Editing El (deity) (section)

=== Jewish interpretation ===
[[File:Destruction of Leviathan.png|thumb|''The Destruction of Leviathan'' by [[Gustave Doré]] (1865)]]
The Hebrew form {{lang|he|אל}} appears in Latin letters in [[Standard Hebrew]] transcription as El and in [[Tiberian Hebrew]] transcription as ʾĒl. {{tlit|he|ʾel}} is a generic word for ''god'' that could be used for any god, including [[Hadad]], [[Moloch]], or [[Yahweh]].

In the [[Tanakh]], ''[[Elohim]]'' ({{tlit|he|ʾ<sup>e</sup>lōhîm}}) is the normal word for a god or the great God (or gods, given that the {{tlit|he|im}} suffix makes a word plural in Hebrew). But the form {{tlit|he|ʾEl}} also appears, mostly in poetic passages and in the patriarchal narratives attributed to the [[Priestly source]] of the [[documentary hypothesis]]. It occurs 217 times in the [[Masoretic Text]]: 73 times in the [[Psalms]] and 55 times in the [[Book of Job]], and otherwise mostly in poetic passages or passages written in elevated prose. It occasionally appears with the definite article as {{tlit|he|hā'Ēl}} 'the god' (for example in {{bibleverse|2|Samuel|22:31, 33–48|HE}}).

The theological position of the Tanakh is that the names {{tlit|he|ʼĒl}} and {{tlit|he|`Ĕlōhîm}}, when used in the singular to mean the supreme god, refer to Yahweh, while the plural is interpreted to refer to other unspecified heavenly beings, such [[angel]]s.<ref>Reinhard Gregor Kratz, Hermann Spieckermann: Götterbilder, Gottesbilder, Weltbilder: Griechenland und Rom, Judentum, Christentum und Islam. Mohr Siebeck, 2006, ISBN 978-3-16-148807-8 (German)</ref>