ELOHIM
Jewish concept
Also known as Eloah
The Hebrew word for Gods
Especially when applied to Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament.
Of course Judaism is strictly monotheistic, so you may ask how their One True God can be possibly be referred to in the plural. He’s not a closet polytheist, is he? Or perhaps (as Christians claim) the plural denotes evidence of Jehovah’s three-Gods-in-one Trinity status.
But no. The word Elohim is simply a term used to emphasize Yahweh’s super-divine and ultra-Godly majesty. It’s the royal ‘we’ with magical propensities, and consequently not a word to be tossed around lightly.
Ever-fearful of causing offence, devout Jews could not pronounce it outside of a religious context, or with their heads uncovered. Although they could say ‘Eloquim’. Then it did not quite mean what you knew it meant and sacrilege was avoided.
The word seems to have derived from the same place as El, a common Middle-Eastern word meaning ‘God’ or ‘Lord’. But this was far too generic for the God of the Hebrews, who wanted to distance himself from all those other Els running around. So he gave himself another title: YHWH — a word of even more sacred unpronounceability...
Elohim Facts and Figures
Name: Elohim
Pronunciation: Coming soon
Alternative names: Eloah
Gender: Sorry, we don't know
Type: concept
Area or people: Hebrew
Celebration or Feast Day: Unknown at present
Role: Unknown at present
Good/Evil Rating: Unknown at present
Popularity index: 5356
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Article last revised on May 20, 2019 by Rowan Allen.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders
References: Coming soon.