Editing El (deity) (section)

== Linguistic forms and meanings ==
[[Cognate]] forms of El are found throughout the [[Semitic languages]]. They include [[Ugaritic]] {{tlit|uga|ʾilu}}, pl. {{tlit|uga|ʾlm}}; [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] {{tlit|phn|ʾl}} pl. {{tlit|phn|ʾlm}}; [[Hebrew]] {{tlit|he|ʾēl}}, pl. {{tlit|he|ʾēlîm}}; [[Aramaic]] {{tlit|arc|ʾl}}; [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] {{tlit|akk|ilu}}, pl. {{tlit|akk|ilānu}}.

In Northwest Semitic use, ''ʼel'' was a generic word for any god as well as the special name or title of a particular god who was distinguished from other gods as being "the god".{{sfn|Smith|2001|p=135}} El is listed at the head of many pantheons. In some [[Canaanites|Canaanite]] and [[Ugarit]]ic sources, El played a role as father of the gods, of creation, or both.{{sfn|Leeming|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000leem/page/118 118]}}

However, because the word ''el'' sometimes refers to a god other than the great god El, it is frequently ambiguous as to whether El followed by another name means the great god El with a particular epithet applied or refers to another god entirely. For example, in the [[Ugaritic texts]], {{tlit|uga|ʾil mlk}} is understood to mean "El the King" but {{tlit|uga|ʾil hd}} as "the god [[Hadad]]".{{sfn|Rahmouni|2007|p=41}}

The Semitic root ''ʾlh'' (Arabic {{tlit|ar|DIN|[[ʾilāh]]}}', Aramaic {{tlit|arc|ʾAlāh}}, {{tlit|arc|ʾElāh}}, Hebrew {{tlit|he|ʾelōah}}) may be ''ʾl'' with a parasitic h, and ''ʾl'' may be an abbreviated form of ''ʾlh''. In Ugaritic the plural form meaning 'gods' is {{tlit|uga|ʾilhm}}, equivalent to Hebrew {{tlit|he|[[Elohim|ʾ<sup>e</sup>lōhîm]]}} 'powers'. In the Hebrew texts this word is interpreted as being semantically singular for "god" by biblical commentators.<ref>For example: {{cite book |last=Keller |first=Catherine |author-link=Catherine Keller (theologian) |editor-last=McFarland |editor-first=Ian A. |title=Creation and Humanity: The Sources of Christian Theology |chapter=The Pluri-Singularity of Creation |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7E12H6cjqUoC&q=%22Its+ending+marks+it+stubbornly%22 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-664-23135-4 |quote=[...] ''Elohim'' – a flux of syllables, labial, multiple. Its ending marks it stubbornly as a plural form of "''eloh''"; here (but not always) it takes the singular verb form [...]}}</ref> However, according to the [[documentary hypothesis]], at least four different authors – the [[Jahwist]] (J), [[Elohist]] (E), [[Deuteronomist]] (D), and [[Priestly source|Priestly]] (P) sources – were responsible for editing stories from a polytheistic religion into those of a monotheistic religion. These sources were joined together at various points in time by a series of editors or "redactors". Inconsistencies that arise between monotheism and polytheism in the texts are reflective of this hypothesis.<ref>{{cite book |last=Van Seters |first=John |author-link=John Van Seters |title=The Pentateuch: A Social-Science Commentary |edition=2nd |page=13 |publisher=Bloomsbury T&T Clark |location=New York |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-567-65880-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=42-_CQAAQBAJ&q=%22new+supplementary+model:+van+seters%22&pg=PA13}}</ref>

The stem ''ʾl'' is found prominently in the earliest strata of east Semitic, northwest Semitic, and south Semitic groups. Personal names including the stem ''ʾl'' are found with similar patterns in both the [[Amorite language|Amorite]] and [[Sabaic]] languages.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beeston |first=A. F. L. |title=Sabaic dictionary: English, French, Arabic |publisher=Editions Peeters |location=Louvain-la-Neuve |year=1982 |page=5 |quote=ˀL I n. ˀl, ˀl-m R 3945/1 &c (ḏ—ws²ymm), ˀlh, d. ˀly, p. ˀlˀlt; f. ˀlt Gl 1658/5, YM 386/4, ˀlht YM 386/2, ?p.? ˀlht J2867/8 god/goddess, divinity {{!}} dieu/déesse, divinité}}</ref>