use)

Patristic / scholarly note

Patristic engagement: through the LXX theos rendering. Modern Christian engagement: extensive in OT-theology works.

Modern conservative scholarship:

M. H. Pope (El in the Ugaritic Texts, 1955)
Bruce K. Waltke (An Old Testament Theology, 2007)
Walter Eichrodt (Theology of the Old Testament, 1961-67)
John Goldingay (Old Testament Theology, 3 vols., 2003-09)

Notes

Lexical workspace for El.