The significance of the formula ‘the god of my father(s)’ and variants, which was the subject of A. Alt's important monograph, has been discussed intermittently since, but without the problems involved having been resolved entirely satisfactorily. In what follows, I wish to offer a new explanation for the problems, which is consistent with current scholarly estimates of the other evidence in Genesis concerning ‘patriarchal religion’.

A. Alt was writing before the discovery of the Ugaritic texts had led to a complete reappraisal of the nature of the god El, and was able, in the fashion of the time, to dismiss the various El-forms found in Genesis as local numina. The ‘god of the fathers’, however, was felt to point to the distinctive feature in patriarchal religion, the cult of a god revealing himself to the cult-founder and being worshipped by subsequent generations conscious of their historical link with the founder.

J. Lewy suggested that the apparently anonymous ‘god of the fathers’ could be identified with El Shaddai, on the basis of Genesis 49.25, where 'ēl ' abîkâ and šadday are parallel. However, his interpretation involved understanding the 'ēl in the former phrase as a generic in the construct (i.e. the equivalent of the prose form 'elōhê), and required the alteration of the 'et preceding šadday into 'ēl. The former suggestion begs the question concerning the generic use of 'ēl, while the latter seems unnecessary.