Names of God (3) – El Shaddai.

This divine name occurs in the books of Genesis and Job, where it is usually translated as God Almighty. According to Exodus 6:3, God said to Moses: ‘I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.’ It was better for them to know him through this name because of the seemingly impossible situations they faced. 

There is some disagreement about how this title should be translated. The reason for this is that the title El itself means powerful, so if Shaddai is translated as Almighty, the name seems to say the same thing twice. Such a practice is not unusual. We can say in the same phrase that a person is learned and clever, although we don’t mean exactly the same thing with each word. But the fact remains that everything about God is powerful. 

So can Shaddai mean something else? Some scholars say that the word is connected to the Hebrew word for breast (shad) and points to the fact that God is the one who nourishes his people. When his nourishment is combined with his power, it indicates that he can take care of his people in every situation. A suggested alternative translation is God All-sufficient or God Self-sufficient. In other words, if God is with you, you will always have what you need.  

One writer described the name El Shaddai in this way: ‘the One who is strong enough to help and sensitive enough to care.’ This twofold feature of God occurs in several ways in the Bible. He is the good Shepherd, strong yet tender. He is the patient Potter, able to remake gently damaged goods. He is the kind Physician, able to heal our souls, and ultimately our bodies. The psalmist once said to God, ‘Your gentleness made me great’ (Ps. 18:35). 

Spurgeon, when referring to this divine name in a sermon, reminded his hearers that ‘Strong faith realizes the all-sufficiency of God and that is the secret of its strength, the hidden manna on which it feeds and becomes vigorous.’ We need to remind ourselves who God is – he is the one who can meet all our needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus’ (Phil. 4:19). 

A rich man may give a pound to a beggar, but he is merely giving out of his riches, not according to his riches. In contrast, the all-sufficient God always gives according to his infinite resources.