When speaking of the Jewish and Christian God, please explain why Elohim is not?

Question

used to indicate more that one God, even though the noun is plural?

Could you give refs, also please?

gwhiz and fireball, you didn't read or pay attention to what I asked, did you...

Answer 1

the verb is not plural. the verb is the indicator of whether or not a noun is plural or singular in meaning, not the noun itself (and not all hebrew words with a plural ending are actually plural in meaning, i will give an example later on)

for example, the first sentence of the bible, in hebrew:

בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ.

"b'reishit bara elohim et hashamayim v'et ha'aretz."

elohim has a plural ending, but the word "bara" means "he created" not "they created." its masculine singular in form.

the reason elohim is plural in form is actually a clear statement of monotheism, because the understanding of the ancient hebrews was that all of the forces of nature (which by ancient peoples were thought of as gods) are all united into one single being. elohim is plural because it stating that G-d is all of the gods, all of the forces of nature. the verbs given to elohim are ALWAYS masculine singular, in order to even more strongly reinforce that all of the gods are actually one G-d.

and even then, you can't take a plural ending in hebrew as indication of an actual plural. you have to look at the verb, which will tell you if the word is singular or plural. in hebrew, there are other nouns singular in meaning that are always written with a plural ending. for example the word "face" in hebrew is "panim" - it literally means "faces" even though you only have one face.

Answer 2

My personal belief is that the fact that Elohim is a plural word used to desribe a singular God is an early Old Testament proof of the Trinity, the God who is Three but Yet One. This as well is illustrated in the text of the Genesis Creation, "Let US make man in OUR image...male and female created He them" and so forth.

Answer 3

Well first off, most Jews believes that it is in plural form but does not suggest a plural sense. Most Christians believe that it is in a plural form and is in a plural sense because they believe in the trinity (which is not bibical, the doctrine was confirmed at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD (about 300 years after Jesus's death)). Whatever people believe that the plurality of God indicates depends on that person and/or their religion. However, the Tanach/Old Testament does show God in a multiplicit form all through out it. What one must begin with is the Shema (Hear). "Hear O Israel, The Lords our Gods, the Lords are one." -Deuteronomy 6:4-9. That is the literal translation from Hebrew. When some people see that, they get scared because they believe that it is indicating that there is no monotheism in Christianity/Judaism. But in order to understand the scripture, you must be able to understand the language that it was written in; Hebrew. "...the Lords are one." The english word "one" is "echad" in Hebrew which means a "united one". It is like the United States. We are made up of 50 states, but together we are but ONE nation. It indicates that there is only one God and he is YHVH but also that He is in multiple forms. God is the most supreme being, period. Doesn't it make sense for the most supreme being to be able to be in multiple places at once and to be in multiple forms at once? Even the law of Moses tells us that truth can only be accounted for if evidence of it is in multiple forms, not one form, 2 or 3 forms.

"One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." - Deuteronomy 19:15

God has many titles, but He had but one name, YHVH. If there were multiple Gods there would be multiple names. But there are NOT multiple names given, only multiple titles for the same God. So the plurality of the names of God is not indicating more than one God, it is indicating that God is in more than one form and here are some evidences of that:

"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." (God talking of Himself in a plural sense) - Genesis 1:26

"There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush."... "When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from WITHIN THE BUSH, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." - (God within a burning Bush) Exodus 3:2-4

"Abraham looked up and saw THREE men standing nearby. When he saw THEM, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet THEM and bowed low to the ground." ..."When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" (God asking a question to His other forms/Himself) -Genesis 18:2 and 16-17

Answer 4

Well referring to God people have used many names. It depends what was the invocation for.

I give you a site and go find all the answers for your questions.

"Elohim" is one of "God's" names.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_God_in_Judaism

I found really very interesting this site....with many of my questions answered... I hope it will work for you too.

Good Luck.

Answer 5

Similar to the usage of "We" in the holy Quran. It's done so that we can't anthropomorphise God and this is a reason why it's strictly forbidden in Islam to even attempt to imagine or illustrate God for God is nothing like we can ever imagine with our limited human minds. Besides that it is also used to indicate the majesty of God, similar to its usage in royal decrees - to demonstrate power and supremacy.

Peace and Love

Answer 6

refers to the TRinity Matt 28:19

Answer 7

god has tons of titles in the torah. theyre all like 'hashem' which means the name and 'eloheinu' and stuff. elohim isnt plural I dont think though even though it does have an 'im'

Answer 8

1x1x1=1 God,that's the Trinity talking to each other.Father, Son and Holy Spirit."Let us create man....."
Now compare that to Collosians chapter 1 and John chapter 1 and you get the picture.
Collosians says about Jesus,"all things were made by God through Him"... John 1 says "In the begining was the Word(Jesus) and the Word was with God and Word was God"...
Also in Phillipians it says "Jesus thought it not robbery to equal to God....."OK?

Answer 9

yes, look in the strong's concordance 430 elohiym

Answer 10

Common usage frequently corrupts----like a "pair" of panties-----, added to the extreme mis-translation of God & his names.....
It is his will for us ti be confused....