I've been studying some of the books of the English versions of the Bible, and have discovered how their uses of the terms, "God," "god," and "gods" should seem slightly perplexing to English readers of the Bible.
I Googled “singularity plurality definition,” and stumbled upon another question and answer dialogue here, which seemed to correlate perfectly with my question. Indeed, rock, and rocks, is similar to the Biblical, “One and only God,” vs. “God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit,” except that each member of rocks, is completely separate from every other rock, in every case. But every member of “God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit,” is each understood as exactly one person, but still exactly one “God,” individually OR collectively. “Rocks,” collectively are never one “rock.” A granite rock, a basalt rock, and other rocks are indeed rock, but all these rocks are never “one rock.”
Example: John the Apostle quotes Jesus (John 10:34) as having said,
I say, 'you are gods.'
Jesus was quoting Asaph, who arguably was speaking on God's behalf, in the 82nd Psalm, “gods,” here, is obviously plural.
The English language accepts god(s), as used here, as either singular or plural. But, "God," which conveys an idea, not a thing, is strictly singular. Usually, capitalization has nothing to do with the meaning of a term, excepting when the term indicates a name. But "God," isn't really a name, but an idea. Jehovah, is a name, as well as Jesus, but “God,” is an idea, as is “rock (when generalizing all the classes of rock).”
- Is the literary use of god, and the terms derived from god, in the standard versions of the English Bible, a breach of English grammar?
- an exception in English grammar? OR
- unrelated/irrelevant to English grammar?
Further examples, as requested:
Psalm 82:1, 6–https://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+82&version=NIV
Exodus 20:1-3–https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20%3A1-3&version=NIV
@Benjamin Harman: So primarily, Benjamin, why when "god," appears in the Bible is it understood as meaning, "a god;" and "gods," as a quantity of gods; but "God," capital-G, always directly related to "god," but always meaning The (Biblical) Deity; and never appearing in plural form? Does this pattern occur in other examples of English literature, or is this pattern exclusive by the Bible? What kind of exception is it? Grammatical? Literary? Respect to Antiquity? Reverence to the Biblical God?
Best Answer
I believe your question is requesting conceptualization of common versus proper nouns.
Consider the example:
Jones is a common surname.
Keeping up with the Joneses.
There are examples where common nouns in plural are capitalized.
As for God, it is a style issue in print. For example, Orthodox Jews will not use the G-word, even in print, outside of prayer. They will write G-d, the Almighty, the Divine, or Ha Shem [the Name].