Elohim

===With plural verb===
In the Hebrew Bible, {{bibleverse|1|Samuel|28:13|HE}}, ''elohim'' is used with a plural verb. The [[witch of Endor]] tells [[Saul]] that she saw ''elohim'' ascending (''olim'' {{lang|he|עֹלִים}}, plural verb) out of the earth when she summoned the spirit of the [[Prophet]] [[Samuel]] at Saul's request.<ref>Brian B. Schmidt, "Israel's beneficent dead: ancestor cult and necromancy in ancient Israelite Religion and Tradition", ''Forschungen zum Alten Testament'', N. 11 (Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr Siebeck, 1994), p. 217: "In spite of the fact that the MT plural noun 'elohim of v.13 is followed by a plural participle 'olim, a search for the antecedent to the singular pronominal suffix on mah-to'ro in v.14 what does he/it look like? has led interpreters to view the 'elohim ... 'olim as a designation for the dead Samuel, 'a god ascending'. The same term 'elohim ... He, therefore, urgently requests verification of Samuel's identity, mah-to'"ro, 'what does he/it look like?' The ... 32:1, 'elohim occurs with a plural finite verb and denotes multiple gods in this instance: 'elohim '"seryel'ku I fydnenu, 'the gods who will go before us'. Thus, the two occurrences of 'elohim in 1 Sam 28:13,15 – the first complemented by a plural ... 28:13 manifests a complex textual history, then the 'elohim of v. 13 might represent not the deified dead, but those gods known to be summoned – some from the [[underworld|netherworld]] – to assist in the retrieval of the ghost.373 ..."</ref> The word ''elohim'', in this context, can refer to spirits as well as deities.<ref>Bill T. Arnold, ''Necromancy and Cleromancy in 1 and 2 Samuel'', CBQ, 66:2, p.202</ref> Some traditional Jewish sources say that the spirits of deceased human beings are being referred to{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}. The [[Babylonian Talmud]] states: "''olim'' indicates that there were two of them. One of them was Samuel, but the other, who was he? – Samuel went and brought [[Moses]] with him."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chagigah 4b:9 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Chagigah.4b.9?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref> [[Rashi]] gives this interpretation in his commentary on the verse.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rashi on I Samuel 28:13:1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_I_Samuel.28.13.1?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref> Regarding this, [[Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno|Sforno]] states that "every disembodied creature is known as elohim; this includes the soul of human beings known as [the] 'Image of God'."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sforno on Deuteronomy 21:23:1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sforno_on_Deuteronomy.21.23.1?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref>

In {{bibleverse||Genesis|20:13|HE}}, [[Abraham]], before the polytheistic [[Philistine]] king [[Abimelech]], says that "Elohim (translated as 'God') caused ({{lang|he|התעו }}, plural verb) me to wander".<ref>{{cite book |last=Benamozegh |first=Elia |title=Israel and Humanity |year=1995 |publisher=Paulist Press International |isbn=978-0809135417 |author2=Maxwell Luria |page=104}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Victor P. |title=Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary |year=2012 |publisher=Baker Academic |isbn=978-0801031830 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vUry0cGNR_IC&pg=PT1003}}</ref><ref>e.g. {{bibleverse||Genesis|20:13|HE}}: {{lang-he|התעו אתי אלהים מבית אבי }}, where {{lang|he|התעו}} is from {{lang-he|תעה }} "to err, wander, go astray, stagger", the [[hif'il|causative]] plural "they caused to wander".</ref> Whereas the Greek [[Septuagint]] (LXX) has a singular verb form (ἐξήγαγε(ν), aorist II), most English versions usually translate this as "God caused" (which does not distinguish between a singular and plural verb).<ref>[[Septuagint|LXX]]: {{lang|grc|ἐξήγαγέν με ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρός}}; [[KJV]]: "when God caused me to wander from my father's house".</ref> Regarding this, the [[Jerusalem Talmud]] states: "All Names written regarding our father Abraham are holy [i.e., referring to the one God] except one which is profane, ''it was when the gods made me err from my father's house.'' But some say this one also is holy, [i.e.,] 'were it not for God, they [humans] already would have made me err'."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jerusalem Talmud Megillah 1:9:17 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Jerusalem_Talmud_Megillah.1.9.17?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref> The same disagreement appears in [[Soferim (Talmud)|Tractate Soferim]], where [[Haninah ben Ahi R. Joshua]] maintained that the word is "holy".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tractate Soferim 4:6 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Tractate_Soferim.4.6?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref> An alternative view (held by [[Onkelos]], [[Bahya ben Asher]], [[Jacob ben Asher]], [[Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno|Sforno]], and Rabbi [[Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg]]) is that the word means "gods" and the verse means that Abraham's distaste for the [[idolatry]] of his father [[Terah]] led him to decide to wander far from home.<ref>
*{{Cite web |title=Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 20:13:1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rabbeinu_Bahya%2C_Bereshit.20.13.1?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}
*{{Cite web |title=Tur HaArokh, Genesis 20:13:1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Tur_HaArokh%2C_Genesis.20.13.1?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}
* {{Cite web |title=Sforno on Genesis 20:13:1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sforno_on_Genesis.20.13.1?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}
*{{Cite web |title=HaKtav VeHaKabalah, Genesis 20:13:1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/HaKtav_VeHaKabalah%2C_Genesis.20.13.1?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref> Others, such as [[Hezekiah ben Manoah|Chizkuni]], interpret ''elohim'' as a reference to wicked rulers like [[Amraphel]] (often equated with [[Nimrod]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chizkuni, Genesis 20:13:1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Chizkuni%2C_Genesis.20.13.1?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref>

In {{Bibleverse|Genesis|35:7|HE}}, Jacob builds an altar at [[Bethel|El-Bethel]] "because there ''elohim'' revealed himself [plural verb] to [Jacob]". The verb ''niglu'' ("revealed himself") is plural, even though one would expect the singular.<ref>''NET Bible with Companion CD-ROM'', W. Hall Harris, 3rd ed., 2003. "35:14 So Jacob set up a sacred stone pillar in the place where God spoke with him.30 He poured out a 20tn Heb 'revealed themselves'. The verb iVl] (niglu), translated 'revealed himself', is plural, even though one expects the singular."</ref> This is one of several instances where the Bible uses plural verbs with the name ''elohim''.<ref>Haggai and Malachi p36 Herbert Wolf, 1976. "If both the noun and the verb are plural, the construction can refer to a person, just as the statement 'God revealed Himself' in Genesis 35:7 has a plural noun and verb. But since the word God, 'Elohim', is plural in form,8 the verb&nbsp;..."</ref><ref>J. Harold Ellens, Wayne G. Rollins, ''Psychology and the Bible: From Genesis to apocalyptic vision'', 2004, p. 243: "Often the plural form Elohim, when used in reference to the biblical deity, takes a plural verb or adjective (Gen. 20:13, 35:7; Exod. 32:4, 8; 2 Sam. 7:23; Ps. 58:12)."</ref> Some Jewish sources (e.g., [[Targum Jonathan]], [[Abraham ibn Ezra|Ibn Ezra]], add [[Hezekiah ben Manoah|Chizkuni]]), seeking to explain the plural language of Genesis 35:7, translate ''elohim'' here as "angels",<ref>
*{{Cite web |title=Targum Jonathan on Genesis 35:7 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Targum_Jonathan_on_Genesis.35.7?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}
*{{Cite web |title=Ibn Ezra on Genesis 35:7:1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Ibn_Ezra_on_Genesis.35.7.1?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}
*{{Cite web |title=Chizkuni, Genesis 35:7:1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Chizkuni%2C_Genesis.35.7.1?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref> noting that in the story being referenced Jacob experiences a vision of ''malakhei elohim'' (angels of God) ascending and descending the ladder.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Genesis 28:12 Hebrew Text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, Interlinear Bible |url=https://biblehub.com/text/genesis/28-12.htm |website=BibleHub}}</ref> [[David Kimhi|Radak]] agrees that this is a reference to angels but also presents the alternative view that the plural form in the verse is a [[Royal we|majestic plural]], as seen in other verses such as {{Bibleverse|Psalms|149:2|HE}} and {{Bibleverse|Job|35:10|HE}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Radak on Genesis 35:7:3 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Radak_on_Genesis.35.7.3?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref> ''Elohim'' can be seen used in reference to the [[Angel|angels]] in a variety of other cases, such as in {{Bibleverse|Psalms|8:6|HE}} and {{Bibleverse-nb|Psalms|82:1-6|HE}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Psalms 8:6 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.8.6?with=all&lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Psalms 8:5 Hebrew Text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, Interlinear Bible |url=https://biblehub.com/interlinear/psalms/8-5.htm |website=Bible Hub}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Psalms 82 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.82?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref>