Elohim Information
Elohim (אֱלהִים) is a plural formation of eloah, the latter being an expanded form of the Northwest Semitic noun il (אֱל, ʾēl [1]). It is usually translated as "God" in the Hebrew Bible, referring with singular verbs both to the one God of Israel, and also in a few examples to other singular pagan deities. With plural verbs the word is also used as a true plural with the meaning "gods".[2]
The singular forms eloah (אלוה) and el (אֱל) are used as proper names or as generics, in which case they are interchangeable with elohim.[3]
The notion of divinity underwent radical changes throughout the period of early Israelite identity. The ambiguity of the term Elohim is the result of such changes, cast in terms of "vertical translatability" by Smith (2008); i.e. the re-interpretation of the gods of the earliest recalled period as the national god of the monolatrism as it emerged in the 7th to 6th century BC in the Kingdom of Judah and during the Babylonian captivity, and further in terms of monotheism by the emergence of Rabbinical Judaism in the 2nd century AD.[4]
In Hebrew the form of the word Elohim, with the ending -im, which normally indicates a masculine plural, however with Elohim the construction is usually grammatically singular, (i.e. it governs a singular verb or adjective) when referring to the Hebrew God, but grammatically plural (i.e. taking a plural verb or adjective) when used of pagan divinities (Psalms 96:5; 97:7).
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Etymology
Further information: El (deity), Ilah, and AllahThe Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible defines "elohim" as a plural of eloah, an expanded form of the common Semitic noun "'il" (ʾēl).[5] It contains an added heh as third radical to the biconsonantal root. Discussions of the etymology of elohim essentially concern this expansion. An exact cognate outside of Hebrew is found in Ugaritic ʾlhm, the family of El, the creator god and chief deity of the Canaanite pantheon, and in Arabic ʾilāh "god, deity" (or Allah as " The [single] God"). "El" (the basis for the extended root ʾlh) is usually derived from a root meaning "to be strong" and/or "to be in front".[6]
Canaanite religion
Further information: Canaanite religionThe word el is also the standard term for "god" in other related Semitic languages including Ugaritic. In the Ugaritic Baal cycle we read of "seventy sons of Asherah" (KTU2 1.4.VI.46).[7]
Elohist
Further information: ElohistElohim occurs frequently throughout the received text of the Torah. In some cases (e.g. Exodus 3:4, "... Elohim called unto him out of the midst of the bush ..."), it acts as a singular noun in Hebrew grammar, and is then generally understood to denote the single God of Israel. In other cases, Elohim acts as an ordinary plural of the word Eloah, and refers to the polytheistic notion of multiple gods (for example, Exodus 20:3, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me.").
The choice of word or words for God varies in the Hebrew Bible. According to the documentary hypothesis these variations are evidence of different source texts: Elohim is used as the name of God in the Elohist and the Priestly source, while Yahweh is used in the Jahwist source. The difference in names results from the theological point being made in the Elohist and Priestly sources that God did not reveal his name, Yahweh, to any man before the time of Moses.
While the Jahwist presented an anthropomorphic God who could walk through the Garden of Eden looking for Adam and Eve, the Elohist frequently involves angels. For example, it is the Elohist version of the tale of Jacob's ladder in which there is a ladder of angels with God at the top, whereas in the Jahwist tale, it is just a dream in which God is simply above the location, without the ladder or angels. Likewise, the Elohist describes Jacob actually wrestling with God.
The classical documentary hypothesis as developed in the late 19th century assumed that the Elohist portions of the Torah were composed in the 9th century BCE (i.e. during the early period of the Kingdom of Judah). This is far from universally accepted today, as there is evidence of a later "Elohist redaction" (post-exilic) during the 5th century BCE which makes it difficult to determine whether a given passage is "Elohist" in origin, or only as a result of late redaction.
Hebrew Bible
The word Elohim' occurs more than 2500 times in the Hebrew Bible, with meanings ranging from "god" in a general sense (as in Exodus 12:12, where it describes "the gods of Egypt"), to a specific god (e.g., 1 Kings 11:33, where it describes Chemosh "the god of Moab", or the frequent references to Yahweh as the "elohim" of Israel), to demons, seraphim, and other supernatural beings, to the spirits of the dead brought up at the behest of King Saul in 1 Samuel 28:13, and even to kings and prophets (e.g., Exodus 4:16).[8] The phrase bene elohim, usually translated "sons of God", has an exact parallel in Ugaritic and Phoenician texts, referring to the council of the gods.[9]
The meaning of Elohim is further complicated by the fact that it is used to describe the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel, raised by Saul in 1 Samuel 28:13. The witch of Endor tells Saul that she sees 'gods' (elohim) coming up out of the earth; this seems to indicate that the term was indeed used simply to mean something like 'divine beings' in ancient Israel. The Elohim as a pantheon might also have been considered a singular in the sense of m a collective plural when the gods act in concert.
God of Israel
In the Hebrew Bible Elohim, when meaning the God of Israel, is mostly grammatically singular. Even in Genesis 1:26 "Then God said (singular verb), 'Let us make (plural verb) man in our image, after our likeness'." Elohim is singular. Gesenius and other Hebrew grammarians traditionally described this as the pluralis excellentiae (plural of excellence), which is similar to the pluralis majestatis (plural of majesty, or "Royal we").[10]
Gesenius comments that Elohim singular is to be distinguished from elohim plural gods and remarks that:
- "the supposition that elohim is to be regarded as merely a remnant of earlier polytheistic views (i.e. as originally only a numerical plural) is at least highly improbable, and, moreover, would not explain the analogous plurals (below). To the same class (and probably formed on the analogy of elohim) belong the plurals kadoshim "the Most Holy" (only of Yahweh, Hosea 12:1, Proverbs 9:10, 30:3 (cf. El hiym kadoshim in Joshua 24:19 and the singular Aramaic "the Most High", Daniel 7:18, 22, 25); and probably teraphim (usually taken in the sense of penates) the image of a god, used especially for obtaining oracles. Certainly in 1 Samuel 19:13, 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.[11]
There are a number of notable exceptions to the rule that Elohim is treated as singular when referring to the God of Israel, including Gen. 20:13, 35:7, 2 Sam. 7:23 and Ps. 58:11, and notably the epithet of the "Living God" (Deuteronomy 5:26 etc.), which is constructed with the plural adjective, Elohim Hayiym אלהים חיים but still takes singular verbs. In the Septuagint and New Testament translations of Elohim has the singular ὁ θεὸς even in these cases, and modern translations follow suit in giving "God" in the singular. The Samaritan Torah has edited out some of these exceptions.[12]
In Gen 20:13 Abraham before Philistine king Abimelech says that "the gods (elohim) caused (plural verb) me to wander".[13] The Greek Septuagint and most English versions usually translate this "God caused", possibly to avoid the implication of Abraham deferring to Abimelech's polytheistic beliefs.[14]
Pagan gods, angels and judges
Brown-Driver-Briggs and other sources list both angels and judges as possible alternative meanings of elohim + plural verbs and adjectives.
For example of 2606 occurrences of elohim in the Hebrew Bible (equivalent to the Protestant canonical portion of the Septuagint) 5 instances (Exodus 21:6, 22:8,9 twice, 1Sam.2:25) are rended "judges" in the Greek, and then from the Greek into the Latin Vulgate and older English versions such as the KJV. In modern versions such as the ESV these will usually read "bring the thief before God" not "before the judges" etc. A possibly related unusual reading is Ps. 58:11 Elohim-Shofetim "God-Judges (plural) in all the earth".[15]
Again in Psalm 97:6, "all the gods" (Hebrew kal-elohim) are commanded to worship the Messiah. This is rendered in the Septuagint as "all the angels of God" (Greek pantes aggeloi Theou), and taken from the Greek into Hebrews 1:6.
A related incident concerns Moses, though he is not actually called elohim in Exodus 4:16, "He (Aaron) will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were Elohim to him."
In 1 Samuel 28:13. The witch of Endor tells Saul that she sees "gods (elohim) coming up (plural verb) out of the earth", referring to the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel.
Just as there are exceptions to the rule that Elohim is singular when referring to the God of Israel, there are exceptions to the rule that Elohim is plural when referring to other deities.[16]
- 1 Sam 5:7 "...for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our elohim."
- Judges 11:24 "what Chemosh your elohim gives (singular) you to possess?"
- 1 Kings 18:24 "And you call upon the name of your elohim (i.e. Baal), and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the elohim who answers (singular verb) by fire, he is Elohim.”
Ambiguous readings
Sometimes when elohim occurs as the referent or object (i.e. not subject) of a sentence, and without any accompanying verb or adjective to indicate plurality, it may be grammatically unclear whether gods plural or God singular is intended. An example is Psalm 8:5 where "Yet you have made him a little lower than the elohim" is ambiguous as to whether "lower than the gods" or "lower than God" is intended. The Septuagint read this as "gods" and then corrected the translation to "angels", which reading is taken up by the New Testament in Hebrews 2:9 "But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus".
Other plural-singulars in Biblical Hebrew
Main article: Pluralis excellentiaeThe only plural singular noun in the Hebrew Bible is "Elohim", and it is the only noun that can, in addition to plural, connote singular quintessence, uniqueness, or might.
Related phrases
Sons of God
Main article: Sons of GodThe Hebrew word for sons bene occurs with various nouns such as a collective, such as Psa. xlix, 3, bene adam "sons of men," "sons of Adam"; bene Yisrael "sons of Israel, Israelites.
The Hebrew term bene elohim ("sons of God" or "sons of the gods") in, e.g., Genesis 6:2[17] compares to the use of "sons of gods" (Ugaritic bn il) sons of El in Ugaritic mythology.[18] Karel van der Toorn states that Gods can be referred to collectively as bene elim, bene elyon, or bene elohim.[19]
Rabbinic Judaism
Further information: Names of God in JudaismElohim occupy the seventh rank of ten in the famous medieval Rabbinic scholar Maimonides' Jewish angelic hierarchy. Also Maimonides told that:
I must premise that every Hebrew knows that the term Elohim is a homonym, and denotes God, angels, judges, and the rulers of countries, ...[20]
Christian Bible translations
Hebrew elohim in English translations of the Bible is usually rendered as gods when referring to pagan deities, and as God when referring to the God of Israel, echoing use of θεος theos in the Greek LXX.
In some Sacred name Bibles, like The Scriptures 98, the word "Elohim" is used in many places in the New Testament where the word theos is found in the Greek text (such as John 1:1 and John 10:36). Though there are no attested early Biblical manuscripts of the New Testament with "Elohim", the editors of such translations appeal to the fact that the Syriac word ܐܠܗܐ Aloha, the source of Hebrew Eloah, is found in the Syriac bible text.
See also
References
- ^ K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst (eds), " Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible" (revised 2nd edition, Brill, 1999) p.274, 352-3
- ^ K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst (eds), "Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible" (revised 2nd edition, Brill, 1999) p.274, 352-3
- ^ K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst (eds), "Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible" (revised 2nd edition, Brill, 1999) p.274, 352-3
- ^ Mark S. Smith, God in translation: deities in cross-cultural discourse in the biblical world, vol. 57 of Forschungen zum Alten Testament, Mohr Siebeck, 2008, ISBN 9783161495434, p. 19.; Smith, Mark S. (2002), "The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel" (Biblical Resource Series)
- ^ K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst (eds), "Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible" (revised 2nd edition, Brill, 1999) p.274, 352
- ^ K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst (eds), "Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible" (revised 2nd edition, Brill, 1999) p.274
- ^ John Day Yahweh and the gods and goddesses of Canaan p23
- ^ K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst (eds), "Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible" (revised 2nd edition, Brill, 1999) pp.352-3
- ^ K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst (eds), "Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible" (revised 2nd edition, Brill, 1999) pp.353
- ^ Gesenius Hebrew Grammar "124g, without article 125f, with article 126e, with the singular 145h, with plural 132h,145i"
- ^ Wikisource
- ^ Richard N. Soulen, R. Kendall Soulen, Handbook of biblical criticism, Westminster John Knox Press, 2001, ISBN 9780664223144, p. 166.
- ^ e.g. Gen. 20:13 התעו אתי אלהים מבית אבי (where התעו is from תעה "to err, wander, go astray, stagger", the causative plural "they caused to wander")
- ^ LXX: ἐξήγαγέν με ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρός; KJV: "when God caused me to wander from my father's house"
- ^ ʻAmos Ḥakham, Israel V. Berman Psalms 58-100 2003 "... shoftim, "who judges," is in the plural here to contrast with what we find in the plural in verse 2: "Do you judge ..."
- ^ Brown-Driver-Briggs p43 entry "2. Pl. intensive."
- ^ (e.g. Genesis 6:2, "... the sons of the Elohim (e-aleim) saw the daughters of men (e-adam, the adam) that they were fair; and they took them for wives... ,"
- ^ Marvin H. Pope El in the Ugaritic texts Supplements to Vetus Testamentum Vol. II Leiden, Brill, 1955. Pp. x—l-116, p49
- ^ K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst (eds), "Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible" (revised 2nd edition, Brill, 1999) p.274, 352-3
- ^ Moses Maimonides(1904)"Guide for the Perplexed"
- Horst Dietrich Preuss, Old Testament theology, vol. 1, Continuum International Publishing Group, 1995, ISBN 9780567097354, 147-149.
Categories: Creator gods | Deities in the Hebrew Bible | Hebrew Bible topics | Latter Day Saint doctrines regarding deity | Names of God | Names of God in Judaism | Hebrew words and phrases in the Hebrew Bible | Christian terms
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