Elohim

Although the word is grammatically plural, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly the God of Israel.

It is cognate to the word 'l-h-m which is found in Ugaritic, where it is used as the pantheon for Canaanite gods, the children of El, and conventionally vocalized as "Elohim".

[1] One modern theory suggests that the notion of divinity underwent radical changes in the early period of Israelite identity and development of Ancient Hebrew religion.

[13][14] It is generally thought that Elohim is derived from eloah,[4][5][6][7][8][9] the latter being an expanded form of the Northwest Semitic noun 'il.

[15][16] The related nouns eloah (אלוה) and el (אֵל) are used as proper names or as generics, in which case they are interchangeable with elohim.

[16] The word el (singular) is a standard term for "god" in Aramaic, paleo-Hebrew, and other related Semitic languages including Ugaritic.

In some cases (e.g., Exodus 3:4, "Elohim called unto him out of the midst of the bush ..."), it behaves like a singular noun in Hebrew grammar and is then generally understood to denote the single God of Israel.

[16] Elohim occupy the seventh rank of ten in the medieval rabbinic scholar Maimonides' Jewish angelic hierarchy.

[23] Regarding this, Sforno states that "every disembodied creature is known as elohim; this includes the soul of human beings known as [the] 'Image of God'.

"[24] In Genesis 20:13, Abraham, before the polytheistic Philistine king Abimelech, says that "Elohim (translated as 'God') caused (התעו, plural verb) me to wander".

"[29] The same disagreement appears in Tractate Soferim, where Haninah ben Ahi R. Joshua maintained that the word is "holy".

[30] An alternative view (held by Onkelos, Bahya ben Asher, Jacob ben Asher, Sforno, and Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg) is that the word means "gods" and the verse means that Abraham's distaste for the idolatry of his father Terah led him to decide to wander far from home.

[34][35] Some Jewish sources (e.g., Targum Jonathan, Ibn Ezra, add Chizkuni), seeking to explain the plural language of Genesis 35:7, translate elohim here as "angels",[36] noting that in the story being referenced Jacob experiences a vision of malakhei elohim (angels of God) ascending and descending the ladder.

That the language has entirely rejected the idea of numerical plurality in אֱלֹהִים (whenever it denotes one God), is proved especially by its being almost invariably joined with a singular attribute (cf.

To the same class (and probably formed on the analogy of אֱלֹהִים) belong the plurals קְדשִׁים (kadoshim), meaning the Most Holy (only of Yahweh, Hosea 12:1, Proverbs 9:10, 30:3 – cf.

אֱלֹהִים קְדשִׁים elohiym kadoshim in Joshua 24:19 and the singular Aramaic עֶלְיוֹנִין the Most High, Daniel 7:18, 7:22, 7:25); and probably תְּרָפִים (teraphim) (usually taken in the sense of penates), the image of a god, used especially for obtaining oracles.

Certainly in 1 Samuel 19:13, 19:16 only one image is intended; in most other places a single image may be intended; in Zechariah 10:2 alone is it most naturally taken as a numerical plural.There are a number of notable exceptions to the rule that Elohim is treated as singular when referring to the God of Israel, including Genesis 20:13, Genesis 35:7, 2 Samuel 7:23 and Psalms 58:11, and notably the epithet of the "Living God" (Deuteronomy 5:26 etc.

[53] These passages then entered first the Latin Vulgate, then the English King James Version (KJV) as "angels" and "judges", respectively.

Angels cited in the Hebrew Bible and external literature often contain the related noun ʾĒl (אֵל) in their theophoric names such as Michael and Gabriel.

[64] Alternatively, there are several other frequently used words in the Hebrew language that contain a masculine plural ending but also maintain this form in singular concept.

The major examples are: Sky/Heavens (שמים shamayim), Face (פנים panim), Life (חיים - chayyim), Water (מים mayim).

Among the elohim he pronounces judgment: ..."[69] In Hulsean Lectures for..., H. M. Stephenson discussed Jesus' argument in John 10:34-36 9 concerning Psalm 82:6-7.

'"[70] The Hebrew word for "son" is ben; plural is bānim (with the construct state form being "benei").

[73][74][75][76][77] Form criticism postulates the differences of names may be the result of geographical origins; the P and E sources coming from the North and J from the South.

[75]: 102 [76] There may be a theological point, that God did not reveal his name, Yahweh, before the time of Moses, though Hans Heinrich Schmid showed that the Jahwist was aware of the prophetic books from the 7th and 8th centuries BCE.

[79] The Book of Abraham, a sacred text accepted by some branches of the Latter Day Saint movement, contains a paraphrase of the first chapter of Genesis which explicitly translates Elohim as "the Gods" multiple times; this is suggested by Mormon apostle James E. Talmage to indicate a "plurality of excellence or intensity, rather than distinctively of number,"[83] in contrast to his contemporary apostle Orson F. Whitney's explanation that, while to "the modern Jew [Elohim] means the plural of majesty, not of number...to the Latter-day Saint it signifies both.