Literary Devices – Bereshit 17/0

Literary Devices – Bereshit 17

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

Character Titles

God

• Elokim – This is the name used for Hashem throughout most of the chapter.
• Hashem – The narrator refers to Hashem by His proper name, Hashem, in verse 1.
• El Shaddai – Hashem identifies Himself as “אֵל שַׁדַּי ” in 17:1. See the concordance and R. Yosef Ibn KaspiBereshit 17:1About R. Yosef ibn Kaspi that in almost every context in which this name for Hashem appears in Sefer Bereshit, it is associated with a divine blessing of offspring and land.¹ Da'at Mikra further  points out that this name for Hashem is used when the protagonist of the story is in distress, and that the name connotes either God’s encouragement² or attribute of judgment.³

Sources

• For discussion of the various possible meanings of the name "El Shaddai" and why it might be appropriate for this chapter see: R. Saadia GaonCommentary Bereshit 17:1About R. Saadia Gaon, RashiBereshit 17:1About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, R. ChananelBereshit 17:1About R. Chananel b. Chushiel, Ibn EzraBereshit First Commentary 17:1About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, RambanBereshit 17:1About R. Moshe b. Nachman, and HaRekhasim LeVik'ahBereshit 17:1About R. Yehuda Leib Frankfurter.

¹ Interestingly, the one verse in Bereshit in which the name is not explicitly associated with this promise is 43:14, in which Yaakov agrees to send Binyamin to Egypt despite his fear of losing him and expresses his hope that Binyamin and his brother will return. Perhaps the use of this name for Hashem expresses Yaakov’s hope that all of his descendants survive.

² Here, Avraham's distress over Sarah's infertility is assuaged as Hashem promises that she is to bear him children.

³ See the concordance that about two thirds of all the occurrences of the name are found in the book of Iyyov. [Press on "graph" to see this visually.]