As we have already mentioned in the first part of this article, “Elohim” is the plural form of the Hebrew word Eloah (אלה), or Ēl (אל), two Hebrew terms translated by the mainstream with “God” but whose meaning might instead be, as we will shortly see, close to something similar to “the powerful one”, “The mighty one”.

The etymology of both these terms (Elohim: אֱלֹהִים and Ēl(אל)) is generally deemed uncertain but the shared opinion is that they come from the root אלה(‘lh), on whose meaning debate is heated but which could be related to the ideas of might, strength and power.

Some relate both Elohim and Eloah to alah (“to terrify”) or alih (“to be perplexed, afraid; to seek refuge because of fear”).

In HAW Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Professor of Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary, R. Laird Harris Ph.D. states: “The suggestions that are most frequently mentioned for an original meaning are “power“ or “fear“ but these are widely challenged and much disputed.”

Finally, The Brown-Driver-Briggs defines “Elohim“:

Noun masculine

In the Ugaritic texts, which is older than the Hebrew Bible, “Elohim” meant “children of El”.

Now, the Brown-Driver-Briggs translation cannot go unnoticed. It says “superhuman beings”. It actually says “superhuman beings, including God and angels” clearly implying that God would be a superhuman being himself and that besides him and the angels, there are still other superhuman beings. 

In summary: there is no certainty about the term Elohim, nor about the term El. In both cases, philology associates these terms with concepts such as power, strength, in some cases destruction or fear. According to some other hypotheses, Elohim would even mean “Sons of El” or Judges.

Yet, right now, millions of Bibles are being printed in which Elohim is being translated with God.

The Bible unequivocally tells us about various Elohim.

Serie: Elohim Meaning – God Name

Serie: Elohim Meaning – God Name

But be careful: in order to properly understand the biblical stories without getting lost in a thousand contradictions and apparently meaningless anecdotes, it is crucial to be aware of the textual reality told by those books. 

A story where the Elohim are several, distinct beings. They are extraterrestrial (humans) in flesh and blood coming from the stars. They colonized Earth, created us and divided the Earth among themselves constituting real kingdoms each one of which had an El (one of the Elohim) in command.

The context of biblical stories leaves no doubts or space for interpretations; the term Elohim clearly indicates a plurality of individuals, and the various tales and stories are built on this assumption. 

Yahweh (יַהְוֶה) is not the only god in the Bible since the entire book is literally pervaded by the idea that there are other “gods” like him existing as real extraterrestrial beings. (See article: Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) – 4 of 5 : the many ancient gods of the Bible)

There is literally no hint in the Bible that Yahweh is the only God. Instead, it is clearly implied that the other nations have their gods, and Yahweh, god of Israel, will defeat them all. In the Bible there are many references to the fact that Yahweh is the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but it never says they serve him because he is the only true God. They serve him because of a military alliance with him and also because they are faithful to the tradition and creed of their ancestors.

Arnold Bogumil Ehrlich, rabbi, profound connoisseur of the Bible and Talmud whose work spanned the latter part of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and author of the work “The Bible according to its literal meaning” observes:

“In the first meeting between Yahweh and Abraham in Genesis 12, he asks Abraham to make a covenant with him: Abraham would have to serve him and he, in turn, would have rewarded Abraham for his service.” 

Ehrlich implies that if Abraham had believed to one God only then an alliance would have been useless. God would have simply said, “I am God, serve me.” There would be no need to negotiate, make a deal and settle a payment for the service.

Ehrlich gives an example: “when Adam joined her with Eve he did not make a covenant with her, binding her to remain faithful only to him, because there was no need for it; there were no other men with whom Eve could be unfaithful.”

Modern biblical academic studies and archaeological findings in and around Israel clearly indicate that the early Israelites did not believe in a single universal God creator of heaven and Earth. In fact, as we’ve seen, monotheism is a relatively recent concept, even among the People of the Book.

Jews of the origins were not monotheists, quite the contrary. Not only were they clearly polytheists or henotheists, and there are even those who maintain that at the beginning of their very long history the Israelites probably did not even worship Yahweh but some other El, and this would result from the name: Isra–el.

In any case, on this issue, the Bible is clear enough:

• When Yahweh gives his people the Ten Commandments, the very first commandment concerns Israel’s relationship with the other gods: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20: 3; see also Deut. 5: 7) 

• In Exodus Yahweh says that he will judge all the gods of Egypt (Exodus 12:12).