Genesis 1:1 opens with the familiar statement, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Seems clear enough, doesn’t it? At least in English, but the Old Testament’s original language was Hebrew. The English says, “G-O-D,” singular, created the heavens and he earth. But the Hebrew says, “Elohim, E-l-o-h-i-m”, created the heavens and the earth. The peculiar thing about Elohim is its plurality, not singularity. What? Are you sure? Yes, I’m quite sure. Hebrew and Christian scholars are sure also. Why, then, isn’t it translated “In the beginning, Gods created the heavens and the earth?” You would have to ask the Hebrew translators and linguists. One might suspect they could not bring themselves to do so, nor could they take the liberty of ignoring the plural form. It seems they compromised by retaining the plural form “Elohim” in the Hebrew, but translated it as if it were a singular in the English. I do not know this is the case, but it’s my suspicion. Knowing the Hebrews and their commitment to the Shammah, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord,” it’s like a motto-saying of Judaism that clearly insists upon the oneness of God. Yet, they would not dare take the liberty of tampering with the text by changing “Elohim”, which is clearly plural and actually means “Gods” to “Eloah” which is singular in Hebrew and means “God.” Some justify the presence of the plural by calling it “pluralis majestatis”, or the plural of “majesty,” or and “editorial plurality” such as a king might mean when speaks and uses the plural “we” instead of the singular “I”, yet he means to refer to himself plus all the subject over which he rules. In his saying, for instance, “We shall fight, and we shall defeat the enemy”, he clearly means the cooperate body of his nation, not that he is somehow a mysterious plural being in himself. This is perhaps the most common interpretation offered by Hebrew scholars who can in nowise abide the notion of a plurality of persons constituting the God of heaven. Yet, the text says what the text says. Had the Holy Spirit wanted the singular “Eloah” used, He would have used it. He didn’t. He used “Elohim,” clearly the plural form in Hebrew.
Trinitarians are persuaded this, plus numerous other citings clearly set forth, albeit mysteriously, the plurality of Persons in the one true God. It is an amazing thing, and its occurrence in the very first verse of the Bible simply intensifies that amazement. No, you won’t see the plural in your English Bible, but it’s there in Hebrew, and Moses put it there because God told him “Elohim” was the word to use.
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