The Hebrew Word for God Is Grammatically Plural
Did you know the Hebrew word for God — elohim (אֱלֹהִים) — is grammatically plural? It ends in the standard Hebrew masculine plural suffix -im. Yet when it refers to Israel's God, verbs and adjectives are almost always singular. Plural noun. Singular action. Grammatically odd. Theologically loaded.
The Word — Elohim (אֱלֹהִים):
Elohim is the plural of eloah (אֱלוֹהַ, deity), which appears rarely on its own. The -im ending is the standard Hebrew masculine plural suffix:
— sarim (שָׂרִים) — princes/chiefs (plural of sar)
— yamim (יָמִים) — days (plural of yom)
— elohim (אֱלֹהִים) — gods (plural of eloah)
Genesis 1:1 — Plural Noun, Singular Verb:
The Hebrew: bereshit bara elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz (בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ).
Bara (בָּרָא) is 3rd person masculine SINGULAR — "he created." The verb agrees with a singular subject even though the noun form is plural. Hebrew grammar normally requires subject-verb agreement in number.
The Consistent Pattern:
When elohim refers to Israel's God, verbs and adjectives are almost always SINGULAR. Thousands of instances.
When elohim refers to pagan gods (e.g., Ex 20:3, "no other elohim before me"), verbs and adjectives are PLURAL.
Israel's God: plural name, singular action.
The Plural Pronouns:
Divine self-address in first-person plural appears in several key passages:
— Genesis 1:26 — "Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness."
— Genesis 3:22 — "The man has become like one of US."
— Genesis 11:7 — "Come, let US go down and there confuse their language."
— Isaiah 6:8 — "Whom shall I send, and who will go for US?"
Three Interpretive Options:
1. Plural of majesty/intensity. Hebrew intensifies concepts by pluralization. Mayim (waters), shamayim (heavens), and other collective/intensive plurals follow this pattern. Most modern Hebrew grammarians favor this reading as the safest linguistic explanation.
2. Divine council. Some scholars (Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm) read the plural pronouns as God addressing the heavenly council — the angelic beings sometimes called bene elohim (sons of God) in the Hebrew Bible.
3. Hint of the Trinity. The Reformed christological/canonical reading. The plural form and pronouns are consistent with — and, read canonically, point toward — the fuller NT revelation of God's triune nature (John 1:1-3; Col 1:15-17).
The Reformed Reading — Canonical Hermeneutics:
Reformed theology has always seen Trinitarian hints in the OT — Elohim's plurality, plural pronouns, the Angel of the LORD (Judges 6, 13), Wisdom personified (Prov 8). Reformed hermeneutics reads the OT in light of the NT — Genesis 1's grammatical oddities become theologically pregnant when read alongside John 1:1-3 (Word was with God AND was God). Reformed exegesis is careful not to overload grammar; Elohim's plural form doesn't PROVE the Trinity in isolation, but the pattern is consistent with Trinitarian revelation.
The Shema (Deut 6:4) — "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is echad." Hebrew echad means "one" but can indicate composite unity (Gen 2:24, "one flesh"), not solitary singularity (which would be yachid).
Sources: Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics vol. 2; B.B. Warfield, Biblical Doctrines; John Frame, The Doctrine of God; Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm; Bruce Waltke, An Old Testament Theology.
The Pastoral Implication:
Genesis 1:1 opens with a grammatical oddity: plural noun, singular verb. Genesis 1:26 continues with divine plural pronouns. Isaiah 6:8 does it again. The plurality is a genuine feature of the Hebrew text.
Whether you read it as plural of majesty, divine council, or a hint of the Trinity, the plurality is there. Reformed theology reads this canonically — the NT fills in what Genesis 1 already gestured toward.
📖 Passages: Genesis 1:1-31, 3:22, 11:7, Exodus 20:3, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Isaiah 6:1-8, 40:12-14, 45:5-7, Proverbs 8:22-31, John 1:1-3, 1:14, 8:58, 10:30, 17:1-5, Colossians 1:15-17, Hebrews 1:1-4, 1 John 5:7-8, Revelation 1:8, 22:13