Midvash

אֱלֹהִיםʼĕlôhîym

gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative

Pronunciation: el-o-heem' · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H430

Meanings

1. plural in number

a. rulers, judges (Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:7; Exodus 22:8)

b. divine ones (Psalms 8:6; Genesis 1:27; Job 38:7)

c. (the) sons of God, or sons of gods = angels (Psalms 97:7; Job 1:6; Job 2:1)

d. gods (Exodus 18:11; Exodus 22:19; 1 Samuel 4:8)

2. Plural intensive, god or goddess (1 Samuel 5:7; Judges 11:24; 1 Kings 18:24)

b. godlike one (Exodus 4:16; Exodus 7:1; 1 Samuel 28:13)

c. works of God, or things specially belonging to him (Psalms 68:16; Ezekiel 28:14; Ezekiel 28:16)

d. God

3. the (true) God (Deuteronomy 4:35; Deuteronomy 4:39; Deuteronomy 7:9)

4. God (Jeremiah 10:10)

a. as God overthrew Sodom, righteous God (Genesis 3:1; Genesis 3:3; Genesis 3:5)

b. with persons, God of Abraham (Genesis 26:24; Genesis 28:13; Genesis 31:53)

c. with suffix (Leviticus 19:14; Leviticus 19:32; Leviticus 25:17)

Same root

Where it appears

Appears 2,601 times in the Bible.

  • Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
  • Genesis 1:2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
  • Genesis 1:3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
  • Genesis 1:4 And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.
  • Genesis 1:5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.
  • Genesis 1:6 Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.”
See every passage

Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).