Who is the Elohiym of Genesis 1?

The Hebrew word “Elohiym” is used throughout the Old Testament. What does this term mean? Who did it identify in Genesis 1? Does it refer to the Trinity?

Genesis 1:1 says:
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

This verse makes a declaration that God (Elohiym) created the heaven and the earth.

Elohiym is defined in the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible’s Hebrew Dictionary as:
H430; אלהים; 'elohiym; el-o-heem'; Plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative: - angels, X exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty.

As you can see in this definition there are many uses for this term. It can identify the Supreme God, to gods, to angels, to human judges, and even to large cities.

In Amos 2:8, Elohiym is used of a false god:
“And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.”

In Nahum 1:14, Elohiym is used for false gods:
“And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.”

Elohiym is also used to describe a very large city in Jonah 3:3:
“So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.”

There are many things called Elohiym in the Old Testament – but what about in Genesis 1? Although the word Elohiym could mean many different objects and people, in Genesis 1 it only had one intended meaning. This is true of any biblical passage, each has only one intended meaning although there may be many applications.

The individual writers were moved by the Supreme Author to write one intended meaning, as explained in 2 Peter 1:20-21.
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

The application could be for a limited time to a limited number of people. Such is the case with the Mosaic laws on divorce. The application may be wider, applying to the reader at the time of the writing as well as applying to the reader of today.

The use of the term Elohiym, in Genesis 1, can only have one intended meaning. Who or what was meant? Could the term have meant any of the definitions equally? Could it mean, “Take your pick” as to the meaning of Elohiym? What was the singular intent of the Supreme Author when guiding Moses to use this term exclusively in Genesis 1?

One of the keys to unlocking this question is stated in several texts of the Old Testament. Notice how Elohiym is used in the book of Jonah 1:9:
“And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.”

Here Jonah is describing to the pagans which Elohiym he worshipped. This is the LORD (YHWH), the Elohiym of heaven, the maker of the sea and the dry land.

Jonah feared THE YHWH, THE Creator Elohiym. This connects with passages in Genesis:
Genesis 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Elohiym is used exclusively to refer to the Creator God from Genesis 1:1 through Genesis 2:3. From Genesis 2:4 the term YHWH Elohiym is almost exclusively used for this same being.

Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Genesis 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

This was not just any Elohiym creating the heaven and the earth, it was the YHWH Elohiym.

Why was Elohiym used as the exclusive name for God in Genesis 1? Elohiym embodied the essence of God – a plural name, not for a plural God, but for one God, and yet look at this one God:

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

God – YHWH Elohiym was present
The Spirit of God – Ruach of Elohiym was present
And according to John 1:1-3 the Word of God – Logos Theos was present

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

From Matthew Henry’s Commentary:
"(2.) The author and cause of this great work - God. The Hebrew word is Elohim, which bespeaks, [1.] The power of God the Creator. El signifies the strong God; and what less than almighty strength could bring all things out of nothing? [2.] The plurality of persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This plural name of God, in Hebrew, which speaks of him as many though he is one, was to the Gentiles perhaps a savour of death unto death, hardening them in their idolatry; but it is to us a savour of life unto life, confirming our faith in the doctrine of the Trinity, which, though but darkly intimated in the Old Testament, is clearly revealed in the New. The Son of God, the eternal Word and Wisdom of the Father, was with him when he made the world (Pro_8:30), nay, we are often told that the world was made by him, and nothing made without him, Joh_1:3, Joh_1:10; Eph_3:9; Col_1:16; Heb_1:2. O what high thoughts should this form in our minds of that great God whom we draw nigh to in religious worship, and that great Mediator in whose name we draw nigh!"

This presence of the Godhead is also verified in Romans 1:20:
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”

Without a doubt, the Elohiym of Genesis 1 refers to the Triune God. The word Elohiym does not only refer to the Triune God, but the word Elohiym in Genesis 1 can refer to no other being.

There is only one God as stated in Deuteronomy 6:4:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:”
The YHWH our Elohiym is one YHWH.

This One, Triune, Eternal, Creator, God is the one and only Elohiym of Genesis 1.