International Standard Bible Encyclopedia GODS (elohim; - TopicsExpress



          

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia GODS (elohim; theoi): I. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT 1. Superhuman Beings (God and Angels) 2. Judges, Rulers 3. Gods of the Nations 4. Superiority of Yahweh to Other Gods 5. Regulations Regarding the Gods of the Nations 6. Israels Tendency to Idolatry II. IN THE APOCRYPHA III. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT The Hebrew plural elohim is generally known as the plural of majesty and is the ordinary name for God. The meaning of the plural seems to be plenitude of powers. It denotes the fullness of those attributes of power which belonged to the Divine Being. Thus it is usually translated in the singular, God, when referring to the God of Israel. When reference is made to the gods of the other nations the word is translated in the plural, gods. The heathen nations usually had a plurality of gods. Among the Semites it was customary for one nation or tribe to have its own particular god. Often there were many tribes, or families, or communities, in one nation, each having a particular god. Thus, even among Semites a nation may have many gods and be polytheistic. Among the other nations, Iranian, Hamitic, etc., there were always a number of deities, sometimes a multitude. There are many references to these in the Old Testament. In a few cases where the plural is used, the singular would be better, e.g. Genesis 3:5 the King James Version; Exodus 32:4, 8, 23 Ruth 1:15 the King James Version; Judges 17:5; Judges 18:24 1 Samuel 17:43. This, however, might be disputed. Gods (310 Occurrences) biblehub/topical/g/gods.htm
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 01:49:57 +0000

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