I had been under the impression that El Shaddai referred to God with breasts. I’ve seen images of an ancient Mesopotamian deity of a god with breasts, but I’m unable to presently locate it. Many scholars feel that the term refers to God of the Mountains. What are your thoughts?
I haven't looked into it too much but BDB says that ilu šadû'a, meaning god of the mountain, is a common epithet in akkadian, and i've seen that el is said to reside in a mountain, so putting these together it seems likely the el shaddai means el of the mountain.
Regarding breasts, I'm not aware of any direct connection we know of between el or YHWH and breasts, and I'm not even sure if shaddai would be the proper form if this was the root. Plus the similarity to the akkadian seems striking.
Many female figurines or statues often have large of exxagerated breasts, either as a sign of health, fertility, or attractiveness. However, that doesn't seem to be a reason to connect the deities themselves to breasts, rather it part of the depiction of the entire body of the figurine.
I had been under the impression that El Shaddai referred to God with breasts. I’ve seen images of an ancient Mesopotamian deity of a god with breasts, but I’m unable to presently locate it. Many scholars feel that the term refers to God of the Mountains. What are your thoughts?
https://margmowczko.com/el-shaddai-breasts-mountains/
Thanks for the link, really interesting stuff.
I haven't looked into it too much but BDB says that ilu šadû'a, meaning god of the mountain, is a common epithet in akkadian, and i've seen that el is said to reside in a mountain, so putting these together it seems likely the el shaddai means el of the mountain.
Regarding breasts, I'm not aware of any direct connection we know of between el or YHWH and breasts, and I'm not even sure if shaddai would be the proper form if this was the root. Plus the similarity to the akkadian seems striking.
Many female figurines or statues often have large of exxagerated breasts, either as a sign of health, fertility, or attractiveness. However, that doesn't seem to be a reason to connect the deities themselves to breasts, rather it part of the depiction of the entire body of the figurine.