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Elohim (Hebrew: אֱלֹהִים, romanized: ʾĔlōhīm: [(ʔ)eloˈ(h)im]), the plural of אֱלוֹהַּ (ʾĔlōah), is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is grammatically plural , in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly the God of ...
The word is identical to elohim meaning gods and is cognate to the 'lhm found in Ugaritic, where it is used for the pantheon of Canaanite gods, the children of El and conventionally vocalized as "Elohim" although the original Ugaritic vowels are unknown. When the Hebrew Bible uses elohim not in reference to God, it is plural (for example ...
A common title of God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim (Hebrew: אלהים). The root Eloah (אלה) is used in poetry and late prose (e.g., the Book of Job) and ending with the masculine plural suffix -im ים creating a word like ba`alim ('owners') and adonim ('lords', 'masters') that may also indicate a singular identity.
The name Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) is written with holam haser in the Bible, although its singular form Eloah (אֱלוֹהַּ) is usually written with holam male. In modern Hebrew Elohim is a common word for "God" and it is usually spelled with the vav, which is also the Academy's recommendation.
In Judaism, some of the Hebrew titles of God are considered holy names. Allāh (Arabic: الله) is the Arabic term with no plural used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews meaning 'the God', while ʾilāh (إِلَٰه, plural `āliha آلِهَة) is the term used for a deity or a god in general.
The first words of the Old Testament are B'reshit bara Elohim—"In the beginning God created." [1] The verb bara (created) agrees with a masculine singular subject.[citation needed] Elohim is used to refer to both genders and is plural; it has been used to refer to both Goddess (in 1 Kings 11:33), and God (1 Kings 11:31; [2]).
Grammatically speaking, the word elohim is a masculine plural noun meaning "gods", but it is often translated as singular and capitalised as Elohim, meaning "God". ο θεός, 'the god' – ABP. This is not a variant. There is some discussion about whether or not the Hebrew text has been edited, but Elohim largely appears to be an irregular noun.
Common substitutions in Hebrew are אֲדֹנָי (Adonai, lit. transl. "My Lords", pluralis majestatis taken as singular) or אֱלֹהִים (Elohim, literally "gods" but treated as singular when meaning "God") in prayer, or הַשֵּׁם (HaShem, "The Name") in everyday speech.