Elohim refer to trinity?

[joclucsylv]

Elohim is the hebrew plural for God and is written 2607 of the 2085 times in the old testament referral to God! Would this be an indication of the trinity??? Thank you in advance!!

 

[chalicelight]

Really cool question. I have no answers, but I can’t wait to hear some theories.

 

[Barbkw]

It may refer to God the Father and the spirit of God.

As from Genesis 1:26-27

"Then God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.”

God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.

usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis1.htm

I asked about this once (God’s reference to Himself as “us” and “our”) and a Jewish lady responded. I’ll try to locate her responce and repost it.

 

[kaid100]

One analysis is that the name Elohim (“The Gods”) is an linguistic-artefact of a polytheistic phase the Hebrews went through. Obviously they later settled on a single god, but calling him “Elohim” may have smoothed the transition for the older generation.

 

[noobio]

God refers to himself as “us” in the Bible.

Genesis 1:26 (ESV)
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping

Genesis 3:22 (ESV)
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”

Genesis 11:7 (ESV)
7 Come,** let us go down **and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

 

[losh14]

Elohim is the hebrew plural for God and is written 2607 of the 2085 times in the old testament referral to God! Would this be an indication of the trinity??? !

Are you saying that, of the 2607 times that a word referring to our God is used in the OT, that word is Elohim? Or are you saying that any time a word pertaining to a god is used, it is Elohim? There’s a distinction, I think Elohim is used to describe deity or deities in general, at least in some codices.

I would think Ge 1:26, 3:22, 11:7 offer a more specific support to the Trinity - to the understanding of God revealing Himself to us in multiple persons. I’ve also been told by Jewish friends that it’s a “royal we”.

One analysis is that the name Elohim (“The Gods”) is an linguistic-artefact of a polytheistic phase the Hebrews went through. Obviously they later settled on a single god, but calling him “Elohim” may have smoothed the transition for the older generation.

That’s possible - relatedly, Allah (in Arabic) is linguistically related to El, which is the root for Elohim. It could also reflect an early understanding of God that was antagonistic to the idea of a personal God (ie, in the form of a person) and so Elohim references a deity to whom it would be disrespectful to use a singular case for.

Now the single biggest difficulty in finding a Trinitarian case in the OT is that Jewish interpretation sees God only in one Person - the Father. Jesus as Messiah is one thing, but Jesus as Son of God and co-equal in divinity, origin and substance with the Father? That would be dismissed immediately by Jewish scholars, never you mind about the Holy Spirit.

For Christians (Catholics especially), I have no problem using Elohim in worship in order to recognize the Trinity and contemplate our Triune God. Likewise, I don’t think the newly monocredist Hebrews had a problem adapting the word for God or gods from their pagan kin in referring to their One.