Editing Names of God in Judaism (section)

===Elohim===
{{Main|Elohim}}
A common name of God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim ({{lang|he|אלהים}}, {{transliteration|he|ʾĕlōhīm}}), the plural of {{lang|he|אֱלוֹהַּ}} ({{transliteration|he|Eloha}}). When Elohim refers to God in the Hebrew Bible, singular verbs are used. The word is identical to {{transliteration|he|elohim}} meaning gods and is cognate to the {{transliteration|he|'lhm}} found in [[Ugarit]]ic, where it is used for the pantheon of Canaanite gods, the children of El and conventionally vocalized as "Elohim" although the original Ugaritic vowels are unknown. When the Hebrew Bible uses {{transliteration|he|elohim}} not in reference to God, it is plural (for example, [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 20:2). There are a few other such uses in Hebrew, for example ''[[Behemoth]]''. In [[Modern Hebrew]], the singular word {{transliteration|he|ba'alim}} ('owner') looks plural, but likewise takes a singular verb.

A number of scholars have traced the etymology to the Semitic root {{lang|sem-x-proto|*yl}}, 'to be first, powerful', despite some difficulties with this view.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CmCVZ5mHsboC&q=elohim+etymology |author=Mark S. Smith |title=God in Translation: Deities in Cross-Cultural Discourse in the Biblical World |publisher=Coronet Books Incorporated |date=2008 |page=15|access-date=2011-12-05|isbn=978-3-16-149543-4 }}</ref> {{transliteration|he|Elohim}} is thus the plural construct 'powers'. [[Hebrew grammar]] allows for this form to mean "He is the Power (singular) over powers (plural)", just as the word {{transliteration|he|Ba'alim}} means 'owner' (see above). "He is lord (singular) even over any of those things that he owns that are lordly (plural)".

Theologians who dispute this claim cite the hypothesis that plurals of majesty came about in more modern times. Richard Toporoski, a classics scholar, asserts that plurals of majesty first appeared in the reign of [[Diocletian]] (CE&nbsp;284–305).<ref>R. Toporoski, "What was the origin of the royal 'we' and why is it no longer used?", ''[[The Times]]'', May 29, 2002. Ed. F1, p. 32</ref> Indeed, [[Wilhelm Gesenius|Gesenius]] states in his book ''Hebrew Grammar'' the following:<ref>''Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar'' (A. E. Cowley, ed., Oxford, 1976, p.398)</ref>

<blockquote>The Jewish grammarians call such plurals ... {{lang|la|plur. virium}} or {{lang|la|virtutum}}; later grammarians call them {{lang|la|plur. excellentiae}}, {{lang|la|magnitudinis}}, or {{lang|la|plur. maiestaticus}}.

This last name may have been suggested by the ''we'' used by kings when speaking of themselves (compare [[1 Maccabees]] 10:19 and 11:31); and the plural used by God in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 1:26 and 11:7; [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] 6:8 has been incorrectly explained in this way. It is, however, either ''communicative'' (including the attendant [[angels]]: so at all events in Isaiah 6:8 and Genesis 3:22), or according to others, an indication of ''the fullness of power and might'' implied. It is best explained as a plural of ''self-deliberation''. The use of the plural as a form of respectful address is quite foreign to Hebrew.</blockquote>

[[Mark S. Smith]] has cited the use of plural as possible evidence to suggest an evolution in the formation of early Jewish conceptions of [[monotheism]], wherein references to "the gods" (plural) in earlier accounts of verbal tradition became either interpreted as multiple aspects of a single monotheistic God at the time of writing, or subsumed under a form of [[monolatry]], wherein the god(s) of a certain city would be accepted after the fact as a reference to the God of Israel and the plural deliberately dropped.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CmCVZ5mHsboC&q=Mark+S.+Smith,+God+in+translation Mark S. Smith, ''God in Translation: Deities in Cross-Cultural Discourse in the Biblical World'', vol. 57 of Forschungen zum Alten Testament, Mohr Siebeck, 2008] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605042607/https://books.google.com/books?id=CmCVZ5mHsboC&q=Mark+S.+Smith,+God+in+translation |date=2023-06-05 }}, {{ISBN|978-3-16-149543-4}}, p. 19.; Smith, Mark S. (2002), "The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel" (Biblical Resource Series)</ref>

The plural form ending in {{transliteration|he|-im}} can also be understood as denoting abstraction, as in the Hebrew words {{transliteration|he|chayyim}} ({{lang|he|חיים}}, 'life') or {{transliteration|he|betulim}} ({{lang|he|בתולים}}, 'virginity'). If understood this way, {{transliteration|he|Elohim}} means 'divinity' or 'deity'. The word {{transliteration|he|chayyim}} is similarly syntactically singular when used as a name but syntactically plural otherwise. In many of the passages in which {{transliteration|he|elohim}} occurs in the Bible, it refers to non-Israelite deities, or in some instances to powerful men or judges, and even angels (Exodus 21:6, Psalms 8:5) as a simple plural in those instances.

{{anchor|Elohei}}