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NASB | Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God (Elohim) created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth. [Heb 11:3] |
Bible Question:
Did you know that When used with singular verbs and adjectives elohim is usually singular, "god" or especially, the God. Mal 3:18 Then shall ye return, and ra ha (discern) between the Tzedek (righteous) and the rasha (wicked,) between him that serveth God (Elohim H430) and him that serveth him not. Isa 54:5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God (Elohim H430) of the whole earth shall he be called. KJV Elohim is a grammatically singular or plural noun for "god" or "gods" in both modern and ancient Hebrew language. When used with singular verbs and adjectives elohim is usually singular, "god" or especially, the God. When used with plural verbs and adjectives elohim is usually plural, "gods" or "powers". It is generally thought that Elohim is a formation from eloah, the latter being an expanded form of the Northwest Semitic noun il (el). 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. The word Elohim is the plural of El (or possibly Eloah) and is the first name of God given in the Old Testament: “In the beginning, God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth, (Gen. 1:1). “The name Elohim is unique to Hebraic thinking – it occurs only in Hebrew and in no other ancient Semitic language. The masculine plural ending does not mean “gods” when referring to the true God of Israel, since the name is mainly used with singular verb forms and with adjectives and pronouns in the singular (e.g. see Gen. 1:26).” [1] The form of the word Elohim, with the ending -im, is plural and masculine, but the construction is usually singular, i.e. it governs a singular verb or adjective when referring to the Hebrew god, but reverts to its normal plural when used of heathen divinities (Psalms 96:5; 97:7). There are many theories as to why the word is plural: The choice of the word for God varies in the Hebrew Bible. Some scholars view these variations as evidence of different source texts, the "documentary hypothesis." According to the proponents of this theory, Elohim is consistently used in texts that reflect the early northern traditions of the Kingdom of Israel, whereas Yahweh (Jehovah) is consistently used in texts that derive from the early southern traditions of the Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem. Hence, higher criticism has found it useful to distinguish between "E" traditions and "J" traditions, which they see as reflective of multiple sources and multiple authors for Genesis. See also the JEDP theory for extension of the documentary hypothesis to the idea of multiple sources and authorship for the entire Pentateuch. The JEDP theory seeks to understand the authorship of the Pentateuch in light of the Documentary Hypothesis. This view believes that the Pentateuch represents the conflation of four different sources rather than the work of primarily one author, traditionally Moses. The results of Source Criticism first proposed two authors (or sources) for the Pentateuch supposedly distinguishable by the use of the terms Yahweh and Elohim. Two additional sources were later proposed as P for Priestly, and D for Deuteronomic resulting in the JEDP theory of authorship, most notably associated with German scholar Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918). •JEDP Theory (basictheology.com) •Pentateuchal Studies Today by Gordon Wenham (1996) •The JEDP Theory from Wikipedia http://www.theopedia.com/Elohim |
Bible Answer: What I was taught in different classes was to translate elohim as gods or God based on context. Scanning through The Hebrew-English Concordance to the Old Testament I see numerous occurrences of elohim being translated as god in the NIV. See Ex 22:20, Num 4:34, Jdg 6:31, 8:33, 9:27, 1 Sam 4:7, 2 Ki 17:27, 18:33 and Jonah 1:5. Sometimes even God is referred to as god in 2 Sam 5:7, 21:20 and 2 ch 32:17. More interesting to look at are Gen 23:6, 30:8, Ex 18:19, 21:26, 22:8,9 34:16, Jdg 11:24, 16:23,24 , 17:5, 1 sam 5:7, 2 sam 11:33, 18:24,25,27, 2 ki 1:10, 16, 5:17, 19:10,37, Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7, Ps 8:5, 36:7, and Is 35:4 Sorry if I made any typos but there is plenty to look at. |