Deus is translating “elohim” which is plural. Note the -im suffix for plurals. Modern Arabic has a similar suffix.
Elohim is frequently translated into a singular form to support monotheism. But it’s definitely not a grammatical construct, like English’s royal we.
Now, plural gods in Genesis 1 do not imply that the Genesis 1 creation only covered Jews. I don’t understand that part.
In any case, I was really asking what modern biblical literalists say to resolve this “Seth picking up a wife in Nod” issue. I’m sure they have some kind of story or explanation, and frequently I find those kind of hilarious.
There is no plural in Latin either. Deus and creavit are both singular.
Deus is translating “elohim” which is plural. Note the -im suffix for plurals. Modern Arabic has a similar suffix.
Elohim is frequently translated into a singular form to support monotheism. But it’s definitely not a grammatical construct, like English’s royal we.
Now, plural gods in Genesis 1 do not imply that the Genesis 1 creation only covered Jews. I don’t understand that part.
In any case, I was really asking what modern biblical literalists say to resolve this “Seth picking up a wife in Nod” issue. I’m sure they have some kind of story or explanation, and frequently I find those kind of hilarious.
Roll forward to Exodus 1:1
“1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.”
Genesis - The creation of the people of Israel.
Exodus - The Israelites who went to Egypt.
It’s a throughline.
I may have misremembered the Latin angle, but the Hebrew is solid. From the excellent “Asimov’s Guide to the Bible”:
Asimov is also the guy who makes the “Begats” chapter make sense: