General

The God of Abraham

Genesis 17:1 And Abram was ninety-nine years old, and God appeared to Abram, and He said to him, “I am the Almighty God; walk before Me and be perfect

וַיְהִ֣י אַבְרָ֔ם בֶּן־תִּשְׁעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְתֵ֣שַׁע שָׁנִ֑ים וַיֵּרָ֨א יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־אַבְרָ֗ם וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ אֲנִי־אֵ֣ל שַׁדַּ֔י הִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ לְפָנַ֖י וֶֽהְיֵ֥ה תָמִֽים

Literally: And it happened Abraham aged 90 years and 9 years and saw Yhwh god of Abraham and said to him I’m god shadai/shed ( שַׁדַּ֔י ) walk before become innocent.

So what does this mean? The term shadai can mean demon, demonic, demons, devil or Almighty? Originally the Hebrew ( שַׁדַּ֔י ) shadai would have been written ( שַׁדַּ֔ ) without the dots. This would mean shed meaning demon, devil, genie, ghost, or breast? I’ve seen this verse translated many ways. But

“And it happened Abraham aged 90 years and 9 years and saw Yhwh god of Abraham and said to him I’m god of demons, walk before me and become innocent” can be backed up with other references to Yhwh.

1 Samuel 19:9 And an evil spirit from Yhwh was upon Saul, and he was sitting in his house, with his spear in his hand, and David was playing with his hand. 10 And Saul attempted to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from before Saul, and Saul drove the spear into the wall, but David fled and escaped on that night.

In Genesis 20, Abraham again tells a king, this time Ablimech of Gerar, Sarah is his sister. Ablimech takes her but his harem is afflicted by Yhwh and he is visited in a dream. He is warned to return her to Abraham for she is his wife. Ablimech gave sheep, cattle, men and women servants (slaves) to Abraham and returned Sarah to him. Yhwh made Abraham rich again! (see Genesis 12:13-20)

Genesis 20:6 And gods (elohim) said to him in a dream, “I too know that you did this with the innocence of your heart, and I too have withheld you from sinning; therefore, I did not let you touch her… 17 And Abraham prayed to the gods (elohim), and the gods (elohim) healed Abimelech and his wife and his handmaids, and they gave birth 18 For Yhwh had shut every womb of Abimelech’s household, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

note; in verses 6 and 17 elohim is translated as “God” and in verse 18 Yhwh is translated as “the Lord”

Related

Genesis 17:6 (Yhwh talking to Abraham) And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings will emerge from you…

Manuel Noriega Case Study 40

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