Plural verbs with Elohim as God
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- For criticism see Criticism of Plural_verbs_with_Elohim_as_God
Although often stated as an absolute rule, the presence of singular verbs when interpreting the morphologically* plural word translated (elohim[1] in Hebrew אלהים – or aleim, not capitalized in Hebrew) as God -singular is actually not universal throughout the entire Old Testament, as is often mistakenly declared by traditional biblical scholars. Although singular verbs are used for the most part, there are still numerous exceptions to this mistaken assumption. Some of the most significant cases, where plural verbs and other grammatical terms would grammatically require the translation of elohim as gods-plural follow below. (*plural in form; in Hebrew adding an 'im' to the end of a word pluralizes similar to the way adding an 's' in English pluralizes)
"And he (Jacob) dreamed, and behold! A ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold elohim messengers (malaki elohim) ascending and descending upon it. And behold! YHWH was stationed above it and proceeded to say I am YHWH, the elei (eloih or eloah God singular) of Abraham and the elei of Isaac...and he (Jacob) was afraid and said 'This is none other but the house of elohim.'...and Jacob built there an altar and called the place Beth-el, "because there they (plural) 'the gods'* were revealed. (Gen. 28:12-17 & 35:7) Note that the phrase 'were revealed' would be 'god was revealed' if singular. In this instance the Hebrew text expressly uses the plural noun and verb; "the-gods were revealed"; the Authorized Version incorrectly translates it as: "God appeared unto him." The Revised Version correctly reads "revealed," but incorrectly uses the singular "was."
(*ha-elohim or e-aleim the-gods, one of a multitude of instances where the Bible uses the plural predicator “the” with the name elohim; using the plural predicator 'e' or 'ha' – which is the word 'the' in Hebrew, is equivalent in English to adding the word 'the' as a plural predicator in front of names of a group like 'the council' or 'the Chinese' hence 'the gods')
"When elohim they caused (plural: ethou or hith-u) me to wander from my father's house." Gen. 20:13
"Israel, whom gods (elohim) they went (plural: balk-u) to ransom...people of you from Egypt and their gods (elohim)." 2 Sam. 7:23
Some of many other examples where plural grammatical terms and sentence structure are used in connection with the name elohim include;
"And He is answering, YHVH...where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth...and the morning stars jubilated together and all the sons of the elohim shouted for joy?" Job 38:1-7
"YHVH He reigns...bow down to Him all of elohim...that you YHVH, Supreme over all of the earth, exceedingly you are ascendant over all of elohim." Ps. 97:7&9
"In melodies we shall shout to Him, that All Great YHVH, king over all of the elohim...we shall worship and we shall bow down, we shall kneel before YHVH Maker of us." Ps. 95:2-6
Although not consistent with the traditional interpretation the above verses indicate that some Israelites may have originally recognized a heavenly council of elohim-gods created by and serving under YHWH; and as such these verses could also be taken as another way of referring to the council or assembly of Holy ones (qdshim), also known as the hosts* (tzbauth) or (tzba eshmim). *The Levite priests, who have been suggested as the authors of the Priestly source[2] brought about the murder of the Judean priests in their takeover of the priesthood, accusing them of burning incense to the 'hosts of heaven' when the Judean priests observed Passover with unleavened bread instead of attending the Levite's animal sacrifice; the New Testament quotes Jesus rebuking the Levite scribes for these murders and validates offering divine service to the hosts of heaven (Acts 7:42). This provided a motive for The Levite Scribes the Sopherim to redact various texts in an effort to denounce a council of elohim as the hosts of heaven.[3]
“And they are indeed acclaiming heavens marvels of you YHWH, indeed Your truth (amunth or emeth see SHD 571) in assembly of Holy ones (qdshim). That who in the sky shall be compared to YHWH in sons of elohim (alim plural). al (or el, singular) terrifying One in deliberations of Holy ones (qdshim, plural)...all of round about Him YHWH. Alei (eloih-God singular) of hosts (tzbauth) who is invincible like YHWH.” Ps 89:5-8
"Praise YHWH, all His heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will." Ps. 103:21
"Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him all His heavenly hosts." Ps. 148
"Therefore hear the word of YHWH, I saw YHWH sitting on His throne and all the host of the heavens (tzba eshmim) standing on His right and His left." I Kings 22:19
"You are YHWH: you made the heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all the host...and all the host of heaven worship you." Neh. 9:6
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them (plural-tzbaim)." Gen. 2:1
There are also cases where elohim (or the Aramaic cognate of elohim/aleim - alein) has always been translated as gods-plural in the Bible, showing that this has always been one acceptable translation of elohim.
"You shall not revile the gods* nor curse the ruler of your people." Ex. 22:28 *elohim or aleim
"My God ‘eloih’ (alei god singular) in whom is the spirit (ruch) of the holy gods* (qdshm alein plural)" Dan. 4:8: 5:11 (*correctly translated as gods-plural in the King James Version)
That righteous humans ascend to become part of a council of holy gods/elohim comprised of one-time mortals* is a belief held by various groups and individuals[4] the following Bible verses lend support to this belief. (*distinctly different from YHWH/YHVH who, being infinite (II Chr. 2:6) has no image (Lev. 26:1 & John 1:18) and who becomes the spirit of all the living (Gen. 1:24) and who according to the New Testament “may be Ho Theos (the Deity in Greek – i.e., YHWH/YHVH, KJV God) The All in all.” 1 Cor. 15:28) To check all verses in an interlinear bible go to link below.[5]
"YHWH He shall protect...the house of David shall become as elohim, as the angel of YHWH before them." Zech. 12:8
"YHWH is speaking. Listen, O house of David. Is it such a small thing for you to weary men, that you must also weary My elohim (elohim of Me)?" (Isa. 7:12-13)
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elohim
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priestly_source
- ^ http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/The_Levite_Scribes_the_Sopherim
- ^ http://www.ccg.org/english/S/p001.html; http://www.thedivinecouncil.com/ and http://butsuri.homelinux.net/MHJ
- ^ http://scripture4all.org/
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