Charts
Elohim Is Not a Name
John 10 uses one Greek word for one and many
| Verse | What it says | Who the "gods" are |
|---|---|---|
| John 10:34 | "I said, you are gods [theoi]" | The people Psalm 82:6 is talking to |
| John 10:35 | "those people… were called 'gods [theoi]'" | The same people |
| Acts 7:40 | "Make us gods [theoi] that will go before us" | The golden calf (quoting Exodus 32:1) |
| Acts 14:11 | "The gods [theoi] have come down to us in human form!" | Paul and Barnabas, two early Christian missionaries, mistaken for the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes |
| Acts 19:26 | "gods [theoi] made by hands are not gods [theoi] at all" | Idols in Ephesus |
| 1 Corinthians 8:5 | "so-called gods [theoi]… many gods [theoi] and many lords" (twice) | The gods of the nations |
| Galatians 4:8 | "beings that by nature are not gods [theoi] at all" | What the Galatians used to serve |
These are the places the New Testament uses theos for more than one.
You can read this part in the study.
The Bible places elohim beside several personal names
| The name | The word beside it | Whose god | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Astarte (Hebrew Ashtoreth, ASH-tuh-reth) | elohim of the Sidonians | Sidon | 1 Kings 11:33 |
| Chemosh | elohim of Moab | Moab | 1 Kings 11:33; Judges 11:24 |
| Milcom | elohim of the Ammonites | Ammon | 1 Kings 11:33 |
| Baal Zebub (BAY-uhl ZEE-bub) | elohim of Ekron | Ekron | 2 Kings 1:2, 3, 6, 16 |
| Yhwh | elohim of Israel | Israel | about 200 times |
You can read this part in the study.
Moses, made elohim to Pharaoh
| Version | What it says | "Like"? |
|---|---|---|
| Hebrew | "See, I have made you elohim to Pharaoh" | No |
| Septuagint (Greek, ~250 BC) | "I have given you as theos to Pharaoh" | No |
| Vulgate (Latin, ~400 AD) | "I have set you up as Deus of Pharaoh" | No |
| King James (1611) | "I have made thee a god to Pharaoh" | No |
| NET, NIV, ESV (modern) | "I have made you like God to Pharaoh" | Added |
Exodus 7:1 says Moses is made elohim to Pharaoh. This table shows which versions add the word like.
You can read this part in the study.
What the NET does with elohim
| Verse | The Hebrew says | The NET prints | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Genesis 1:1 | "In the beginning elohim created" | "God" | Capital G added |
| 1 Kings 11:33 | "elohim of the Sidonians… of Moab… of the Ammonites" | "goddess," "god," "god" | Small letters chosen for other gods |
| Exodus 7:1 | "I have made you elohim to Pharaoh" | "like God" | "Like" added; footnote notes it |
| Exodus 4:16 | "you will be to him for elohim" | "as if you were his God" | "As if" added |
| Exodus 21:6; 22:8–9 | "bring him to the elohim"; "the elohim will declare guilty" (plural verb) | "the judges" | Word replaced with a guess about who |
| Psalm 82:1 | "Elohim stands… in the midst of the elohim" | "God… the gods" | Same word split into capital and small |
| Psalm 82:6 | "I said, you are elohim" | "I thought, 'You are gods'" | Verb interpreted; footnote has "said" |
| Psalm 8:5 | "a little lower than elohim" | "heavenly beings" | Word replaced with a category label |
| Judges 13:22 | "we have seen elohim" | "a supernatural being" | Word replaced with a description |
| 1 Samuel 28:13 | "I see elohim coming up" (plural verb form) | "a divine being" | Rendered as one being from the following context |
| Daniel 3:25 (Aramaic) | "like a son of elahin" – a son of gods | "like that of a god" | "Son" and the plural dropped; footnote keeps the literal |
| Genesis 20:13; 35:7; 2 Samuel 7:23 | elohim with a plural verb: "they made me wander," "they revealed themselves," "they went" | "God made… God revealed… Their God went" | Plural verbs made singular |
| Deuteronomy 32:8 | "sons of elohim" (Dead Sea Scrolls) | "the heavenly assembly" | Kinship word replaced with a label |
