God's Name

In our English language we sometimes lose sight of the more detailed and significant points in scripture because our language simply does not express certain thoughts and ideas the way the Hebrew and Greek languages do. As a result, many Christians are surprised to learn that the word we translate for God many times in the Bible actually comes from many different and more descriptive terms in the original languages.
One of the most misunderstood names for God is also one of the most well known and most frequently used words for God in the Bible, Elohim. This word can be found 2,602 times in the Old Testament. It is used thirty-two times in Genesis chapter one alone. When I first started studying Hebrew my professor assigned me the task of translating Genesis chapter one over several weeks. I was stunned when I reached the third word in the Hebrew Bible (Elohim). This word stunned me because it was plural (Gods). After taking a second look and confirming that it was indeed plural, I thought, “How cool is that? God was telling us right here that the trinity took part in creation.” However, as I studied the Hebrew language more, I came to understand that this was not the reason for the name of God being plural. Because it is almost always without exception used in the plural throughout the Bible.
To understand this difficult concept we must first remember that there is a difference in all languages between the form and sense of words. For example, think about the English word “put” for a moment. In form it is simply made up of one syllable and three letters. But in sense it can be used many different ways. You could say “put the ball over there,” or it can be used in the future tense as “I will put it there tomorrow.” One might say, “he put,” “they put,” or “we put.” The form is the same but the sense of the word changes and someone familiar with the English language is not confused by changing the sense of a word while keeping the form the same. In form, the Hebrew word Elohim is plural, but in sense it is singular. This would not have confused those familiar with the Hebrew language for a second reason.
The second reason is that Elohim is known as a majestic plural in Hebrew. The Hebrew language often times will make a word plural in form even though it is singular in sense when it wants to emphasize the greatness or absoluteness of that person. Look at Exodus 7:1 for example.

Exodus 7:1 “Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God (Elohim) to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.”

God was not saying that Moses was more then one person, nor was he saying that Moses was a “God.” He said that Moses would be “like God” in that he would be greater then Pharaoh.
The third and final reason we can be certain that despite being plural in form, Elohim is singular in sense, is because it refers to God as a noun and it is virtually always accompanied by a singular verb. For example in Genesis one:

Genesis 1:1 NIV “In the beginning God (Elohim) created (bara) the heavens and the earth.”

Unlike English, in Hebrew the verb proceeds the noun. So Genesis one would actually read “In the beginning created God…” Created is the verb for God, and it is singular in form, which tells us that God is singular too.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the form and sense of Elohim you can understand what it’s primary meaning is as it relates to God. It simply means “great, mighty, strong, or powerful God” It sets God apart from all others and highlights his strength.