D12-6: Why We Can Know With Certainty That EL SHADDAI Does NOT Mean ‘God Almighty’

“Here are the laws and rulings you are to observe and obey in the land Adonai, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess as long as you live on earth.  You must destroy all the places where the nations you are dispossessing served their gods, whether on high mountains, on hills, or under some leafy tree.”-Deuteronomy 12:1-2

Right off the bat from verse one of Deuteronomy Chapter 12, the Lord makes it clear what the Israelites are to do once the invasion of the land of Canaan begins.

The first thing they are to do is utterly destroy all of the places of worship of the Canaanite gods.

We’re talking about EVERY shrine, altar and temple.

Not one is to be left standing.

In the opening verses, we’re actually given a fairly good description of the common characteristics typical of the Canaanite worship sites.

Verse 2 tells us they were located on high mountains, hills and even under trees.

Verse 3 tells us the types of worship objects that were erected on these places of worship.

We’re told there were altars, standing stones, sacred poles and carved images…

…all created in the image or the for the purpose of paying homage to the Canaanite gods.

This is actually a good time to review how pagan worship practices actually operated.

First, a sacrificial altar was normally built on top of the highest place of a given location whether it was a big hill or a smaller mound.

Why is this?

Because it was generally believed that the gods preferred dwelling in high places like mountain tops etcetera.

Another point I’ve mentioned before is that EL SHADDAI did NOT mean “God Almighty“.

The real meaning of this term has only recently come to light due to some amazing linguistic breakthroughs we have achieved in our understanding of AKKADIAN and UGARIT.

These are the two ancient languages from which Hebrew was born.

Again, SHADDAI simply means “mountain” and “EL” means god.

Therefore, the most simple and direct translation of EL SHADDAI is “God of the Mountain“.

This translation also fits in perfectly with the way of thinking of pretty much the whole world during the early Biblical era.

And it also fits in perfectly with that time when the Lord introduced Himself to Jacob as EL SHADDAI.

Why?

Because at that time, Jacob was traveling through a mountain range on his way to Mesopotamia.

Now what exactly is the Bible talking about when it says “high places“? 

Well, when the Bible talks about “high places“, it actually means high places.

Just kidding…

…but actually I’m not.

A “high place” simply referred to specific location that was literally taller (in altitude) than its surroundings and of course as I just explained also meant a place designated for worship of some pagan god or another. 

What did a tribe do if they were inhabiting a flat desert plain?

In that case, they would take a pile of dirt and stones and create their own high place…

…usually a couple of feet higher than the ground it would be standing on.

If a tribe was living in a location made up of low rolling hills, then the “high place” became the tallest out of the nearby hills that was the easiest to get to by foot.

If a tribe was settled in a very mountainous area, then the worship altar was built on top of the tallest of the nearby peaks.

And here’s what we need to understand.

The Hebrews also did the same thing.

Do you know why the Hebrews built their Temple on top of Mount Moriah located in the area of Jerusalem?

Simply because Mount Moriah was the highest area in the whole city.

And remember, technically speaking the Mount of Olives was NOT located inside of the boundaries that defined the area of Jerusalem.