Ancient Semitic name for deity, perhaps meaning “power” (compare Genesis 17:1). A term used by the Hebrews generally in a poetic sense to refer to the true God of Israel. The same word was used for the senior Canaanite god and the god in Ugaritic mythology, [linked to the ancient city of Ugarit]. The “Il” or “El” of ancient Canaanite mythology (before 3500 BC in the region of Syria) was not as active as the god Baal. Baal struggled with Death and triumphed over Chaos. [Death and Chaos often represent powerful cosmic forces in mythology.]
But Il was the father god of the Canaanite pantheon, [the collective group of gods worshipped by the Canaanites]. Some Old Testament scholars have suggested that the Hebrews adopted the clan gods of the Canaanites, including Il. Yet Phoenician and Ugaritic literature use Il in the feminine form for the names of goddesses. The Hebrew avoids such usage.
El is combined with other adjectives to describe the numerous attributes of God; for example, God Most High (Genesis 14:18–24), the seeing God (16:13), the jealous God (Exodus 20:5), the forgiving God (Nehemiah 9:17), and the gracious God (verse 31).