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Comments on Why does the text in B'reishit refer to God in the plural?
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Why does the text in B'reishit refer to God in the plural?
Throughout Parshat B'reishit, Hashem (God) is referred to in the plural multiple times. This includes in B'reishit 1:26:
ויאמר אל-קים נעשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו...
And God said: We will make a man in our form and our likeness...
Or in 3:22:
ויאמר ה' אל-קים הן האדם היה כאחד ממנו לדעת טוב ורע ועתה פן ישלח ידו ולקח גם מעץ החיים ואכל וחי לעלם
And God said: Now the man is like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he cast his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and live forever.
(both translations my own)
There's also the fact that "Elokim" (in its non-censored form) is in itself plural; in other contexts, it means "gods" plural, and the -ים suffix is... plural.
So why does the text repeatedly refer to God in the plural throughout especially Parshat B'reishit (and less so in other parts of the Torah)?
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