The Hebrew Word For God Is Not Singular
- Thread starter AProudLefty
- Start date
Guno צְבִי
We fight, We win
The word el (singular) is a standard term for "god" in Aramaic, paleo-Hebrew, and other related Semitic languages
The first payer upon rising and before going to bed
The Shema
An affirmation of God’s singularity, its daily recitation is regarded by traditionally observant Jews as a biblical commandment.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד
Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is One." The literal word meanings are roughly as follows: Sh'ma: literally means listen, heed, or hear and do (according to the Targum, accept)
The first payer upon rising and before going to bed
The Shema
An affirmation of God’s singularity, its daily recitation is regarded by traditionally observant Jews as a biblical commandment.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד
Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is One." The literal word meanings are roughly as follows: Sh'ma: literally means listen, heed, or hear and do (according to the Targum, accept)
Guno צְבִי
We fight, We win
The claim advanced by christians to defend the doctrine of the Trinity, the most guarded and untenable creed of the Church. It would be difficult to imagine a doctrine more hostile to the uncompromising monotheism preached in the Jewish Scriptures than the Christian claim that there is a plurality within the divine nature of God. Yet, armed with little knowledge of the Hebrew language, many Trinitarians brazenly argue that the name of God, as it appears in the first verse in the Bible, “proves” there are three distinct Persons in the godhead.
More specifically, missionaries point to the plural form of the Hebrew name of God אֶלהִים, (Elohim), which appears frequently in the Torah, to bolster their claim that there is a complex unity in the godhead. They argue that the use of the Hebrew letters “ ים” (yud and mem, pronounced “im”), which is a plural suffix at the end of the word Elohim, provides ample evidence from Tanach that there is a plurality within the nature of God.
The word Elohim possesses a plural intensive syntax and is singular in meaning. In Hebrew, the suffix ים (im), mainly indicates a masculine plural. However with Elohim the construction is grammatically singular, (i.e. it governs a singular verb or adjective) when referring to the God of Israel, but grammatically plural elohim (i.e. taking a plural verb or adjective) when used of pagan divinities (Psalms 96:5; 97:7).
This is self-evident from the fact that the verb “created” בָּרָה (bara) in Genesis 1:1 is in the singular. This linguistic pattern is well known and widely used throughout the Jewish Scriptures. For example, I am certain that many readers are familiar with the Hebrew word חַיִים (chayim), meaning “life.” Notice that this word contains the identical plural suffix “im,” as inElohim, yet it repeatedly means “life”, in the singular, throughout the Bible. Examples are:
And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life חַיִים (chayim) be to me?”
(Genesis 27:46)
More specifically, missionaries point to the plural form of the Hebrew name of God אֶלהִים, (Elohim), which appears frequently in the Torah, to bolster their claim that there is a complex unity in the godhead. They argue that the use of the Hebrew letters “ ים” (yud and mem, pronounced “im”), which is a plural suffix at the end of the word Elohim, provides ample evidence from Tanach that there is a plurality within the nature of God.
The word Elohim possesses a plural intensive syntax and is singular in meaning. In Hebrew, the suffix ים (im), mainly indicates a masculine plural. However with Elohim the construction is grammatically singular, (i.e. it governs a singular verb or adjective) when referring to the God of Israel, but grammatically plural elohim (i.e. taking a plural verb or adjective) when used of pagan divinities (Psalms 96:5; 97:7).
This is self-evident from the fact that the verb “created” בָּרָה (bara) in Genesis 1:1 is in the singular. This linguistic pattern is well known and widely used throughout the Jewish Scriptures. For example, I am certain that many readers are familiar with the Hebrew word חַיִים (chayim), meaning “life.” Notice that this word contains the identical plural suffix “im,” as inElohim, yet it repeatedly means “life”, in the singular, throughout the Bible. Examples are:
And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life חַיִים (chayim) be to me?”
(Genesis 27:46)
Last edited:
Guno צְבִי
We fight, We win
Elohim
’Elohim, in the first verse of Genesis, does not show the existence of a plurality of persons in the God of Israel. Concerning human authority, it may indicate a plurality of persons. We read in Exodus 22:8: “Both parties shall come before the ’elohim [“judges”], and whom the ’elohim [“judges”] shall condemn, he shall pay double to his neighbor.” However, Jacob wrestles with one being, yet that being is referred to as ’elohim (Genesis 32:31); and the angel that appears to Manoah, the father of Samson, is also referred to as ’elohim (Judges 13:22). Note the words used by the woman in speaking to Saul when, upon seeing Samuel, she exclaims: “I see’elohim coming up out of the earth” (1 Samuel 28:13). Here, ’elohim is followed by the verb in the plural. Yet only a single individual is referred to, as is seen from verse 14: “And he said to her: ‘What is his appearance?’ And she said: ‘An old man is coming up; and he is wrapped in a robe.’” Thus, even joined to a plural verb the noun may still refer to a single individual.
’Elohim means “gods” only when the Bible applies this plural word to pagan deities. The pagan Philistines apply the title ’elohim to their god Dagon (Judges 16:23-24, 1 Samuel 5:7). The Moabites, likewise, used the word ’elohim to describe their god Chemosh (Judges 11:24). If trinitarian Christians are correct in their argument that the use of ’Elohim with a singular verb means there are three coeternal, coequal persons in one god, then the same thing must be true for the Philistine god Dagon and the Moabite god Chemosh. They must be respectively a plurality of persons in one god. How else could trinitarians explain the Philistines saying of Dagon: “Our god [’eloheinu] has delivered” (Judges 16:24)? Here, the verb is singular, yet the subject is, literally, “our gods” in the plural. We see further in Judges 11:24: “Will you not possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess?” Chemosh is in the singular number, and in apposition with it is ’elohecha (literally “your gods”), which is in the plural number ,see also Judges 6:31: “If he [Ba‘al] is a god [’elohim]”).
’Elohim, in the first verse of Genesis, does not show the existence of a plurality of persons in the God of Israel. Concerning human authority, it may indicate a plurality of persons. We read in Exodus 22:8: “Both parties shall come before the ’elohim [“judges”], and whom the ’elohim [“judges”] shall condemn, he shall pay double to his neighbor.” However, Jacob wrestles with one being, yet that being is referred to as ’elohim (Genesis 32:31); and the angel that appears to Manoah, the father of Samson, is also referred to as ’elohim (Judges 13:22). Note the words used by the woman in speaking to Saul when, upon seeing Samuel, she exclaims: “I see’elohim coming up out of the earth” (1 Samuel 28:13). Here, ’elohim is followed by the verb in the plural. Yet only a single individual is referred to, as is seen from verse 14: “And he said to her: ‘What is his appearance?’ And she said: ‘An old man is coming up; and he is wrapped in a robe.’” Thus, even joined to a plural verb the noun may still refer to a single individual.
’Elohim means “gods” only when the Bible applies this plural word to pagan deities. The pagan Philistines apply the title ’elohim to their god Dagon (Judges 16:23-24, 1 Samuel 5:7). The Moabites, likewise, used the word ’elohim to describe their god Chemosh (Judges 11:24). If trinitarian Christians are correct in their argument that the use of ’Elohim with a singular verb means there are three coeternal, coequal persons in one god, then the same thing must be true for the Philistine god Dagon and the Moabite god Chemosh. They must be respectively a plurality of persons in one god. How else could trinitarians explain the Philistines saying of Dagon: “Our god [’eloheinu] has delivered” (Judges 16:24)? Here, the verb is singular, yet the subject is, literally, “our gods” in the plural. We see further in Judges 11:24: “Will you not possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess?” Chemosh is in the singular number, and in apposition with it is ’elohecha (literally “your gods”), which is in the plural number ,see also Judges 6:31: “If he [Ba‘al] is a god [’elohim]”).
BidenPresident
Verified User
Bonus points to those who recognize two letters that make two words plural.
Thank God I am not Jewish.
AProudLefty
Black Kitty Ain't Happy
LOL. It's strange that it has to be read from right to left.