Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Elohim in Hebrew means more like the powers speaking to the attributes of G-d and not persons, however, in Genesis, where it speaks of G-d, the verbs and adjectives are in the singular which indicates that G-d is singular...There are many words in Hebrew with the -im ending that are singular and not plural, as in maim (water, not waters), so just because it has an ending that generally defines plurality, it does not always signify plural...
Well, while Elohim can be used for "gods", one must pay particular attention to the following verbs and/or adjectives that will tell you to who is being referred...If the verbs/adjectives are in the singular, it is talking about HaShem, if in the plural, then it is talking about other "gods"...
It's interesting that Elohim is unique only in the Hebrew language. Interesting too that in Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God, ELOHIM, created the heavens and Earth. This Hebrew word only occurs in the Hebrew language.
The correct pronunciation of YHVH is no longer known with any certainty by the Jews, or by anyone else, as the following five Jewish sources state.
Rabbi Paul Kipnes comments;
''What is God’s Name? According to Torah, God is a four-letter word. According to Jewish tradition, these four Hebrew letters – Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey – represent the proper name of God. Just as my father is an accountant whose name is Ken, so too God is a God, whose name is Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey or, in Hebrew, .We have lost the correct pronunciation of this name. Originally, because our ancestors worried about taking God’s name in vain, they decreed that this name would be recited only on Yom Kippur, when the Kohen Gadol, or High Priest, entered the inner sanctum of the Temple in Jerusalem. Passed down from Kohen Gadol to Kohen Gadol, generation after generation, the correct pronunciation was lost when the priesthood collapsed with the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.'' [Bolding mine]
''With the Temple destroyed and the prohibition on pronouncing The Name outside of the Temple, pronunciation of the Name fell into disuse. Scholars passed down knowledge of the correct pronunciation of YHVH for many generations, but eventually the correct pronunciation was lost, and we no longer know it with any certainty. We do not know what vowels were used, or even whether the Vav in the Name was a vowel or a consonant. See Hebrew Alphabet for more information about the difficulties in pronouncing Hebrew. Some religious scholars suggest that the Name was pronounced "Yahweh," but others do not find this pronunciation particularly persuasive. Historian Flavius Josephus, who was born a kohein at a time when the pronunciation of the Name was still known, said that the name was four vowels (War of the Jews, Book V, Chapter 5), probably referring to the fact that each of the four consonants in the name can serve in Hebrew as a vowel or vowel marker.'' [/Bolding mine]
''With the Temple destroyed and the prohibition on pronouncing The Name outside of the Temple, pronunciation of the Name fell into disuse. Scholars passed down knowledge of the correct pronunciation of YHVH for many generations, but eventually the correct pronunciation was lost, and we no longer know it with any certainty. We do not know what vowels were used, or even whether the Vav in the Name was a vowel or a consonant.''
''With the Temple destroyed, the prohibition on pronouncing The Name outside of it caused pronunciation of the Name to fall into disuse. Scholars passed down knowledge of the correct pronunciation of YHVH for many generations, but eventually the correct pronunciation was lost, and we no longer know it with any certainty. We do not know what vowels were used, or even whether the Vav in the Name was a vowel or a consonant. See Hebrew Alphabet for more information about the difficulties in pronouncing Hebrew. Some religious scholars suggest that the Name was pronounced "Yahweh", but others do not find this pronunciation particularly persuasive; our opinion is that this pronunciation is quite insulting to God and expresses more the man-centered ignorance of the scholars than the true name of God (in other words, never say "Yahweh", unless you intend to insult Him, God forbid!).''
''Some think that the Jews stopped using the Name so that none-Jews would not get to know it and misuse it. Others think that they started to consider the Name as too holy to be pronounced. Whatever the case, the original pronunciation was forgotten and all we have left are four consonants -- YHVH.''
What the Jehovah Witness' tend to conveniently overlook is that Jesus frequently doesn't address God by the "proper name" YHVH.
Example: Matthew 6:9
“This, \ therefore \ ----pray ----\ you: \ Father \ of us \ who[is] \ in \ the \ heavens \ hallowed be \
οὕτως \ ---οὖν -- \ προσεύχεσθε \ ὑμεῖς: \ Πάτερ \ ἡμῶν \ -- ὁ ---\ ἐν \τοῖς \ οὐρανοῖς \ -Ἁγιασθήτω \
the \ name \ of you ,"
τὸ - \ ὄνομά \ σου
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
