The Quick Answer
“God” or elohim in Hebrew doesn’t mean what most people think it means. It’s not a checklist of divine attributes – it’s a category of being. An elohim is simply a non-flesh-and-blood person, a celestial being who operates in the spiritual realm. Yahweh is THE ELOHIM – the Supreme Most High One – but not all elohim are Yahweh, and that distinction changes everything about how we read Scripture.
Unpacking the Question
When we ask “Who is God?” we’re really asking two different questions that often get confused. We’re asking about identity (which God?) and category (what kind of being?). This confusion has created massive blind spots in how modern readers understand the Bible. We’ve redefined “god” to mean “a being with all the omni-attributes” – but that’s not what the ancients meant at all.
The stakes here are huge. When Psalm 82:1 says “God stands in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment,” or when Paul calls Satan “the god of this world” in 2 Corinthians 4:4, modern readers either twist themselves into theological pretzels or just skip over it. But the ancient audience? They understood perfectly. There’s a whole heavenly hierarchy up there, and understanding what elohim actually means is step one to seeing the Bible’s full cosmic drama.
What the Ancient Words Tell Us
Here’s where it gets interesting. The Hebrew word elohim appears over 2,500 times in the Old Testament, and it doesn’t always refer to Yahweh. It’s used for:
- Yahweh, the Most High God (Deuteronomy 6:4)
- The members of Yahweh’s divine council (Psalm 82:1, Psalm 89:6-7)
- The disembodied dead (1 Samuel 28:13 – Samuel is called an elohim)
- Demons and territorial spirits (Deuteronomy 32:17)
The common thread? None of them have flesh and blood. They’re all inhabitants of the spiritual realm, operating from the heavenly places.
Grammar Geeks
Elohim is technically plural in form, but when referring to Yahweh, it takes singular verbs (“God creates” not “gods create”). When referring to the divine council members, it takes plural verbs. The grammar itself is showing you the distinction between THE God and the gods.
When Moses meets Yahweh at the burning bush in Exodus 3:14, God doesn’t just say “I am an elohim.” He gives His personal name: Yahweh (often translated as “I AM WHO I AM”). Why? Because saying “I am God” would be like saying “I am a human” – technically true but tells you nothing about which one. The name matters. Yahweh is identifying Himself specifically among all the elohim.
What Would the Original Audience Have Heard?
When an ancient Israelite heard about elohim, they weren’t thinking philosophy textbook. They were thinking about the unseen world that overlapped with their own. Picture it: they lived in a world where every nation had patron deities. The Moabites had Chemosh. The Ammonites had Molech. The Philistines had Dagon. Were these fake? No – they were real spiritual beings, real elohim, but they were rebels, usurpers, and pretenders according to Psalm 82.
This is why Deuteronomy 32:8-9 is so crucial: “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided mankind (at Babel), He fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But Yahweh’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted heritage.”
Did You Know?
The Dead Sea Scrolls preserve an older Hebrew text of Deuteronomy 32:8 that says “sons of God” (bene elohim) instead of “sons of Israel.” This reading is supported by the Greek Septuagint and makes the divine council context crystal clear. Yahweh divided the nations and assigned them to lesser elohim, but kept Israel for Himself.
So when an Israelite read Psalm 82:1, they understood: Yahweh is presiding over a council of spiritual beings who were supposed to govern justly but failed. These weren’t metaphors or personifications. These were real entities who had real jurisdiction and real accountability which we also see in Job 1.
But Wait… There’s More to This
Here’s where modern theology often goes sideways. We’ve been taught that monotheism means “only one spiritual being exists.” But biblical monotheism actually means “only One deserves worship” or “only One is Most High.” It’s monolatry in practice – acknowledging other spiritual beings exist while refusing to worship them.
Jesus Himself confirms this in John 10:34-36. When accused of blasphemy for claiming to be God’s Son, He quotes Psalm 82:6: “I said, ‘You are gods (elohim), sons of the Most High, all of you.’” Jesus isn’t being poetic. He’s making a legal argument from Scripture about categories of divine beings.
Paul gets it too. Check out 1 Corinthians 8:5-6: “For although there may be so-called gods in the sky or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”
Paul isn’t denying these beings exist. He’s saying they don’t matter for our allegiance. There’s a hierarchy, and Yahweh sits at the top. No contest. Period.
Wait, That’s Strange…
In 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul calls the Satan “the god of this world.” If “god” only meant “the one true God with all the omni-attributes,” this sentence would be outright blasphemy and heresy. But Paul can call the Satan an elohim (a spiritual being with jurisdiction) while never confusing him with Yahweh (the Most High). The category allows for ranks.
This also explains why Jesus talks about different classes of demons in Matthew 17:21 – “this kind comes out only by prayer and fasting.” There’s a hierarchy in the dark side too. Not all demons are equal. Not all rebellious elohim have the same power or rank.
Why This Makes the Story of Jesus So Incredible
Here’s where understanding elohim as a category makes the Incarnation explode with meaning. Jesus was the first elohim – a non-flesh-and-blood Being – to take on actual human flesh and blood through an immaculate conception sanctioned by the Father. Think about that. Every other spiritual being had to stay in their lane. But Yahweh Himself, in the person of the Son, crossed over to become one of us, the Son of Man.
You can feel the sheer wonder of it in 1 John 1:1-3: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—the Life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal Life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us.”
John’s almost stammering with amazement. “We heard Him. We SAW Him. We TOUCHED Him with our hands!” This isn’t just theological precision – this is awe. This is a man still marveling years later that he got to physically embrace the Most High Elohim in human form.
Did You Know?
The Greek word John uses in 1 John 1:1 for “touched” is psēlaphaō – it means to handle, to grope, to feel carefully. This wasn’t a casual handshake. John is emphasizing the tangible, physical, undeniable reality of God in the flesh. The supreme Elohim became touchable.
When you understand that elohim are non-corporeal beings, you realize how unprecedented the Incarnation was. Angels appeared to people, sure – but they didn’t become human. The rebellious sons of God in Genesis 6 violated boundaries in their corruption, but Jesus? He took on flesh in perfect obedience, sanctioned by the Father, for our redemption.
John 1:14 hits different when you get this: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The Word – who was with God and was God, an elohim in the fullest sense – became basar, flesh. He didn’t just appear as flesh. He BECAME it.
And then consider what happened around those dinner tables. The Most High Elohim, who presides over the divine council, who judges the rebellious gods, who created the heavens and the earth – broke bread with fishermen. He let a prostitute wash His feet. He commissioned bumbling disciples for a world-changing mission.
You can almost hear the tremor in their voices when they later testified: “We ate with Him. After He rose, we watched Him cook fish on the beach. We walked with Him on dusty roads. The Creator of the spiritual realm and the physical realm chose to enter our domain completely.”
This is why Hebrews 2:14-16 is so profound: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels He helps, but He helps the offspring of Abraham.”
He didn’t just sympathize from Heaven. He partook. He entered in. An elohim – THE Elohim – took on everything that makes us us, not because He had to, but because that’s what love required to accomplish our redemption and destroy the works of the rebel elohim who had enslaved humanity.
The honour of it all is staggering. That’s why John can barely contain himself in his letter. That’s why the disciples’ faith survived even martyrdom. They didn’t just believe in a spiritual being out there somewhere. They had touched Yahweh incarnate, and that encounter ruined them for anything less.
Wrestling with This Question
You might be thinking: “If there are all these gods, doesn’t that undermine biblical authority or make us polytheists?” Not at all. Here’s the key distinction: existence doesn’t equal legitimacy.
These beings exist. The Bible never denies that. What it denies is their right to worship, their claim to ultimate authority, their pretense of being on Yahweh’s level. Psalm 95:3 says it perfectly: “For Yahweh is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” Above – not “instead of” but “over.”
The rebellious sons of God from Psalm 82 were judged because they ruled unjustly. They’ll “die like men” – meaning these immortal beings will face mortality as punishment. Yahweh sentences them. That’s dominance, not competition.
“The question that actually matters isn’t whether spiritual beings exist – it’s ‘What’s the name of your god?’ And if it ain’t Yahweh-Yeshua, you’re going to have problems at the end of this age.”
This is why James 2:19 hits so hard: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” The demons know Yahweh exists. They know He’s supreme. That knowledge doesn’t save them because they’re in rebellion. Belief without allegiance is worthless.
Why This Matters Today
Getting this right changes everything about how you read your Bible. Suddenly, passages that seemed weird or “merely symbolic” snap into focus:
- The serpent in Eden (Genesis 3) – Not just a talking snake, but a nachash, a shining spiritual being, a member of the divine council who rebelled.
- The sons of God in Genesis 6 (Genesis 6:1-4) – Not human kings or godly lineages, but rebellious bene elohim who crossed boundaries they shouldn’t have.
- The strong man’s house in Mark 3:27 – Jesus isn’t just using a metaphor. He’s talking about binding territorial spirits and taking back nations.
- Spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6:12 – “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Paul isn’t being poetic. There’s a real hierarchy of real beings we’re contending with.
Here’s the pastoral reality: 95% of the world believes in some form of god or gods. They’re not entirely wrong – there ARE spiritual beings out there. But the question isn’t “Do spiritual beings exist?” The question is “Which one are you aligned with?”
The mercy of God is that judgment day hasn’t come yet. People still have time to get this right. But getting it right means understanding that elohim is a category describing non-corporeal beings, and within that category, there’s no comparison to Yahweh. He’s not first among equals. He’s the Most High, the Creator, the only one worthy of worship.
Bottom Line
God (elohim) means a non-flesh-and-blood person – a spiritual being. Yahweh is THE God, the supreme Elohim, but He’s not the only spiritual being in existence. The Bible is full of “gods with a little g” – rebel members of the divine council, demons, territorial spirits. They’re real, but they’re not rivals to Yahweh. They’re defeated enemies awaiting final judgment. What matters isn’t whether you believe spiritual beings exist (even demons do that), but whether you’ve aligned yourself with Yahweh through Jesus (Yeshua). That’s the name that matters, the allegiance that saves, and the identity that will determine your eternity.
Related Questions
What is the divine council mentioned in the Bible?
The divine council is Yahweh’s heavenly assembly of spiritual beings who serve as His advisors and administrators. You see this in Psalm 82:1, 1 Kings 22:19-22, and Job 1:6. These aren’t symbolic – they’re real spiritual entities with delegated authority who will answer to Yahweh for how they used it.
Who are the “sons of God” in Genesis 6?
The bene elohim (sons of God) in Genesis 6:1-4 are members of Yahweh’s divine council who rebelled by taking human women as wives. This wasn’t godly men marrying ungodly women – it was a boundary violation by spiritual beings that produced the Nephilim and contributed to the judgment of the Flood.
If other gods exist, how is Christianity monotheistic?
Biblical monotheism means Yahweh alone is the Most High and alone deserves worship – not that He’s the only spiritual being in existence. It’s about ultimate authority and exclusive allegiance, not about denying the existence of rebellious spiritual entities. Deuteronomy 6:4 says “Yahweh is one” – He’s unique, incomparable, supreme – not that He’s alone in the spiritual realm.
Dive Deeper
Internal Links:
- Psalm 82:1 – God in the divine council
- Deuteronomy 32:8-9 – Nations divided among spiritual beings
- 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 – Many gods, one Lord
- Ephesians 6:12 – Spiritual warfare against rulers and authorities
- John 10:34-36 – Jesus quotes Psalm 82
External Scholarly Resources:
- The Unseen Realm by Michael S. Heiser – Comprehensive scholarly treatment of the divine council worldview
- Angels by Michael S. Heiser – Accessible introduction to biblical spiritual beings
- Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible – Academic reference on spiritual beings in Scripture
- Reversing Hermon by Michael S. Heiser – Deep dive into Genesis 6 and the sons of God
- Naked Bible Podcast – Dr. Michael Heiser’s accessible teaching on biblical theology in ancient context
