Let’s break down the term “Elohim” to better understand its true meaning. The word elohim contains the two words eloah (אלוה) and el (אֵל); both variant generic names for God like the term elohim (אֱלֹהִים) when used in it’s singular form.1 Any and all words for ‘gods’ or ‘god’ in a polytheistic system would be referring simply to ‘the’ God, Hashem, in traditional Rabbinic Judaism. The term HaShem is itself really just translated as “The Name”, and stands in place for any variant of God’s name to avoid improper usage of the various names of God.

Both El and Eloah are merely interchangeable, with Eloah being a more Aramaic variant of the Canaanite El. Within the Canaanite pantheon El was actually the creator god, and primary chief deity of the entire Canaanite pantheon. One of those groups were the people of Ugarit - a similar Northwest Semitic language - where El’s family are referred to with the term ‘lhm.2 This term would be an exact cognate to the Hebrew Elohim, being pronounced nearly identically. The Aramaic variant of the term Eloah morphed with the Ugaritic alteration to form the Arabic “‘ilah” better known as Allah.

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Ugarit’s pantheon provides some very interesting clues into the identity of both the Elohim and Bene Elohim. Within the Baal Cycle - an Ugaritic cycle of stories regarding the Canaanite deity Ba’al, translate as ‘Lord’ and equivalent to the Hebrew Adonai dated between 1500-1300 BCE - there is a mention of the “seventy sons of Asherah”, Asherah being the feminine form of El almost similar to the Hebrew conception of the Shechinah. In these texts her title is “Qnyt ‘ilm”3 which can be translated as “the realtor of the deities” reflecting a mother of multiple ‘lower’ gods within the Canaanite pantheon; family members of El.4 The seventy sons born to her each reflect actual people groups, or nations, similar to the seventy sons of Noah providing an earlier parallel for a proto-humanoid race that was wiped out during the previous generation of the Flood.5 They also probably parallel the Anunnaki in Sumerian and Babylonian literature, but the role of the Anunnaki is much more complex due to their central role in pagan idol worship.

Given that within Judaism there is only one ‘God’, Hashem, the role of ‘gods’ in ancient pantheons became delineated into angelic roles subsumed under God’s grand system of design. Calling these ‘elohim’ as ‘gods’ would be technically incorrect, but the Torah doesn’t do much to assuage any usage of that language, failing to give in this context any replacement for the word. The vast majority of Rabbinic sources treat the term Elohim here as “angel” even if Elohim has a more varied, flexible application.6 Other sources syncretically view the term to mean ‘angels’ in a Jewish sense, but explicitly here referring to ‘gods’ and the idolatry of Abraham’s father Terah, Nimrod, and Enosh in previous generations.7 Most commentators take this approach based on the line “And he dreamed, and behold! a ladder set up on the ground and its top reached to heaven; and behold, angels of God were ascending and descending upon it.” (Genesis 28:12) The translation of “angels of God” is “Malachei elohim” mirroring this earlier usage of elohim, but rooting it in a less pagan context as servants of God.

A tricky line from Psalms written by the descendant of Samuel, Asaph who says “God stands in the congregation of God; in the midst of the judges He will judge.” (Tehillim 82:1) using the term “elohim” for God the first time, and “el” for God the second time, effectively saying Elohim stands in the congregation of El. It’s very probable that the structure parallels the other Near Eastern hymns from Ugarit and the Hittites where we see the same narrative over a Divine Council of El. Line six gives us “You are angelic creatures, and all of you are angels of the Most High.” where he sort of calls out these angels for their failure to help the poor, and their favor of the wicked.

Line seven follows up “Indeed, as man, you will die, and as one of the princes, you will fall.” where we see God sort of punish these angels to fall “as one of the princes” - obviously mirroring the term Nephilim meaning fallen and effectively categorically merging these elohim’s bloodline with the Nephilim. It appears that to punish the Elohim, they will join with the Nephilim. Line eight closes with “Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.” where the closing term “goyim” - a direct translation of nation - is used to parallel the “70 Nations” or seventy goyim of Noah. The inheritance of the nations of the elohim will be given to man, rather than ‘gods’, or angels.

Turning towards some Rabbinic literature for a deeper understanding of this quite mystical concept we must look at Rambam (Maimonides) who actually is one of the least ‘mystical’ Rabbis in the Jewish tradition tending to lean on a less Kabbalistic approach. Even within Rambam’s angelic hierarchy the Elohim occupy the seventh rank of ten, where he writes “I must premise that every Hebrew [now] knows that the term Elohim is a homonym, and denotes God, angels, judges, and the rulers of countries ...”8 Effectively Rambam wraps this argument up by explicitly giving them various connotations, including angelic rulers of nations similar to the Elohim, fathers of the Bene Elohim.