Sounds strange, right?
I was reading this from the KJV Today, ever heard of it?
After learning some Hebrew I thought that the translation should be 'heavens' for 'shamayim', but check this out.
“Heaven” or “Heavens” in Genesis 1:1?
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1, KJV)
Critics charge that שמים (shamayim) is plural and should be translated as “heavens.” In Hebrew, however, the plural form may identify size rather than number in certain contexts. Such a plural is called a "plural of extension or amplification" (William Rosenau, Hebraisms in the Authorized Version of the Bible, p. 111).
Even in English, the plural form, "skies," is used to refer to a large expanse in the atmosphere which is technically just one sky (e.g. "The plane took to the skies").
So I got to thinking, would that hold true in the case of 'Elohim'?
בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ.
B'reshet bara Elohim, et hashamayim, v'et haretz
So here we have two words with the same ending 'im' or ים
So are the 'Elohim' not more than one God as some teach, but the ultimate, the greatest God?
HaShem said himself and wrote it himself, it was his first commandment:
I am the L-RD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
They must exist else why say this?
אָנֹכִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים: לֹא-יִהְיֶה לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים, עַל-פָּנָי.
Anoki YHVH Eloheicha, aser Hotzeticha maeretz mizraim mibit abadim
Lo yiyeh lekha Elohim aherim al-penia
'YHVH Eloheicha'
YHVH Your God
Elohim aherim al-penia ------Other Gods before my face (presence)
I was reading this from the KJV Today, ever heard of it?
After learning some Hebrew I thought that the translation should be 'heavens' for 'shamayim', but check this out.
“Heaven” or “Heavens” in Genesis 1:1?
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1, KJV)
Critics charge that שמים (shamayim) is plural and should be translated as “heavens.” In Hebrew, however, the plural form may identify size rather than number in certain contexts. Such a plural is called a "plural of extension or amplification" (William Rosenau, Hebraisms in the Authorized Version of the Bible, p. 111).
Even in English, the plural form, "skies," is used to refer to a large expanse in the atmosphere which is technically just one sky (e.g. "The plane took to the skies").
- Jewish translations of the Tanakh also translate שמים (shamayim) in Genesis 1:1 as “heaven.” The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text says, “heaven.”
- The 1917 JPS Translation says, “heaven.”
- Moreover, just a few verses later in Genesis 1:8 the NASB and ESV translate שמים as “heaven.”
- The NIV translates it as “sky” (singular).
- The translators of the NASB, ESV, and NIV all agree that שמים can be translated in the singular. Whether the word should be translated in the singular or plural depends on the translator’s assessment of the context. The KJV translators translated שמים in Genesis 1:1 in the singular because the other heaven (the expanse in the sky) was not created until day two (Genesis 1:7-8).
So I got to thinking, would that hold true in the case of 'Elohim'?
בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ.
B'reshet bara Elohim, et hashamayim, v'et haretz
So here we have two words with the same ending 'im' or ים
So are the 'Elohim' not more than one God as some teach, but the ultimate, the greatest God?
HaShem said himself and wrote it himself, it was his first commandment:
I am the L-RD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
They must exist else why say this?
אָנֹכִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים: לֹא-יִהְיֶה לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים, עַל-פָּנָי.
Anoki YHVH Eloheicha, aser Hotzeticha maeretz mizraim mibit abadim
Lo yiyeh lekha Elohim aherim al-penia
'YHVH Eloheicha'
YHVH Your God
Elohim aherim al-penia ------Other Gods before my face (presence)