First occurrence
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Gen 1:1
Original Hebrew
Strong’s H430 Elohiym, a concrete noun, “God, the true God;” plural of
Strong’s H433 elowahh, a concrete noun, “any god, a false god;” emphatic of
Strong’s H410 El, a concrete noun, “god, god-like, mighty one, hero;” shortened form of
Strong’s H352 ayil, a concrete noun, “ram;” by implication also “strength, preeminence, nobility;” from
Strong’s H193 אול uwl, a concrete noun from an unused primitive root meaning, “to twist, to roll.” The ancient pictographs are aleph + vav + lamed.
aleph א = the ox head, thus strength, power, leader
vav ו = the tent peg, thus add, secure, hook
lamed ל = the shepherd’s staff, thus teach, yoke, to, bind
Power or ability (aleph) coupled with (vav) authority (lamed). Applied to the Lord God, also the Sovereign (aleph) coupled with (vav) the Shepherd (lamed). The lexicons say the noun “ram” is connected to the verb “to twist, to roll,” because of the ram’s twisted and curled horns, which are his adornment of power and glory.
Thus in order to arrive at a word which can even come close to adequately describing the Being whose preeminence, greatness, might, and glory is indescribable, the word for strength, preeminence, nobility (ayil) first has to be made emphatic (elowahh), then that result has to be made plural or multiplied, i.e., magnified (Elohiym).
Strong’s H430, elohiym, when it is used to mean “gods,” “angels,” “judges,” or “mighty men.”
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