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Elohim Is Not Evidence for the Trinity: A Linguistic and Scriptural Refutation

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The missionary claim that the plural Hebrew word Elohim proves the doctrine of the Trinity is refuted by sixteen Christian and Jewish scholarly sources, by the internal grammar of the Hebrew Bible, and by the Bible’s own application of the word to Moses, pagan gods, and a golden calf. What follows is a systematic presentation of the evidence.

Part One: Sixteen Scholarly Sources Confirming Elohim Is a Plural of Majesty

Source 1: Standard Hebrew Grammatical Analysis

On the one hand, the plural of magnification in relation to the word Elohim occurs more than two thousand times. When the word Elohim is used in the sense of the numerical singular and is explained by a verb, its description comes in the singular form.

Source 2: Gesenius–Kautzsch Hebrew Grammar, Pages 398–399

Gesenius–Kautzsch | Hebrew Grammar, pp. 398–399 The plural of magnification or magnification is one of the forms of the abstract plural, since it gathers the multiple qualities that belong to the idea, next to a secondary meaning that strengthens the original idea, and thus it is close to the plural of magnification. So, especially “Elohim” — “God” (distinguished from “the gods” in the plural form, Exodus 12:12, etc.). What proves to us specifically that the language has completely rejected the idea of the existence of a numerical plural in the word “Elohim” (when it refers at any time to one God) is that it is almost invariably linked to a singular quality.

Source 3: The Catholic Encyclopedia

The Catholic Encyclopedia Grammarians call it a plural of majesty or rank, or of abstraction, or of magnitude.

Source: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05393a.htm

Source 4: Nelson’s Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament, Page 159

Unger and White | Nelson’s Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament, p. 159 (1980) The common plural form ‘elohim’ is a plural of majesty.

Source 5: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Its form is plural, but the construction is uniformly singular, i.e. it governs a singular verb or adjective, unless used of heathen divinities (Psalms 96:5; 97:7). It is characteristic of Hebrew that extension, magnitude and dignity, as well as actual multiplicity, are expressed by the plural. It is not reasonable, therefore, to assume that plurality of form indicates primitive Semitic polytheism. On the contrary, historic Hebrew is unquestionably and uniformly monotheistic.

Source: http://www.internationalstandardbible.com/G/god-names-of.html

Source 6: Today’s Dictionary of the Bible, Page 208

Today’s Dictionary of the Bible, p. 208 Applied to the one true God, it is the result in the Hebrew idiom of a plural of magnitude or majesty. When applied to the heathen gods, angels, or judges, Elohim is plural in sense as well as form.

Source 7: Aaron Ember | The Pluralis Intensivus in Hebrew, Pages 17–18

Aaron Ember | The Pluralis Intensivus in Hebrew, pp. 17–18 Many theories have been advanced to explain the use of the plural form “Elohim” to express the God of Israel. The least logical of these theories is the view held by ancient theologians beginning with Peter Lombard (twelfth century), that this plural form refers to the Trinity. Linguistic usage, however, does not support this theory. The language of the Old Testament has abandoned the idea of a plural in the word Elohim (when it refers to the God of Israel), and this is especially proven by the fact that this word is almost invariably associated with a singular verbal predicate and a singular adjective.

Source 8: Young’s Concise Critical Commentary, Page 1

Young’s Concise Critical Commentary, p. 1 Heb. elohim, a plural noun… it seems to point out a superabundance of qualities in the Divine Being rather than a plurality of persons. It is found almost invariably accompanied by a verb in the singular number.

Source 9: The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume 2, Page 67

New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 2, p. 67 Elohim, though plural in form, is seldom used in the OT as such (i.e. “gods”). Even a single heathen god can be designated with the plural elohim (e.g. Judges 11:24; 1 Kings 11:5; 2 Kings 1:2). In Israel the plural was understood to mean the plural of perfection, God being the God who in truth, and in the fullest sense of the word, is God.

Source 10: The NIV Study Bible, Page 6

NIV Study Bible, p. 6 | Zondervan, 1985 This use of the plural expresses intensification rather than number and has been called the plural of majesty, or of potentiality.

Source 11: New American Bible (St. Joseph ed.) — Bible Dictionary

New American Bible (St. Joseph ed.) | Bible Dictionary | Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970 ELOHIM. Ordinary Hebrew word for God. It is the plural of majesty.

Source 12: Smith’s Bible Dictionary

Smith’s Bible Dictionary The plural form of Elohim has given rise to much discussion. The fanciful idea that it referred to the trinity of persons in the Godhead hardly finds now a supporter among scholars. It is either what grammarians call the plural of majesty, or it denotes the fullness of divine strength, the sum of the powers displayed by God.

Source: http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/smiths-bible-dictionary/god.html

Source 13: The Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Volume 24, Page 458 — James Hastings

James Hastings | Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 24, p. 458 It is difficult to expect that the Old Testament would establish the doctrine of the Trinity, if the belief in the Trinity is founded on the belief in the incarnation of God in Christ and on the experience of spiritual salvation and renewal through Christ. It is a frivolous or false interpretation to discover that doctrine in the plural form “Elohim” of the name of God, or in the recorded story of the appearance of three angels to Abraham, or even in the ter sanctus in the prophecies of Isaiah. Nevertheless it is allowed that the Old Testament ideas of the Word of God and the Wisdom of God are shadows of this doctrine, recognizing the reality of the multiple self-revelation activity in one God.

Source 14: The Arabic Christian Electronic Encyclopedia

Arabic Christian Electronic Encyclopedia In the Old Testament, we should consider Elohim as an amplification of the word and as raising a specific person to a comprehensive level. This is called the plural of majesty and glory.

Source: http://www.albishara.org/dictionary.php?op=bGV0dGVyPU5USXoma3dvcmQ9TVE9PQ..&libro=371bce7dc83817b73893bcdeed13799b5

Source 15: When Critics Ask — A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties

When Critics Ask — A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties Students of Hebrew grammar will point out that the plural pronoun “us” is simply what the Hebrew plural noun “Elohim” translated as “God” requires (so God “Elohim — plural” said, “Let us make — plural — man in our image — plural”). Consequently, they claim that this text should not be used to prove the doctrine of the Trinity. In fact, the Qur’an, which denies the existence of more than one person in God, uses the “plural” to refer to God, which shows that the Near Eastern use of the “plural” does not necessarily mean more than one person. Others assert that the plural is a style of speech called the “plural of honor.”

Source 16: On the Absence of Trinitarian Understanding in the Intertestamental Period

Scholarly Source on Trinitarian Doctrine Although it is sometimes claimed that the doctrine of the Trinity is clearly present in the Old Testament, we have the right to be surprised at the absence of any hint in Jewish thought about this doctrine in the period between the two testaments, and any interpretation of the texts of the Old Testament that indicates that its authors believed in the Trinity is a naive interpretation that cannot be defended.

Part Two: Three Linguistic Explanations of Elohim as Plural of Majesty

The word Eloah means power or strength, and it came in the plural form Elohim for one of the following reasons. First, for glorification — to make human thoughts imagine all powers in the oneness of the One with the best qualities and great actions, the Eternal Living One. So they confined to that greatest name all powers, agents, and movements by which the creations were first formed and by which they are now controlled and preserved until the Day of Judgment, and all were attributed to one God to make clear that the agent is one and his action is one.

Second, what is close to the previous meaning is the reference to the incident of the golden calf. In Exodus 32:4, the writer says about a single calf: “These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” In Exodus 32:8, the same language is used. In Exodus 32:31, Moses says to the Lord: “Ah, this people have sinned a great sin, for they have made for themselves gods of gold.” The golden calf was undoubtedly one — by consensus of Jews, Christians, and Muslims, by the texts of both Testaments, by the Holy Quran, and by historical references — yet it was expressed in the plural because the plural is for glorification, or to lead human thoughts to imagine that all the great divine powers are in that one calf.

Third, it has been proven that the woman who was summoning spirits said to King Saul when she saw the spirit of the Prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 28:13): “I saw gods ascending from the earth” — yet she meant the spirit of a single prophet. King Saul then asked (v. 14): “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man coming up, covered with a robe. And Saul knew that it was Samuel.” One spirit of one prophet was expressed with the plural Elohim.

The Jewish Rabbi Tovia Singer addresses this directly:

Rabbi Tovia Singer It is a grave mistake for the missionaries to translate the name “Elohim” as representing a kind of totality in relation to the Lordship. Otherwise, how can the missionaries explain the word corresponding to Elohim in Exodus 7:1, which refers to Moses? “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘See, I have made you a God (Elohim) to Pharaoh.’” Do the missionaries then claim that there are multiple individuals in Moses? Was Moses a trinity of persons?

This technical usage of the plural for glorification is known in many other languages. God Almighty says in the Holy Quran:

Surah Yunus 10:83 وَمَا آمَنَ لِمُوسَىٰ إِلَّا ذُرِّيَّةٌ مِّن قَوْمِهِ عَلَىٰ خَوْفٍ مِّن فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَئِهِمْ And none believed in Moses except a few of his people, for fear of Pharaoh and his chiefs, lest he should persecute them.

Here “their chiefs” is expressed in the plural form instead of “Pharaoh’s chiefs” in the singular — because Pharaoh alone is intended. Similarly, Luke said at the beginning of his Gospel: “Since many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning…” — mentioning himself in the plural form for the sake of glorification, which is more appropriate and fitting in relation to God, since He is truly the Great One.

Part Three: Eight Arguments Proving Elohim Cannot Mean the Trinity

First Argument: Elohim Means Gods, Not Hypostases

The plural form of Elohim proves multiple hypostases within one divine essence
Elohim in the plural means gods — not hypostases — and cannot be limited to three The word Elohim in the plural form means gods, and we are talking about hypostases, not gods. Considering it a genuine plural ultimately leads to the multiplicity of gods, not the multiplicity of hypostases, and there is no evidence that they are three — perhaps two, perhaps five or ten. But even if they were three, they would be three gods and not three hypostases. It is furthermore impossible to prove that Elohim here is a plural for only three.

If Elohim means three hypostases in one God, then how do we interpret Psalms 45:6–7? Verse 6 addresses: “Your throne, O Elohim, is for ever and ever,” and verse 7 continues: “therefore Elohim, your God, has anointed you.” One Elohim-entity anointed another Elohim-entity — the multi-hypostasis delusion anointed another multi-hypostasis delusion, and this is completely illogical. See also Hebrews 1:8–9, which cites this same passage. The only logical explanation is that calling Jesus “Elohim” was to prove that he is of higher rank than the rest of humans or partners as the text calls them — just as Moses was called Elohim, as we will see below. Note also Genesis 42:30: “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us.” The intended meaning is Joseph, and the word translated “lord of the land” is plural in Hebrew — used for emphasis for a singular person.

The dictionary entry itself shows two distinct categories: (1) a genuine plural — rulers, judges, divine beings, angels, gods; and (2) a plural intensive with singular meaning — god or goddess, godlike one, works or special possessions of God, the true God, God. This is what the dictionary says.

Second Argument: Elohim Disappeared from the New Testament

The plural Elohim proves multi-personal divinity in the Old Testament
If Elohim proved multi-personal divinity, this meaning would have been preserved in the Greek New Testament — but it was not

The word Elohim is Hebrew and the New Testament is Greek. But we must ask: does the Greek word theos, which means God, carry any meaning of multiple hypostases? It does not. Jesus himself says in Mark 12:29, quoting Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.” The original Hebrew of Deuteronomy 6:4 used Elohim, yet the writer of the Gospel of Mark used the singular theos and did not use any plural form. If the multiplicity of hypostases were the intended meaning of Elohim, it should have been preserved in Greek as well. The only possible conclusion is that the writer understood Elohim to mean one singular God and expressed it accordingly in Greek.

Third Argument: Elohim Is Applied to Single Pagan Gods

Elohim refers to the divine nature of Israel’s God and implies multiplicity
Elohim is applied to single pagan gods who have no internal multiplicity whatsoever
Judges 16:23 (ESV) The lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.”

Dagon, the god of the Philistines, is named Elohim in the original text — twice — and the verb accompanying it is singular. Is Dagon also composed of three persons? The following additional cases all apply Elohim to single false gods:

Judges 8:33 (ESV) The children of Israel turned and played the whore after the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god.
Judges 11:24 (ESV) Shall you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to inherit?

And also Judges 16:23 for the god Dagon, 1 Kings 11:5 for Ashtoreth, 2 Kings 1:3, 2 Kings 19:37, and the golden calf in Exodus 32 called Elohim twice. All of these examples are single gods only, with no internal hypostases. Note in particular 1 Kings 11:5: “So Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians.” Ashtoreth is a feminine deity, yet she took the title of the masculine plural Elohim — which completely invalidates the use of this word to prove any multiplicity of hypostases, whether three, more, or less.

Fourth Argument: The Singular Form of Elohim

Elohim in the plural form proves multiple hypostases
If Elohim means three hypostases, then its singular form Eloah means only one hypostasis — which reduces the Christian Trinity to a single person in several key texts
Nehemiah 9:17 (ESV) But you are a God who forgives, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and you have not forsaken them.

The singular form of God (Eloah) is used here to describe the divine being. If Elohim means three hypostases, then Eloah means only one hypostasis. Which hypostasis is intended in Nehemiah 9:17, and why? Also, see Genesis 14:18: “Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. And he was a priest of God Most High.” The Hebrew word used is the singular form. Is this only one person in the missionary’s own logic? Whoever believes this should explain in logical words how he justifies it.

Fifth Argument: Moses Is Called Elohim

Elohim applied to God proves multi-personal divinity
Moses himself is called Elohim twice — yet no one claims Moses was a trinity
Exodus 4:16 (ESV) He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be as God to him.
Exodus 7:1 (ESV) And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you a God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.”

Here Moses is called Elohim twice. Is Moses also polytheistic? Is Moses composed of three hypostases? The word Elohim is used for a singular human being without any hypostases. In the King James Version, a word is added — “instead of” — which is not found in the original Hebrew: “you shall be to him instead of God.” Furthermore, the Book of Deuteronomy says: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren.” Moses is like Christ in the Christian concept, and Moses is called Elohim. So is Christ also called Elohim in the sense of multiple persons? And if so, is he composed of several hypostases? Acts 3:22 confirms: “For Moses said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’” Moses, who is called Elohim, is like Christ. Is Christ then also a multiplicity of hypostases like Moses? Moses is nothing more than a person, and the plural here is for emphasis — what is called in English the plural intensive. The word Elohim was used with Moses to indicate that the power given to him would be stronger than the power of Pharaoh in his tyranny, oppression, and claim to divinity.

Sixth Argument: Further Scholarly Confirmation

Seven additional reference works confirm the plural-of-glorification understanding:

Hertz | The Pentateuch and Haftorahs “Elohim” is a plural word usually used in Hebrew to indicate the abundance of strength and glory of a singular.
Flanders and Cresson | Introduction to the Bible The construction of the word “Elohim” is plural and in Hebrew it is used to indicate glorification and sanctification.
Smith’s Bible Dictionary The plural form of the word Elohim has given rise to much discussion, and the fanciful idea that the word Elohim refers to the Trinity finds no support now among scholars. The word is either a plural of majesty or to indicate a greater power than any other power.
Lexical Aids to the Old Testament Elohim is a plural word, but it is used for both the singular and the plural. In the plural it refers to rulers or judges of a sacred nature, as in Exodus 21:6, or pagan gods, as in Exodus 18:11 and Psalms 86:8, and perhaps angels, as in Psalms 8:5 and 97:7. As for the singular meaning, it is used to indicate God or divinity, such as 1 Samuel 5:7 and 2 Kings 18:34, and it is used to indicate a man who has a status like God, such as Exodus 7:1. It always takes a singular verb, and therefore there is no plural in the divine entity that can be inferred from the mere fact that the word is plural.

Seventh Argument: Other Hebrew Plurals with Singular Meaning

There are many Hebrew words in the plural form that carry a singular meaning — the word life, the word water, the word face, and the word heaven, all of which end with yod and mem but are singular in usage. The plural form of Elohim follows the same grammatical pattern.

Consider also Genesis 32:28: “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Jacob wrestled with the deity — Elohim. Is this wrestling with one hypostasis or with the three hypostases combined? Is the one who wrestled with Jacob the incarnation of the three persons or the incarnation of the Father only?

Eighth Argument: Malachi 2:10 Identifies the Father Alone as the One God

Malachi 2:10 (ESV) Is there not one Father of us all? Is not one God who created us?

The Father here is referred to as the one deity — Elohim — meaning the Father is the one God. This text alone proves the extent of the arbitrariness of those who try to prove that Elohim means Trinity. If Elohim means Trinity, then this verse says the Trinity is one Father — which contradicts the doctrine itself.

Part Four: The Disciples Did Not Know the Trinity

There is a very important admission from Father Mina Gad Girgis in his book “My Church: Doctrine and Faith,” which is that the disciples did not know the Trinity, nor did it even cross any of their minds as a mere idea. Father Mina Gad Girgis said that only after the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost did they understand the Trinity, and he cited 1 John 5:7 as his evidence.

However, a continuous stream of confessions by Christian scholars confirms that this passage — 1 John 5:7 — is not part of the original New Testament and is a later addition. Sources confirming its inauthenticity include:

The book The Cultural Background of the Bible by Craig S. Keener, the Jesuit fathers in charge of the Jesuit monastic translation (in the introduction to the Epistles of John), Dr. William Eddy in his interpretation known as The Great Treasure in the Interpretation of the Gospel, the editors of the Encyclopedia of the Bible, and the interpreter William Kelly, who stated that this text is distorted and added and even indicates the ignorance of the one who added it to the New Testament.

If 1 John 5:7 is inauthentic — and the Christian scholarly tradition confirms that it is — then the matter remains as it was originally: the disciples did not know the Trinity nor did they believe in it.

Part Five: The Christian Encyclopedia’s Own Summary

The Christian Encyclopedia, under the heading of His Gods, states:

Christian Encyclopedia | Under “His Gods” The Hebrew name Elohim is generally considered to be the plural of “majesty or greatness,” the common name for “God.” The plural seems to mean “perfection and abundance of powers,” and indicates the fullness of the attributes of power attributed to the divine being. Accordingly, it is usually translated in the singular form (of God) when referring to the God of Israel. When referring to the gods of other nations, the word is translated in the plural form “gods.”
Conclusion Sixteen Christian and Jewish scholarly sources — from Gesenius to Smith’s Bible Dictionary, from the Catholic Encyclopedia to the NIV Study Bible — unanimously confirm that Elohim is a plural of majesty expressing the abundance of divine attributes, not a proof of multiple divine persons. The word is applied in the Hebrew Bible to a single golden calf, to individual pagan gods including the feminine deity Ashtoreth, to the spirit of a single prophet, and to Moses himself — none of whom are claimed to be composed of multiple hypostases. The New Testament writer quoting Deuteronomy 6:4 rendered Elohim with the singular Greek theos, confirming that the intended meaning was always one singular God. The doctrine of the Trinity cannot be established from a Hebrew grammatical form that applies equally to Moses, Dagon, and a calf made of gold.

@@ Bart Ehrman: If you think you understand the Trinity, you must be understanding it wrong, because the Trinity cannot be understood @@

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