Citazione Commento su Giosuè 24:19

אלוקים, the plain meaning of the word is that it describes divinity. It describes the One who possesses all the divine powers. This is the reason it is expressed in the plural, i.e. not merely אל or אלוה, but the One Who comprises all the divine powers within His essence. An example of such use of the word is found in Joshua 24,19. אלוקים קדשים הוא It means that in His capacity as אלוקים He comprises all aspects of holiness, sanctity. We find a parallel use of words describing terrestrial authority in Isaiah 19,4 where such rulers are described in the plural as אדנים קשה, "a harsh master" (although the adjective applied to "them" is in the singular). The reason the noun is in the plural is because such rulers manifest their authority in so many different ways. If such use of the plural is appropriate for describing terrestrial rulers, how much more so is it appropriate for describing G'd whose authority is manifested in innumerably more ways than the authority of even the most powerful human king on earth. Their entire authority is, after all, only derived from G'd. G'd, by definition, is One, indivisible, but His powers are many.
We find many other examples of nouns in the singular being described as if they had been written in the plural. To name some: ליל שמורים הוא (Exodus 12,42) "it is a night of vigil," (the word for "vigil" is in the plural). Or, (Leviticus 23,28) יום כפורים הוא “it is a Day of Atonement."
Another reason why the Torah refers to G'd as אלוקים in the plural is the great deal of intelligence, wisdom, and insight He employed when He created the universe. [I believe the author treats each attribute as something separate, hence He justifies the plurality of attributes by referring to the One who employed all these attributes in the plural. Ed.] This is what Solomon had in mind when he wrote in Proverbs 3,19 "ה' בחכמה יסד ארץ כונן שמים בתבונה." The Lord founded earth by employing wisdom, He established the heavens by employing understanding." G'd is described as employing different attributes when creating the universe.

You are destructive; mightier Heb. נאור, an expression of (Lam. 2:7): “He destroyed His Sanctuary”; (below 89:40), “You abolished the covenant of Your servant.” You destroy Your enemies and those who rise up against You and sweep them from the world. Because of His deeds, He is called נאור, destructive, like חנוּן, gracious; רחום, merciful; קנוא jealous, because He grants, because He pities, because He acts with zeal.

G’d informed Yaakov in this dream/vision that He stands above this pyramid and oversees all that goes on within it. He mentioned the lower part of the universe first as it was the part which Yaakov was standing on and which was therefore closest to his thinking. The words וראשו מגיע השמימה, “and its head reached to heaven,” are a reference to the world of the planetary system, who appear to touch the outer fringes of the universe. When David describes them as proclaiming the honour of the Lord (Psalms 19,2), they are described as part of the celestial regions. Finally, when the dreams described the angels ascending and descending on that ladder, the reference is to that celestial region inhabited by disembodied intelligences. Our sages (Bereshit Rabbah 68,12) used this division of the world into three parts (rungs) to state that the angels, (their habitat) represent one third of the universe. They base it on a verse in Daniel 10. We are not to understand this to mean that the “upper third” of the universe is reserved for the angels, but that angels “share” in all three parts of the world.” This is the way Nachmanides explains this in connection with his commentary on the cherubs on top of the Holy Ark. [Rabbi Chavell could not find this except in the writings of Maimonides in his “Moreh” section 2 near the end of chapter 10. Ed.] According to this view the words עולים ויורדים בו, “ascending or descending on it,” refer to the temporary nature of angels who have been created for specific tasks and who are destroyed when they have completed that task. The existence and usefulness of an angel is described as עליה, ascent, whereas the redundancy and subsequent destruction of the angel is described as ירידה, descent. Our sages in Eichah Rabbati 3,21 phrased it thus: “On every single day G’d creates a class of angels who proceed to praise him in song and are then going on their way.” These are the types of angels that came into existence on the fifth day of creation. A different group of angels whom G’d created on the second day of creation enjoy permanent life.
The word בו in our verse refers to the ladder which had served as the illustration for the composition of the universe as a three-tiered pyramid. G’d is described as towering above the ladder (universe) exerting His influence even on the angels. The angels in turn exert their influence on the tier of the planetary system, which in their turn exert their influence on the creatures in the terrestrial part of the universe. In other words, all the creatures in the terrestrial universe are subject to the direct influence of the planetary system. This was confirmation to Yaakov of the validity of astrology as a discipline worth studying. These planets, etc. however, were not independent powers but were presided over by the agents of G’d called “angels,” who in turn were under the direct supervision of G’d Himself. Solomon described this system when he wrote (Kohelet 5,7) אם עשק רש וגזל משפט וצדק תראה במדינה אל תתמה על החפץ כי גבה מעל גבה שומר וגבהים עליהם. “If you see oppression of the poor, and the suppression of justice and right in the State, do not be astonished at the fact, for there is One higher than the high who watches and there are high ones above them.” The first part of the verse speaks of the injustice perpetrated in the terrestrial part of the universe. Solomon warns us not to jump to the conclusion that the world consists only of this part and that therefore the whole universe must be corrupt. Justice does exist, and there are forces at work which are superior to those which are active in our terrestrial part of the universe, and the considerations which guide these forces are of the kind that we human beings often cannot understand, because His reasoning is so much superior to our reasoning (Isaiah 55,8). This ultimate Supervisor of what is allowed to go on in the universe is none other than the Creator Himself. Solomon refers to G’d in the plural as גבהים, matching the plural ending in the word אל-הים. This is not the only occasion when G’d [who is primarily known as One, Unique, Ed.] is referred to in Scripture in the plural. Another example is Joshua 24,19 כי אל-הים קדושים הוא, “for G’d is holy (pl).” You will note that Joshua adds the word הוא, “He,” after the word קדושים (pl), to make certain that we do not misunderstand that the word אל-הים implies power-sharing by G’d. The reason that the word אל-הים is in the plural is because in the final analysis G’d combines within Himself all the various forces that are active within His universe.

כאשר התעו WHEN GOD (CAUSED ME TO WANDER — The verb is in the plural. Do not be surprised at this for in many passages words denoting Godship or denoting Authority are grammatically treated as plural, e. g., (2 Samuel 7:23) “Whom God went (הלכו plural) to redeem”; (Deuteronomy 5:23) “the living (חיים adjective, plural) God”; (Joshua 24:19) “a Holy (קדושים adjective, plural) God”. So, too, the idea of Authority is expressed by the plural form, as (39:20) “And the master of (אדני construct plural) Joseph took him” and as (Deuteronomy 10:17) “Lord of (אדני) lords (האדנים)”, and (42:30) “the lord of (אדני) the land”; as well as (Exodus 22:14) “if its owner (בעליו) be with it”, and (Exodus 21:29) “and warning has been given to its master (בעליו)”. If you ask why does it here use the term התעו, I reply, anyone who is exiled from his home and has no settled abode may be styled תועה a wanderer (or “one moving about aimlessly”), as (21:14) “And she, Hagar, went and strayed about (ותתע) in the wilderness”; (Psalms 119:176) “I have gone astray (תעיתי) like a lost sheep”, and (Job 38:41) “they wander (יתעו) through lack of food”, i.e. they go out and wander about to seek their food.