Elohim, a plural noun?

[FaithJoy]

In the OT, God is translated as Elohim from Hebrew. The direct translation is plural, meaning Gods. The singular translation from Hebrew would be El. Question, how do we get Elohim to mean God when it means Gods? I read somewhere that this would confirm the Christian belief as God existing as three persons, Father , Son , Holy Spirit.
And also looking at Gen.1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

 

[kimbaichan]

It could be that Elohim is kind of a “leftover” from when the Israelites were not strict monotheists (and weren’t Israelites, either.)
The “Let us…” portion of Genesis could refer to God and the hosts of Heaven.

 

[MarcusAndreas]

Plurality is used as a marker of respect in many languages. “Adonai” means “my lords” as well. This might be the explanation you want, but I could be wrong.

 

[VeritasSeeker]

Elohim could also be a royal plural(like what is found in the Quran), though this would not support the Trinitarian interpretation. I’m interested in whether or not someone knows if the evidence that Elohim is a royal plural is stronger/weaker than the evidence that Elohim refers to the plurality of persons in the Godhead. (once i heard a PhD scholar say that there are no cases of the royal plural being used during the time of Genesis)

 

[GerardMajella]

When referring to the singular God of Israel, the Name Elohim refers to God’s Mercy, for it describes Him as “the Mighty One Who wields authority over the beings from above and below” (Tur Orach Chaim 5) and “the Omnipotent One” (Shulchan Aruch). It’s familiar connotation is God as Judge, dominating nature and using nature to carry out His ends. Its numerical value equals that of the Hebrew name for “the nature”, indicating He controls all natural phenomena.

It is important to note that God is called by various names throughout the Old Testament - El Shaddai is one example. These various names for the singular God of Israel do not refer to multiple gods - It refers to the same, one God, just depicting his various attributes.

The Jewish Sage Maimonides had this to say about the term “Elohim” in Chapter 2 of the Guide for the Perplexed:

Before, however, entering upon this problem and its solution I must premise that every Hebrew knows that the term Elohim is a homonym, and denotes God, angels, judges, and the rulers of countries, and that Onkelos the proselyte explained it in the true and correct manner by taking Elohim in the sentence, “and ye shall be like Elohim” (Gen. iii. 5) in the last-mentioned meaning, and rendering the sentence “and ye shall be like princes.” Having pointed out the homonymity of the term “Elohim” we return to the question under consideration.

A homonym, by the way, means the same word having multiple meanings, same pronunciation. As noted above, the term Elohim can have multiple meanings depending on the context.

 

[FaithJoy]

Found this: biblicalheritage.org/Linguistic/HL/1-A/-elohiym.htm

 

[nordskoven]

“Fiddler on the Roof” fans have enjoyed the song celebrating “life”…not “lives.” L’chayim is, technically, plural but means “to life.” The plural form can mean a fullness, completeness, perfection. This instance alone refutes the contention that the Triune Creator is expressed in the use of Elohim, does it not? “Let us make man according to our likeness…” may then be considered to be a simple grammatical accommodation. It is my opinion that God can not and could not reveal Himself absent the Trinity–three divine Persons; one God–because one person cannot testify of Himself. That would be my basis for embracing the inherent Trinitarian Personhood of our Creator.

 

[DaveBj]

Picking a nit here–Elohim is the plural of Eloah (meaning God), not El.

On this subject, the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says:

Its form is plural, but the construction is uniformly singular, i.e. it governs a singular verb or adjective, unless used of heathen divinities (Ps 96:5; 97:7). It is characteristic of Hebrew that extension, magnitude and dignity, as well as actual multiplicity, are expressed by the plural. It is not reasonable, therefore, to assume that plurality of form indicates primitive Semitic polytheism. On the contrary, historic Hebrew is unquestionably and uniformly monotheistic.

DaveBj (language geek)

 

[patrick457]

Elohim could also be a royal plural(like what is found in the Quran), though this would not support the Trinitarian interpretation. I’m interested in whether or not someone knows if the evidence that Elohim is a royal plural is stronger/weaker than the evidence that Elohim refers to the plurality of persons in the Godhead. (once i heard a PhD scholar say that there are no cases of the royal plural being used during the time of Genesis)

Now, many Christian theologians do interpret it in a typological (?) manner as an early hint of plurality within the Godhead, but admittedly this view imposes Trinitarian concepts - which was revealed to us later in time - on an ancient text. That doesn’t make the reading of things like elohim and Genesis 1:26 as a type of the Trinity wrong, but on a literal level, we don’t need to suppose that the sacred writers somehow understood the Trinitarian mystery in the same level as we do today.

And yes, some have suggested the plural verb (“let us make…”) indicates majesty, but the royal plural is not used with verbs as it is with nouns - say, elohim or 'adonai.

Rather, it would seem that in ancient Israelite context the plural in Genesis 1:26 is most naturally understood as referring to God and the heavenly court that surrounds HIm (1 Kings 22:19-22; Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6; Isaiah 6:1-8). If this is the case, then God invites the heavenly court to participate in the creation of humankind (perhaps in the role of offering praise, see Job 38:7), but He is the one who does the actual work (v. 27). Of course, this view does assume that the members of the heavenly court possess the divine “image” and “likeness” in some way. Since the image is closely associated with rulership, perhaps they share the divine image in a sense - in that they, together with God and under His royal authority, are the executive authority over the world.

The form of the word elohim, with the ending -im, is plural and masculine, but the construction is usually singular, i.e. it governs a singular verb or adjective when referring to the Hebrew God, but reverts to its normal plural when used of pagan divinities (Psalms 96:5; 97:7). Some exceptions include Genesis 20:13, 35:7, 2 Samuel 7:23 and Psalm 58:11, and notably the epithet of Elohim chayim, “the living God” (Deuteronomy 5:26 etc.), which is constructed with the plural adjective.

The use of plural forms for singular nouns is common in the Hebrew Bible, and often connotes quintessence, uniqueness, or might rather than plurality (though it may connote both). Thus, the phrase “מלך מלכי המלכים” (“melekh maləkêi ha-məlâkhim”) does not refer to “a king, kings of kings” (which is what the literal rendering of the text would lead us to believe), but to “a king of unsurpassed kingship”; ימים רבים (“yamim rabim”) refers to “a great sea” as easily as to “great [or ‘many’] seas” (the literal translation).