Without the yod, it becomes )LHM which means “unto them”. A quick survay ofA quick search of the Westminster Morphological Database revealed only about 50 cases of plural nouns ending in -IM without the yod, except for cases where there is a yod BEFORE the hiriq e.g. goyim, leviyim.
the 100+ times )LHM revealed not once was it used for Elohiym with the
omission of the yod. This is using the present, but unpointed, text.
That doesn’t rule out finding an extra Biblical text or ancient MSS that
omits the yod, only that in all the examples that we have, the yod is never
omitted.
Karl W. Randolph.
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