Did the Hebrews borrow the word Elohim from the Canaanites?
“Elohim, the plural of the Hebrew word eloha, “god,” a lengthened form of the Canaanite word el (Aramaic alaha; Arabic ilah), is most frequently used for the God of Israel in the Old Testament. The Israelites probably borrowed the Canaanite plural noun elohim and made it singular in meaning in their cultic practices and theological reflections (The New Encyclopaiedia Britannica, Micropaedia, Vol. III, 15th Edition, p. 863).” Has much been written about Elohim? Godfrey Higgins in his classical book Anacalypsis (V. 1; p. 64-65, 67) gives the etymology of Elohim, originally spelled Aleim. He states the following: “Perhaps there is no word in any language about which more has been written than the word Aleim; or, as modern Jews corruptly call it, Elohim. The root al, the root of the word Aleim, as a verb or it its verbal form, means to mediate, to interpose for protection, to perserve; and a noun, a mediator, an interposer. In its feminine its has two forms ale, and alue. In its plural mas
