Understanding Elokim

Genesis 1:1, 26

Genesis 1:1,26, “In the beginning of G-d’s creating the heavens and the earth – …And G-d said, “Let us make Man in Our image, after Our likeness. They shall rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and over the animal, the whole earth, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

This Hebrew word *Elokim, first found in Genesis, is the source of much excitement among some Christians due to simple misunderstandings of its meaning and usage. Some Christians believe this word to be used exclusively in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) to refer to G-d, when in actuality it is used to refer to Moses, angels and judges (Psalm 82:1)).

“HASHEM said to Moses, 'See, I have made you a master [elohim] over Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your spokesman.' (Exodus 7:1)”

With the plural suffix positioned at the end of the Hebrew word Elokim, confusion abounds. As in the case of these Hebrew words, chaim (life) and mayim (water), the plural suffix denotes emphasis. When used as above it communicates complete and total dominion. It certainly does not mean there is polytheism when referring to G-d, as can be clearly seen by its usage with Moses who is not a multiplicity.

In Genesis 1:26 and Genesis 11:7, "Come, let us descend and there confuse their language," we see a rare occurrence of Elokim followed with plural pronouns. This is easily explained when one considers royal language. G-d is consulting created beings around Him, such as angels, not because He needs their input, but because He desires to have a relationship with His creation. It is for the same reason He consults Abraham, Moses, and many prophets throughout time. G-d is not speaking to Himself. He is speaking to His creatures. One could imagine an earthly king speaking to his subjects in this way. G-d is the origination of this majestic way of speaking. If a king speaks to his subjects about something, he most often says "We will do such and such." even though he is really the only one completing the act. This explanation is proven in the subsequent verses,

Genesis 1:27 says,

“So G-d created man in His own image, in the image of G-d He created him; male and female He created them.”

And in Genesis 11:8-9,

“And HASHEM dispersed them from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel, because it was there that HASHEM confused the language of the whole earth, and from there HASHEM scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”

The creative acts mentioned in Genesis 1:26 and Genesis 11:7 were indeed only completed by G-d Himself. G-d included the angels in the planning process and then He completed the acts of creation in the singular, with not one plural pronoun. If the Christian claim were valid to any degree, plural pronouns would abound throughout the Hebrew Bible, but they don't.

*(Those with some knowledge of Hebrew, yet unfamiliar with Jewish tradition, may be wondering what happened to the 'h' in Elokim. Why the 'k'? This replacement is just one of many ways Jews chose to respect G-d when referring to Him in speech and writing. This Hebrew word is not exclusively used to refer to G-d, but when it is, the 'k' is inserted so as not to transgress the prohibition of using His Name in vain by being conscious and careful of any word used to refer to G-d.)