In the Hebrew texts this word is interpreted as being semantically singular for "god" by biblical commentators. In Ugaritic the plural form meaning "gods" is ʾilhm, equivalent to Hebrew ʾ elōhîm "powers". The Semitic root ʾlh ( Arabic ʾilāh, Aramaic ʾAlāh, ʾElāh, Hebrew ʾelōah) may be ʾl with a parasitic h, and ʾl may be an abbreviated form of ʾlh. For example, in the Ugaritic texts, ʾil mlk is understood to mean "ʼĒl the King" but ʾil hd as "the god Hadad". However, because the word ʼĒl sometimes refers to a god other than the great god ʼĒl, it is frequently ambiguous as to whether ʼĒl followed by another name means the great god ʼĒl with a particular epithet applied or refers to another god entirely.
In some Canaanite and Ugaritic sources, ʼĒl played a role as father of the gods, of creation, or both. ʼĒl is listed at the head of many pantheons. In northwest Semitic use, ʼĒl was a generic word for any god as well as the special name or title of a particular god who was distinguished from other gods as being "the god". 2 Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician, Aramaic, and Hittite textsĬognate forms of ʼĒl are found throughout the Semitic languages.
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