I. Name

The usual word for ‘god’ in the Hebrew Bible is ʾĕlōhîm, a plural formation of ʾĕlōah, the latter being an expanded form of the Common Semitic noun ʾil (Eloah). The term ʾĕlōhîm occurs some 2570 times in the Hebrew Bible, with a variety of meanings. In such expressions as “all the gods of Egypt” (Exod. 12.12) it refers to a plurality of deities—without there being a clear distinction between these gods and their images. Far more frequent is the use of the plural with reference to a single being: Chemosh …