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ELOAH is NOT feminine. Any suggestion that it is is based on a misunderstanding of Hebrew. The feminine ending is simply –a, but is written with a HE as a “mater” or helping letter simply to indicate the presence of a final vowel. But the final HE in ELOAH is not a “mater”, but has a mappiq indicating that it is a fully pronounced consonant. Also the A sound here is not original but is a “furtive patah” which is inserted before final guttural sounds, inlcuding HE with mappiq. So in the plural of this name the A drops out, but the H does not, the masculine plural ending –im is added, and we get the familiar plural form ELOHIM, which is also used regularly with singular meaning.
Now God is portrayed in the Hebrew Bible as having female as well as male characteristics, e.g. Isaiah 49:15, 66:13. But that’s a different issue.
Peter Kirk
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