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Pattern 6 — Human Adonim
When "Lord" (adon) is used of individual men in positions of authority, power, or honor, they too are often called an adonim, out of respect. This plural seems to mean "sovereign of all, great lord, honorable master." Abraham, Joseph, David and Elijah are each called an adonim. Even the pharaohs in Genesis are so named.
The royal marriage song — Psalm 45 — directs the bride: "The King will desire your beauty; because he is your adonim, bow down to him" (v. 11, Heb. v. 12).
Pattern 7 — Animals With Mass
In poetic portions of the Bible, certain creatures take on mythically large, menacing dimensions. Behemoth and Leviathan are the most ominous. The word Behemoth is the feminine plural of behemah, the common word for cattle or wild animals. The great multi-headed sea serpent Leviathan is also known as Tanninim or Tannim (plurals; Gen 1:21; Isa 51:9; Ezek 32:2; Ps 74:13; Job 7:12).
Pattern 8 — Multifaceted Objects and Continous Actions
Physical things like "water" or "sky/heaven" or a human "face" are plural in Hebrew because they have several dimensions to them. They aren't static but always moving, always expressive of new, changing facets. There are different kinds of water (mayim) and sky (shamayim). And your face (panim) can convey numerous frames of mind.
Some action nouns, when viewed as a series of activities, are spoken of in plural terms. For example, the words "deliverance" (yeshuah), "parental love" (racham), or "steadfast love" (hesed) at times appear as yeshuot (feminine plural), rachamim, and hasadim. These describe bundles of God's works on behalf of his people.
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Summary of Eight Biblical Patterns
These eight pattern categories show us that pluralizing Hebrew nouns extends from Heaven to earth: from God to human beings and the surrounding creation.
In the Bible "God" is the fulness, greatness, or totality of deity. In him reside all the powers and manifestations embodied in the word "God." To call him Elohim emphasizes his supreme stature as deity. He is also supreme Lord (Adonim) over all human creation. But his sovereignty is also personally experienced by a faithful child of his, who can call him "my LORD" (Adonai).
Throughout the Hebrew Bible, God is known as Elohim in relation to non-Israelites. To his covenant people he further revealed himself through his personal name (YHVH). Then, in the New Testament, he expanded the revelation of his covenant name through his Messiah who wore his name in person.
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Elohim in the New Testament?
Because the NT comes to us in first-century Greek, it does not contain the Hebrew word Elohim. Instead it uses the normal Greek word for "God"—Theos. (This is also true of the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint, begun in 250 BCE.)
In the NT theos never occurs as a plural noun when it refers to the God of ancient Israel, the Father of Yeshua of Nazareth, or to Yeshua himself. There was no effort to duplicate the Hebrew pluralizing pattern in Greek.
Likewise, the word "Lord" (Grk, kurios) is always singular when referring to God or to Yeshua. There was no attempt to duplicate the Hebrew Adonim in the NT.
Theological Interpretations of Elohim
Some Christian interpreters have seen in Elohim a multivalent allusion to what they call the "composite," "compound," or "triune" nature of the deity. They believe the plural points to a plurality of divine persons.
But there is no scriptural evidence that the Hebrews conceived of or used the word Elohim to convey an idea of plurality in the Godhead.
Some say the references to "us" and "our" when Elohim speaks in Genesis imply a doctrine of composite unity. But in another study, I propose that the Genesis Plurals have no grammatical or theological relation to the plural Elohim. Rather, the plural pronouns allude to the heavenly council that surrounds Elohim.
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The NT View is the Hebrew View
As in the Hebrew Bible, there is no trace in the NT that "God" refers to a Godhead of multiple persons. Typically, the word theos distinguishes the Father from Yeshua, his son.
"There is one God, the Father...and one Lord, Yeshua Messiah" (1 Cor 8:6). "There is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Messiah Yeshua" (1 Tim 2:5). The "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" or "God of our fathers" is the Father of Yeshua they have in mind (Acts 3:13; 5:30).
A few times, Yeshua is called "God" (John 1:1; 20:28; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1, etc.). But these verses must be viewed within the overall patterns and message of the New Testament in which Yeshua, as God's Son, Lord, and Messiah, is the Father's representative embodiment. He is "God" because he is God's image (Col 1:15; 1 Cor 11:7). And God's "image" is his Son (as it was on a smaller scale with Adam: Gen 1:26; Luke 3:38, "Adam, the son of God"; 1 Cor 11:7).
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Section C—Survey Details
covers the following topics. (Click on the title)
