Did Somebody Find the Trinity in the First Chapter of the Bible? To Whom Was God Speaking to When He Said, "Let Us Make Man in Our Image"?

 

By

Out Reach Judaism

 

Question:


Dear Rabbi Singer,

A Messianic Jew is working overtime to try to convince me that I need JC.  She recently showed me Genesis 1:26, "Let US make man in OUR image," stating that JC was part of creation with G-d, plural Us and Our being the proof.  Can you explain the plural in this verse to me?  I want to have an intelligent answer.  I am trying very hard to learn more of my Jewish religion, as I was raised in a non-religious home.  The only Bible I own is the one she gave me and it is a King James.

Answer:

No area of Jewish literature could be more inhospitable to the Christian doctrine of the triune godhead than the Torah and the writings of its prophetic messengers.  It is on the strength of these sacred texts that the Jew has preserved the concept of one, single, unique Creator God Who alone is worthy of worship.  Understandably, missionaries undertake a formidable task when they seek to "prove" the doctrine of the Trinity from the Jewish scriptures.  No prophet went silent on the uncompromising radical monotheism demanded by the God of Israel.  The Jewish people, therefore, to whom these sublime declarations about the nature of the Almighty were given, knew nothing about a trinity of persons in the godhead.

Because the prophets relayed their divine message on the nature of God with such timeless clarity, few texts in Tanach could hold any promise for the church to raise up as a support for their teachings on the Trinity.  Understandably, though, the defenders of Christendom flaunted the very few verses that they managed to somehow skew into a supposed support for this alien doctrine.

One of the most popular verses used by missionaries as a proof text for the Trinity is Genesis 1:26.  This verse appears in missionary literature quite often in spite of the fact that this argument has been answered countless times throughout the centuries.  Let's examine Genesis 1:26.

 

And God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and they shall rule over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." 

With limited knowledge of the Jewish scriptures, missionaries advance the above verse in as evidence that there was a plurality in the godhead, which was responsible for creation.  What other explanation could adequately account for the Bible's use of the plural pronouns such as "us" and "our" in this verse? 

This argument, however, is grievously flawed.  In fact, a great number of Trinitarian Christian scholars have long abandoned the notion that Genesis 1:26 implies a plurality of persons in the godhead.  Rather, Christian scholars overwhelmingly agree that the plural pronoun in this verse is a reference to God's ministering angels who were created previously, and the Almighty spoke majestically in the plural, consulting His heavenly court.  Let's read the comments of a number of preeminent Trinitarian Bible scholars on this subject.  For example, the evangelical Christian author Gordon J.  Wenham, who is no foe of the Trinity and authored a widely respected two-volume commentary on the Book of Genesis, writes on this verse,

Christians have traditionally seen [Genesis 1:26] as adumbrating [foreshadowing] the Trinity.  It is now universally admitted that this was not what the plural meant to the original author. (Gordon J.  Wenham, Word Biblical Commentary on Genesis, Word Books, 1987, p.  27)

If you had attended any one of my lectures you would know that the New International Version is hardly a Bible that can be construed as being friendly to Judaism.  Yet, the NIV Study Bible also writes in its commentary on Genesis 1:26,

Us . . . Our . . . Our.  God speaks as the Creator-king, announcing His crowning work to the members of His heavenly court.  (see 3:22; 11:7; Isaiah 6:8; I Kings 22:19-23; Job 15:8; Jeremiah 23:18) (NIV Study Bible, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985, p. 7)

Charles Caldwell Ryrie, a highly regarded dispensationalist professor of Biblical Studies at the Philadelphia College of Bible and author of the widely read Bible commentary, The Ryrie Study Bible, writes in his short and to-the-point annotation on Genesis 1:26,

Us . . . Our.  Plurals of majesty. (Charles Caldwell Ryrie, The Ryrie Study Bible (Dallas Theological Seminary), Chicago: Moody Press, 1978, p. 9)

The Liberty Annotated Study Bible, a Bible commentary published by the Reverend Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, similarly remarks on this verse,

The plural pronoun "Us" is most likely a majestic plural from the standpoint of Hebrew grammar and syntax. (Jerry Falwell (Executive Editor), Liberty Annotated Study Bible, Lynchburg: Liberty University, 1988, p. 8)

The 10-volume commentary by Keil and Delitzsch is considered by many to be the most influential exposition on the "Old Testament" in evangelical circles.  Yet in its commentary on Genesis 1:26, we find,

The plural "We" was regarded by the fathers and earlier theologians almost unanimously as indicative of the Trinity; modern commentators, on the contrary, regard it either as pluralis majestatis . . .  No other explanation is left, therefore, than to regard it as pluralis majestatis . . . .(Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Peabody: Hendric., 1989, Vol.  I, p. 2)

The question that immediately comes to mind is: What would compel these evangelical scholars -- all of whom are Trinitarian -- to determinedly conclude that Genesis 1:26 does not suggest the Trinity, but rather a majestic address to the angelic hosts of heaven?  Why would the comments of the above conservative Christian writers so perfectly harmonize with the Jewish teaching on this verse?

The answer to this question is simple.  If you search the Bible you will find that when the Almighty speaks of  "us" or "our," He is addressing His ministering angels.  In fact, only two chapters later, God continues to use the pronoun "us" as He speaks with His angels.  At the end of the third chapter of Genesis the Almighty relates to His angels that Adam and his wife have eaten from the Tree of Knowledge and must therefore be prevented from eating from the Tree of Life as well; for if man would gain access to the Tree of Life he will "become like one of us."  The Creator then instructs his angels known as Cherubim to stand at the gate of the Garden of Eden waving a flaming sword so that mankind is prevented from entering the Garden and eating from the Tree of Life.  Let's examine Genesis 3:22-24.

Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.  And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" -- therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.  So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword, which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. 

This use of the majestic plural in Genesis 3:22-24 is what is intended by the NIV Study Bible's annotation on Genesis 1:26 (above).  At the end of its comment on this verse, the NIV Study Bible provides a number of Bible sources from the Jewish scriptures to support its position that "God speaks as the Creator-king, announcing His crowning work to the members of His heavenly court."  The verses cited are: Genesis 3:22, 11:7, Isaiah 6:8, I Kings 22:19-23, Job 15:8, and Jeremiah 23:18.  These verses convey to the attentive Bible reader that the heavenly abode of the Creator is filled with the ministering angels who attend the Almighty and to whom He repeatedly refers when using the plural pronoun "Us." 1

I will close this letter with one final note.  Outsiders often wonder what binding force keeps the Jewish people united in faith.  This is not so odd a question when we consider the inner conflict that has followed our people throughout our extraordinary history.  Bear in mind that regardless of the turbulent quarrels that fester among us, the oneness of God remains the binding thread which unites the Jewish people in history and witness.  The teachings of the Torah were designed to set forever in the national conscience of the Jewish people the idea that God is one alone and therefore the only object of our devotion and worship.

Sincerely yours,

Rabbi Tovia Singer

 

Footnotes:

1: A similar verse describing God as He converses with His ministering angels is found in the beginning of the sixth chapter of Isaiah, which reads,

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the Temple.  Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew . . . Also, I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?"  Then I said, "Here am I!  Send me."  (Isaiah 6:1, 8)

 

Source: http://www.outreachjudaism.org/genesis1-26.html

 

Question: God said: "Let us make man in our image . . ." (Genesis 1:26) and "Come, let us go down, and there confound their language" (Genesis 11:7). To whom does the "us" refer?

By

Jews For Judaism

 

Answer: Trinitarian Christians maintain that Genesis 1:26 and Genesis 11:7 are proof texts of an alleged tri-unity god, but this claim is erroneous. The inference that "Let us make man in our image" (Genesis 1:26) refers to the plurality of God is refuted by the subsequent verse, which relates the creation of man to a singular God, "And God created man in His image" (Genesis 1:27). In this verse the Hebrew verb "created" appears in the singular form. If "let us make man" indicates a numerical plurality, it would be followed in the next verse by, "And they created man in their image." Obviously, the plural form is used in the same way as in the divine appellation 'Elohim, to indicate the all- inclusiveness of God's attributes of authority and power, the plurality of majesty. It is customary for one in authority to speak of himself as if he were a plurality. Hence, Absalom said to Ahithophel, "Give your counsel what we shall do" (2 Samuel 16:20). The context shows that he was seeking advice for himself' yet he refers to himself as "we" (see also Ezra 4:16-19).

There is another possible reason for the use of the plural on the part of God, and that is to manifest His humility. God addresses Himself to the angels and says to them, "Let us make man in our image." It is not that He invites their help, but as a matter of modesty and courtesy, God associates them with the creation of man. This teaches us that a great man should act humbly and consult with those lower than him. It is not unusual for God to refer to His heavenly court (angels) as "us," as we see in Isaiah 6:8, "And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?'" Although God often acts without assistance, He makes His intentions known to His servants. Thus, we find "Shall I conceal from Abraham that which I am doing" (Genesis 18:17); "He made known His ways to Moses, His doings to the children of Israel" (Psalms 103:7); "For the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His counsel to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).

A misconception similar to that concerning Genesis 1:27 is held by Trinitarian Christians with reference to the verse, "Come, let us go down, and there confound their language" (Genesis 11:7). Here, too, the confounding of the language is related in verse 9 to God alone, ". . . because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth." In this verse the Hebrew verb "did" appears in the singular form. Also, the descent is credited in verse 5 to the Lord alone, "And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower." In this verse the Hebrew verb "came down" appears in the singular form. If a doctrine of plurality of persons is to be based on the grammatical form of words, the frequent interchanging of the singular and the plural should vitiate such an attempt as being without foundation or merit. We may safely conclude that the Bible refutes most emphatically every opinion, which deviates from the concept of an indivisible unity of God.

Chapter 45 of Isaiah, using the Tetragrammaton, unequivocally asserts that the Lord alone is the creator and ruler of all things in the universe. The six uses of 'Elohim in this chapter (verses 3, 5, 14, 15, 18, 21) show that the term 'Elohim is synonymous with the Tetragrammaton, and that both epithets refer to the absolute one-and-only God. The singularity of God, expressed in the first-person singular in verse 12, clearly shows who is meant by the phrase, "Let us create man in our image": "I, even I, have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded."

As for the Messiah, of him God says, "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David prince among them; I the Lord have spoken" (Ezekiel 34:23-24). The Lord alone will be worshipped as God, while the Messiah, as the servant of God, lives with the people. God and the Messiah are not and cannot be equals, for it is God alone who gives the Messiah power to rule in the capacity of His appointed servant.

 

Source: http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/faq/faq134.html

 

 

 

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