Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Christian <jc.bhebrew AT googlemail.com>]

Seems to make sense. We see similar stuff going on in many modern languages.
Here in Ukraine it is common to use vu instead of tu when speaking to elders
and using a vu form of any verbs.
James Christian

2009/9/23 Randall Buth <randallbuth AT gmail.com>

> vayyish'al Ya`akov
> >Could it be that
> this name/title of Elohim in some was indicative of YHWH being the whole
> pantheon of gods in one almighty god?>
>
> Not really-
> the -im idiom is used for various people in a higher position
> (so the term 'plural of majesty' can work as long as it is not thought
> of as a special word for 'divine'.) Notice:
>
> adonim for a landlord or slave owner
> ba`lim for an owner of property or animals
>
> So it is better to see elohim as a special Hebrew idiom functioning
> within its own language in a normal pattern.
>
> and be`alim is still used commonly today in modern Hebrew for the
> legal owner of a property, including singlular reference.
>
> In mishnaic Hebrew the idiom was even used with a verb with plural
> subject when referring to a singular owner. (Cf. Luk 19:33 where be`alim
> may have contrasted with ha-adon in 31 and 34 in an underlying story
> behind a Greek source--as long as that underlying story was not
> in Aramaic, which did not use this idiom) See Buth, "Luke 19:31-34,
> Mishanic Hebrew and Bible Translation, Is KYRIOI TOY PWLOY
> singular?", JBL 104, [1985] 680-685.
>
> --
> Randall Buth, PhD
> www.biblicalulpan.org
> randallbuth AT gmail.com
> Biblical Language Center
> Learn Easily - Progress Further - Remember for Life
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>