In the opening chapters of Genesis, God is introduced by the name Elohim—a title both mysterious and profound. According to Strong’s Concordance (H430), Elohim is a plural noun meaning “gods,” “rulers,” “judges,” “divine ones,” “angels,” and “mighty powers.” Despite being plural in form, it often governs singular verbs and adjectives, pointing to a unified force expressing through a diversity of functions.
In Neville Goddard’s teachings, this rich plurality finds its psychological meaning in the human imagination. The name Elohim, far from referring to a distant deity, symbolises the manifold aspects of your own consciousness—the judges within, the assumed authorities, the divine principles, and the mighty powers that shape your reality through belief and feeling.
The Many Within the One
Neville taught that the Bible is not literal history but a psychological revelation. Every name in Scripture is symbolic, and Elohim is no exception. Its plural form reflects the many forces active within one individual consciousness—your thoughts, feelings, assumptions, and self-concepts.
“Elohim creates by imagining. And you are that Elohim. Your world is your self-pushed out.”
— Neville Goddard
In this light, the references to “judges” or “rulers” in Elohim point to your inner dominions—the dominant assumptions that render judgments about life and self. Whatever state you inwardly accept as true becomes the judge of your experience. If you assume you are unloved, life reflects that. If you persist in the conviction that you are chosen, provided for, free—then your world reshapes itself to obey your assumption.
This is not metaphor. This is the Law of Assumption in action.
Creation as Inner Judgment and Decree
Genesis 1 tells us:
“In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heaven and the earth.”
Neville saw this not as a historical event but as the beginning of awareness—the first stirrings of imagination recognising its creative role. The “heaven” represents your inner world (mind), and the “earth” your outer experience (manifestation). What begins as assumption becomes reality.
Each time Elohim “said” something—Let there be light… Let the dry land appear…—a new inner decree was being made. The “judges” within you pass verdict on what is real, and the outer world obeys.
So when Genesis says “Let us make man in our image” (Gen. 1:26), Neville points out that the “us” refers to the plurality of imaginative faculties—the many inner voices, moods, and assumptions that collectively shape identity. “Man” is not a clay figure, but your own self-concept forged through imagination.
Elohim and Exodus 3:14: 'I AM THAT I AM'
Neville often connected Elohim with the name revealed to Moses:
“I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14).
This is the heart of it all. The creative force of Elohim is none other than the I AM in you. Not the ego, but the deep awareness of being. Whatever you affix to “I AM” is what you become. I am poor, I am overlooked, I am successful, I am wanted—these are the proclamations of Elohim in the soul.
Your awareness of being is God. Your assumptions are divine acts of creation. Every time you feel something as true, you have judged and ruled as Elohim. You do not need to beg a power outside yourself; you are that power in seed form, and assumption is the germination.
The Inner Powers at Work
When Strong’s Concordance lists Elohim as “mighty ones” or “divine ones,” Neville’s interpretation brings this into psychological clarity: these mighty ones are not angelic beings in the clouds, but states of consciousness available within you. Each state—such as faith, fear, love, or despair—is a mighty power. Whichever you dwell in becomes the god that rules your world.
“States are permanent, but we are not. We pass through them. We must learn to enter the state that corresponds to our desire.”
— Neville Goddard
Thus, Elohim encompasses not just one state, but the full spectrum of possible assumptions. It is the total creative potential latent within imagination. And it is through the Law of Assumption—feeling a thing to be true until it hardens into fact—that Elohim manifests form.
To Know Elohim is to Know Yourself
The significance of Elohim is not religious but deeply personal. It invites responsibility. No longer can we look to outer causes or cast blame. The judges and rulers are within. And the power that creates reality is not foreign, but felt every time you say “I am.”
So when Scripture begins with Elohim, it begins with you. Not as you think you are, but as you could assume yourself to be. Elohim is imagination, judgment, and assumption working together as one: the plural name of God signifying the infinite creative powers of the individual.
Final Word
The name Elohim holds multitudes—judges, rulers, powers, the divine—and Neville Goddard’s insight is that all these are already at work within you. The Law of Assumption is the law by which Elohim functions: by assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled, you participate in divine creation.
“God only acts and is in existing beings or men.”
— William Blake (often quoted by Neville)
So begin not with effort but with awareness. With the silent “I AM.” For when you know that Elohim is your own imagination in action, you will speak your world into being.
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