21. Bereshit — Abarbanel on the Torah, Section 21

The Name Elohim and the Order of Divine Power

Previous section → El, Eloah, and Elohim — The Names of Divine Power

Indeed, the Name Elohim is used metaphorically for the angels, since they too exert influence upon what is beneath them¹. Yet, because their influence and power are only acquired from Him, blessed be He, and because in their designation of divinity half of the sacred Name (יה) is added, they too are called Elohim—meaning, those who exert influence through the power of His divinity. Thus it is said (Deuteronomy 10:17): “For the Lord your God, He is the God of gods and Lord of lords,” calling the angels Elohim and the heavenly spheres lords, as the Master [Maimonides in the Guide for the Perplexed] wrote, and as is also stated in the Mekhilta².

And since the heavenly spheres also exert forces in this world, they too are called Elohim. The images that men made in their likeness and form were likewise called elohim, for their worship was not directed to the images themselves, but to the higher powers which, they believed, imparted spiritual forces into them³. Accordingly, the prophet said (Isaiah 1:29): “For you shall be ashamed of the oaks you desired,” meaning that the power of the heavenly beings is entirely in God’s hands; He nullifies and subdues their strength at His will, and therefore those who trust in them will be put to shame, for their hope will vanish.

As for the judges also being called Elohim, in my view this is very doubtful. For although Onkelos, in translating the verses “Then his master shall bring him to the elohim… the case of both parties shall come before the elohim” (Exodus 21:6; 22:8), rendered it as “to the judges” (dayyena), and although all the commentators followed him, to the point that the Master [Maimonides] concluded, as I mentioned earlier, that the primary meaning of the Name Elohim was for judges—it seems to me that this is not so. For the divine Torah always calls the judges by the name shoftim (“judges”), not by the name Elohim, as it is written: “And I commanded your judges” (Deuteronomy 1:16); “Judges and officers shall you appoint” (Deuteronomy 16:18); and, “To the judge who shall be in those days” (Deuteronomy 17:9).

And [the Torah] expounded: “Your elders and your judges” (Deuteronomy 19:12)—for the Torah always calls them shoftim (judges) or zekenim (elders), not Elohim⁴. As for the verse “those whom Elohim condemns” (Exodus 22:8), Scripture did not mean to call the judges themselves Elohim, but rather to indicate that all judgment is God’s judgment, and that the legal process, being divine in origin through the Torah and its commandments, is called Elohim⁵. This is like the verse (Psalms 82:1): “Elohim stands in the congregation of El; in the midst of elohim He judges”—meaning, in the midst of the congregation of judges, God Himself judges.

This manner of speaking has even spread among the nations: when the judges of a land judge according to the law of the kingdom, people say that the king commands this and punishes that, and they call the place of judgment “the king’s court,” even though the king himself is not present. So too in the verse, “His master shall bring him to Elohim”⁶ (Exodus 21:6), and similar phrases: the meaning is that he is brought to God’s judgment.

The clear proof of this is in Parashat Shoftim: “The two men who have the dispute shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges…”⁷ (Deuteronomy 19:17). Here the place of judgment, where the priests and judges sit, is called “before the Lord.” Could one possibly say that the priests and judges are themselves called by the Tetragrammaton? Surely not! So it is, without doubt, when Scripture says “the case of both parties shall come before Elohim,” and the like.

Even Onkelos had this very intention, for he did not interpret the word Elohim as “judges,” but rather explained that “the place of Elohim” means the place where the judges sit. And rightly so, since judgment belongs to God, as Moses said, “The judgment is God’s”⁸ (Deuteronomy 1:17), and as King Jehoshaphat said to the judges: “Consider what you do, for you judge not for man, but for the Lord, and He is with you in the matter of judgment”⁹ (2 Chronicles 19:6). That is, God is with them when they render judgment.

If so, whenever Scripture speaks of Elohim in relation to judgment, its meaning is God Himself, not the human judges. Even for those who say the judges are called Elohim, they must agree it is not the primary sense of the Name, but only a borrowing—because the judges serve as God’s representatives on earth, they are called by His Name, just as a messenger is called by the name of the one who sent him. Since their rulings and governance are in accordance with the divine Torah, they are called Elohim—that is, those who transmit divine governance by His hand.

Ibn Ezra already alluded to this in his commentary, where he wrote on the verse “His master shall bring him to Elohim” that the meaning of Elohim here is “those who uphold the commandments of God on earth.” Thus the matter is the very opposite of what the Master [Maimonides] thought. He held that Elohim was said of the judges in its primary sense, and of God only by borrowing from them. But it is not so: its primary sense is for God, blessed be He; secondarily, it was extended to the spheres; then to the angels; and finally to the human judges.

And because the Patriarchs, more than any men on earth, first apprehended the existence of the First Cause, the absolute Source of all power and influence, Scripture ascribes the divine Name to them, saying: “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Thus he¹⁰ has explained the word Elohim as a plural form¹¹.

It remains for us now to explain why the Name Elohim is in the plural form. Ramban wrote that the meaning of Elohim is “Master of all powers,” for the root of the word is El, and the term is compounded with hem (“they”), to signify that all powers come from the Supreme One, blessed be He. Therefore, everything that possesses power and strength is called Elohim, meaning: “from El they are.” Thus far his words.

Now, in his explanation of the Name, his words were brief. For its meaning is not only “mighty and strong,” but also, primarily and essentially, “the One who bestows influence,” as I have explained. Moreover, in what he wrote—that Elohim means “from El they are”—there is truly nothing substantial. For according to him, the letter mem should have been placed at the beginning of Elohim, to indicate that power is from El. Furthermore, on his view, the yod between the heh and the mem would have no meaning, and the Name ought to have been me-Elohim (מאלהים), not Elohim. And if El is the singular, why should the suffix be hem (הם), in the plural? More fitting would have been the term me-El hu (“from El is he”), not Elohim.

Rather, the truth of the matter, without doubt, is as I explained: the Name Elohim is a joining of the Name El with half of the Tetragrammaton, namely Yah (יה). Because of this, our Sages said that the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world with two letters, as it is written: “For in Yah (יה) the Lord formed the worlds” (Isaiah 26:4).

The statement of our Sages is difficult, for we do not find the Name Yah by itself in the entire account of Creation. This forced some of the kabbalists to say that the Name Yah appears in the words yehi or (“let there be light”) and yehi raqia (“let there be a firmament”). But this is not correct, for the word yehi (יהי) contains two yods and one heh, and this is not the same as Yah. Moreover, yehi is not said regarding every act of Creation. How then could they say that the upper and lower worlds were created with those two letters Yah?

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