The Torah demands we know one God. So why is His name in creation plural?

 

It always bothered me reading Elohim in the Torah. The word is plural. Why would a Torah that demands we know and believe in one unique God use a plural name for the Creator of the world — בראשית ברא אלהים?

Shadal has a good answer. The pagans believed in many powers, each ruling its own realm. Greek gods of thunder, of water, and so on. Christianity still has the devil ruling hell. Judaism, he says, used the plural on purpose: our God is not one power among others. He rules all of creation. There is no division.

His words:

אלהים: אל ואיל לשון כח וחוזק, ואלהים לשון רבים, והיה נוהג אצל האומות העובדות אלילים (כוזרי מאמר ד' סימן א'), והיו קוראים כן כל כחות הטבע, אשר הם סיבות המאורעות בארץ, והיו עובדים את כולם, וכל א' מהם יהיה להם לאלוה, ואמנם העברים בעלי היחוד קיימו שם זה בלשון רבים להורות, כי האל אשר הם עובדים איננו כח פרטי אחד, כמו שהיו הגוים אומרים אלהי הרים ה' ולא אלהי עמקים הוא (מ"א כ' כ"ח), אבל הוא קיבוץ כל הכחות ובעל הכחות כולם (וכיוצא בזה מילות ימים עיין למטה פסוק י'), כן קראו אותו בשם צבאות לומר שהוא עצמו כולל כחות כל צבאות השמים שהיו הגוים עובדים, עיין פירושי

Translation-

"El and Eil mean power and strength. Elohim is the plural. The idolaters used it for the forces of nature, and worshipped each one. The Hebrews, who hold God’s unity, kept the plural to say the opposite: the God they serve is not a local power, the way the nations said “the Lord is a god of the mountains but not a god of the valleys” (I Kings 20:28). He is the sum of every power, and master of them all. Same reason they called Him Tzevaot. He includes the hosts of heaven the nations worshipped."

The Rambam comes at the word differently. In the Guide (1:2) Elohim means God, angels, and judges. An angel is a messenger — a force of nature, a prophet, or a person carrying out God’s will (Guide 2:6). Miracles, for him, were planted in things at creation (Commentary on Avot 5:6; Guide 2:29). God does not later change His mind or suspend the decree. Providence works the same way. God does not come down, shift mood, and cancel the פורענויות. It follows a person’s connection to Him (Guide 3:17–18). We are the ones who change. By imitatio Dei, and by living the Torah, a person can behave, judge and rule in a godly manner. That is why Elohim is the name used for creation. Only by studying creation, and the will of God in it, does someone become a proper ruler(either over himself or others) and judge. That is tzelem Elokim.

We say every morning, ויעמידם לעד לעולם חק נתן ולא יעבור (Psalms 148:6). אמת ויציב says the same thing, and says who it is for: על אבותינו ועלינו, על בנינו ועל דורותינו, ועל כל דורות זרע ישראל… אמת ואמונה חק ולא יעבור. The rules of nature do not change, and they are not violated. The promise to the Avot is the same kind of decree. They imitated the will of God in creation. The generations that keep doing so do not drop out of history. The promise does not get revised. We go on, a people and a nation in sync with the will of God in creation. Both God and Tzelem Elohim will go on together hand in hand  throughout eternity