Elohim, Eloah & El

For those of us who are in pursuit of the knowledge of God and God’s ways, which is what we rely on to overcome the lesser standards our culture often promotes for us, our study of scripture revolves around the question: What does the Bible say about who God is?

It is not enough for us to get this question answered by our fellow human beings- our pastors & priests, institutional leaders or popular religious teachers- because every human teacher makes their own choices regarding what moments of scripture to emphasize and which to minimize or leave unaddressed altogether. As a result, the picture of God one receives from any one person is very limited by their personal experience and momentary mental state of consideration.

Only the collective perspectives captured in Biblical scripture as a whole can give us a fuller picture of the God we are pursuing, since it consists of a set of books documenting a history of other people’s experiences with this God over multiple centuries and cultures. The consistent patterns that emerge from these diverse testimonies regarding descriptions of this God and this God’s values indicate the authenticity of these encounters with the supernatural, as well as the unique identity distinguishing this God from all other gods. As Isaiah says,
“From ancient times no one has heard, no person has seen, any God besides You, intervening for those who wait for You.” Isaiah 64:4

The Reoccurring Theme of God's Gender-Inclusive Identity

One thematic pattern that emerges, when studying these books as a whole, is that God’s identity is not limited to or defined by any particular physical feature of the human experience -such as gender, race, or culture. God’s identity is distinguished by features of character, not features of physicality or ethnicity, giving credence to the message relayed to Israel that God indeed “shows no favoritism and accepts no bribes” (Deuteronomy 10:17). Although this aspect of God’s identity as transcendent and, most importantly, independent of any particular physical form can be perceived from direct study of scripture, this concept is not often relayed well by individual teachers and leaders in the Christian community who are caught up in conformity to the larger patriarchal culture.

For example, many Christians are used to hearing God portrayed exclusively as a “he” by the teachers and leaders in their community; however, this does not reflect the image of God portrayed by Biblical literature. In fact, the very first name used to describe God in the Bible –“Elohim”- demonstrates the author’s use of this plural Hebrew word for ‘divinities’ to encompass both the feminine singular and masculine singular versions of this word, both of which are used throughout the rest of Hebrew scripture to refer to God. (1)

Grammatical Evidence

Elohim is the most frequently used name for God in the Hebrew Scriptures (2). Although it is the plural masculine word for “majesty”, indicating a plural identity to God, Strong’s Concordance shows that the word is also used to refer to a mix of feminine and masculine deities (3). One reason the plural masculine “Elohim” is considered inclusive of both the female and male singular versions of the word is because “Elohim”, although primarily used in scripture to refer to the God of Israel, is also used in 1 Kings 11:5 to refer to a pagan goddess (4), demonstrating that the word was used grammatically to refer to gods in general, and gods of either gender:

“For Solomon worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess (“Elohim”) of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.”

The other reason “Elohim” is considered to include both genders is because the very same books of Hebrew scripture that use it to refer to the God of Israel also use the feminine singular Hebrew word “Eloha” intermittently with the masculine singular Hebrew word “El” to refer to the same God (5). The word “Eloha” is feminine according to the rules of Hebrew grammar (6), and according to scholars (7)(8); it is used 70 times across 9 different books of Hebrew scripture, from Deuteronomy through Habakkuk, to refer to the God of Israel (9).

Despite these passages, many Bible commentators mistakenly interpret the masculine grammar of “Elohim” as evidence that the God of Israel was therefore masculine in all aspects. However, a consistent study of all passages in scripture does not support this. Neither does a grammatical and historical study of Hebrew scripture.  As Wilhelm Gesenius (10), a well-known Semitic philologist and Biblical exegete, perceived, the masculine plural form of “Elohim” does not indicate an exclusion of the feminine from the plural but rather indicates the very ancient Semitic mindset which subordinated the feminine aspect of the word to the masculine aspect of the word in usage (11).

In addition, a grammatical examination of these Hebrew words allows us to see that the Hebrew characters used to spell “Elohim” literally contain both “Eloah” and “El” (12):

 אֱלֹהִים  (Elohim)
    אֱלֹהַּ  (Eloah)
       אֵל  (El)

This particular grammatical indication that God is both feminine and masculine in identity occurs throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. However, this example is not unique or exceptional in the Bible. It is echoed by other grammatical fluctuations in gender in reference to God within both Hebrew and Greek scriptures.

Beginning with the first description of God in the creation account and continuing throughout all books of Hebrew scripture, the Spirit of God is consistently identified as “Ruah”, a Hebrew feminine noun; the verb used to describe the Spirit’s activity in the creation account, “rachaph” (fluttered/moved/hovered), is a Hebrew feminine verb, used only one other time in the Bible –by Moses when he referred to God as a mother eagle fluttering over her young:

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit (Ruah) of God was hovering (rachaph) over the waters.” Genesis 1:2

“As an eagle that stirs up her nest and hovers (rachaph) over her young, that spreads her wings to catch them and carries them aloft: So the Lord alone did lead him (Israel), and there was no strange god with him.” Deuteronomy 32:11

In the Greek Scriptures, grammatical indications of God’s gender-encompassing identity are less overt, since the Greek word used for God’s Spirit, pneuma, is neuter in gender. However, Jesus and his apostles did not teach in Greek; they taught their fellow Hebrews in Aramaic, the common street language in their culture (13). And in Aramaic, the word for Spirit (Ruach) is feminine. This perception of the Holy Spirit as Feminine by early Christians is seen in the oldest Syriac translations of the Gospels, where Jesus repeatedly refers to the Holy Spirit as “She”.

Literary Evidence

Although this grammatical evidence of God’s gender-inclusive identity is significant, especially considering the patriarchal bias of both the Hebrew and Aramaic cultures in which these books were written, the confirmation that this is a deliberate theological theme is in Biblical authors' use of mixed gender analogies to refer to God.

For example, not only does the writer of Genesis describe God in feminine and maternal imagery in the creation account (Genesis 1:2) using words that portray the Spirit of God as a female bird giving birth to creation, but Moses echoes the same maternal analogy for God more clearly in Deuteronomy 32:11, specifically describing God’s relationship with the Israelites as that of a mother bird with her young.

Then in Exodus 19:4, God uses this analogy of God as a birth-mother to describe God’s self:

“You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” Exodus 19:4

This analogy is seen again in the Psalms, where King David echoes this picture of God as a protective mother repeatedly:

“Be merciful unto me, O God… for in thee my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of thy wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by” Psalm 57:1.

 “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” Psalm 36

 “...God will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence; God will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge” Psalm 91

Theologist Jann Aldredge-Clanton explains the significance of this repeated reference to the mother eagle in scripture as opposed to the father eagle:

“The female eagle, larger and heavier than the male, bears the eaglets on her wings when it is time for them to leave the nest. The mother eagle stirs up her nest to get the young out on their own to hunt their own food. Then she takes them on her wings and swoops down suddenly to force them to fly alone. But she always stays close enough to swoop back under them when they become too weary and weak to continue to fly on their own.” (14)

Similarly, the prophet Isaiah repeatedly portrays God as a birth-mother, interchanging these analogies with masculine analogies depicting God as a protector:

“"For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant.” Isaiah 42:14,

"Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, who have been borne by me from your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Isaiah 46:3-4

“"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” Isaiah 49:15

“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."Isaiah 66:13

The prophet Joel portrays God as a birth mother in Joel 2:13, a passage loaded with feminine imagery. The Hebrew word for "compassionate" here is "rachum", derived from the Hebrew word for 'womb'. In the next line, "merciful" is from the Hebrew word "chesed", meaning 'devoted kindness'- a word also used for a mother stork. Then in the next line, the word for "relent" is from a Hebrew word also derived from the word for 'womb' and means "deeply moved":

"Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, who is gracious and compassionate (rachum, 'womb-love'), slow to anger and merciful (chesed, 'devoted kindness'), and relents ('deeply moved', derived from 'womb') from sending calamity." Joel 2:13

The prophet Hosea similarly compares God to a mother in Hosea 11:3, 11:8, and 13:8.

These maternal analogies for God continue into the New Testament with Jesus’ teaching on the Holy Spirit:

“Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.” John 3:5-7

The apostle Paul echoes this maternal imagery of God’s Spirit, comparing spiritual conversion to a birthing experience accomplished by the Holy Spirit in 2 Corinthians:

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

Another feminine analogy for God’s Spirit in Hebrew and Greek scripture is that of a wise female teacher. Jesus identifies God’s Spirit of Wisdom as feminine, referring to God’s wisdom with the feminine word “Sophia” in Luke 11:49, and as “her” in Matthew 11:19. This recalls Proverbs’ consistent depiction of God’s wisdom as a female teacher.

When these passages depicting feminine imagery for God are noticed and examined alongside of the more traditionally emphasized passages depicting masculine images for God, a fuller picture of God emerges for our community- one that depicts God more accurately and in a way that is more consistent with the Biblical description of this God’s character.

 References:

1. Aldredge-Clanton, In Whose Image? God and Gender (New York: Crossroad, 2001), Pg. 24.

2.  http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/Elohim/elohim.html

3. “However, in the old Strongs Concordance, the 2a definition is "God, Goddess." If you have the new "Strongest Strongs" marvelously reworked and powerfully updated by John R. Kohlenberger III, and James A. Swanson, it is the Hebrew Dictionary number 430 and its under the [4] as "Goddess."” 

4. http://messianictorah.org/en/pdf/trich-2.pdf

5. http://messianictorah.org/en/pdf/trich-2.pdf, page 2.

6. To render the feminine singular, the ending has to be with "-ah" while the feminine plural is usually rendered with "-ot"; the masculine ending has no special form. There is a special form ending which changes the feminine ending of "-ah" to "-at" in the construct singular of the feminine nouns as well (Thomas O. Lambdin, "Introduction to Biblical Hebrew," Harvard University, 1971: 74).

7. Aldredge-Clanton, In Whose Image? God and Gender (New York: Crossroad, 2001), Pg. 24.

8. "Names of God in Judaism." The New Encyclopedia of Judaism. The Jerusalem Publishing House, Ltd., 1989, 2002. Answers.com 29 Mar. 2014. http://www.answers.com/topic/ha-shem

9. http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/Eloha/eloha.html

10. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6636-gesenius-heinrich-friedrich-wilhelm

11. “Gesenius Hebrew Grammar," 2nd ed., revised by A. E. Crowley, Clarendon Press, Oxford, reprint, 1910: (page 391); 122-g, and footnote 2. 
12.Trent Wilde discusses this argument as put forth by Shekinah Magazine in the 1980's:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPqLDDlShQU

13. http://www.levitt.com/essays/language

14. Aldredge-Clanton, In Whose Image? God and Gender (New York: Crossroad, 2001), Pg. 26