Table of Contents
alehim
אלהים
The word 'alehim' is made by adding the suffix 'im' onto the root word 'aleh'. The word is in general usage under the pronunciation of “elohim”.
The suffix im always indicates a plural, and therefore a group. In a handful of cases the “grouping” itself is the salient feature and the word ending in 'im' is in fact a numerative device, either a specific number, or a general amount (for example “dozens”). Aside from these distinctly numeric cases, the suffix is generally applied to not merely a group of any random objects, but a group of living beings. These beings are sometimes animals and sometimes humans.
In the case of humans, we see the root appearing on words indicating a certain profession or specific skill. It also appears in instances indicating what we might think of as “race” or “nationality”, normally indicating where this group of people are from and by extension what culture they are part of.
Even in the case of animals, the plurality indicated by 'im' tends to be in reference to some behavioral characteristic of said animals. For example, deer are referred to as “panting for the water” and goats are referred to for their characteristic surefootedness on the mountain cliffs. These characteristics seem to indicate some level of well-suitedness or perhaps it could be argued, some specific type of applied intelligence.
Thus like most words with the suffix, 'im', the Elohim are most assuredly a group, and most likely a group of entities having a form of intelligence. The 'im' suffix brings with it an implication of a certain specific culture, skills, and origin.
The Tree People
The word aleh sometimes appears to be best interpreted as referring to a type of hardwood tree. See aleh for further investigation.
Given that aleh is unquestionably the correct root word for 'alehim', we cannot avoid the conclusion that the 'alehim' are literally “the Tree People”. Since yex also means “tree”, yexim also means “tree people” and therefore it seems that yexim is another name for the Alehim.
Alehim is in fact cognate with the English “Elm”
The Trees
The ancient Hebrew texts suggest another rather unusual aspect of the Semim that also applies to Ihoh
It is a motif in the ancient legends that crops up in the mythology of several other cultures. Bizzarely, there seems to be some kind of connection between the semim and trees.
Lev 18:2 Ihoh calls himself a tree
Ihoh, the Alehim, and “trees” are correlated in 2 Chronicles36:13, Ezra 6:22, Psalm 48:8, Psalm 59:5, Psalm 84:8, Hosea 13:4.
deuteronomy7:22 - _ Ihoh (tree) with nation to edge _ _ not _ finished _ before flourish on life in the hills
1_chronicles21:17 - spoke David to the Elohim not I spoke _ person I he who sin _ _ tree flock what establish Ihoh (tree) are now hand household person not _
1_chronicles22:7 - spoke David Solomon son I are with heart build household characteristics Ihoh (tree)
FIXM analyze several more occurrences in the same chapter 1Chron22
To
It is not entirely impossible that the root word might actually be אל al which means “to”, and with the im suffix applied we can see that the literal meaning of Elohim is “The To Ones”.
Applying a more grammatical structure to this literal meaning, one may reasonably infer an interpretation of “The Ones Who Came To Here”. This may be the only sensible way to interpret “the to ones”.
As far as where they may have come from, pure etymology will not yield many clues. Other contextual clues are abundant however, and will be integrated into our understanding of the Elohim, as our journey continues. Primarily though, in order to gain any real insight as to the characteristics of these “people” (using the term loosely), we must examine the structural relationships between the Elohim and other groups mentioned contemporarily and within the same context (groups such as the Semim) as well as their relationship with the Aretz(Earth) and certain significant events that frame and define these relationships.
Defining these relationships is a major theme of the scriptures, and is in fact the topic of the opening scene of the Bible. Genesis 1:1 seeks to define an initial definition, to be fleshed out later. And that initial definition reads as follows:
בּראשית בּרא אלהים את שמים את ארץ
(Barashit bara Elohim et Semim et Aretz)
The established division(berashit) divided(bera) between The Elohim and The Semim and Aretz.
In this opening line of the Bible, the Elohim are defined in terms of their relationship with the Semim and Aretz, and the bera(division) between them.
Psalm 14:5 has an interesting reference to the Alehim's pure ancestry
This page is part of a series - see im backlinks for a dynamic list
LexID = 90430