There Is Only One God.

Originally Posted by Hawaiian Dreams

Thank you BigJohn. I cannot read Hebrew, but I can see that the format of those words seem very similar, except the little accents that are attached around them.

One day I prayed and asked what God wanted to be called. I cycled through a few different names that I have heard, and the one that he answered me with was Jehovah. I'm glad that verse was shared. It affirms that is what he wishes to be called. 63 has been a number that is significant to me; the fact that Exodus 6:3 was quoted means so much more.

That which has a name has a creator.

Originally Posted by NoOne

The God(s) of the Bible are the Elohim, which is plural for Eloh (or Allah in Arabic). They have children. Clearly, they are a species to their own, who can procreate. Biologically, that makes sense, since we are unaware of any species that has only one existing member. We were made in their (not his!) image, so they must resemble us biologically. The information is there, not just in the bible, but in the Enuma Elish as well, on which much of the Bible was based. The book of Enoch also contains several hints. That does not preclude the existence of One original creator, even though it does seem unlikely based on our current understanding of how the universe came to be.

1) “Elohim” does not mean “shining ones” or “luminous ones,” per the
speculation of MANY “alternative researchers” out there, like Laurence Gardner,
William Henry, and Lloyd Pye.
I’m not sure where people get this idea, but will hazard a guess below (the
best bet is they make it up to build on for some spurious agenda). Elohim
(Myhl); consonants = )lhm) is morphologically plural (it’s “shape” is plural;
see the link on my website to “Sitchin’s disciple” for a more lengthy
explanation). It’s morphologically singular form is Eloah (hwl);
consonants = )l(w)h, but often spelled )ilh for English speakers). The “w”
(Hebrew waw) is in parentheses because it is a consonant used as a
vowel marker. Without the vowel marker, the consonants would be )lh.
This spelling is consistent with Akkadian, Phoenician, and Canaanite
(Ugaritic) spelling (see the article on “god” / “elohim” in DDD for
references). The other common singular word for “god” is El (l);
consonants = )l, but often spelled )il for English speakers).
I’m guessing that the reason some people think elohim means shining
ones (other than deliberate misinformation) is that they are trying to
pretend they know how to use semitic language tools. If they found a
decent dictionary that let them know that )lh is the morphologically singular
form of elohim, then they likely noted that Hebrew El / )il corresponds to
Akkadian )il . That much is true. Some dictionaries note that the
Akkadian word is at times spelled with two L’s ()ill) depending on form and
use. If one looked up )ill IN AN ENGLISH-LETTER DICTIONARY OF
AKKADIAN one would be misled (assuming one did not know any of the
Akkadian cuneiform signs) into thinking that )ill (and hence El) meant
“shine” or “shining,” since )ill means “shining.” The problem with saying
elohim means “shining ones” is that the )ill spelling for “shine” is made up
of different cuneiform signs. The sign spelling for that word is not the
same as for “god.” That’s my best guess as to the inaccuracy, giving
these people the benefit of the doubt.

2) Elohim and its morphological singular, Eloah, are masculine forms, not
feminine. I point this out because a (female) Sitchinite once tried in vainat a
convention to tell me Eloah was feminine. My guess is she wanted the Hebrew
Bible to have a goddess. She was flat wrong (not sure if Sitchin himself came up
with this or not). But don’t take my word for it. Eloah is used quite often in the
book of Job for Israel’s God, who is ALWAYS referred to with masculine
pronouns, verbal endings, etc.:
I picked this verse because it has a nice example of a masculine
possessive pronoun (HIS nostrils) to make the point Eloah is
masculine (TNK = Tanak, the English translation of the Jewish
Publication Society).
`Wl)k.yI APæa; x;WrßmeW Wdbe_ayO h;Alåa/ tm;äv.NImi Job 4:9
TNK Job 4:9 They perish by a blast from God, Are gone at the
breath of His nostrils.
In point of fact, the Hebrew Bible doesn’t even have a word for “goddess.”
There is no feminine form of El/Elohim in the Hebrew Bible. Hebrew
actually uses “elohim” (since it’s a generic word for god) for foreign
goddesses (see I Kings 11:5, 33; II Kings 23:13, where the “goddess of
the Sidonians” is referred to with the word elohim).
3) As noted above, elohim is morphologically plural. Morphology refers to
the "shape" or construction of a word - its form. As far as meaning, though,
elohim can be either singular or plural depending on context. As anyone
who has taken a language can testify, meaning is determined by context, not by
a list of glosses in a dictionary (which are only OPTIONS – the translator must
look to context for accuracy).
More specifically, the meaning of any occurrence of elohim must be
discerned in three ways:
A. Grammatical indications elsewhere in the text that help to
determine if a singular or plural meaning is meant.
B. Grammatical rules in Hebrew that are true in the language as a
whole.
C. Historical / Logical context.
To illustrate, consider words in English such as:

This is from an article I downloaded quite some time ago I would share if I knew how to share PDFs on here

[davidmartin]

Maya I don't think any of this stuff actually matters, the meaning of the name 'God' matters, not the name itself. If everyone magically agreed on the correct name of God it wouldn't suddenly change a thing, but if they agreed on the correct meaning of the name it would even if they didn't agree on the name itself

[BigJohn]

MAYA EL,
You have presented some interesting information.

If you re-examine the sources you presented, one aspect of 'Elohim' is missing.

In Genesis 1:1 'Elohim' is introduced. The translated word into English is God. The Hebrew word is
אֱלֹהִ֑ים.
In Genesis 1:3 the word changes slightly
אֱלֹהִ֖ים
In Genesis 1:4 introduces a slightly different version
אֱלֹהִ֛ים
and if look just a little bit further, this list gets longer and longer.

These Hebrew expressions are spelled, pronounced and have slightly different meanings but for some reason, are ALL translated into English as God. In Hebrew, we are told each of these words, were pronounced as 'Elohim': that just is not true.

When these words were 'translated into Greek, they should have used a share word for each word, but instead, used the Greek word
θεός
which got translated into English as God.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by davidmartin

Maya I don't think any of this stuff actually matters, the meaning of the name 'God' matters, not the name itself. If everyone magically agreed on the correct name of God it wouldn't suddenly change a thing, but if they agreed on the correct meaning of the name it would even if they didn't agree on the name itself

In Exodus 6:3, the name is given. It is
יְהוָ֔ה
unfortunately this expression is transliterated as Yahweh and translated as LORD into English.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Hawaiian Dreams

Thank you BigJohn. I cannot read Hebrew, but I can see that the format of those words seem very similar, except the little accents that are attached around them.

One day I prayed and asked what God wanted to be called. I cycled through a few different names that I have heard, and the one that he answered me with was Jehovah. I'm glad that verse was shared. It affirms that is what he wishes to be called. 63 has been a number that is significant to me; the fact that Exodus 6:3 was quoted means so much more.

Thanks.

It amazes me that most Jews, Christians and Muslims do not know........... the name of their God.

"deer", "sheep", "fish" - the point is you need other words to help you
tell if one or more than one of these animals is meant. Sometimes these
other words are verbs that help you tell. Compare the two examples::
1) "The sheep is lost" - the word "is" is a singular verb (It goes with a
singular subject; one wouldn't say, for example, "I are lost" - you would
use a verb that goes with the singular subject ("I am lost").
2) "The sheep are lost" - the word "are" is a plural verb (again, another
word next to our noun "sheep" tells us in this case that plural sheep are
meant.
All of this is just basic grammar - and every language has grammar. Biblical
Hebrew has its own ways of telling us if elohim means ONE person or many
gods. It matches the noun elohim to singular or plural verbs, or with singular or
plural pronouns (to use "sheep" again as an example: "Those sheep are white").
The word "those" is what's called a demonstrative pronoun - it automatically tells
us that sheep in this sentence is meant to be understood as a plural.
In the Hebrew Bible, there are roughly 2500 cases where elohim is used as a
singular noun denoting the God of Israel (that figure is arrived at on the basis of
grammar and logical context). It isn’t a guess. I’ll include my familiar illustrations
here that are on my website elsewhere:
Genesis 1:1
`#r,a'(h' taeîw> ~yIm:ßV'h; taeî ~yhi_l{a/ ar'äB' tyviÞareB. Genesis 1:1
KJV Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth.
In this case elohim is singular because the verb (in red) is 3rd
masculine singular in its grammar.
Genesis 1:26-27
Wnte_Wmd>Ki WnmeÞl.c;B. ~d'²a' hf,î[]n:) ~yhiêl{a/ rm,aYOæw: Gen 1:26
#r,a'êh'-lk'b.W ‘hm'heB.b;W ~yIm;ªV'h; @A[åb.W ~Y"÷h; tg:“d>bi ûWDr>yIw>
`#r,a'(h'-l[; fmeîroh'¥ fm,r,Þh'-lk'b.W
TNK Genesis 1:26 And God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle,
the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth."

Elohim (God) is singular because the verb (in red) is 3rd masculine
singular. So why the plural pronouns “us” and “our”? You know I hold that
those speak of the presence of the divine council here. How do I know
elohim isn’t the referent? Keep going with the next verse:
~l,c,îB. Amêl.c;B. ‘~d'a'h'¥-ta, Ÿ~yhiÛl{a/ ar'’b.YIw: Gen 1:27
`~t'(ao ar'îB' hb'Þqen>W rk"ïz" At=ao ar'äB' ~yhiÞl{a/
TNK Genesis 1:27 And God created man in His image, in the
image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Three times we have a singular verb (create; in red; Hebrew bara’).
In verse 26 when we read “let US make mankind in OUR image,” if
GOD were speaking [as though referring to himself as a plurality or
to a group of the elohim, as though that’s what the word meant],
we’d see PLURAL verbs here in v. 27, but we don’t.
And now for a case where elohim should be translated as a plural due to the
surrounding grammar: This is really an interesting case, too, for once Jacob
says that God (singular El) appeared to him, and also mentions angels appearing
at the ladder vision (“Jacob’s ladder”), but here elohim is plural. My view is that
he saw the entire council at his vision: God, the elohim, and the angels. It puts
Jacob in the line of the prophets (recall that prophets were commissioned by
appearances in the council presence; Isa 6, Jer 23:18,22 among others). The
passage is also interesting in that we have ha-elohim here for God (elohim plus
the attached definite article [the word “the”]). See below for more on this form.
Genesis 35:7
lae_-tyBe( laeÞ ~AqêM'l; ‘ar'q.YIw: x;Beêz>mi ‘~v' !b,YIÜw: WTT Genesis 35:7
`wyxi(a' ynEïP.mi Axßr>b'B. ~yhiêl{a/h'( ‘wyl'ae WlÜg>nI ~v'ª yKiä
Genesis 35:7 There he built an altar and named the site El-bethel,
for it was there that the gods had revealed Himself to him when
he was fleeing from his brother.
Here ha-elohim is plural in meaning because the verb (in red) is
grammatically plural. It should be translated “the gods” because of
the corresponding verb. Note Gen 35:1 in contrast:
TNK Genesis 35:1 God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and
remain there; and build an altar there to the God who appeared to
you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau."