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ELOHIM

(Heb. ʾĕlōhîm)

The most frequent generic name for God in the OT; possibly a plural of Eloah, itself an expansion of El, “god.”

Elohim most naturally refers to a plurality of gods, e.g., those of Egypt (Exod. 12:12), Syria, Sidon, Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines (Judg. 10:6), and the Amorites (Josh. 24:15; Judg. 6:10). It is also used individually of Ashtaroth, Chemosh, and Milcom (1 Kgs. 11:33) and of Baal-zebub (2 Kgs. 1:2, 3, 6, 16). This constitutes a plural of intensification, i.e., the most important of the gods of a particular group.

Elohim is used with singular verbs and/or adjectives for the focus of Israelite worship, Yahweh. Often Elohim functions as an alternative divine name, as in the Elohistic Psalter (Pss. 42-83); e.g., the only significant difference between Pss. 14 and 53 is the use of Yahweh or Elohim respectively. A similar preference is used to delineate at least two sources in the Pentateuch by proponents of the documentary hypothesis.

Num. 23:19 is representative of the ancient belief that deities were fundamentally different from humans: “God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind” (cf. Isa. 31:3; 55:8-9; Hos. 11:9). An important distinction is the longevity of the gods; human mortality is a theme common to the Gilgamesh Epic (Mesopotamia), the story of Aqhat (Ugarit), and Gen. 3:22-24.

Some adjectival uses of Elohim are also best understood as intensive. For instance, since Nineveh takes three days to cross, Heb. ʿîr-gĕḏôlâ lēʾlōhîm (Jonah 3:3) means “an exceedingly large city.” Comparable instances include when ʾĕlōhîm modifies the pre-creation wind (Gen. 1:2), the fear that strikes the Philistines (1 Sam. 14:15), and Solomon’s wisdom (1 Kgs. 3:28). A nuance of great importance also underlies the limited use of Elohim for (living) humans: Moses will be “as God/a god” to Aaron and Pharaoh (Exod. 4:16; 7:1), and the king can be called “god” in comparison to his subjects (Ps. 45:6[MT 7]).

The characterization of Samuel’s ghost (1 Sam. 28:13) as an ʾĕlōhîm is different, reflecting the ancient belief in the deified dead (cf. the Rephaim at Ugarit). This is a possible (though not required) interpretation of ʾĕlōhîm in parallel with “the dead” in Isa. 8:19 as well.

See God, Names of (Old Testament).

Bibliography. H. Ringgren, “ʾelōhîm,” TDOT 1:267-84; K. van der Toorn, “God (I) fyhla,” DDD, 352-65.

John L. McLaughlin

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ELOHIM

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)