אֵל
el
god
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# The Hebrew Word *El* (אֵל) The Hebrew term *el* is a fundamental word meaning "god" or "deity," appearing 24 times throughout the biblical text. This frequency, while not overwhelming, indicates it held significant enough usage to warrant inclusion in biblical vocabulary, particularly in contexts requiring explicit reference to divine beings or the concept of divinity itself. The word's primary function was to designate supernatural or divine entities within ancient Hebrew religious discourse. Its relatively modest occurrence count suggests it may have served specific theological or narrative purposes rather than serving as the most common everyday reference to the God of Israel—a role that other divine names appear to have dominated. The simplicity of its definition as "god" masks its importance as a foundational theological term that helped ancient speakers conceptualize and communicate about divine reality. Understanding *el* requires recognizing it as one vocabulary choice among several available in Hebrew for discussing divinity. Its 24 occurrences distributed across the biblical corpus indicate selective rather than universal application, suggesting ancient writers chose this term strategically depending on their theological emphasis or literary context. This word represents a crucial component of how biblical Hebrew speakers developed their religious language and expressed concepts central to their faith tradition.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
24 total occurrences across the text
When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid. They retreat before his thrashing.
Psalms 29:1Ascribe to Yahweh, you sons of the mighty, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
Psalms 44:20If we have forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god,
Psalms 77:13Your way, God, is in the sanctuary. What god is great like God?
Psalms 81:9There shall be no strange god in you, neither shall you worship any foreign god.
Psalms 81:9There shall be no strange god in you, neither shall you worship any foreign god.
Psalms 89:6For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like Yahweh,
Isaiah 43:10“You are my witnesses,” says Yahweh, “With my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither will there be after me.
Isaiah 44:10Who has fashioned a god, or molds an image that is profitable for nothing?
Isaiah 44:15Then it will be for a man to burn; and he takes some of it, and warms himself. Yes, he burns it, and bakes bread. Yes, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.
Isaiah 44:17The rest of it he makes into a god, even his engraved image. He bows down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, “Deliver me; for you are my god!”
Isaiah 44:17The rest of it he makes into a god, even his engraved image. He bows down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, “Deliver me; for you are my god!”
Isaiah 45:20“Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save.
Isaiah 46:6Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down— yes, they worship.
Ezekiel 28:2“Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the middle of the seas;’ yet you are man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God—
Ezekiel 28:2“Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the middle of the seas;’ yet you are man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God—
Ezekiel 28:9Will you yet say before him who kills you, ‘I am God’? But you are man, and not God, in the hand of him who wounds you.
Daniel 11:36“The king will do according to his will. He will exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and will speak marvelous things against the God of gods. He will prosper until the indignation is accomplished; for that which is determined will be done.
Daniel 11:36“The king will do according to his will. He will exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and will speak marvelous things against the God of gods. He will prosper until the indignation is accomplished; for that which is determined will be done.
Malachi 2:11Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
Exodus 15:11Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Exodus 34:14for you shall worship no other god; for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 32:12Yahweh alone led him. There was no foreign god with him.
Deuteronomy 32:21They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.