EL! Perhaps the first word spoken by a human to betoken
Something, someone, somewhere hidden, with the power to do us harm.
EL! Perhaps the name to call Him, to placate Him, to forestall Him,
So to plead and pacify Him, keep Him happy with a charm,
Or to promise to adore Him, and to fear Him with alarm,
To avoid His angry arm!

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When the Epics were translated (which the Canaanites related
Of the gods and goddesses they worshipped and adored),
EL was foremost, and the Leader (and indeed his name means leader),
Of the others, and could summon them to councils as their Lord.
El, the Strong One, was depicted as The Bull, as well as Lord,
And He could not be ignored.

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Yet this Leader, though attractive, was no longer very active,
As he must have been perhaps a thousand years or so before!
He was Father of Creation, of Mankind and every nation,
But he had become irrelevant, unable to restore
The lost influence and magic and excitement at his core,
Nor the power he had before.

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So, the ancient Hebrew nation, when it reached its destination,
Had a fateful fascination with the gods that they found there.
Early names for Abram’s God, which Bible scholars thought were odd,
Used there for their highest god, they were adopted, as seems clear.
They continue to be dear despite the land where they appear.
Canaan land, too, would be dear.

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But the serious new dangers which would face the Hebrew strangers
Came from Ba’al and his relations and the worship they enjoyed;
From the bloody myths they tendered, from the wantonness engendered,
From the infant lives surrendered, and the rituals employed.
We can only think that Abram would be thoroughly annoyed
And would want those rites destroyed!

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