Heretics once cornered R. Simlai, a third-century sage of the land of Israel, and tried to trap him on a grammatical point. Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit 7:1 records the exchange. "How many deities created the world?" they asked.

The proof text they thought they had

The heretics pointed to Joshua 24:19, which reads, in literal Hebrew: "For He is holy gods." The word Elohim is plural, and here the adjective kedoshim (holy) is plural too. Two plurals in a row. Proof, they claimed, of multiple divine powers.

R. Simlai's response was immediate. "Read the rest of the verse. It does not say 'they.' It says 'He.'" The subject of the sentence is singular even when the nouns describing Him are plural.

The holiness in all its modes

But R. Simlai did not stop at grammar. He turned the plural from a problem into a theology. Why, he asked, does Joshua call the Holy One "holy" in the plural form? Because God is holy in every category of holiness at once.

R. Aha bar Hanina then unfolded the list. God's way is in holiness (Psalms 77:14 — in the holy Temple). God's processions are in holiness (Psalms 68:25). God is seen in holiness (Psalms 63:3). God speaks in holiness (Psalms 60:8). God's arm is uncovered in holiness (Isaiah 52:10). God is beautiful and glorious in holiness (Exodus 15:11).

Six different modes. Six different verses. One God, who operates in every register of sanctity simultaneously. The plural form is not numerical — it is qualitative.

The Genesis 1:1 challenge

The heretics tried one more angle. "But Genesis 1:1 says Bereshit bara Elohim — in the beginning God (plural) created."

R. Simlai countered: "The verb bara is singular. It does not say bar'u. One subject, one action. The plural noun agrees with the singular verb only because the subject itself is singular." Hebrew grammar resolves the dispute. A plural word governed by a singular verb points to a single actor.

Why this argument mattered

R. Simlai's battles with heretics (minim) are preserved across the <a href='/categories/midrash-rabbah.html'>midrashic literature</a> — Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 9:1 has a parallel, as does Genesis Rabbah 8:9. He was defending a foundational Jewish claim: the unity of God. Every time a sectarian group pointed to a plural noun to suggest plurality in the Godhead, R. Simlai answered with the verb. The action is always singular. Therefore the Actor is always singular.

The takeaway: Jewish monotheism is not naive. It reads the plural forms in Hebrew scripture with care, and finds in them not evidence of many gods but evidence of one God whose holiness operates in many registers at once.