Read Genesis 17 and 18 at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraph divisions for these chapters are:
Gen 17:1-14 {s} Circumcision, sign of the covenant, given
Gen 17:15-27 {p} Promised seed through Sarah (Isaac)
Gen 18:1-19:38 {s} Abraham’s intercession and the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah
“And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.” Gen 17:7
What does it mean, Scripturally, to have God be God to Abraham’s seed forever? There is the side we always think of first: that He will be the One whom Abraham’s seed worships and serves. But there is the other side of the coin: He will be the One who takes care of the seed (us), who provides for the seed, and who comes to our aid.
Since the opening chapter of Genesis, the Hebrew word for “God” has been Elohiym. This form is Strong’s H430, the plural of Strong’s H433, elowahh, “any god, a false god,” which is the emphatic of Strong’s H410, el, “god, god like, mighty one, hero.” El is the shortened form of Strong’s H352, ayil, “ram, capitals (of columns), noble, strong tree,” which is itself derived from the three- letter root, Strong’s H193 uwl, “to roll, strength, power, preeminence, leader, belly, abdomen.”
In order to arrive at a word which can even come close to adequately describing the Being whose preeminence, greatness, might, and glory is indescribable, the word for strength, preeminence, nobility, and leadership first has to be made emphatic, then that result has to be magnified (made plural or multiplied).
The three- letter root of Elohiym is אוּל, the aleph + vav + lamed. In the ancient Hebrew pictographs, the aleph was the ox head (strength, power, leader); the vav was the nail or tent peg (add, secure, hook); and the lamed was the shepherd’s staff (teach, yoke, to, bind). The story told by this three- letter root is of the Shepherd equally yoked to the Sovereign!
This bears out in the new title for Himself that God gives to Abram in today’s reading:
When Abram was ninety- nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God [El Shaddai]; walk before Me and be blameless.” Gen 17:1
There are two explanations for the meaning of the word Shaddai: the first is that Shaddai comes from a primitive Hebrew root (Strong’s H7703) that means “to deal violently with, devastate, ruin, destroy, spoil,” thus, Shaddai indicates overwhelming might to devastate His enemies, or God All Powerful. The second is that Shaddai comes from the Hebrew two letter root for breast, thus Shaddai indicates complete sufficiency, or God All Sufficient.
Rather than picking one or the other, I think it could be possible that God chose to reveal one of His titles as El Shaddai, because He means to be both God All Powerful, and God All Sufficient, for all Abraham’s seed forever, just as He is equally the Sovereign and the Shepherd.
For further reading:
The Names of God in the Old Testament (Blue Letter Bible)
The Names of God in Judaism (a good understanding of the Hebraic concepts of the names)
Isaac and Ishmael (Christian Action for Israel) (Broken link, active January 9, 2015)
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