oh yeah...forgot to mention...
elohim isn't the only linguistic oddity in the bible. [edit: DUH]
fire and suphur, for example, is drawn from teh vally of gehenna(sp?)
where they disposed of dead bodies, trash, waste, and sacrificed babies
to mammon.
this is not hell. the term most frequently used in the bible that translates
to hell is Sheol in hebrew (old test.) and Hades in greek Kon?© (new test.)
Sheol is an allegorical reference: Lit. A Hole in the Ground. This symbolizes
total death and oblivion. that "hell" is you leave the "grace of god for all
eternity." i.e., you poof out of existence.
Hades (sometimes specifically tartaros) generally refers to the underworld.
hades includes the elusian (sp?) fields, the greek equivalent to heaven.
(admittedly, tartaros does mean a place of eternal torment and suffering..
still no lake of fire, though.)
of the hebrew word Yom used in genesis for Day, there are several
possible inflections in the word, present without contextual modifiers of any kind.
check here:
http://www.psyche.com/psyche/genesis/genesis1_1-5.htmlmangrove might like that page, just cause