Elohim: God, the Creator of everything

Elohim is the Hebrew word for God in the very first sentence of the Bible: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1). It means God, the mighty One who stands over everything that exists. Long before the Bible tells us His personal name, it tells us this: He is the Maker, and everything else is made.

Where the name first shows up: the first page of Genesis

Most stories begin by introducing the main character. Genesis does not. There is no explanation of where God came from and no argument that He is real. The first verse simply shows Him already at work, and the rest of the chapter fills in what that work looks like.

Elohim speaks, and light appears: And God said, Let there be light: and there was light (Genesis 1:3). Over six days He divides the waters, raises dry land, plants the earth with green things, hangs the sun and moon in the sky, and fills the sea and air with living creatures. Every step begins the same way, with God speaking. Nothing pushes back. Nothing helps Him. His word is enough.

Then comes the high point of the chapter. Elohim makes people, and He makes them different from everything else.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Genesis 1:27

The people who first heard Genesis lived among nations that bowed down to the sun, the moon, rivers and animals. Genesis 1 quietly answers all of that. The sun is not a god. It is a lamp God hung in the sky. The sea is not a god. It is water God gathered in one place. Only one Being in this chapter is worshiped, and He is the One doing the creating.

At the end of the sixth day, Elohim looks over His work and gives His own verdict: behold, it was very good (Genesis 1:31).

The Hebrew word Elohim in plain words

Elohim is one of the most common words in the Hebrew Old Testament. Strong's Concordance, a standard word list for the King James Bible, lists it more than 2,600 times, and the King James usually translates it simply as God. The word is related to El, a shorter Hebrew word for God that you will see in names like El Shaddai and El Elyon.

Here is the part that surprises many readers. Elohim has a plural ending, the Hebrew sound -im, the way English adds an s. By its shape alone it looks like it should mean gods. In fact, when the Bible talks about false gods, it uses this same word: Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3).

Yet when Elohim means the true God, the grammar treats Him as one. In Genesis 1:1 the verb for created, bara, is singular. The sentence says, in effect, Elohim, he created. Hebrew dictionaries also note that bara, in its basic form, is used only for what God does. People build and make things. In this sense, only God creates.

So why the plural form? Bible readers have given two main answers, and many hold both.

• A plural of greatness. Many Hebrew experts call it a plural of majesty. Majesty means royal greatness. The idea is that one ordinary word is not big enough, so the language stretches to show how great God is.
• A hint of more to come. Many Christians see an early hint of the Trinity, the teaching that the one God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They point to Genesis 1:26, where God says Let us make man in our image, followed by a singular verb in the next verse.

The plural ending alone does not settle that question either way. What it does show is that the God of the first page is not small. And the Bible never lets the plural form slide into the idea of many gods. Moses told Israel plainly:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Deuteronomy 6:4

King James verses that show who Elohim is

Once you notice the word God in the Old Testament, you start to see how often it points back to creation and to the fact that there is no rival. These verses are good places to start:

I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

Isaiah 45:5

Isaiah wrote to people surrounded by idols. In this chapter God is speaking to Cyrus, a Persian king who did not know Him, and tells him there is no other God standing next to Him, not even a small one. The word girded means God had strengthened him and prepared him for his work, even before he knew God.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Psalm 19:1

The firmament is the old word for the sky spread out above us. David is saying that every clear night is a sign pointing to the Creator. You do not need a library to see that God is great. You need to look up.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 46:10

This psalm speaks of nations in an uproar and kingdoms shaking. God's answer is not a plan of attack but a reminder of who He is. The heathen means the nations that did not know Him. One day all of them will honor Him.

What Elohim means for you today

Every other name of God rests on this one. Before He is your healer, your shepherd or your provider, He is God. That changes how you see three things: your problems, your worth, and the things you are tempted to put first.

Start with your problems. When something feels huge, like a diagnosis, a breakup or a bill you cannot pay, it helps to measure it against the One who made the stars. That does not make the problem small. It puts it in the right place: under the Creator, not over Him.

Then think about your worth. Genesis says people were made in the image of God. That is true of you on your worst day, and it is true of every person you meet. No grade, job, follower count or opinion can vote it away.

Last, think about what you bow to. Most people today do not worship the sun, but plenty of things try to take God's place: money, approval, looks, success, even ourselves. Genesis 1 calls all of them creation, not Creator.

• Read Genesis 1 out loud this week and notice how many times it says And God said.
• Step outside one night and read Psalm 19:1 while you look at the sky.
• Ask yourself honestly what has been taking the first place in your life.
• Treat one person this week as someone who carries God's image, especially someone who is hard to like.

Elohim is name 1 of the 70 in the book. Genesis starts with God as Creator, and then the Bible tells us His personal name. That is where the next page goes: Jehovah, the LORD. You can also see how this word fits with the others on the Hebrew names of God page.