What is the term “God”? Is it a label/name or a title/category? Adam was the first person created, but his name also means “man.” Thus, man is both a label/name for Adam: the first person, and a title/category used for humans. Is the term “God” to be thought of in this same manner? Is it both a name for the God of the Bible and a term used for the category of “supreme beings” (even false gods)? I tend to think it is used as both a name and a category for the One True God. For false gods, the word “god” seems to be used more as a category as gods like Baal or Dagon are referred to by their names many times. We will talk about it as a name since this is how it is most often utilized.
The English word “God” is defined by Merriam-Webster as
- the perfect and all-powerful spirit or being that is worshipped especially by Christians, Jews, and Muslims as the one who created and rules the universe
- a spirit or being that has great power, strength, knowledge, etc., and that can affect nature and the lives of people: one of various spirits or beings worshipped in some religions
- a person and especially a man who is greatly loved or admired as in “a professor who was regarded as a kind of god” or “a guitar god like Jimi Hendrix”
We have a number of words for God in the original languages of the Bible. These words have similar meanings and uses similar to the English word “God.” They are used of the One True God of Israel, or they can also be used of a false god or gods and even angels or men (Deut 32:8, Job 1:6, 38:7). The key for determining how these words should be translated and understood is context. As in all translation and interpretation, context is king.
While some of the terms like Elohim are plural when used of the One True God of Israel, it is treated as a singular and is accompanied by a singular verb and pronouns. See Genesis 1:1, “God created the heavens and the earth.” In this verse “God” is the word Elohim, which is plural, while “created” is a singular verb meaning the subject (God) is singular.
Some will see an allusion to the Trinity in the use of the plural, and there may be some truth to this, but we need to clearly understand that until Jesus Christ’s advent no one would have understood it this way. But now with the full revelation of Christ, we can see deeper meaning in the OT than we could have gathered before His coming.
It should also be noted that some see the use of the plural as a “plural of majesty.” The idea being that God is so great that He needs a plural name to refer to him. This is possible, but there is disagreement among scholars about whether the “plural of majesty” would have been used at that time in history. Whatever the case may be, it must be clear that the OT and faithful Jews never speak of the True God as plural—as in more than one God. Israelites did worship false gods, sometimes with or without including the One True God, but they were always called back to a monotheistic worship of the ONE God.
Monotheism is the position that there is only one God. He is not the best among many. Polytheism teaches there are many gods of various power. Those who are pantheist may worship any number of gods. Henotheism is the belief in the existence of many gods, but only one is to be worshiped. Again, we can see these false practices of the Israelites in the OT, but the faith taught in the OT and the God lifted up in the OT is the One and only God (Deut. 6:4-5) not one of many.
Here is a list of the frequently used biblical words which are generally translated God or god(s) in the Old and New Testament.
אלאים: Elohim (Hebrew)
Elohim is used 2,579 times in the OT, with the vast majority of those uses being for the One True God of Israel, then far fewer for false gods (note use of the plural). Ge 1:1, Dt 5:7 (of false gods), Ex 20:23 or Dan 11:8 (idols)
אֵל: El (Hebrew)
El is used 235 times in the Hebrew Bible. First time we see it is in Gen 31:13. You will also notice in this verse is a reference to Bethel (House of God). In most cases when we see a name of a person or place with “el” in it there is a reference to the word for “God” or “god.”
אֱלַֹה: Eloah (Hebrew)
Eloah is used 58 times in the OT. The exact relationship between this name for God in Scripture and El or Elohim is disputed and far from settled. It occurs in some of the oldest OT poetry (Deut 32:15, 17) and very frequently (forty-one times) in the debates between Job (an ancient believer) and his friends. It appears, therefore, to be an ancient term for God which was later dropped for the most part until the time of the exile and after, when there was great concern for a return to the more ancient foundations. It is not frequently used outside Job. It occurs once in Isaiah, once in Proverbs, twice in Habakkuk, four times in the Psalms, and then in the postexilic books: II Chronicles, Nehemiah, and Daniel, a total of five times. 1
אֱלָה: Elah (Aramaic)
Elah is used 95 times mostly in Ezrah (Ezra 4:24, 5:5) and the Aramaic section of Daniel (Dan 4:47).
Θεός: Theos (Greek)
Theos n. masc. deity; god; God. The noun conveys the idea of a transcendent being worthy of reverence or respect. In the Septuagint, this word is the usual translation of Hebrew אֵל (ʾēl, “god”) and its plural אֱלֹהִים (ʾĕlōhîm, “God”) as well as of Aramaic אֱלָהּ (ʾĕlāh, “god”) both when these words refer to the God of Israel and when they refer to foreign deities or idols. In the NT, it similarly can refer to the God of Israel or to a foreign deity. 2
Theos is used 1,307 times in the NT. It is the Greek word from which we get our word theology meaning the study of God. This is what we are doing as we look at the names of God, studying God: Theology.
So, in this post we are covering the most generic names for God. They can all be used of the One True God or of false gods. They are also used for spiritual beings or powerful humans such as the emperor. As stated above, context is king.
The most important question is “what do these names tell us about God?.”
First, when the name refers to the true God, it is not clear who is in mind. It may be the Godhead—the Trinity: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—Godhead and Trinity are used synonymously. On the other hand, it may be a reference to just one of the members of the Godhead. The usual reference is to the Father, but we need to be careful in making that assumption. While usually a reference to the Trinity as a whole, or to the Father unless the immediate context indicates it is being used for one of the other members of the Trinity.
Second, what we do learn of God applies to the Godhead: all members of the Trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are co-eternal, co-equal with each being wholly and fully God. What can be attributed to one member of the Trinity is attributable to each. What is true of the Godhead as a whole is true of each person of the Godhead.
Third, we should avoid trying to determine their meaning from their uses in non-biblical source as those sources are speaking of false gods in cultures foreign to the Bible. Thus, the etymology (study of the origin of a word) is of quite limited use.
Lastly, these names for God do not tell us much. Sorry. What we do learn about the One True God is not from the words themselves but their use. You want to do an amazing study; look up the passages where these words are used. It will take some time but wow, what depth of understanding you will gain. It is well worth it.
A final thought, the other names for God we will be looking at in future posts under the “Names of God” series are much more descriptive of our God such as Yahweh (Jehovah) or El Shaddai. We will be able to learn a great deal about our God by studying these terms and their context. These studies of God’s names will be published on a periodic basis interspersed with posts of other—hopefully—interesting, and insightful topics.
Until the next time we see you here at CultivatingFaith.org, God Bless! #CultivatingFaithOrg
- Jack B. Scott, “93 אלה,” in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 43.
- Jonathan Lo, “Deity,” in Lexham Theological Wordbook, ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).