The meaning of the word Elohim is fundamental to understanding the Hebrew Scriptures

  • 2018

The word Elohim is used in Hebrew to refer to God, but it is a plural term (from the Hebrew Eloah, God) and therefore its meaning would be dioses . This is a word used in the Tanach to refer to Yahweh.

Some scholars believe that the plural is evidence of the polytheism residue inherited by the Jews from the Pentateuch, while others claim that it derives from Yahweh's conception as a trinity. But this is a term that has different meanings and meanings.

The meaning of Eloim is therefore key to understanding the meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures.

What does the word Elohim mean?

Elohim is one of the Hebrew names of God, or of the gods and is mentioned in the Old Testament almost 2, 500 times, with various meanings.

In the Hebrew scriptures the term Elohim is used with a plural meaning (called a numerical plural) when it is applied to a deity or to various deities, but it is never used referring to a compound deity.

Analyzing the different ways in which it is cited in the scriptures, it is clear that the word Elohim, plural, is used with a singular meaning . This is clearly seen in Genesis, where it is used together with a conjunction of a singular verb, which indicates its meaning.

In the phrase " Elohim created the heavens and the earth " the verb "created" is conjugated in the singular, therefore, Elohim is a singular word and refers to the creator, but that is only one of its meanings.

The father of the Hebrew grammarians, Gesenius, said that "elohim, " when applied to a singular deity, is a plural of excellence or majesty .

Moses used this term in the plural sense to refer to demons that were worshiped as deities and Yahweh himself used the word Elohim to refer to idols that were worshiped in Egypt.

The prophet Ezekiel referred to Elohim as equivalent of "eloah, " the singular noun, when he spoke of a deity emphasizing his divine nature, as opposed to the human nature of terrestrial beings.

Other applications of the word Elohim

We have seen that the word Elohim is used to refer to Yahweh, deities, idols and demons, but it also applies to men, kings and angels .

In Scripture it is frequently used referring to the angels or spiritual messengers of Yahweh . In these cases, the term highlights its qualities as superior beings, similar in glory to God himself.

In these cases the intention of the word is to describe them as powerful superior beings, similar to Yahweh in glory. But in the different versions of the scriptures, elohim has been translated as angels. In the Messianic Writings, elohim is translated as "angueloi", whose meaning is angels-messengers.

In the Spanish versions of the Hebrew Scriptures, the word elohim is translated as "gods, " but the Septuagint translates it as angueloi (angels) and for that reason it can be considered that elohim also means angels.

In the Scriptures, the term also applies to judges . The application in this case refers to the fact of the character of his investiture and the implementation of justice and the law as divine prerogatives that can decide the life and death of people.

Yahweh applies the word elohim to Moses in the Exodus and his sense in this case is that Moses would act on behalf of God, with a divine mission.

Finally, the Hebrew term elohim is used as a plurality of excellence, as is Adonai. Adonai is the word in Hebrew that is used to designate God (Yahweh or Yahweh). As well as Adonim and Shaday.

The plural words Adonai, Adonim

Adón is in Hebrew "lord", but when referring to God it is used in the plural, Adonai, as in Genesis. The ending "ai" is an ancient form of the plural, used instead of "im" (the plural ending in Hebrew).

Therefore, adonai and adonim would mean "gentlemen", but this plural does not mean that they are many people.

The Adonai and Adonim forms are plurals of excellence and in the Scriptures they are applied in several cases to a man. They are only used in Deuteronomy with a unique meaning once, when Yahweh is mentioned as Adonai adonim ( Sovereign of the sovereigns ) instead of the most commonly used term Adón adonim.

Elsewhere, both adonai and adonim are plurals of excellence and have exactly the same meaning or meaning as the singular.

The evidence of the use of the singular in all the cases cited, could demonstrate that the word Elohim is singular and the synthesis of the monotheistic faith .

When the Scriptures read: "Yahweh is our Mighty One, Yahweh is one, " it means that God is unique, absolute, singular, simple and not composed, which would contradict Yahweh's trinity belief.

Seen in GB Advisors, by Pedro, editor of the White Brotherhood

http://www.gbasesores.com/colaboraciones/elohim.html

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