Where can I find the word Elohim in the bible? This is a question in our bible study. Thank you for your time in looking for this for our church.
Answer
According to bluletterbible.org the Hebrew word "elohim" appears 2606 times in 2249 verses. Obviously I won't list them all. In the King James version it is translated God 2348 times, god 244 times, judge 5 times, goddess twice, great twice, mighty twice, and angels, exceeding, and godly once each. It is a plural word, having no singular form, which is used either as a true plural (gods, judges), or as a "plural intensive," a plural word with a singular meaning (like the "royal we"). Practically every time the word "God" is used in Genesis 1 it is the word "elohim."
A theory was presented years ago that the first five books of the Bible were written at different times by different people based on the idea that sometimes the word "elohim" is used for God, and other times the word used is "Yahweh." This "Documentary Hypothesis" which attempts to destroy the inspiration of the scriptures, says that where each word is used a different author was writing, and that the books are really collections of myths edited by someone else at a later date.
Care must be taken that nobody takes the plural word to teach the trinity, however, because the word is used in the singular in other places as well (Exodus 7:1 and Judges 11:24). For a further explanation, see my answer to another question at What Does the Bible Say About.."Us" and "Our" in Genesis 1?l.