The Word 'Elohim' in the Hebrew Qur'an
Often the missionaries try to argue that the name for God is Yahweh, and that since the word
All?h
is not etymologically related to this name (though they sometimes reluctantly admit that Elohim is related), it therefore follows that Muslims worship a different deity. However, what they fail to recognise is that it is etymologically accepted that the root word of
Elohim
which is eloh, is indeed
[...]a cognate form of the word allah, the designation of deity used by the Arabs.1
The following are some examples from the Hebrew translation of the Qur’an, whereby the word “elohim” is consistently translated from the Arabic “allah” from the Qur’an in its original Arabic.
The following appears in Qur’?n 1:1 of the Hebrew translation2:
B’shem Elohim, ha-Rachaman, V’ha-Rachum
Compare it with the very same verse in the Arabic Qur’?n:
Bismi-All?h ar-Rahman ar-Rahim
Both translates in English as: “In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.”3
Apart from the example we gave above, we would like to present more examples from the Hebrew translation of the Qur’an, which uses the word Elohim and Eloh. Note that the Hebrew translation always renders Ilah and All?h as Eloh and Elohim, respectively.
The following appears in Qur’?n 3:2 of the Hebrew translation
Elohim, ein eloh mibaladaiv, ha-Chai, ha-Qayam
The original Arabic rendering of Qur’?n 3:2 is
All?hu la ilaha ila huwal hayyul qayyum
which translates into English as: “God! There is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting, Eternal”.
The next image appears in Qur’?n 3:18 of the Hebrew translation:
He’id Elohim ki ein eloh mibaladaiv, V’ha-Malakhim V’Anshei hada’at (ya’idu ken). Po’el tsedeq ein eloh mibaladaiv, ha-gibor, V’ha-chakam
The original Arabic rendering of Qur’?n 3:18 would be
Shaheeda-All?hu innahu la ilaha ila huwa wal malaikatu wa ulul `ilmi qaima bil qisti la ilaha ila huwal `azeezul hakeem
This translates into English as: “There is no god but He: That is the witness of God, His angels, and those endued with knowledge, standing firm on justice. There is no god but He, The Exalted in Power, The Wise”.
This final example is from Qur’?n 6:1 of the Hebrew translation:
HatT’hilah L’Elohim, asher bara et ha-shama’im V’et ha-arets, V’ya’as afelah V’orah…
The Arabic from Qur’?n 6:1 is
Alhamdu-lillahi lazhee khalaqa’ as-sama waa ti wal-ardha wa-ja ‘alaazhu-lu mati wan-nuur…
The English translation is: “Praise be to God, Who created the heavens and the earth, and made the darkness and the light….”
The similarities are so obvious that it can no longer be denied, in the face of these linguistic evidence, that Elohim is indeed related to the word All?h, as both Hebrew and Arabic are sister languages in the Semitic family. Insha’all?h, the comparisons above will help quell the doubts of those who have been duped into believing that “Muslims worship a different god” by Christian missionary propaganda, and which some missionaries had even go so far as to say that “All?h” is the name of a moon god.
And only God knows best.
- W.E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White Jr., Vine’s Complete Exposition Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, 1996. [back]
- See Yosef Yo’el Rivlin, Alkur’an / tirgem me-`Arvit, Devir, Tel Aviv (1936-1945). More information is available here. [back]
- We have referred to A. Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’?n: Text, Translation and Commentary for the English translation of the Basmalah and the subsequent translations of the Qur’?nic verses involved. [back]
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