Understanding Elohim

The following is an except from HIS NAME FOREVER: The Story Behind the Name of God.  The book can be purchased online .  Go to http://www.irisforeman.com for more information.

When we open the first book of the Bible, Genesis, we are introduced to the Creator of all  things, the Most High, whom our English Bibles identify simply as God. The very first verse in our Bibles identifies Him as such. Actually, the English word god, used to refer to Him in the Scriptures, is translated from the Hebrew word elohim. Elohim is a plural form of the word el.[i] Elohim, however, is what He is and not His name. El means “power” or  “might.”

Elohim is a general term used for the Most High as well as for other “mighty” or powerful” beings such as idols, angels, or even human rulers who are perceived as great[ii]. For example, the word el is the name of the high power among the Canaanites. This simple word is actually common to the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic languages, yet the origin and root from which the word was derived is obscure. Both el and its plural, elohim, were used before the earth was destroyed by the flood when only Noah and his family were  the sole human survivors. These words continued to be used after this period.

In Genesis 31, for example, the word elohim is used in reference to idols. This chapter relates the story of an encounter between Jacob and his father-in-law, Laban. Jacob was the grandson of Abraham, the Hebrew whom the Most High called to leave his family and go to a land that He would show him. Among those whom Abraham left behind was his brother Nahor. Through the years, Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac became the father of Jacob. Meanwhile, Nahor fathered Bethuel, and Bethuel became the father of Laban. When Jacob came of age, his parents wanted him to have a wife from their own family. Jacob ended up settling down with the two daughters of his kinsman Laban, Leah and Rachel.

Although the family of Abraham and the family of his brother Nahor shared the same bloodline, spiritually they were different. Abraham had a direct encounter and covenant with the Most High, and he and his descendents worshiped and served this  one power. However, Nahor’s family, of whom Laban was a descendent, continued  in pagan worship like the people among whom they lived.

After living with and working for his father-in-law Laban for many years, Jacob packs up his family and his livestock and leaves without word to return to the land of his birth. Without Jacob’s knowledge, Rachel, Jacob’s beloved wife, takes some of the idols from her father’s house and packs them with her belongings. When Laban realizes that Jacob has departed, he soon discovers that some of his idols are missing as well. Upset over his discovery, Laban runs in pursuit and approaches Jacob to inquire why Jacob left in secret. Laban then asks Jacob, “Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods?” (Genesis 31:30). The word translated as gods comes from the same Hebrew root word elohim. In this passage, the term elohim refers to the idols. Clearly, Laban is not referring to the Most High but instead to portable household objects of worship.

Another example of the term elohim used in reference to so-called powers or idols occurs in the book of Exodus when Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt. The Israelites are the descendents of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Moses gathers the children of Israel together to tell them the commandments of the Most High. He tells them to listen, learn, and observe so they can obey the statutes and ordinances that the Most High commanded as part of His covenant with them. Moses begins to repeat the very words given him. He quotes, “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me” (Deuteronomy 5:6–7). Here again, the word translated as gods is from the Hebrew word elohim. It is interesting to note that the words “your God,” referring to the Most High, come from the same Hebrew word elohim. In this particular instance, the word has a different Hebrew ending that is specifically used when including the second person possessive pronoun your.  In Hebrew, a pronoun suffix is added to a noun to indicate the possessive. This is unlike English, in which the possessive pronoun is a word separate and distinct from its noun.

So as you can see, the English translations of el and elohim, as used in the Old Testament, can be used to refer to any mighty power in general. Similarly, the English word god  most commonly used to translate these terms can refer to a pagan deity or even  idols. Many Christians learn as children that the word god refers to the Most High when the first letter is capitalized, i.e., God. This method does help a reader to identify Him when reading the Scriptures. However, a listener must learn to differentiate the general from the specific by carefully discerning the context of what is being said.

Therefore, the specific entity that this term refers to depends on the intention of the speaker or writer. For example, a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and tribal religionist all may use the word god to refer to their respective mighty ones, but the identity of each power is not necessarily clear because the term god is so general. However, if they each called their mighty one by his personal name, then the identity of that power would be certain.

The English word god and the Hebrew word elohim are common nouns, not proper  nouns. For example, a man may have a son whom he names Johnny. He may address him as “son.” However, “son” is not his name. “Son” essentially describes who Johnny is to that man. In fact, almost half of the world’s population may claim ownership to the term “son” because all males are sons of someone. Even though Johnny may be called “son” by others who hear his father calling him that, “son” is not his personal or proper name—regardless of whether you capitalize the S in the same way that people capitalize the G in God.

Another term used in the English translations of the Scriptures to refer to the power who created the heavens and earth is Most High God. This term is translated from the Hebrew words El Elyon. We have already indicated that el has been translated in our English Bibles as god. The second Hebrew word in this descriptive term is Elyon, which, among its many other meanings means “high” or “most high.” This very descriptive title that is ascribed to the Creator of the heavens and earth by the writers of the Scriptures suggests that the Mighty One of Israel was not the only recognizable power that people acknowledged. To say that He was the high or most high power implies the notion that other lesser powers either existed or were thought to exist. Any Old Testament reader would be able to name at least one or two powers that the pagan nations and, at one
time, Israel worshiped. Among the forbidden powers were the Baals, Asherah,
Molech, Chemosh, Egyptian gods, and others.[iii] The books in the New Testament also reveal that people believed in the existence of other mighty ones besides the Mighty One of Israel just as we saw in Acts when Paul went to Athens and saw all the monuments to the Greek deities. So for us to say we worship or love God, as many of us are or have been quick to exclaim, really imposes on the listener to ask, “Which one?”