El Shaddai is most commonly translated as “God Almighty”. We know that El means “God”, but Shaddai’s meaning is commonly debated. Some people think it comes from the root meaning “mountain” to emphasize God’s unmovable strength, while others think it comes from a word related to “breast” or “nurture” showing God’s sustaining power. These two translations highlight God as both the source of fertility, and destruction. As the source of fertility, El Shaddai can be equated to blessings, creation, and abundance. El Shaddai’s destructive nature can be equated to judgement.
God reveals Himself as El Shaddai to Abraham while giving him the covenant to make Abraham a great nation. El Shaddai is also used in other stories promising abundance and blessing such as Isaac’s encounter with El Shaddai in Genesis 26. The name Shaddai appears 48 times in the Bible while El Shaddai only appears 7 times. But in all the occurrences of this name, God’s power is highlighted.