Think about it. The name El Shaddai appears throughout the Hebrew text, especially in Genesis, and in and is commonly translated as God Almighty.

El means God, while Shaddai is debated, possibly referring to strength, like a mountain, or to provision and sufficiency. Either way, it reveals a God who is both powerful and sustaining.

In Genesis chapter seventeen, verse one, God introduces himself to Abraham, saying, I am El Shaddai, walk before me faithfully and be blameless.

In this moment, he establishes a covenant not just with Abraham, but with his descendants, marking the beginning of a relationship rooted in divine calling rather than tribal tradition.

At this stage, the patriarchs knew God as El Shaddai, personal, powerful, and sustaining. But as the relationship unfolded, God revealed more of himself.

In Exodus chapter three, verse fourteen, he declares, I am who I am, revealing his name as Yahweh, the eternal, self-existent one.

Before Moses, we already see early hints of a deeper understanding of God. In Genesis chapters 12 and 13, Abraham is described as calling on the name of Yahweh.

This does not necessarily mean Abraham fully understood that name the way it was later revealed to Moses. Rather, Moses writing Genesis later under divine inspiration used the name Yahweh to describe Abraham’s relationship with God in a way that readers and generations to come would understand.

Though there’s ongoing debate among historians, theologians, biblical scholars about whether Moses was the author, I acknowledge those views.