.Mr. Fortigurn, you made a good case for your interpretation concerning the use of the Hebrew word for Elohim as use in Genesis chapter 1-3. You cited Bibe.org well.
http://www.bible.org/netbible/index.htm
OUOTE: 2sn God. This frequently used Hebrew name for God (אֱלֹהִים,'elohim ) is a plural form. When it refers to the one true God, the singular verb is normally used, as here. The plural form indicates majesty; the name stresses God's sovereignty and incomparability — he is the “God of gods.”
47sn The plural form of the verb has been the subject of much discussion through the years, and not surprisingly several suggestions have been put forward. Many Christian theologians interpret it as an early hint of plurality within the Godhead, but this view imposes later Trinitarian concepts on the ancient text. Some have suggested the plural verb indicates majesty, but the plural of majesty is not used with verbs. C. Westermann (Genesis, 1:145) argues for a plural of “deliberation” here, but his proposed examples of this use (2 Sam 24:14; Isa 6:8. do not actually support his theory. In 2 Sam 24:14 David uses the plural as representative of all Israel, and in Isa 6:8 the Lord speaks on behalf of his heavenly court. In its ancient Israelite context the plural is most naturally understood as referring to God and his heavenly court (see 1 Kgs 22:19-22; Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6; Isa 6:1-8. (The most well-known members of this court are God's messengers, or angels. In Gen 3:5 the serpent may refer to this group as “gods/divine beings.” See the note on the word “evil” in 3:5.) If this is the case, God invites the heavenly court to participate in the creation of humankind (perhaps in the role of offering praise, see Job 38:7), but he himself is the one who does the actual creative work (v. 27). Of course, this view does assume that the members of the heavenly court possess the divine “image” in some way. Since the image is closely associated with rulership, perhaps they share the divine image in that they, together with God and under his royal authority, are the executive authority over the world. END QUOTE.
Another Link on Bible.org — on Use of Elohim:
http://www.bible.org/qa.asp?topic_id=96&qa_id=285
QUOTE: The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Vol. I, Moody Press, Editor, R. Laird Harris, Associate Editor, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Associate Editor, Bruce K. Waltke, has the following to say about Elohim:
Elohim. God, gods, judges, angels. This word, which is generally viewed as the plural of eloah, is found far more frequently in Scripture than either el or eloah for the true God. The plural ending is usually described as a plural of majesty and not intended as a true plural when used of God. This is seen in the fact that the noun elohim is consistently used with a singular verb forms and with adjectives and pronouns in the singular.
Albright has suggested that the use of this majestic plural comes from the tendency in the ancient near east toward a universalism:… a better reason can be seen in Scripture itself where, in the very first chapter of Gen, the necessity of a term conveying both the untiy of the one God and yet allowing for a plurality of persons is found (Gen. 1:2, 26). This is further borne out by the fact that the form elohim occurs only in Hebrew and no other Semitic language, not even in Biblical Aramaic…
The term occurs in the general sense of deity some 2570 times in Scripture. Yet … it is difficult to detect any discrepancy in use between the forms el, eloah, and elohim in Scripture.
When indicating the true God, elohim functions as the subject of all divine activity revealed to man and as the object of all true reverence and fear from men. Often, elohim is accompanied by the personal name of God, Yahweh.
The key in the study of all biblical words is not their etymology or derivation, but their use with the ingredients of the context as the defining issues. Clearly, in most cases, these words are used in the Old Testament of the one true God who revealed himself to the nation of Israel by divine revelation in various ways through the patriarchs and the prophets. END QUOTE.
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So, for some reason the commentators of the NET forgot to post truly both sides of the debate on Elohim in their comments. These Comments seem to ignore the rule of Contextual Continuity by only spotlighting the surface meaning and center its usage on the original situation and in doing so are avoiding the deep structure principle behind the passage of scripture as explained elsewhere within the bible based on solid contextual continuity. This does not mean the NET is wrong, or evil, but rather it neglected to position correctly both sides of the debate concerning the use of Elohim.
What the NET commentators seem to be doing is relying heavily on the Grammato-historical hermeneutic approach and neglecting specific textual contextual evidence of continuity theme elsewhere in the bible where it is directly and specifically related to the contextual continuity of other scripture passages indicating God's role in the creation of the universe and world.
Spiros Zodhiates comments in His Hebrew-Greek Study Bible on Genesis use of the word Elohim is illuminating: “Until Jesus came, the internal unity of the Godhead was not understood.”
The NET commentators appeared to have stuck with the Grammato-historical hermeneutic approach of the surface meaning of the original situation but avoided the deep structure principle behind the passage of scripture.
Why is this important? Well the word used in Genesis 1:1 is the Hebrew word Elohim, God, which is a plural noun and in grammatical agreement with the singular verb Bara — created, which would make and denote that Elohim in singular function and form.
The word Elohim — God — means the Totality of God, His total being, nature, all who God is and does. In others words: God, and when used with a singular verb, you can rest assured that an attribute of God is being placed in the limelight. In Genesis 1:1 we see that here — God created.
Next, notice the following scriptures to verify strict contextual continuity.
Job 38:1-7 “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: Who is this who darkens counsel with words without knowledge? Get ready for a difficult task like a man; I will question you and you will inform me! “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding! Who set its measurements — if you know — or who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its bases set, or who laid its cornerstone — when the morning stars sang in chorus, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?...” NET
Isaiah 45:11-12 “This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel, the one who formed him, concerning things to come: “How dare you question me about my children! How dare you tell me what to do with the work of my own hands, I made the earth, I created the people who live on it. It was me — my hands stretched out the sky, I give orders to all the heavenly lights…” NET
Hebrews 1:1-4 “
After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Thus he became so far better than the angels as he has inherited a name superior to theirs…” NET
John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.” NET
As you can see by scriptural context that Elohim in Genesis 1:1, which is a plural noun used in grammatical agreement with the singular verb denoting that Elohim in singular form and function is none other than who? Jesus Christ.
Also you can clearly see that angels were not involved in helping God create the universe and world but rather shouting joy for this — creating them and everything else, thus, the commentators comments for Genesis 1-3 in the NET can promote an error in translation because they did not include use the strict use of contextual continuity of scripture within the framework of their comments.
The point is this - the NET commentators did a poor job here. To err is human. We all must test the experts and not rely on them totally, they can go only so far with evidence.
Truly, “Until Jesus came, the internal unity of the Godhead was not understood,” Spiros Zodhiates comments in His Hebrew-Greek Study Bible should have been granted proper place in NET comments found in Genesis chapter one but were negelected in the NET comments.
Finally, Elohim as used in Genesis is in direct reference to Jesus as the Creator — the second person of the Trinity, as the whole bible boldly proclaims. You cannot deny this, to do so promotes false teaching and denies the bible of what it is saying regarding creation and how God chooses to reveal Himself.
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