Troublesome Topic: AGAINST A NARROW USE OF THE TERM ELOHIM

Early in the book Unseen Real, Heiser provided as one of his guiding principles, the statement that “Sons of Elohim” always refers to divine beings, never to humans (page 24 & 27). I think he got this from other religions because he could not possibly have found such a clear statement in the Bible. Most Bible scholars see human leaders, such as judges, magistrates, or other mighty ones, as a viable meaning for the phrase “sons of Elohim”. In fact, that is the preferred meaning in some cases. It was self-serving and deceptive for Heiser to rule that option out from the start.

He also discounted any interpretation in which the single word “Elohim” is rendered as some kind of human leader; he predetermined that such an interpretation is impossible.

While such limiting statements were convenient helpers in the presentation of his cause, they were unnecessary and dishonest. The term “Elohim” simply means “mighty ones”. Therefore, it is no surprise that it is used in the Old Testament in a few different ways. It is also obvious that God is the mightiest of all the mighty ones. But Heiser was trying so hard to force his alternative worldview onto the Bible that he refused to even consider a human possibility for verses that use the word “Elohim” for entities other than the Creator God.

Heiser not only disagreed with all the other Hebrew scholars I know, he said they cannot possibly be right regarding this word “Elohim. It is one thing to say, “I think they are all wrong,” it is another to say, “They cannot possibly be right.”

Heiser did not show any evidence for his theory that “Elohim” cannot refer to men; he simply stated it as proven fact. Once again, he made an assumption and then turned his assumption into a rule which he tried to force everyone else to follow.

Heiser also said Elohim is a “place of residence” term (page 29). By this he was saying that only those residing in the heavens can qualify for the term. By doing so he once again limited the possibilities and forced certain passages to lean the direction that he wanted them to go. But I see no bases for this in Scripture; I think he got this from the same place he gets most things, from pagan religions.

VERSES THAT SHOW DIFFERENT USES OF THE WORD ELOHIM

There are uses of Elohim that do not refer to the God of Creation but to angels, holy ones, mighty ones, or judges. Here are a few of them:

Ex 21:6

Ex 22:8-9       

Ex 4:16           

Ps 8:5             

Job5:1             

Job 15:15

Zech 14:5

However, none of them require an interpretation of a council of gods. The reality is that there are several verses in the Old Testament where the word “Elohim” or the phrase “sons of Elohim”, fits most naturally with humans. Some examples are Genesis 6:2 & 4, Exodus chapters 18, 21 and 22, and all of Psalm 82.

The next lesson is called EXODUS 18-22 HUMAN JUDGES AND ELOHIM.