Elohim

===With singular verb===
''Elohim'', when meaning the God of Israel, is mostly grammatically singular, and is commonly translated as "God", and capitalised. For example, in {{bibleverse||Genesis|1:26|HE}}, it is written: "Then Elohim (translated as God) said (singular verb), 'Let us (plural) make (plural verb) man in our (plural) image, after our (plural) likeness{{'"}}. In the traditional Jewish understanding of the verse, the plural refers to [[God in Judaism|God]] taking [[Divine Council|council]] with His [[Angel|angels]] (who He had created by this point) before creating [[Adam]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rashi on Genesis 1:26:1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genesis.1.26.1?lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref> It should also be noted that in the following verse of Genesis 1:27: "So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them"; the singular verb בָּרָא (bārāʾ), meaning "He created" is used as it is elsewhere in all the acts of creation featured in Genesis. This shows us that the actual creation of man (and everything else) in Genesis was a singular act by God alone.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Genesis 1:27 Hebrew Text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, Interlinear Bible |url=https://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/1-27.htm |website=Bible Hub}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Conjugation of לִבְרוֹא |url=https://www.pealim.com/dict/257-livro/ |website=Pealim}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rashi on Genesis 1:26:2 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genesis.1.26.2?with=all&lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref>

[[Wilhelm Gesenius]] and other Hebrew grammarians traditionally described this as the {{lang|la|[[pluralis excellentiae]]}} (plural of excellence), which is similar to the {{lang|la|[[pluralis majestatis]]}} (plural of majesty, or "Royal we").<ref>Gesenius, ''Hebrew Grammar'': 124g, without article 125f, with article 126e, with the singular 145h, with plural 132h, 145i</ref>{{efn|According to Rabbi [[Joseph Hertz]], the word's use in {{bibleverse||Genesis|1:1|HE}} "indicates that God comprehends and unifies all the forces of eternity and infinity".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16730346|title=The Pentateuch and Haftorahs: Hebrew Text, English Translation and Commentary|publisher=Soncino Press|year=1960|isbn=0-900689-21-8|editor-last=Hertz|editor-first=J. H.|edition=2nd|location=London|pages=2|oclc=16730346|orig-year=1937}}</ref>}}
Gesenius comments that the singular Hebrew term ''Elohim'' is to be distinguished from ''elohim'' used to refer to plural gods, and remarks that:

{{blockquote|
The supposition that {{lang|he|אֱלֹהִים}} (''elohim'') is to be regarded as merely a remnant of earlier polytheistic views (i.e. as originally only a numerical plural) is at least highly improbable, and, moreover, would not explain the analogous plurals (see below). That the language has entirely rejected the idea of numerical plurality in {{lang|he|אֱלֹהִים}} (whenever it denotes ''one'' God), is proved especially by its being almost invariably joined with a singular attribute (cf. §132h), e.g. {{lang|he|אֱלֹהִים צַדִּיק}} {{bibleverse|Psalms|7:10|HE}}, &c. Hence {{lang|he|אֱלֹהִים}} may have been used originally not only as a numerical but also as an abstract plural (corresponding to the Latin ''[[numen]]'', and our ''[[Deity|Godhead]]''), and, like other abstracts of the same kind, have been transferred to a concrete single god (even of the heathen).

To the same class (and probably formed on the analogy of {{lang|he|אֱלֹהִים}}) belong the plurals {{lang|he|קְדשִׁים}} (''kadoshim''), meaning ''the Most Holy'' (only of Yahweh, {{bibleverse|Hosea|12:1|HE}}, {{bibleverse|Proverbs|9:10|HE}}, {{bibleverse-nb|Proverbs|30:3|HE}} – cf. {{lang|he|אֱלֹהִים קְדשִׁים}} ''elohiym kadoshim'' in {{bibleverse|Joshua|24:19|HE}} and the singular Aramaic {{lang|arc|עֶלְיוֹנִין}} ''the Most High'', {{bibleverse|Daniel|7:18|HE}}, {{bibleverse-nb|Daniel|7:22|HE}}, {{bibleverse-nb|Daniel|7:25|HE}}); and probably {{lang|he|תְּרָפִים}} (''[[teraphim]]'') (usually taken in the sense of ''[[penates]]''), the image of a god, used especially for obtaining oracles. Certainly in {{bibleverse|1 Samuel|19:13|HE}}, {{bibleverse-nb|1 Samuel|19:16|HE}} only ''one'' image is intended; in most other places a single image ''may'' be intended; in {{bibleverse|Zechariah|10:2|HE}} alone is it most naturally taken as a numerical plural.|source={{cite wikisource |chapter=124. The Various Uses of the Plural-form |wslink=Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar |plaintitle=Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar |last=Gesenius |first=Wilhelm |author-link=Wilhelm Gesenius |year=1910 |editor-last=Kautzsch |editor-first=Emil |editor-link=Emil Kautzsch |translator-last=Cowley |translator-first=Arthur Ernest |translator-link=Arthur Ernest Cowley |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |edition=2nd, revised and enlarged |page=399 |wspage= |scan=}}}}

There are a number of notable exceptions to the rule that ''Elohim'' is treated as singular when referring to the God of Israel, including {{bibleverse|Genesis|20:13|HE}}, {{bibleverse|Genesis|35:7|HE}}, {{bibleverse|2|Samuel|7:23|HE}} and {{bibleverse|Psalms|58:11|HE}}, and notably the epithet of the "Living God" ({{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|5:26|HE}} etc.), which is constructed with the plural adjective, ''Elohim ḥayyim'' ({{lang|he|אלהים חיים}}) but still takes singular verbs. The treatment of ''Elohim'' as both singular and plural is, according to Mark Sameth, consistent with a theory put forth by [[Guillaume Postel]] (16th century) and {{ill|Michelangelo Lanci|it}} (19th century) that the God of Israel was understood by the ancient priests to be a singular, dual-gendered deity.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sameth|first=Mark|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ozzpDwAAQBAJ&q=%22The+Name:+A+History+of+the+Dual-Gendered+Hebrew+Name+for+God%22|title=The Name: A History of the Dual-Gendered Hebrew Name for God|publisher=Wipf and Stock|year=2020|isbn=978-1-5326-9384-7|pages=108}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilkinson|first=Robert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xyoBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22earlier+form+1551;+final+state+1566%22&pg=PA337|title=Tetragrammaton: Western Christians and the Hebrew Name of God.|publisher=Brill|year=2015|isbn=9789024702039|location=Boston|pages=337}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Postel|first=Guillaume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EmkytAEACAAJ|title=Le thrésor des prophéties de l'univers|publisher=Springer|year=1969|isbn=9789024702039|pages=211|language=French}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Lanci|first=Michelangelo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-q4WAAAAQAAJ&dq=Paralipomeni+Alla+Illustrazione+Della+Sagra+Scrittura&pg=PR15|title=Paralipomeni alla illustrazione della sagra Scrittura|publisher=Dondey-Dupre|year=1845|isbn=978-1274016911|pages=100–113|language=Italian}}</ref>

In the Septuagint and [[New Testament]] translations, ''Elohim'' has the singular {{lang|grc|ὁ θεός}} even in these cases, and modern translations follow suit in giving "[[God (word)|God]]" in the singular. The [[Samaritan Torah]] has edited out some of these exceptions.<ref>Richard N. Soulen, R. Kendall Soulen, ''Handbook of biblical criticism'', Westminster John Knox Press, 2001, {{ISBN|978-0-664-22314-4}}, p. 166.</ref>