Exodus22:9
Translation
And the two of them shall bring their cause to the Elohim, and whoever the Elohim condemn shall pay double to his neighbor.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
Then both of them will bring their cause to the judges, and whoever the judges find guilty must pay restitution to his fellow countryman in the form of double what was stolen.
Footnotes
1: "Elohim"
Elohim means “mighty ones.” It can be applied to mighty men of power, such as judges, and also to angels, or to God. Most of the uses of Elohim in the Old Testament are referring to God. In this case it could easily refer to both the judges who represent God and to God Himself, who is represented in this judicial matter by judges who know God’s laws.
The first instance of Elohim in this verse has the article “the Elohim,” but the second use does not – that according to both the Stuttgartensia version of the Hebrew Old Testament and the Westminster Leningrad codex. Both ways of saying it, “the Elohim” or just “Elohim” can refer to God.
TWO MEANINGS IN ONE WORD
The context of this verse is an entire passage outlining what should be done in certain judicial cases. Here in verse 9 we have come to a situation where the guilt is not obvious so the individuals involved should present themselves before the Elohim for a ruling. There is at least one other word for judges and there are other names for God, so I think the use of Elohim here is intended to point to God and also his representatives, the judges that were appointed by Moses in chapter 18 of Exodus. This is an efficient way to communicate both the earthly and the heavenly entities involved. The judges had to know God’s will as expressed in the Law in order to represent Him well. Thus having those two people appear before the human judge was the same as them appearing before God.