11-05-2003, 06:51 PM
Gentile Wrote:The KJV uses the Masoretic text as far as I know. Hence it absurdly uses 'elohim' which, whether anyone likes or not, means 'gods'. Hence 'In the beginning gods created the heavens and the earth' is what it really reads. Masoretic defenders explain this away by saying 'this is a plural of respect' and these other unacceptable explanations. Fact is, the Peshitta Tanakh uses Alha in the singular which is the sensible word to use. Even the Septuagint uses the singular. That being said I think it is interesting to study the Masoretic text alongside the Peshitta Tanakh and make comparisons between them.
Elohim does NOT mean "gods" :-) It's root is "El" which means "might." Hence "Eloah" means "might" in noun form ("Mighty One") and "Elohim" means ("Mighty Ones"). It's a descriptor, a title, not a name.
Additionally, by the time that the Peshitta Tanakh were to have vowel markings, it would have been around for a long time without them. Keep this in mind, since the Aramaic singular and plural of Aloho are spelled identically.
Shlomo,
-Steve-o