What’s with all these Elohim?
The title of this article could be potentially provocative if you know what the Hebrew word Elohim is typically translated to in English. But if you know the real meaning behind the word, you may already see where I’m going with this. Some skeptics have claimed that the Old Testament teaches polytheism -that there is more than just one God-, and they point to the Hebrew word Elohim as proof. But the mistake that they make in asserting this bold claim is that they don’t bother to look up the usage throughout the text of scripture and what the word would’ve meant to an Israelite living in the days of the Old Testament authors. Now, this is also a major mistake that pastors and seminary professors make all too frequently. Difficult passages such as Psalm 82 are commonly ignored or dismissed with a badly exegeted interpretation leaving laymen confused when they look at the surrounding context and similar uses of the word elsewhere in scripture; but that’s enough of my ranting. Let’s take a closer look at this issue.
First, let’s read Psalm 82 that I just mentioned as our example. The chapter begins like this:
“A Psalm of Asaph. God [ 'ĕlōhîm] has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods ['ĕlōhîm] he holds judgment:” I’ve included the transliteration in brackets beside the word “God,” and the phrase “the gods”. This is not some weird translation that plays loosely with the original languages; the verse is from the ESV. And it isn’t the only version that translates elohim to “God,” and then “the gods.” Even the King James Version reads the same (for those of you KJV only types thinking this is “another example of corruption in modern translations.” One of these days I’ll get around to dealing with KJV onlyism in an article, but today is not that day.) So what are we to make of this? Well, there are a few views on how the term is to be understood when it isn’t referring to the God of Israel. Let’s look at a couple.
First, we will address the “human rulers” interpretation. Basically on this view, the term is understood to be referring to humans, most likely rulers of nations. But this view has some serious problems; The biggest problem is that out of the more than 2000 times the word elohim is found in the Old Testament, the least of the categories of the word’s referents is where it is used to refer to a human. The most prominent example is in 1 Samuel 28:13 as it refers to Samuel himself as an elohim (note: although the word “elohim” is in the plural form -a masculine noun ending with im-, it can still refer to a singular subject, as it does whenever it refers to Yahweh); but not in a physical body. He is in the spiritual realm (remember that, it’s important!) and that is the only time he is referred to as an “elohim”. The other thousands of instances of “elohim” occur in reference to beings other than humans. So although there is one reference to a human as an elohim, it isn’t in the Earthly realm at all. Therefore, the “human rulers” view fails.
Next, there is the “Empty Idol” view. On this view, the word elohim is seen as referring to the idols of the pagan nations. There are many instances of elohim referring to the “gods” of the surrounding nations, such as 1 Kings 11:33, Judges 2:17, 6:31, Isaiah 37:19, and so on and so on. Now, there is some support for this view in passages such as the ones I mentioned above, and some who hold this view will point to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 8 where he says, “With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that “an idol in this world is nothing,” and that “there is no God but one.”” in support of this view. The problem is that this definition for elohim (again, whenever it isn’t referring to the God of Israel, in case you forgot) fails to apply to every usage throughout the Old Testament. For one, Samuel whom I already mentioned, but also in passages such as Deuteronomy 32:17 where “elohim” is used to refer to other “gods”, but in the very same verse identifies them as “demons” (Hebrew: Shedim). Also, if you keep reading in 1 Corinthians -namely, in chapter 10-, you’ll see Paul using this same concept when he says in verses 19 and 20, “Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything? No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.” Here Paul reiterates what he said 2 chapters earlier, namely that these idols are “nothing,” and “do not amount to anything,” but clarifies that there are in fact spiritual beings (demons) behind the idols that the pagans worship. It also wouldn’t make sense to praise God by setting him apart as greater than all the other elohim if elohim were simply beings that don’t exist. Exaltations like Psalm 86:8 would almost be insulting! “Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours.” Saying God is greater than beings that don’t exist is not very exalting. “God is greater than things that don’t exist!” Okay, so is my dog. What’s so great about being better than nothing? Proponents of this view may also point to verses such as Isaiah 45:5 where God says “apart from me there is no god [elohim],” (bracket addition mine) as proof for their interpretation. But this again ignores the passages where God says that there are other elohim. So am I saying that God contradicts Himself? Of course not. The answer to this riddle lies in ancient euphemism. For example, in Isaiah 47, Babylon is personified saying, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” Nobody thinks that this means the boastful Babylonian thought that Babylon was the only city in existence. It is merely to say, “there is no city that can compare to Babylon.” (See also Zephaniah 2:15) Similarly, when God says there is no elohim besides Him, what He is saying is that there is no elohim that can compare to him. Yahweh is an elohim, but no elohim is Yahweh but Yahweh Himself. For these reasons, the “Empty Idol” view cannot account for all of the usages of elohim.
Before I give you the view that I lean toward, I would like to present to you the six categories of subjects that are referred to in the Old Testament with the word elohim. This list is the result of a survey of the usage of ֱא ִהים (elohim) by Dr. Michael Heiser, which he includes in his book The Unseen Realm that I have linked below in the
recommended resources. Of the ~2600 instances of elohim, here are the six referents he found:
Yahweh, the God of Israel (Over 2000 times)
The beings of Yahweh’s heavenly council
The gods of foreign nations
Demons
The disembodied human dead (e.g. Samuel)
The figure called the “Angel of Yahweh”
The basic definition of elohim when examined throughout scripture is: “Any being living in the spiritual realm.” This definition, which is the one I lean toward, applies to all of the referents for which elohim is used. As you can see, the definition is much broader than our English word “god(s)”. The confusion lies in our understanding of our word (god) and the ancient Israelites’ understanding of their word (elohim).
When we say “God”, we typically think of a set of attributes; attributes which, in the context of the ontological argument for God’s existence are known as “great making properties.” God, in our sense of the word, is maximally great. God is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving, etc. the being we think of when we say “God,” is the greatest conceivable being. If there were a being that could be conceived to be in any way greater, then that being would be God. Most people think of this concept (or at least something very similar) when they hear the word “God.” It is therefore no surprise when the average Christian hears a verse that refers to other “gods,” and feels a great deal of discomfort and tension. It seems to me that when this happens, we tend to immediately think that a biblical author or a translator is saying, by the use of the word, that there is a being or beings that are comparable to Yahweh. But this was never a problem for the ancient Israelite (at least not to the faithful Israelite.), and certainly not to the OT authors. Are we really to think that the ancient Israelites considered Samuel, or demons to be on par with Almighty God? When you put it like that, it seems laughable, yet, when veiled in our English language, we still deal with this knee-jerk reaction. There is no need for this reaction any longer. If a layman like myself can find out all of this, then anyone can do it! We are blessed in our day and age with resources that give the most ordinary of Christians access to information and theological insights that the church fathers could have only dreamt of! That is not to say that we are better than them, but to simply put things in perspective. The only obstacle is weeding out the bad resources that masquerade as good scholarship. That is a difficulty I hope to help alleviate with the recommended resources section at the end of my articles.
If this topic has interested you (and I sincerely hope it has!), then I hope you will make use of the resources below!
Recommended Resources:
Book: The Unseen Realm by Dr. Michael Heiser
Supernatural by Dr. Michael Heiser (An easier to read book along the same topics covered in The Unseen Realm)
Video: Polytheism in the Bible? By InspiringPhilosophy (Michael Jones)