In this video, we dive into the meaning and usage of the Hebrew word “Elohim,” a term often translated as “God” in English. We will explore its unique grammatical structure, including why it is plural in form but singular in meaning when referring to the God of Israel. We will also discuss the concept of invariant nouns—nouns that don’t change form between singular and plural—and how they function in Hebrew and English.
Whether you are studying biblical texts, learning Hebrew, or just curious about language, this video will give you a solid understanding of these fascinating concepts. So join us as we learn the God Honest Truth about the words elohim and god.
Series Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZk643l4iAPVUacpvZpG50QocAoXHSxnD
Transcript
Do you know what the word God means? Have you ever heard the word Elohim? Well, allow me to challenge you on what that word God means and see if it challenges what you understand it to mean right now. We’ll also explain what the word Elohim means and how that applies to this subject of the Godhead. All coming up in this teaching. So this teaching is going to be all about the word God and also the Hebrew word Elohim.
And like I said, if you haven’t heard that before, don’t worry, you’re going to learn a lot about it in this teaching. Now if you’d like more information or if you’d like the notes that we took for this subject, go down below and click on the link in the description and that’ll take you directly to the article post on our website at godhonesttruth.com. And there you’ll be able to find on one page the on-demand video, you’ll be able to find the slides that you see here on your screen, and you’ll also be able to see the notes that we took for the subject as well as a transcript if that happens to be of any benefit to you.
So go check it out on godhonesttruth.com or go down in the description and click on the convenient link that is placed for you down there. And it should be there whether you’re listening on an audio podcasting platform or whether you’re watching through a video platform. So just to recap real quick, the purpose of this Godhead series is so that you can start from a point of not knowing anything about what the Godhead is. Now if you’re just joining us in this series, we would invite you to go back and watch episode one to get more caught up.
But just to recap real quick, the Godhead is a study of what the nature or makeup or essence of God is. More specifically to the point at hand, how many is God? The purpose of the series is also so that you can learn what scripture actually says about the Godhead and then decide for yourself which version or concept of the Godhead that you most align with. Or maybe none of this makes sense to you and you don’t want to decide on any one particular concept and that’s okay too.
But the purpose of this series is to give you a basis and a scriptural foundation to be able to make that decision if you so choose. Now series recap, we’ve only done one episode so far, but back in episode one, we did the introduction to the series, what the Godhead is, and we went over some brief terminology real quick. We went over, like I said, the purpose of the series, what the series will cover, what the series will also not cover and also not include.
We went over various terminology like fear mongering, exegesis and eisegesis, the name Yahweh, the name Yeshua, Elohim real quick, but tonight’s drosh is going to be a more in-depth study and teaching on the word Elohim. We also went over real quickly the various concepts of the Godhead, such as Trinitarianism, Benetarianism, Biblical Unitarianism, and oneness or modalism. We also went over the terms heresy and orthodoxy and took a quick look at what is salvation, all for the purpose of getting you ready to go through this series.
So if you haven’t watched it already, go back and watch episode one to get caught up to where we’re at now. So before we get into the words God and Elohim, let’s first look at what names and titles actually are. And this is so you can understand better the difference between what a name is and what a title is so we go on through this series and especially on tonight in the words God and Elohim and understand when you look at a word, whether it’s a name or whether it’s a title because that becomes very important.
Starting off with names from Merriam-Webster, the entry here states that a name is a word or phrase that constitutes the distinctive designation of a person or a thing. A name can also signify a reputation of someone and that really goes into the Hebraic way of thinking. When they say something about someone’s name, a lot of times it really means someone’s reputation or authority. From thefreedictionary.com, name a word or words by which an entity is designated and distinguished from others.
Notice that distinguished from others. Also representation or repute as opposed to reality, a reputation, a distinguished reputation and from thecambridgedictionary, a name is the word or words that a person, thing or place is known by, the opinion or reputation that someone or something has. So that’s what a name is, is a specific identifier of a specific entity. Going on looking at titles, what’s the difference between a name and a title? According to Merriam-Webster, a title is a descriptive name or an appellation, an appellation of dignity, honor, distinction or preeminence attached to a person or family by virtue of rank, office, precedent, privilege, attainment or lands or a person holding a title especially of nobility.
From the Cambridge Dictionary, title, a word that is used before someone’s name, stating their social rank, qualifications, position in an organization, gender, et cetera, sort of like Mr. or Mrs. in the gender category. From again the Cambridge Dictionary, a title, a word or phrase that shows a person’s rank or job, a word that is sometimes used in front of someone’s name to show their position or the name of a particular job in an organization. So, a title somewhat differs from a name.
A name is specific to a person but many different people can hold the same title. Let’s look at some practical application of the differences between names and titles and see if you can actually figure out which part is the name and which part is the title in the following examples. Number one, if I were to say the phrase, President Donald Trump, now here we have both a title and a name. President is the title whereas Donald Trump is the name.
Now, that title President is applied to many different people. You’ve got President Donald Trump, you’ve got President Joe Biden, you’ve got President Barack Obama, you’ve got President George Bush and various other presidents around the world and other countries too when they so choose that title President. But many people have the title of President. However, the name in this example, Donald Trump, is specific to one individual person. Not a lot of people or probably not anyone else has the name Donald Trump.
It’s specific to one individual. Does that make sense? Again, let’s look at the example Pope Francis. What is the title and what is the name? Hopefully, you’ve got it figured out by now but Pope is the title and Francis is the name. Again, there’s been many different popes all holding that same position so therefore it’s a title but Francis is the name specific to a particular individual. Let’s look at the example Jesus Christ. Well, Jesus is the name and Christ is the title.
Christ simply means anointed one. That same thing as the Hebrew word Mashiach. Mashiach means anointed one. Just one’s Greek or comes from the Greek and one comes from the Hebrew. There are various people throughout scripture and throughout history that have been held the title of anointed one. Both of the righteous in scripture and also of the pagan ones outside of scripture. However, very few have the name Jesus and particularly the most famous one of all is the son of Yahweh himself.
So, Jesus the name is referring to a specific individual. Yahweh Elohim. Can you see which one is the name and which one is the title in this example? Well, Yahweh is the name and Elohim is the title. Now, we’re going to be getting more into the word Elohim but just for starters know that Elohim is a title that can be applied to many different entities. However, Yahweh is a name that is specific to the one true God who created the heavens and the earth and everything that exists.
There’s only one Yahweh. But there, stay with me here, don’t jump to conclusions, but there have been many Elohim and many in scripture who have been called Elohim, held that title or been referred to by that title. So, just stay with me, put the rocks down, we’ll get to it in just a moment when we look more into depth about the word Elohim and what it actually means. So, right before we get to the word Elohim, let’s look at a concept called invariant nouns.
Invariant nouns are also referred to by the word or the phrase invariant noun, invariant plural, base plural, etc. But basically, an invariant noun from Wiktionary.com is a noun in which number is not marked, that is a noun which does not change form in the plural, such as in English, fish, and series. From, again, Wiktionary.org, a few English nouns do not change when inflected into the plural. These are known as invariant nouns. From Teflopedia.com, an uninflected plural, zero plural, or invariant plural, or base plural, is a plural noun that is identical to its singular form and is therefore an irregular plural.
So, let’s go over some examples for a practical application to understand what an invariant noun is. In English, we have some common nouns that you can distinguish between the singular and the plural. For instance, you have child. In the singular, it’s one child, but when you get to the plural, it’s like two children or three children. The form changes. Also, with the word mouse, you’d have one mouse in the singular, but in the plural, you would have two mice or three mice.
And lastly, the word book, one book, or when you change it to the plural, two books or three books. So, this is commonly how nouns in the English language changes form when it goes from the singular to the plural to indicate whether or not it is singular or plural. But there are some invariant nouns in English. For example, the word aircraft. In the singular, that’s one aircraft, but in the plural, you have two aircraft or three aircraft.
The word and the pronunciation stay the same. Another example, deer. In the singular, you have one deer, but when you go to the plural, it’s still deer, two deer, three deer. Still spelled the same, still pronounced the same. And lastly, moose. You have one moose in the singular or two moose or three moose in the plural. Still same spelling, still the same pronunciation. And there’s a lot of examples of invariant nouns within English. Oh, one more.
Sorry, species. You have one species in the singular or two species or three species in the plural. So, again, an invariant noun is a noun that does not change form from the singular to the plural. So, some common nouns in Hebrew, just to show you how Hebrew traditional, I’m sorry, usually conjugates there between the singular and the plural. Anyways, some common nouns. The word for boy in Hebrew is yeled. So, you have, it’s going to be some mixture of some English and Hebrew, but this is just to help you understand the concept.
Anyways, you have in the singular, one yeled, one boy. In the plural, you would spell it and pronounce it differently, just like we do in our common nouns when we go into the plural. So, for yeled in the plural, it would be yeledim, two yeledim or three yeledim. For a horse, soos. In the singular, you would have one soos. But in the plural, you would have two soosim or three soosim. Likewise, the word for books, sefer.
In the singular, you would have one sefer. But in the plural, you would have two seferim or three seferim. See how it changes? And this is regarding masculine nouns. To ordinarily change a masculine noun into the plural, you would add the ending im onto the end of it. So, soos or soosim, sefer or seferim. However, there are some words in Hebrew that are spelled and constructed like you normally would a plural noun. Words such as elohim and hanim, which means face.
Both these words and also some other words are spelled and constructed like you normally would a plural noun, but they are used in a singular fashion to indicate something that is singular. Sometimes it can be plural, but other times it is singular. So, how do you know the difference? You would look at the surrounding context, some of the verbs and adjectives and stuff around it, and if the verbs and the adjectives around the word are singular, then elohim or hanim is in the singular.
If the verbs and the adjectives are in the plural, then elohim or hanim would be taken in the plural. Anyways, just a quick note on this word hanim, which means face. The Strong’s definition for the Strong’s word H6440, hanim, the Strong’s entry states that hanim is plural, but always as singular. Very bluntly. What we just explained here, that hanim, even though it’s constructed in the plural like you normally would, like you would normally make a noun plural, it’s constructed in the plural, but it’s used in the singular.
Anyways, meaning a face from Brown, Driver, Briggs, feminine face, also faces from the Jesenius’s Hebrew lexicon appears and means face, properly the part turned towards anyone, and these are cut down. If you want the full notes and the full entries, we have those in our notes on our website at godhonesttruth.com. Click on the post for this drash. An example here, real quick, for hanim. In Genesis chapter 4, verses 5 and 6, this is Yahweh speaking to Cain, but he, meaning Yahweh, did not look to Cain and his offering, and Cain was very wroth, and his face, or hanim, fell, and Yahweh said to Cain, why is he wroth toward you, and why is your face, hanim, fallen? Well, Cain only has one face, so we know it’s singular just from logic and reason.
However, hanim is in the plural. I’m sorry, it’s constructed like you normally would in the plural. However, it still has a singular meaning, and if you delve into the Hebrew, you can also tell this from the surrounding grammar that it’s all singular, so therefore, hanim is singular, even though it’s constructed like you normally would a plural noun, and this goes right hand in hand with the word that we’re going to examine next, the word elohim. So, elohim, you may or may not have heard this before.
If you go to a mainstream church, you might not have heard this before, but if you go to a messianic congregation, or if you’ve been following us for a while, you hear it all the time in the Torah readings, right? Elohim, but what does elohim actually mean? Well, when the King James translators went through and translated into English the word elohim, they translated it as God, uppercase G, God, lowercase g, Judge, God with all capital letters, Goddess, Great, Mighty, Angels, Exceeding, God Word, or Godly.
In the outline of biblical usage, and this is coming from blueletterbible.org, by the way, outline of biblical usage, it means rulers or judges, divine ones, angels, gods in the plural intensive, meaning a singular meaning. So, even here, they’re acknowledging that elohim is used in the singular as well, but it means God or goddess, godlike one, works or special possessions of God, the true God or God. So, this word elohim has been translated into various ways by different translations.
So, get a more in-depth look into what elohim actually means. Let’s get nerdy and go back to the lexicon. Strong’s number H430, elohim. Strong’s entry states that elohim means, it’s the plural of H433, which is Eloah, and it means gods in the ordinary sense, but specifically used in the plural, thus, especially with the article of the supreme God, occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates and sometimes as a superlative. From Driver-Briggs, plural in number when it’s used for rulers or judges or divine ones or angels or gods, etc., in the plural intensive, meaning singular, it means God or goddess or godlike one.
Decenius’ Hebrew lexicon, used in Hebrew in a plural sense of gods or deities in general, whether true or false, once applied to kings in a singular sense of one god, of an idol, a god of the Gentiles, the god of anyone is the god whom anyone worships, etc., etc. And again, we had to cut these down to fit on the slides here, but if you would like the full entry, again, go check out the notes on godhonesttruth.com.
From Jastrow’s Dictionary of the Targums, Elohim, God, plural of majesty, deities, or powers. But, going on, looking at the Encyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, for the entry on God, it has a section regarding Elohim, and it says that some propose to point Yahweh, or Javeh, they got it spelled here, meaning the existing one, holding the Elohim is used merely to indicate the abundance and super richness contained in the divine being. Elohim is the abstract expression for absolute deity, apart from the special notions of unity, holiness, substance, etc.
It is more a philosophical than devotional term, and corresponds with our term, deity, in the same way as state or government is abstractly expressive of a king or monarch. As we said, Elohim can be either singular or plural. It all depends on the context. Let’s give you an example real quick. Genesis chapter 1, verse 1, way back at the very beginning. And in the Scriptures 2009, it reads like this. In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth.
So, is this referring to singular or plural? Is it referring to a god, or the god, or gods? How do we know? Well, once again, look at the surrounding context. In the Hebrew, it’s Barashit bara Elohim et ha-shamayim wa-et ha-aretz. And the word you need to look for here is bara. That goes with Elohim. What does bara mean? Bara means to create, or he created. In this conjugation, as it’s used in Genesis chapter 1, verse 1.
And look this up. Go to paleem.com, and you can see that bara means he created. It’s in the third person past tense masculine singular. Meaning Elohim or Yahweh created. So, it’s in the singular, meaning that Elohim is to be taken in the singular. And therefore, it’s only speaking about one god, who is one, according to the Shema. Another example, Exodus chapter 18, verse 11. From the Scriptures 2009. Know that I, I’m sorry. Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the mighty ones, or Elohim, indeed in the matter in which they acted proudly above them.
So, here, most translations, as you can see here from the Scriptures 2009, from the LSB, from the ESV, etc., all translate this word Elohim into the plural. And they take it as a plural. Here you can see ha-Elohim. So, again, look at the surrounding context, and the verbs and adjectives that go with that word. And you can see that Elohim here should be taken in the plural, and it is translated correctly into the word gods. So, Elohim can actually be conjugated in a various number of ways.
As you can see here on your screen. And, again, go to payalim.com and check this out for yourself if you’d like to. So, you can see here it’s translated as Eloheha, Eloheinu, etc., etc., depending on whether you want it in the first person, second person, third person, singular or plural. And not every instance of Elohim in the plural means that it’s gods. Sometimes it can mean the plural as our god, our being the plural part of it, as distinct from something like my god.
An example here real quick. Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4, the Shema, and from the Scriptures 2009 translation. Here, O Yisrael, Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is one. In the Hebrew, it’s Shema Yisrael, Yahweh Eloheinu, Yahweh Echad. You can see that conjugation right there of the word Elohim. Here it’s got it conjugated as Eloheinu. Eloheinu is the conjugation for our Elohim or our god. So, how do we know whether or not the Elohim part is plural or singular? Well, look at the surrounding context.
You can see only one, quote unquote, god is mentioned. That’s Yahweh, the god, the one and only true god. You can also see at the very end of the Shema, it states that Yahweh is one. All different clues that can point to the fact that Elohim here is to be taken in the singular, not the plural. It’s not that Yahweh is our gods. No, Yahweh is our god, singular. So, that’s a little bit more in depth on what Elohim actually means.
It’s a title which can be used of various people and entities. It’s used in scripture of not only the gods, but also the false gods or the pagans. It’s used of angels. It’s used of the judges of Israel. It’s used of Moses, etc., etc. So, Elohim means something like mighty, mighty one, mightiest of the mighty, etc., etc. When I was doing my research on Yom Kippurim, I was wondering why Yom Kippurim was constructed in the plural, even though Yom Kippurim is just one day.
And that’s how scripture actually uses the word or the phrase. It says Yom Kippurim. And when I got to researching into it, I come across this notion that when something is spelled in the plural like that to indicate something that is singular, it can go on to mean something like the plural intensive. I’m sorry. Yeah, the plural of intensity, meaning much more than just the regular usage of the term. So, Elohim is used a lot like that, especially when it’s used in the singular for the one true God.
But it’s still a title and you have to determine from the context of the Hebrew whether or not it is singular or plural. English won’t give you the context if you’re looking to question the translators. You have to look into the Hebrew. And you can do that, even if you don’t know Hebrew. Like I said, go back to Tehillim and you can find various words, all their conjugations, and it’ll tell you whether it’s first person, third person, feminine, masculine, singular, or plural.
Very handy resource. But Elohim, you have to determine from the context of the Hebrew to decide whether or not it is singular or plural. But however, it is a title. And it’s a title that is translated into the English as a couple of different words. But the main word that’s translated into English as is God. So, what is this word God? You think you know what God means, but do you really? From the Encyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, God, connotation of the term God, the word theos, God, taken to signify an object of religious veneration, was formally applied to the pretended deities of the heathen.
And accordingly, theos and deus were employed by the promulgators of the gospel when calling on the heathen to transfer their worship from their idols to Jehovah. But the word God has come to signify, in Christian use, the maker and ruler of the world, and is absolutely and exclusively applied to him. There is one God, in the Christian sense, and there can be but one. Amen. Again, from the Encyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, God, from the same Saxon root as good, thus beautifully expressing the divine benignity of the leading attribute of the most general term, or the deity.
The only other Hebrew word generally employed in naming the supreme being is Jehovah, or Yahweh, which some propose to point Yahweh, or Yahweh, meaning the existing one. From Merriam-Webster.com, God, the entry for God, means the supreme or ultimate reality, such as the being perfect in power, or in Christian science, the incorporeal divine principle ruling over all as eternal spirit. Number two, or as less commonly, God. Number three, a person or thing of supreme value. Or number four, a powerful ruler.
From the Cambridge Dictionary, God, a spirit or being believed to control some part of the universe or life, and often worshiped for doing so, or something that represents the spirit or being. In some religions, the being who made the universe and is believed to have an effect on all things. So, God can mean different things to different people at different times, in different cultures, in different parts of the world. And it’s a word that can be applied to many different entities.
So, since it can be applied to many different entities, what does that make it, a name or a title? It makes it a title. The word God is a title, it’s not a name. Growing up in the Baptist church, we always thought and always believed that the name of the almighty creator of heaven and earth was named God. And that’s simply not true. When you say the word God around a Muslim, they think of someone different than Yahweh.
When you say it around a Hindu, they think of someone different. Multiple people different than Yahweh. Et cetera, et cetera, because the word God is a title. Just like when here in America, we use the word president. And we don’t put a name behind it. That can mean to an American, usually the sitting president at the time, but it can also refer to past presidents. Like we use the word president, right now the sitting president is Joe Biden, but depending on the context of the speech, it can also refer to President Trump, President Obama, President Bush, et cetera, et cetera.
Because they still use those titles even after they’re out of office. You go to another country and you use the word president, they might understand you as referring to their president. Because just like God, president is a title. And if you say God around various people, they could take it in various ways. But Yahweh is a name and only refers to one specific entity. The one true God of reality, actually. The one who created everything. But this word God is just a title that can be applied to various people and various entities.
The word God in our English translation is actually translated from various sources. It’s translated from the name Yahweh. It’s translated from the title Elohim. It’s translated from the title El and Eloah. So, God is very generic, actually. More generic than you might think, anyways. It can be applied to various people at various times for various circumstances, et cetera, et cetera. An example, let’s look at right here real quick. Psalms, chapter 72, verse 18. Blessed be Yahweh Elohim, Elohim of Israel.
He is doing, He alone is doing wonders. So, here you can see Yahweh Elohim. You’ve got both the name Yahweh and the title Elohim. In the LSB, it translates it as Yahweh God. Here you’ve got the name Yahweh and the title God. ESV, look at it yourself. It says, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. They left some stuff out. They messed that one up. In the King James, it says, Blessed be the Lord God.
Now here, Lord is in all caps indicating that that word is being translated from the Tetragrammaton. So, Lord is not a name, but it’s coming from the divine name. And God is the title that is applied to Yahweh. So, again, just reemphasizing this point that the word God is not a name. It’s a title that’s applied not only to Yahweh, but also to other people. Genesis, chapter 30, verse 11. This is going to be eye-opening because I just got done saying that most people will think of the word God as a name for the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth, but that rather God is a title.
Well, let me caveat that real quick by saying that there are actually just one instance in the Bible where the word God is actually a name. Genesis, chapter 30, verse 11. And Leah said, Fortune comes, so she called his name God. If you look at the Hebrew right here, it’s spelled Gimel Dalet. But the Gimel has a Kamatz, Nakud, or vowel marking on it. The Kamatz in modern Hebrew is pronounced with the ah sound. So, G-ah-d, God.
And Biblical Hebrew is still pronounced with the ah sound. It’s still pronounced the same way. So, back in the day, they still would have pronounced it God. So, she called his name God. Now, this son of Leah and Jacob was not the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. His name is Yahweh. So, the son of Leah and Jacob, his name is God. So, when you use the word God as a name, know who you’re actually referring to.
It’s not the supreme ruler of the universe. One mistake I used to make, and a mistake that some other people make, is thinking that God as a name is used in another part of the Bible as well. Let’s look at Isaiah, chapter 65, verse 11. But you are those who forsake Yahweh, who forget my set-apart mountain, who prepare a table for Gad, and who fill a drink offering for many. Now, here, this word Gad is still spelled with the same Hebrew letters, Gimel and Dalet.
However, the Gimel has a patach, nekud, or vowel sound. And the patach in modern Hebrew pronunciation has that same ah sound. So, if you’re doing it in modern Hebrew pronunciation, it would be God, right? But Biblical Hebrew is pronounced differently. That patach is pronounced with an ah sound. So, G-ah-d, Gad. See the difference? Here, this word Gad is the name of a false god. So, Gad is a name, but it’s not pronounced God, it’s pronounced Gad.
Nerdy, I know, but it’s important to know. I’m not saying that God is the name of a pagan deity, it’s not. God, as a name, is used of one of the sons of Jacob and Lamb, but it’s not used of a pagan deity here in Isaiah 65, 11. It’s actually Gad, if you want to get technical about it. And I do, because I’m nerdy like that, and presented it for your information. And as a side note, if you would like to learn Biblical Hebrew, not modern Hebrew, but Biblical Hebrew, go check out the resources on our website at godhonesttruth.com, especially the Hebrew course from Master’s Seminary.
Starts you out from knowing nothing, learn the alphabet, the vowel pointings, how to pronounce them, etc., etc. Very good course, go check that out. That’s really where I learned the difference between modern and Biblical Hebrew, and the differences, and it educated me and opened my eyes that Isaiah 65, 11, it didn’t have the name for a pagan deity pronounced as God, it’s actually Gad. But moving on, more on the title, God, Exodus chapter 4, verse 16.
In the Scriptures 2009, it states, And he shall speak for you to the people, and it shall be that he shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be an Elohim for him. In the LSB, the emphasized part is, you will become as God to him. In the ESV, you shall be as God to him. And this is speaking about Moses, saying that Moses will be as God, or even as a God, to Pharaoh. This is reemphasizing the point that both Elohim and the word God are titles that can be applied not only to Yahweh, but also to other people.
It’s a designation of rank, or authority, something like that, but it’s not a name. Psalms, chapter 82, verses 1 through 8, and we’ll break this down a little bit more on two particular verses, but let’s read the whole chapter real quick, just to give you some context about what’s going on here. Psalms, chapter 82, verses 1 through 8. Psalms, chapter 82, verses 1 through 8. Lots of stuff going on here, or so it seems, anyways. But here, we see Elohim stands in the congregation of El.
Who’s this first Elohim that’s talking about here? Well, this is in reference to Yahweh. But on down, it still uses the word Elohim, but it’s not referring to Yahweh. Psalms, chapter 82, and verse 1. Elohim stands in the congregation of El. He judges in the midst of the Elohim. The LSV translates it as, God takes his stand in the congregation of God. He judges in the midst of God’s, plural. In the ESV, God has taken his place in the divine council.
In the midst of the God’s, he holds judgment. Wow, are we getting into blasphemy and heresy here? Or is the scripture actually stating there are multiple gods? Well, in a sense, yeah. Just not in the sense that most, in churchianity, would take the word God to mean. If you take the word God to only ever mean the one true God, then saying that there are multiple gods, yeah, that’s heretical, that’s blasphemy. Because there’s only one true God.
Only one true creator of heaven and earth. However, when you come to understand what the word Elohim and God actually means, as a title and not a name, it makes more sense when the scriptures talk about multiple gods, as it does here in Psalms chapter 82. So here, it’s not talking about multiple gods that are like Yahweh, that’s on the same level as Yahweh. Because there’s not. We’re told that none was created before Yahweh, none will be created after.
He is Yahweh alone. So, there’s none that’s on his level or even comes close to his level. So, the word God and Elohim doesn’t always mean the supreme one. It can be applied to various other entities. And here in the chapter Psalms 82, it’s referring to the judges of Israel. So, here it says, Elohim stands in the congregation of El. He judges in the midst of the Elohim. Psalms 82, verse 6, The LSB renders it as, The ESV, All of you.
And the King James Version. So, again, we can see here that the plural form is used. Elohim is taken in the plural. Translated in the plural, when we go to the English, it’s translated as gods, multiple gods. But you’ve got to understand, have a true understanding, of what Elohim and God actually means. When we have a true understanding, you’ll see that scripture is not creating or not speaking of blasphemy and heresy. It’s using it in a proper way.
We just need to realign ourselves to understand these words correctly. Let me back up real quick. Here in Psalms 82, verse 6, this, I would say, is referring to the judges of Israel. So, back in verse 1, I would say this is referring to the heavenly hosts, the angels, messengers, stuff like that. Might have misspoke before. Yeah, in 82, verse 6, referring to the judges of Israel, those who are in leadership positions. The word God can be applied to multiple entities, not just Yahweh.
It’s applied to Moses, as we saw. It’s applied to the angels. It’s applied to the judges of Israel. And even Yeshua himself references this very verse, Psalms 82, verse 6, all the way over in John, chapter 10, verses 31 to 36. From the LSB, The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, I showed you many good works from the Father. For which of them are you stoning me? The Jews answered him, For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy.
And because you, being a man, make yourself God. Jesus answered them, Has it not been written in your law, I said, you are gods? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, you are blaspheming? Because I said, I am the Son of God. So, he’s referencing back to Psalm 82, verse 6, when he tells these Pharisees that, you know, the scriptures call you gods.
So, how are you going to stone me, or blaspheme, when I just said, I’m the Son of God. Another particular point that relates to the subject of the Godhead real quick, in the context, you see that Yeshua is quoting scripture, saying that the judges or leaders of Israel were called gods. Now, the Jews, the Pharisees here, in my estimation, would most likely have been saying, For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy.
And because you, being a man, make yourself a God. Not the God, but a God. Look in the Greek here, where it says, Make yourself God. The word God, Theos, does not have the definite article. A lot of times in English, even when the Greek has a definite article, Hoseos, it still just translates into English as the simple word God, not the God. But when it’s referencing the God in the Greek, it’s actually referring to Yahweh.
However, here in this section from John chapter 10, where it says, Make yourself God. The word God there, Theos, does not have the definite article. So, in context of Yeshua saying that they were called gods, I think it would make much more sense for the Jews or the Pharisees here to be accusing him of making himself a God. Reread that with that change and see if that doesn’t make a lot more sense to the situation. But that’s just my little sidebar.
But yeah, they accuse him of blasphemy and Yeshua rebukes them, corrects them, and tells them, Hey, Scripture says that you are gods. Why are you calling me a blasphemer when I just say that I’m the son of God? Referencing back to Psalms chapter 82 verse 6. So, in summary, a name is a distinctive designation of a person or thing. Think back to the examples we had. Donald Trump is a name. Francis is a name. Yahweh is a name.
Jesus or Yeshua is a name. A title is a word describing dignity, honor, distinction, rank, or position. Lots of people can have the same title, like president or pope, but a title is not specific to any one individual, like a name is. An invariant noun is a word that is spelled the same in the singular and the plural. Elohim is a title, not a name. And Elohim means mighty, mighty one, mighty ones, mightiest of the mighty, etc., etc.
And the word God comes from the word Yahweh or Elohim, El or Eloah, etc. And lastly, the word God is a title, not a name, except in that one instance. But God, as we generally use it, is a title and applied to not only Yahweh, but also the false deities of the pagans, Moses, the angels, humans, etc. So, just because someone like Moses is called God, does it make him the God? Just because the false deities of the pagans are called God, does it make them the God? Just because the angels are called God, does it make them the God? See how that works? So, God is a title applied to various people, various entities, and it doesn’t always signify the one true God, Yahweh.
God is nothing more than just a title. Elohim is nothing more than just a title. And once again, Elohim is constructed in the plural, but you have to look at the context to determine whether or not it’s in the singular or the plural. And that’s just the God Honest Truth.
