The Maharal explains that water is always expressed in plural form in Hebrew because water lacks a complete, fixed form. Since unity derives from form, water—which has no enduring shape and constantly flows—cannot be grammatically singular and is therefore always called by the plural mayim.
כל אחדות מכח הצורה המאחד את הדבר
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What the sources say
The passages from Gevurot Hashem 18:9 and Gevurot Hashem 18:8 state this principle explicitly: water has no complete form (אין להם צורה גמורה), and since all unity (אחדות) derives from form — which is what unifies a thing — water, lacking any fixed form, is always expressed in the plural, with no singular form to be found.
Gevurot Hashem 14 deepens the reasoning by noting that form is by definition something stable and fixed, whereas water flows away and has no such permanence — and this very lack of form is why, in the account of creation in Bereishit, water is not described with the language of creation and formation that applies to other things.
Gevurot Hashem 18:9
Water is called by the plural form always and never by the singular because water lacks a complete fixed form, and since unity derives from form, water—which has no complete fixed form—is expressed in the plural.
והמים הם הפך, כי המים אין להם צורה גמורה, ולכך נקראים תמיד בלשון רבים, ולא תמצא לשון יחיד במים. לפי שכל אחדות מכח הצורה המאחד את הדבר, והמים הם בלי צורה גמורה, ולפיכך המים, שהם בלי צורה מקוימת, בלשון רבים.
Gevurot Hashem 18:8
Water is called the opposite of form, for water lacks a complete form and therefore is always called in plural form—no singular form of mayim is found—since unity derives from form, and because water lacks complete form, it is expressed in plural language.
והמים הם הפך, כי המים אין להם צורה גמורה, ולכך נקראים תמיד בלשון רבים, ולא תמצא לשון יחיד במים. לפי שכל אחדות מכח הצורה המאחד את הדבר, והמים הם בלי צורה גמורה, ולפיכך המים, שהם בלי צורה מקוימת, בלשון רבים.
גבורות השם י״ד
Gevurot Hashem 14
Water lacks a fixed form and does not endure since it flows away, and because of this deficiency in form the Torah does not ascribe to water the terms "creation" (bria'ah) and "formation" (yetzirah) in the account of creation, which serves as evidence of water's inferior status in creation.
וידוע לכל משכיל כי הצורה דבר מקוים, ובמים אין קיום באשר הם נגרים ארצה. ומפני מיעוט צורתם לא נאמר במים בריאה ויצירה בפרשת בראשית, וזה ראיה על מיעוט היצירה בהם.
Sources examine the grammatical phenomenon of the Hebrew word for water (mayim/me) appearing consistently in plural form across biblical and rabbinic texts. Explanations range from linguistic convention and grammatical attachment patterns to mystical interpretations of water's collective and formless nature.
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