Is God in the book of Genesis 1 verse 1 plural according to Hebrew?

Answer 1

No. The word used for God in most of the Hebrew Bible is Elohim (אלהים). Although the "-im" (ים) on the end can be a plural ending when used with nouns, it was also used as an honorific when using the names of royalty.

In other words, Elohim is plural in the same sense as the "royal we" or the "Victorian we" [commonly called a majestic plural]. The "royal" or "Victorian" we is a plural noun that expresses great grandeur, power, might, or other awesome adjectives.

An example of this is when kings sign documents/papers like: On the Issue of the Basic Law of the State We, Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman... The we here refers to Qaboos bin Said, the ONE sultan of Oman. He used a plural noun in the sense of a majestic plural.

Also, Elohim as used in the Hebrew Bible is preceded by a singular verbal predicate and takes a singular adjectival attribute. This, in a sense, makes it a singular verb denoting great power.

If Elohim were a plural word, it would use plural verbs, but it doesn't.