Elohim
Elohim is a grammatically singular or plural noun for "god" or "gods" in both modern and ancient Hebrew language. When used with singular verbs and adjectives
elohim is usually singular, "god" or especially,
the God. When used with plural verbs and adjectives
elohim is usually plural, "gods" or "powers". It is generally thought that Elohim is a formation from
eloah, the latter being an expanded form of the Northwest Semitic noun
il. It is usually translated as "God" in the Hebrew Bible, referring with singular verbs both to the one God of Israel, and also in a few examples to other singular pagan deities. With plural verbs the word is also used as a true plural with the meaning "gods". The related nouns
eloah and
el are used as proper names or as generics, in which case they are interchangeable with
elohim. Mark S. Smith said that the notion of divinity underwent radical changes throughout the period of early Israelite identity. Smith said that the ambiguity of the term
Elohim is the result of such changes, cast in terms of "vertical translatability" by Smith; i.e.