usually preceded by the article (SNIn? Gen. xxxi, 13; Deut. vii, 9), or followed by such distinctive epithets as ■'tl'^. Almighty (Exod. vi, 3) ; C'TS", eternal (Gen. xxi, 33; Isa. xl, 28); "{Thy, Supreme (Gen. xiv, 18); in, living (Josh, iii, 10) ; "135, mighty (Isa. ix, 5) ; or such qualifying adjuncts as 1133, of glory (Psa. xxix, 3); r'CN, of truth (Psa. xxxi, 6) ; STilPpH, of retributions (Jw\ li, 56); ^>?'~ia, of Bethel (Gen. xxxi, 13). Sxyji, of Israel (Gen. sxxiii, 20); "i^ndi (Deut. xxxiii, 26). In poetry 5X sometimes occurs as a sign of the superlative ; as i'^<~1'^'^!^, hills of God, very high hills (Psa. xxxvi, 7); ^X'^pX, cedars of God Qkkk, 11). The phrase n'ibx"i;3 occurs Psa. xxix, 1 ; Ixxxi.x, 7 ; and is supposed by some to refer to angels; but others take Q"^bx here for C'^b'^X, and translate So7is of the mighty (see Eosenmliller, ad loc). There is no instance of PX in the singular being used in the sense of mighty one or hero ; for even if we retain that reading in Ezek. xxxi, 11 (though thirty of Kenni- cott's codices have the reading P'lX, and the probabil- ity is that in those which present ?X the ^ is im- plied), the rendering " God of the nations" may be ac- cepted as convej'ing a strong but just description of the power of Nebuchadnezzar, and tlie submission ren- dered to him ; compare 2 Cor. iv, 4. In proper names PX is often found sometimes in the first member of the compound word, e. g. n^PX, Elijah; IIPX, Eldad, etc., and sometimes as the last member, e. g. ?X"'2"J, Samuel ; bXT^b, Lemuel ; ^XS'J, Tabeel, etc. See El.
2. riVpX, Elo'iih, plur. Ci^riPX, Elohim'. The sin- gular form occurs only in poetry, especially in Job, and in the later books, such as Daniel, Nehemiah, and Chronicles. It is used as well of idol deities as of the true God (Dan. xi, 37, 38 ; Habak. i, 11 ; Deut. xxxii, 15 ; Psa. 1, 22 ; Habak. iii, 3, etc.) ; once in the former case with the addition of "1Z3 (Dan. xi, 89), and in the latter with that of 2p"i (Psa. cxiv, 7). The more common usage is that of the plural. This pervades all the books of the Old Test., from the earliest to the latest. Thus it is used principally of the true God, and in this case frequentlj' with the article prefixed (Gen. V, 22 ; vi, 9, 11 ; xvii, 18), as well as with such adjuncts as D^w"-'?! (Neh. i, 4), or with the addition of 'O^'^') (Gen. xxiv, 3); ',^X (Isa. Ixv, IG) ; p^^j (Psa.lv, 2); riXS^ri (Amos iii, 13), etc. When tlie relation of Israel to God is to be indicated, the phrases God of Israel, Jacob, Abraham are used (Ezek. v, 1; Psa. XX, 2 ; xlvii, 10, etc.) ; and in this case, as the term Elohim is equivalent in efiect to Jehovah, it is often used interchangeably with that term ; thus Mo- ses, who is designated tTini 13", Ehed-Jehovah (Deut. xxxiv, 5), is called in the same sense D'^n'"X ", Ehed- Elohim (Dan. ix, 11) ; and the same object is designa- ted indifferently t^'^T\'} nil, Ruach-Jehovah, and "I C"n'"X, Ruach-Elohim (comp. Judg. iii, 10, and Exod. xxxi, 3, etc.). Not unfrequentlj' the two terms are comliincd (Lev. xviii, 2, 4, etc.; xix, 2, etc.; 2 Sam. V, 10; 1 Kings i, 30; xiv, 13; Psa. xviii, 29, etc.). Most commonly, however, they are used distinctively, with respect, probably, to the difference between their primary meanings (see Hengstenberg, Auth. d. Pent. i, 181 sq.). In the Pentateuch this discriminative usage has given ground for certain hypotheses as to the composition of that work. See Pentateuch. In the earlier historical books, Jehovah is more frequent- 1}' used than Elohim ; in Jol), Jeliovah is more fre- quently used in the poetical, Eloah or Elohim in the prosaic portions; in the Psalms, sometimes the one,
GOD
902
GOD
sometimes the other predominates, and tliis has been thought to afford some criterion liy which to judi^e of tlie age of the psalm, the oUler psahiis being tliose in Avhich Elohim is used ; in Proverbs we liave cliiofi}' Jchovali; in Ecclesiastes, Daniel, and Jonah, almost exclusively Elohim, and in the other prophets chiefl}' Jehovah. Elohim is also used of idol deities or false gods, because these are worshipped as if they were God (Exod. xix, 20 ; xxxii, 31 ; Josh, xxiv, 20 ; Jer. ii, 11 ; Jonah i, 5, etc.) ; and, like El, it is used as a superlative (Psa. Ixviii, IG ; Ixv, 10, etc.). Kings and judges, as the vicegerents of Deit}', or as possessing a sort of representative majesty, are sometimes called Elohim (Psa. Ixxxii, 1, G; Exod. xxi, G; xxii, 8). Whether the term is used oi angels may be made mat- ter of question. This is the rendering given to D"^nP!S; by the Sept.,Vulg., Targ., Syr., etc., in Gen. iii, 5; Psa. viii, 6 ; Ixxxii, 1, 6 ; xcvii, 7 ; and exxxviii, 1 ; but in the majority of these instances there can be lit- tle doubt that the translators were swayed bj'^ mere dogmatical considerations in adopting that rendering ; they preferred it because they avoided thus the strong- ly anthropomorphic representation which a literal ren- dering would have preserved. In all these pas.sages the proper signification of D'^rtPX may be retained, and in some of them, such as Gen. iii, 5; Psa. Ixxxii, 1, G, this seems imperatively required. In Psa. viii, C also the rendering "angels" seems excluded by the consideration that the subject of the writer is the grace of God to man in giving him dominion over the works of his hands, in which respect there can be no compari- son between man and the angels, of whom nothing of this sort is affirmed. In Psa. xcvii, 7, the connection of the last clause with what precedes affords sufficient reason for our giving Elohim its proper rendering, as in the A.V. That the author of the epistle to the Hebrews should have adopted the Sept. rendering in citing these two passages (ii, 7 ; i, G), cannot be held as establishing that rendering, for, as his argument is not affected by it, he was under no call to depart from the rendering given in the version from which he quotes. But, though there be no clear evidence that Elohim is ever used in the sense of angels, it is some- times used vaguel}' to describe unseen powers or su- perhuman beings that are not properl}' thought of as divine. Thus the witch of Endor saw "Elohim as- cending out of the earth" (1 Sam. xxviii, 13), meaning thereby soms beings of an unearthly, superhuman character. So also in Zech. xii, 8 it is said, " The house of David shall be as Elohim, as the angel of the Lord," where, as the transition from Elohim to the angel of the Lord is a minori ad majns, we must re- gard the former as a vague designation of supernatural powers. Ilengstenberg would explain Psa. viii, G in accordance with this ; but the legitimacy of this may be doubted. — Kitto, s. v. See Elohim.