“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis 1:26
Trinitarian christians claim that God is plural because of Elohim . However adding the -im suffix in hebrew does not alywas show plurality but denotes abstract nouns or work as intesifiers . If we were to change the -im suffix to -oth, than Behemoth is given the plural ending but is still one creature. Examples of this can be seen in genesis 21:2 :
Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.
The word zequnim is used for old age, but though it appears in its plural form it is actually singular. In addition to this, we find in 1Sa 17:33, the word used for youths(ne’urim) is being used for the singular meaning:
1Sa 17:33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth[literally "youths"].
Finally an example of where Elohim is used in the singular can be seen in Exodus 7:1 :
Exo 7:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god(ELOHIM) to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
Here the word elohim used for Moses is singular, and not plural. How can we account for this? One must realize that the plurality of the word is often used as a matter of respect or greatness. We even find in todays languages, like French, that for respect the word ‘Vous’ is used to signify ‘you’ instead of ‘tu’, even though ‘Vous’ is literally used for a plural form, when addressing a huge group and ‘tu’ is used to address a singular person.
June 12, 2009 at 8:57 pm
The Hebrew word “elohim” is a third person masculine plural noun. It is grammatically always plural. It is used of the one true God Yahweh but when it is used of the true God “elohim” is generally followed by the singular verb. For instance Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God ["elohim"; plural noun] created ["bara"; singular]…”. “Elohim” is also used of false gods in the Old Testament, used of human judges and angels. The context is vital in the use of “elohim”. This noun is used of Yahweh more often than the other Hebrew words”el” and “eloah”.
The plural suffix “-im” can also denote greatness or magnification as in the creature Behemoth, but again context must be the determining factor in the meaning of a plural noun.
In Exodus 7:1 “elohim” is NOT singular, it is a plural noun. Consult with any Hebrew lexicon for this. This word is used of Moses in a representative sense as he comes to represent the true God.
The plurality within the unity of God is seen primarily in Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:6-7 and Isaiah 6:8. In Isaiah 6:8 note that Yahweh speaks using both the first person singular pronoun “I”, and the first person plural pronoun “us”.
It is a categorical fallacy to compare biblical Hebrew with modern usage of languages and their idioms. The ancient Hebrews had no concept of a plurality of majesty. This notion arose much later out of the monarchial system in Western Europe. The Jewish kings did not use the plurality of majesty in their edicts and decrees nor did Yahweh who was believed to be the true King.
Another important figure in the Old Testament is the Angel of Yahweh, a figure who is distinguished from Yahweh yet identified as Yahweh. For this see Genesis 19:24 and Zechariah 3:2.
The plural usage of “elohim” is not the main factor in belief in the Trinity. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity while foreshadowed and implicit in the Old Testament comes to its clearest manifestation in the New Testament with the coming of Jesus.
June 13, 2009 at 2:49 am
This is simply not true. Although the majestic plural did not function like the European majestic plural it does exist. For instance there are words in hebrew that express greatness like when Joseph is called the LORDS plural, or when a single god like chemoth is called elohim (though there is not an inclining that he is more than one) or when the single Golden calf fashioned by Aaron was called Elohim. Many abstract ideas like the word Elohim –which basic root comes from the abstract idea of “strength and power”– are magnified by adding an ending that is normally associated with plurality. In this instance the ending functions as an intensifier. the way one can tell if the noun is plural or intensified is normally by the verb and whether the verb is singular or plural in number.
June 16, 2009 at 10:00 pm
The ‘pluralis majestas’ did not exist among the Hebrews and is in fact anachronistic to say it did. The third person plural ending “im” can be used to stress intensification, but this is not what is meant by ‘pluralis majestas’ which has to do with the use of plural pronouns in royal speech such as Queen Victoira’s famous remark, “We are not amused”.
As I stated already “elohim” can be used of false gods and idols. The point is that Yahweh speaks in the plural as well as the singular as we see in Isaiah 6:8. Note in Genesis 19:24 there are two persons identified as Yahweh, one on earth and the other “out of the heavens”, the same appears in Zechariah 3:1-2 where the Angel of Yahweh is identified in vs. 2 with Yahweh Himself. I noticed none of these passages were commented on above.
Do not cofuse the intensification of the Hebrew plural ending “im” with the plurality of majesty, it is not the same thing.
June 17, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I have replied to your points here
http://islamicarchives.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/response-to-rev-tony-costa-regarding-elohim/
Thank you.
June 18, 2009 at 3:07 am
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