I should like to place before readers some considerations which cause many to reject P.H.A.’s [the Editor’s] viewpoint as stated in the December, 1947, Testimony [magazine]:
(1) It is no argument to tell us the A.V. translators did their work with the names and titles of Deity. The inspired Scriptures use some dozen words to describe Deity. The translators use but two or three, mainly “Lord” (meaning “Master”) and “God” (meaning “good”). From Exodus 3:15, Psalms 9:10, Psalms 69:36 and many other passages we learn that Deity attaches much importance to His Names and Titles. Therefore we must go behind the translators to get at the sense.
(2) Scholars are often biased, and but few know the truth concerning Yahweh’s intention to manifest Himself further in inferior beings who will be receptacles of His power (Romans 8:19 and John 17). However, there are scholars who, while not understanding the fulness of truth, have yet rejected the theory that Elohim is the plural of majesty, and have concluded that it expresses “multitude and variety, existing in unity,” as says Ewald, one of the most famous scholars in Biblical languages.
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Author: P. H. Adams
Keywords: Elohim, El, Eloah, Eloha, Elohai, God, Plural of majesty, Trinity, Name of God, God's name, Deity, Lower than the angels, Lower than God, Elohim angels, God manifestation, God representation, angels, let us make man, let us make man in our image, plurality, plurality of majesty, royal we, Moses as a god, Moses made as God, Moses called God, angel, representative of God, God's representative, represents God, representative, might ones, malak, malakim
Bible reference(s): Gen 1:26, Gen 3:22, Gen 18:1-2, Gen 18:9, Gen 18:16-17, Gen 18:22, Gen 19:1, Ex 3:4, Ex 3:15, Ex 7:1, Ex. 12:12, Ex 19:19, Ex. 22:28, Ex. 24:10, Deu 6:4, 1 Sam. 2:25, Psalm 8:5, Ps 45:6, Ps. 82:1, Ps 97:7, Ps. 138:1, Amos 4:11, Acts 7:30, Act 7:35, Acts 7:38, Acts 7:53, Gal 3:19, Hebrews 1:6, Hebrews 1:8, Hebrews 2:2, Hebrews 2:7
Source: “The Meaning of the Hebrew Title ‘Elohim’,” The Testimony, Vol. 18, No. 209, May 1948, pp. 174-9.
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