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34 Is “ELOHIM” Really Uni-plural?

is called “the divine oracle of Yahweh Jesus [Yeshua], then, is the one Lord Je-
[YEHOVAH] to my lord.” “My lord” is the sus Messiah in I Corinthians 8:4-6, but he is
Messiah as both Jesus [Yeshua] and the Phari- carefully to be distinguished from his Father
sees agreed as they discussed this verse in Mat- who is the unique and only God.
thew 22:41-46.
We encourage our readers to confirm the
Since we know that Yahweh above facts for themselves. Remember that
[YEHOVAH] us the One God, the second indi- adonai and adoni are both forms of the word
vidual obviously CANNOT also be the One ADON = Lord. By itself the word ADON can re-
God!! And indeed the very words which de- fer to a human or a divine superior. But the He-
scribe the second person of Psalm 110:1 prove brew Bible meticulously reserves adonai for the
the fact. The inspired Hebrew text, confirmed as One God and Him alone. Adoni informs us that
correct in the inspired New Testament, tells us the one bearing that title is NOT God. This is a
the status of the “my lord” of David. Speaking marvelously clarifying feature of God’s revela-
under inspiration, as Jesus [Yeshua] said (Matt. tion to us all in Scripture.
22:43), David speaks of adoni, my lord.
Elohim is not a “uniplural” word. It is not
The Bible very carefully informs us of a collective word like “family.” Much less is it
the difference between God and man, that is be- the family name of the “God family.” There is no
tween who is worthy to be accorded the title of family of divine, eternal beings in the Bible.
full Deity and who is not. The Messiah here is There is a unipersonal God, the One God of Is-
not given the title fit for Deity. The text thus rael and of Jesus [Yeshua]. He desires our alle-
preserves the unique position of Yahweh giance and has revealed Himself uniquely in the
[YEHOVAH] who alone is the One God. “My Son whom He brought into existence in Mary.
lord” -- adoni -- is the proper title for a human
(occasionally an angelic) superior. It is NEVER Should anyone still wonder if Elohim is a
the title for God. Adoni occurs throughout the collective, i.e., “team” or “committee” word,
Old Testament 195 times and tells us that the one consider this: Does a committee or team speak as
addressed is not God, but a superior personage “I”? Are teams or committees addressed as
other than God. There is a similar word, on the “him”? A family of Smiths all share one name,
other hand, which designates the One God and but when they speak as a family, do they say “I”?
Him alone. That word is adonai. In all of its 449
occurrences adonai means the Lord God. The God of Israel is NOT a self-existing
uncreated Family. Such a definition invites poly-
If the Messiah were the Lord God, the di- theistic paganism into the faith, and that accord-
vine title would have been entirely appropriate ing to a celebrated historian of church history is
for him in Psalm 110:1. What the Psalmist wrote exactly what happened from the second century.
was, “Yahweh [YEHOVAH] speaks to the lord When the early church fathers began to speak of
[Messiah, the king].” It is a readily available lan- the Son of God as “God,” even if subordinate to
guage fact that the two terms adonai and adoni the One God, the trouble and the confusion were
function differently. The one is a reverend way under way. Thus “polytheism entered camou-
of avoiding pronouncing Yahweh flaged into the church” (Professor Loofs). This
[YEHOVAH]. Adoni is the proper way to ad- trend is more than encouraged when God is said
dress non-Deity figures. to be “two” or “three.”

The Berean Voice July-August 2002