Elohim is Plural?

Question

Elohim is plural? which language was that because we (muslims) also use similar name to this called "Allahoma" and we use it often when we talk to God and it means "i am seeking you Allah to" such as "Allahoma forgive our sins, Allahoma have mercy on us"

and the word "Abba" which many people think it means father. we actually have a similar word to it as well called "Rabba or Rabbah" and it's a different name of calling God which means "i am calling God who raise things". Rabbah could be the closest one to the meaning father but it dosen't really mean Daddy or father but it means the one who raise things till it grows up. the one who take care of you till you grow.

do you believe there are alot of errors in the translation of the Bible? especially from Aramiac to Greek and from Greek to many other languages.

Answer 1

(1) "Elohim" is a grammtically plural form in Hebrew -- and it is even sometimes used with the plural meaning "gods". But there is rarely any confusion --especially when this word is the SUBJECT of a sentence. "Elohim" as the singular "God" takes a singular verb form; when a plural verb form is used it is "gods".

We need to be careful not to read too much into this form in its singular use. It apparently is used not as a true plural, but as a superlative to assert that this is "the highest God; the God above all 'gods' (even, 'the only true God')

(2) Not sure why you are suggesting some sort of link between Arabic "Rabbah" and Aramaic "Abba". There really isn't any. "Ab" is simply the common, everyday word for "father" -- the ending that gives us the form "Abba" is one used in Aramaic for ADDRESSING someone. It's called a 'vocative' form. The closest English equivalent is adding "O" as in "O king!" "O Lord!", though most of the time we don't distinguish the vocative form at all. The context itself should make it clear enough when I'm speaking TO someone.

Also, contrary to some popular teaching, "Abba" does not specifically mean "Daddy" (that is, it is NOT based on the way small children speak). It is THE standard sort of form for addressing someone. Compare "malka", meaning "O king!" This is certainly not chummy, familiar or babytalk!

(3) On the question of errors, you seem to be asking two or three different questions, so I'll split them up. (The last --point c-- is the most important one.)

a) If by "Aramaic to Greek" you mean the translation of some Aramaic original of the New Testament to Greek, then I think you misunderstand. We don't even know for sure whether some New Testament writings (perhaps one or two of the gospels) had an "Aramaic original" -- though there were doubtless some stories, etc that were passed on in Aramaic (spoken, and probably some written), much of it was originally in Greek, and the official, canonical New Testament, from the first century on has always been the Greek one.

In other words, if you are speaking of the NEW Testament, the Greek IS Scripture. So there's no issue about translation "errors" here.

b) If you mean the translation of the OLD Testament into Greek, note that nearly all of the Old Testament was originally in HEBREW, not Aramaic (except for seven or eight chapters found in the books of Daniel and Ezra).

c) As for translations from the ORIGINAL languages (Old Testament Hebrew and a little Aramaic, and New Testament Greek) to other languages, including English -- I do not believe any human translation is perfect, and so free from errors. There are always things that people are unsure of the exact meaning of, including rare words.

BUT that does NOT mean what a lot of people deduce from it. If you were to compare English translations with each other --even those that vary the most in their interpretation-- you would discover that there is very little SIGNIFICANT difference in the meaning. In particular, the biggest, most important teachings come through clearly in ALL translations. There may, for instance, be a verse or two that some translators believe makes a particular point, while others don't think that... for THOSE verses. But if you KEEP reading, those same teachings ARE found in other verses. So, if you read it all together, you won't be misled.

This is related to something that theologians call this the "perspicuity" of Scripture. This is the teaching that the most important teachings that we NEED to know are CLEAR. Or, from another angle, God had made sure, by various types of repetition, that the message will come across. So, while we believe it is important to seek to faithfully translate and interpret ALL of Scripture, because of God's goodness, no central teaching hangs on our understanding ONE or two verses correctly.

When you understand this, you find that there is really no basis for the claim that there is 'all sorts of corruption' that has crept into the text and translation of Scripture... which is used as a way of dismissing orthodox Christian teachings to substitute some odd new teaching OR of dismissing Scripture completely. There's no basis for that.

Answer 2

Elohim is a HEBREW name associated with Understanding is Elohim. This is a plural word, since Understanding implies a plurality of forces. Its Elohim that is used throughout the entire first chapter of Genesis in describing the act of creation. The 32 times that this name occurs correspond to the 32 paths of Wisdom. Pick up a copy of Sefer Yetzirah "The Book of Creation". This will explain everything you could ever want to know on all the questions you are asking. Also pick up The Gnostic Bible, it sure will open your closed eyes and ears.

Answer 3

The "im" ending is the common formation of the plural of masculine nouns in Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament. It is also used in Arabic, which is a related language.
Elohim is the plural of Eloah, one of the Hebrew names for God. This word is related to the Arabic 'Allah'. Both Eloah and Elohim are used in the Hebrew Bible to refer to God. Scholars don't agree on an explanation for why the plural is used when the God of Israel was clearly a singular God. Some think that it was merely an old tradition from polytheistic days, as Ron suggests.

The link below has an interesting discussion of the question.

Answer 4

Yes, Elohim is a plural word in Hebrew Bible or what Christians call the Old Testament. In the first book of the Hebrew Bible, Genesis, two words are used to refer to God, Yahweh and Elohim. Current thought is that two different contributors to Genesis used the two words according to their traditions. (There may have been as many as 4 different contributors.) Its not clear, as far as I know, why one writer would refer to "Gods" instead of "God". Perhaps it was an old habit from the decendants of Abraham/Ibrahim who broke away from the polytheistic religion of Mesopotamia.

"Abba", is an Aramaic word for "father" in the local dialect spoken by Jesus.

For a discussion of variations in the Christian scriptures, I would recommend Bart Ehrman's "Misquoting Jesus". He gives a very thorough account of how errors have crept into ancient writnings.

Salaam!

Answer 5

Hebrew Bible, Gen.

"Let US make man in OUR image" Who exactly is US & Our before ANYTHING WAS CREATED? Who is the author (God) talking out loud to? Again, The PLURAL POPS UP! Why didnt it say " I made man in MY image? It didnt say that. U cannot cherry-pick the Bible . U either believe every word, down to the letter, OR u cherry pick want u want to believe.

Answer 6

Most definitely there were/are errors in the translations.