This is most probably what the people thought in ancient times , since they assumed they were made in the image of God.
And there is this divine essence who claims divine power over them.
And this divine essence represents a name : YHWH , which Jews considered so sacred that they decided to add vowels and honour him lingustically and through communication.To not use his name in vain.
The Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the 10th century ce worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, added to “YHWH” the vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai or Elohim.
Adonai as 'My Lord' gives emphasys on the way Jews adressed their God in worship.
It has importance lingustically , since it gives importance to sumbission in communication.
So , not just the Jews , but other people othen then Jews considered El as a supreme deity.
"El, the general term for “deity” in Semitic languages as well as the name of the chief deity of the West Semites. In the ancient texts from Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit) in Syria, El was described as the titular head of the pantheon, husband of Asherah, and father of all the other gods (except for Baal).29.2.2024"
Source : Britanica
El, the general term for “deity” in Semitic languages as well as the name of the chief deity of the West Semites. In the ancient texts from Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit) in Syria, El was described as the titular head of the pantheon, husband of Asherah, and father of all the other gods (except for
www.britannica.com
Welcome to polytheism outside of the Bible
No wounder why Elohim is used mostly as plural in the OT to give importance on multiple dieties.
The word elohim or 'elohiym (ʼĕlôhîym) is a grammatically plural noun for "gods" or "deities" or various other words in Biblical Hebrew. In Hebrew, the ending -im normally indicates a masculine plural.
יג כִּי, אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ--מַחֲזִיק יְמִינֶךָ; הָאֹמֵר לְךָ אַל-תִּירָא, אֲנִי עֲזַרְתִּיךָ.
{ס}
Isaiah 41:13
'For I the LORD thy God hold thy right hand, who say unto thee: 'Fear not, I help thee.'
{S}
א לְדָוִד, מִזְמוֹר:
נְאֻם יְהוָה, לַאדֹנִי--שֵׁב לִימִינִי; עַד-אָשִׁית אֹיְבֶיךָ, הֲדֹם לְרַגְלֶיךָ. |
Psalm 110:1
A Psalm of David.
{N}
The LORD saith unto my lord: 'Sit thou at My right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.'
'I am' is replaced with 'The Lord' since they considered 'I am' so sacred.
The earliest extant manuscript fragments of the Pentateuch date to the late third or early second centuries BCE.
The earliest Jewish writings date to 11BCE
Khirbet Qeiyafa relates the Birth of the kingdom of Israel.
Gerard Leval presents French epigrapher Émile Puech's interpretation of the Qeiyafa Ostracon as the earliest text on the formation of the Kingdom of Israel and
www.biblicalarchaeology.org
Also
The editio princeps of the inscription was published by Haggai Misgav, Yosef Garfinkel, and Saar Ganor in the 2009 Khirbet Qeiyafa excavation volume.
en.m.wikipedia.org
And then comes Jesus and says : 'I am'
and then we have eyewitness in the Gospel of John 1 who says:
'He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.'
If you replace 'I am' or 'YHWH' instead of Word and God with Elohim then John 1:1 would be like this:
These are just titles
"In the beginning was 'I am', and 'I am' was with 'Elohim', and 'I am' was 'Elohim'."
The Hebrew word for God is Elohim.
If you ask any religious Jew to chose one Word over every other they will say YHWH.Any Jew who denies that - is not honest.
I don't mean this in negative sense , i know because i know how sacred is that name for Jews.
