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Is “ELOHIM” Really Uni-plural? 33

the holy spirit the spirit of himself and say that the light of Truth comes to us, we can mourn
Christ [Yeshua] was self-begotten and what is over our careless acceptance of error and move
very absurd constitute a plurality in individual forward. If we have been misled on such a basic
persons. For though they do not say so expressly, issue as the definition of the One God, what else
yet all of this necessarily results from their opin- in our belief system deserves to be reevaluated?
ion. So true it is that ‘when fools fly from one
fault they run into the contrary.’ And when un- It appears from the facts of Hebrew
learned men avoid errors they fall into others[!]” grammar and usage that God is strictly a
(Drusius). SINGLE DIVINE PERSON. Jesus [Yeshua] is
His unique Son begotten not in eternity but in
“The weakness of the argument con- history, in the womb of his mother Mary (Matt.
structed by Peter of Lombardy has been acutely 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35; I John 5:18, not KJV but
observed and clearly set forth by Tostat, Cajetan, NASV, etc.). God is not a family of two or three
Bellarmine, Sixtus Senessius, Calvin, Mercer, Persons. Much less can one “become God as
Pareus, Drusius and De Muys who in an appen- God is God.” Common sense should dictate that
dix to Bellarmine’s Grammar produces many ar- if we are born in time we cannot be eternal. God
guments to prove that nothing solid can be alone claims that unique position and any com-
concluded from the plural form of Elohim” promise of His unmatched Unity is an affront to
(abridged from Sixtinus Amama, Antibarb. Bib. His incomparable position as “the Only One
Bk. 2, pp. 174, 175). who is truly God” (John 17:3).

“Elohim: The first subject of Genesis There is after all, in the creed of Paul, a
and the Bible is God. The word is the second single divine individual. “To us [Christians]
most frequent noun in the OT. It is derived from there is One God the Father” (I Cor. 8:6). The
the common Semitic word for God, il. As here, biblical definition of God should be sought in
Hebrew generally prefers the plural form of the those passages which directly address who God
noun, which except when it means ‘gods,’ i.e., is. In contrast to the numerically plural gods of
heathen deities, is construed with the singular the pagans, Paul asserts: “There is no God except
verb [interesting that when it is taken as a plural One. For even if there are so-called gods, even as
it refers to pagan gods!]. Though it has often there are many gods and many lords on earth or
been taken as a plural of majesty or power, it is in heaven, yet to us [Christians] there is One
doubtful whether this is relevant to the interpre- God, the Father” (I Cor. 8:4-6). Extracting a sim-
tation of Elohim. It is simply the ordinary word ple idea from this creedal statement of Paul we
for God, plural in form and singular in mean- have this: “There is no God except the One God,
ing. Strictly speaking Elohim is an appellative, the Father.” Paul then continues by placing Jesus
that is, it can be used of any deity. It is not a per- [Yeshua] next to the Father as the one Lord Mes-
sonal name, such as Yahweh [YEHOVAH], El siah. With the other writers of the New Testa-
Shaddai, Marduk or Chemosh. Nevertheless as ment he has in mind the remarkable passage in
with the English word God it often acts almost as Psalm 110:1 in which the Messiah is seated next
a proper name...Elohim implies that God is the to Yahweh [YEHOVAH]. This verse is used by
sovereign Creator of the whole universe, not just the writers of the New Testament as a golden
Israel’s personal God” (Wenham, Word Biblical text. It is alluded to some 23 times and this is by
Commentary on Genesis). far a record number of “hits” in terms of New
Testament appeal to the Hebrew Bible. In Psalm
It is liberating to discover that our think- 110:1, the One God, Yahweh [YEHOVAH], ad-
ing has been darkened by misinformation! When dresses another individual. David penned what

The Berean Voice July-August 2002