The biblical writers refer to a half-dozen different entities with the word elohim. By any religious accounting, the attributes of those entities are not equal. •Yahweh, the God of Israel (thousands of times—e.g., Gen 2:4–5; Deut 4:35) •The members of Yahweh’s council (Psa 82:1, 6) •Gods and goddesses of other nations (Judg 11:24; 1 Kgs 11:33) •Demons (Hebrew: shedim—Deut 32:17)3 •The deceased Samuel (1 Sam 28:13) •Angels or the Angel of Yahweh4 (Gen 35:7)
