Elohim: Plural or Singular? by Nehemia Gordon

Elohim: Plural or Singular?

According to Nehemia Gordon, a student of Emanuel Tov, a renowned Hebrew scholar:

"To determine whether the word Elohim means "God" in the singular or "gods" in the plural, we must examine not only the suffix -im at the end of the word Elohim, but also the adjectives and verbs that accompany it. If the adjectives and verbs are plural, we would be forced to conclude that Elohim is also plural. However, if the adjectives and verbs are singular, we know for sure that Elohim denotes one God. In the very first verse of the Torah (Law), we read the word bara elohim, which means "Elohim (he) created." In Hebrew, the verb bara literally means "he created," which suggests that Elohim should be understood in the singular. If Elohim were plural, the verse would contain the word bar’u elohim “Elohim (they) created” with the plural verb bar’u. In fact, the word Elohim occurs over 2,000 times in the Hebrew Scriptures with the masculine suffix -im, and in virtually every instance it contains a singular verb. For example, the phrase “And Elohim spoke to Moses” always contains the singular verb vayedaber (“and spoke”) and never the plural verb vayedabru (“and they spoke”). The same is true with the adjective. The adjective Elohim is singular, not plural. Thus, we find Elohim tsadik “true (sg) Elohim” (Psalm 7:10) with the singular adjective tsadik. We do not find elohim tsadikim “true (plural) Elohim” with the plural adjective tsadikim. The fact that the word Elohim has both a singular verb and a singular adjective proves that Elohim denotes one God, despite the plural ending -im."

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