Yes — Elohim is the Hebrew word behind "God" in Genesis 1:1, and Les Feldick teaches that it signifies the Triune God.
The Genesis text uses the word "God" as the Creator, but Les explains that the underlying Hebrew term is Elohim, a plural word. Because it is plural, it encompasses three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Genesis 1:26 reinforces this when God says, "Let us make man in our image."
Genesis 1:1 — This is the exact verse where the Hebrew name Elohim stands behind the English word "God," and it is the starting point for Les's teaching on the Trinity.
The opening verse of the Bible says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). The Creator is named simply "God." Through the rest of Genesis chapter 1, the same word — "God" — continues as the subject of the creative acts, and in Genesis 1:26 God says, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Then at Genesis 2:4 the text uses a fuller title, "LORD God." These verses supply the scriptural starting point for studying the names and titles of God.
Les Feldick explains that the Hebrew word behind "God" in Genesis 1:1 is Elohim. He stresses that Elohim is a plural word in the Hebrew, so it was able to encompass all three persons of the Godhead — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is why he identifies the God of Genesis 1 with the Triune God, the Trinity. Les also points out that Genesis chapter 1 consistently uses this simple title "God," and that in Genesis 2:4 the text changes to "LORD God." He notes that this still includes Elohim, but the capitalized LORD (Jehovah) points specifically to God the Son. In connection with Genesis 1:26, Les explains that the Triune God is the one saying "Let us make man in our image."
Les Feldick teaches that Elohim is a plural Hebrew word. Because it is plural, he explains, it "had to be plural to envelop all three persons of the Godhead." Elohim is therefore not just a single-person title; it points to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit together.
Les observes that Genesis 1 uses only the word "God" (Elohim) throughout the chapter. Then in Genesis 2:4, the text introduces "LORD God" — "LORD" spelled with all capital letters. He identifies this capitalized LORD as Jehovah, who is God the Son. Elohim, by contrast, names the entire Triune God. Thus "Lord God" carries both the triune title and the specific title of God the Son.
Genesis 1:26 records God saying, "Let us make man in our image." Les Feldick teaches that the plural "us" fits his understanding of Genesis 1:1: Elohim is the Triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — speaking together in the creation of man.
Who Really Created the Universe? (Genesis 1:1 Explained)
Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick.
Elohim as the Triune God
Les explains that the Hebrew name for God in Genesis 1 is Elohim and that its plural form points to the three persons of the Godhead.
Elohim and the Triune Creator
Les explicitly ties the God of Genesis 1:1 (Elohim) to the Trinity, and shows that the same Triune God speaks in Genesis 1:26.
Elohim vs. Jehovah
Les distinguishes Elohim as the Triune God from the capitalized LORD (Jehovah), who is God the Son, the one speaking out of the burning bush.
Hagar, Ishmael & The Everlasting God: Genesis 21 Bible Study
Now the everlasting God then, as it's used in Genesis, is speaking of more than the God from eternity past. Out here before Genesis 1 even came. And we take eternity past all the way to the end of our timeline to eternity future. Now that's everlasting to everlasting, isn't it? That's the God of creation. He is the everlasting God.
Why Did God Hide Secrets in the Bible Until Now?
All right, now Abraham here in this particular case calls upon the everlasting God. Now, in the English you don't catch it, but see, in the Hebrew this is a totally different word than the Jehovah God and so forth back in Genesis chapter 4. Then you got El Shaddai in chapter 17, I think it is, where He is referred to as the fruitfulness of God, the God of fruitfulness, El Shaddai.
Elohim Recalled as the Plural Word
Les reminds his students that Elohim is the plural Hebrew word for God and relates it to the everlasting God, El Olam.
Genesis 1's Use of 'God'
Les shows that Genesis 1 consistently uses the word "God" and then notes the shift to "LORD God" in Genesis 2:4, setting up the distinction in God's names.
Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
This is the verse where the English word "God" stands for the Hebrew name Elohim and where the creation account begins.
Genesis 1:26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
This verse records God using plural language in His speech, which Les connects to the Triune God speaking.
Genesis 2:4: These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
This verse introduces the fuller title "LORD God," which Les contrasts with the simple "God" (Elohim) used throughout Genesis 1.
Yes. Les Feldick teaches that Elohim is a plural word in the Hebrew, and he says it "had to be plural to envelop all three persons of the Godhead." That plural form is why he understands Elohim to include the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
According to Les Feldick, it does. He equates the God of Genesis 1:1 — Elohim — with the Trinity, saying it is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He also connects the same Triune God to the words "Let us make man in our image" in Genesis 1:26.
Les points out that Genesis 1 uses "God" (Elohim) throughout the chapter. At Genesis 2:4 the title changes to "LORD God," with LORD in capital letters. He identifies that capitalized LORD as Jehovah, who is God the Son.
Watch the Teaching: Who Really Created the Universe? (Genesis 1:1 Explained)