So El also had a crow and an eight legged horse, is associated with shamanism and poetry, did not create the world and does not take an interest in human affairs?
I think this tangent is well and truly finished. The point is that the origin of the word god is proto-germanic and did not originally refer to the deities of your belief system.
Do you not seriously understand the point? I didn't say the word "god" referred to the exact same being/character/representation as the Israelite god. I said that the word "god" as we know it referred to both the "god of the gods" as well as lesser gods, and in fact had a meaning to describe a specific type of being, as well as a being in itself, though not the specifically same being. It's like the word "king". It can mean "The ruler of the region" as well as "a lesser noble who rules a province of that region". Doesn't mean that "king" will refer to the same exact person who sits on a throne anywhere. This is all about how it relates to the OP.
The proto-Germanic concept of "god" thus likely came from their title for the Chief god, just like how "El" came from their title of the chief god. There's barely if any real difference, regardless of their back stories.
And to take it a step further, the word "Deus" (From which stems Zeus) comes from "The Sky Father", which was the name for the Highest god in such pantheons yet also came to be used for lesser "Deuses". What a remarkable coincidence!
I repeat, it doesn't matter if they share the same characteristics. It's about the concept. Chief of the gods. Doesn't matter if one has a magic reindeer or if another floats in a magic bubble with Goku from Dragonballz.
And actually, Odin/Godan DID create the world and the universe in the Germanic pantheon, though he was not the first god or being, unlike the traditional account of the Israelite god, he made it from the carcass of his Father Ymir who he killed. But he's still the god of the gods. It's actually remarkably similar to the Gnostic story in a way, as well as the Greek myths. And he very well DOES take an interest in human affairs. In fact, he is so concerned with their heroic bravery in combat, that he keeps Valhalla as an exclusive social club only for warriors who are deserving of entry, and routinely intervenes in the world as he sees fit and to answer to those who call upon him in rituals and sacrifices. For a god who didn't care about the human world, the Germans sure seemed to devote a lot of rituals to him trying to earn his favor.
The main point however, is that the word "god" has an essentially similar concept with "El". It can be used for other deities as WELL as was used for the chief of the gods. And this is in relation to the OP, which is a question of whether the concept of "god" has meaning and has had meaning.
So again, and I hope I don't have to repeat this again, it doesn't matter whether Godan was the same exact concept as the Jewish god or the Canaanite god in terms of characteristics. I thought I made this clear, but the question of the OP is whether the word "god" has a meaningful concept or whether it's mystical fluff.
And it DOES have a specific meaningful concept, and that concept is roughly similar, if not exactly similar, to the meaning and concept of "El", which means both "The chief god" and "a lesser god", but still pertaining to a meaning of a class of being which is..."a god". Therefore, the mystical fluff are these new agey revisionist concepts of what "God" means outside of its nearly universal traditional usage. In fact, I don't think ANY place on Earth has ever had a concept of "god" that didn't involve actual heavenly beings with supernatural powers.
So it doesn't matter if one was born from a hermophraditic super primordial being and BECAME the king of the gods who made the universe using the corpse of his slain Father, or one who always existed as the Chief of the gods (assuming this was the original Israelite concept), the point is the same: They are both the chief gods, and the use of the word "El" and "god" is a derivative of the concept of the fact that they are both THE god, and in that the word can be used for "lesser gods".
So to summarize again, it doesn't matter if they are the same exact characters. What matters is that they are beings, they have CERTAIN similar qualities in that...they are beings, they are the chief deities of their systems, and their title is used to refer to them as well as lesser beings. Thus, the concept of "god" in English is almost exactly the same as the concept in Israelite and Canaanite beliefs, regardless of their backstories and depictions. It is thus ridiculous to say that the meaning of "god" has no meaning or can't be understood. It's a very simple concept: Heavenly beings with supernatural powers. Regardless of who they are.
Do you need further clarification ?
