ELOHIM

(plural of Hloah), one of the Hebrew names for God, of frequent occurrence in the Bible. Elohim is used in speaking both of the true God and of false gods, while Jehovah is confined to the true God. The plural form of Elohim has caused a good deal of controversy, some considering it as containing an allusion to the doctrine of the Trinity, others regarding it as the plural of excellence, others holding it as establishing the fact of a primitive polytheism. The Elohistic pa ages in the Pent a teuch, or, in other words, the pa ages in which the Almighty is always spoken of as Elohim, are supposed to have been written at an earlier period than those in which he is spoken of as Jehovah. The Elohistic pa ages are simpler and more primitive in character than the Jehovistic; thus Gen. i, 27 is Elohistic; Gen. ii, 21-4 is Jehovistic.