While English-speaking people commonly use one word in reference to the divine (“God”), the Hebrew language features several. These Hebrew words are, essentially, different “names of God.” As we study these distinct names of God, we discover unique facets of His character and essence. In this article, we’re going to explore the divine name, Elohim (אלהים). Be prepared to encounter the true and living God who is not in competition with anyone. He IS freedom, strength, and fullness…for us!
The opening line of a book can make a lasting impression. Perhaps some of these epic entries will stir your memory…
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
– From 1984 by George Orwell
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
— From A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
None of these efforts can compare with,
The Bible is the world’s greatest book. It features several literary genres written by as many as forty men over as many as 1,500 years. Arguably the most profound theological and philosophical writings of the last 2,000 years have been directly inspired by its content. But perhaps the most fundamental description of the Bible is: the story of God. The book’s unsurpassed opening line supports this claim and introduces the main character (along with the plot/action and setting). Here is Genesis 1:1 in the original language:
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ
Beresheet bara Elohim et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz
While English Bibles essentially use one word—“God”—to identify the divine Being, Hebrew features several. In the Bible’s opening line, the author opted for Elohim [אֱלֹהִים]. Probably less recognizable than “the Name” revealed to Moses in Exodus 3 (YHVH, also known as the Tetragrammaton) or Adonai. In the 1980s, a popular Christian singer hit the charts singing about another divine name: El Shaddai. Each of these distinct names offers us insights into the essence of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is infinite. A thousand names would be insufficient, not to mention only one.
So let’s start “in the beginning.” Elohim’s etymology (the study of the origin of words and how their meanings have changed throughout history) begins with “El.” Hebrew is one of several Semitic languages. Scholars have claimed (and argued, of course) that various cultures throughout the region used some version of El in reference to their gods. This makes perfect sense when one considers that this root word connects to the concepts of strength and fear. Even though a given pagan god wasn’t objectively real, those who worshiped it had real feelings and attitudes towards it. So, if a Canaanite believed the god they worshiped was strong enough to affect their crops, it would only be logical to be afraid of offending that deity. There is a fine line between an unhealthy fear of punishment and appropriate respect; the cults of the ancient gods lived in that tension.
Genesis introduces us to a God who is strong—so strong He only needed to speak to accomplish His desires! Unlike the pagan gods, the Elohim we read about in the Torah is not in competition with other gods. He alone is the Creator. Ancient cultures did not think about creation in terms of making things as much as the primordial gods bringing order to a chaotic cosmos. And those gods brought this order about by effectively exerting their strength in battle with other gods. As J. H. Walton noted, “In contrast, the creation narratives in Genesis are quite clear about God’s autonomy. He has no need of humans, nor is he under any compulsion to create them.”
God’s strength is evident in His “autonomy.” He is truly free. He cannot be diminished by His creatures, and consequently, He doesn’t lash out capriciously or vindictively at them. The worshipers of Elohim (as revealed in Scripture) “fear” Him out of a sense of reverence for His awesomeness, not dread of divine spitefulness. If the etymology of Elohim is rooted in strength and fear, the God of the Torah embodies those qualities in ways that defied all the expectations of the ancient world (and every culture since!). He is not merely stronger than other gods (suggesting He can have more or less of a thing)—He is the fullness of whatever “strength” is. He is feared, but the result of that is wisdom, not anxiety.
At the very least, we should note one crucial “structural” detail of Elohim—it’s plural. As Jewish scholar Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum points out,
Another thing to note about the word Elohim in its Hebrew form is that it is a plural noun; the –im ending is a masculine plural, which opens the door to a plurality in the Godhead. This is not something the rabbis like to deal with. Therefore, the Hertz Siddur, which is the Sabbath prayer book, explains the fact by stating: “The plural is to denote the plenitude of might. God comprehends and unifies all the ends of eternity and infinity.” However, the fact is that the plurality of Elohim does open the door to a plurality in the Godhead. It should be made clear that the word itself does not prove plurality, and less so does it prove a Trinity. Nevertheless, it clearly opens the door to a concept of the plurality in the Godhead.
Typically, Judaism is identified as the original monotheistic faith, while the pagan myths generally embraced a panoply of gods. And yet this opening line of the Torah introduces the “Jewish” God using a word used for pagan gods and is plural! This complexity is intensified as the account of the week of creation culminates with God announcing the creation of humanity: “Then God said, ’Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness!’” (Genesis 1:26a) For those of us who are “children of Abraham” by faith, Elohim is the name for God pointing to (rather than “proving”) the fullness of His mysterious essence. From the vantage point of the Cross and the Spirit’s outpouring on Shavuot, we can perceive the rich tapestry of God’s being in the name Elohim. Not long after introducing its audience to “God,” the Torah announces the “the Ruach Elohim [who] was hovering upon the surface of the water” (Genesis 1:2b). Immediately following this, we read three simple words: “Then God said…”
It’s fascinating to consider the possibility that Elohim in verse one lays the foundation for the Ruach Elohim in verse two and the creational Word God spoke in verse three. The “God” of creation cannot be known apart from the Spirit of Creation, the One identified in the Nicene Creed as “the Lord, the giver of life.” And, of course, the breath (or spirit/ruach) of God is expressed in speech: “Let there be.” Hence the opening of John’s Gospel recapitulates the opening of Genesis: “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1-2). Yeshua’s divinity is integral to John’s “Prologue.” It would only make sense, then, that as the Ruach Elohim inspired the writer of Genesis, Elohim was the word chosen to communicate “God.” Other names for God would have worked but none so effectively as Elohim, which expresses the “Us-ness” through Whom “all things were made” (John 1:3).
Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. NEW YORK: ALFRED A KNOPF, 1992.
Melville, Herman, Tom Quirk, and Andrew Delbanco. Moby-Dick. London: Penguin Classics, 2003.
Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. London: Penguin, 2011.
Jack B. Scott, “93 אלה,” ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 41.
Ibid.
T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch (IVP InterVarsity Press, 2008), 161-164.
Ibid., 163.
Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Ariel’s Bible Commentary: The Book of Genesis, 1st ed. (San Antonio, TX: Ariel Ministries, 2008), 32–33.
