Elohim - A plural Hebrew word
Many folks have used this term to empahsize the supposed theory of the "triune" nature of God as they believe is revealed in the Old Testament. What would be the answer to this teaching from a Oneness believer as myself? How could I defend the Oneness of God with such a verse as this one that seem to being identifying God with a plural pronoun? Keep in mind that the Old Testament was written by the Hebrew people, and these people strongly believed and were instructed by God that He was the ONLY Creator and ONE God. Therefore, for someone to come years later and attempt to understand God through philosophy, vain deceit, through the rudiments of the world, and after the traditions of men and use these pronouns to teach contrary to the understanding of the original writers can be descried as nothing more than ignorance. We will now build a foundation of why the original writers believed in the Oneness of God:
Deut 4:35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.
Deut 4:39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
Deut 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Isaiah 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
Isaiah 44:8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
Isaiah 63:16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
Malachi 2:10 Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Isaiah 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
Isaiah 44:24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
Now after reading these scriptures, we must be extremely careful not to compromise what the LORD has explained to us. What most theologians and traditional bible scholars do is use the reasoning that God can still be ONE and yet have a "triune" nature. They do not believe that the doctrine of the trinity, "three persons in One God" compromises these scriptures. Then if you ask about this doctrine, and try to understand how God could be ONE but three persons at the same time, you cannot understand it. Then you are told that this is a divine mystery that cannot be understood. HOWEVER. We must be careful that our doctrine be molded by scripture, and NOT mold scripture to fit our doctrine. I believe that there is a simple answer to the plural pronouns in Genesis 1:26 that do not compromise the scriptures at all, and I believe that God intended for us to understand these matters for the scripture tells us:
Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
When the apostle Paul writes such words as CLEARLY SEEN and BEING UNDERSTOOD... to me defines that this issue SHOULD NOT BE A MYSTERY. Believers in a triune nature of God are logically stating the following:
Clearlry Seen + Being Understood = A Divine Mystery
Call me simple minded if you will, but common sense tells me that if God said I could clearly see and understand even his eternal power and Godhead, then that means I should not call it a mystery. So now we will explain our understanding of these matters by the help of God.
We have taken the original Hebrew from a Strong's Concordance and we will examine the original verse from Hebrew translation:
Hebrew Elohiym el-o-heem' ‘amar aw-mar' `asah aw-saw' 'adam aw-dawm'
English God said make man
Hebrew ‘tselem tseh'-lem’ dmuwth dem-ooth' radah raw-daw' ‘dagah daw-gaw'
English image likeness dominion fish
Hebrew yam yawm owph ofe shamayim shaw-mah'-yim bhemah be-hay-maw'
English sea fowl air (sky) cattle
Hebrew 'erets eh'-rets remes reh'-mes ramas raw-mas' 'erets eh'-rets
English earth creeping creature any creeping creature earth
The "Plural Majestic" of the Hebrew language
ELOHIM - The Hebrew Noun used to designate God. Notice that this is the noun used in the verse to describe God. It is true that Elohim is a plural noun in this verse. But hold on, please do not leave with just that understanding, you must understand why this is so. In Hebrew tradition, it was always a correct formality to speak of majesty and kings using the plural out of respect for that royalty. This is why Elohim is used to describe God, out of Majestic respect to God, never was it intended for someone to read the verse with the understanding that the Hebrews were referring to there God as more than One person!!! The Hebrew language is an elementary language that does not compare to the complexity of the English language. Understanding this logic, you must also keep in mind that the Hebrew language does not ../include what we refer to as "pronouns". As you read the above verse, notice that the English line does not ../include conjunctions or pronouns, as this is exaclty how it was written in the orginal language. When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek, Latin, and English, the translators used pronouns and conjunctions to correctly give understanding in the respective language. Because ELOHIM is PLURAL, when the translators added pronouns into the scripture, it was necessary for the pronouns added to agree with the tense of the noun that it represented. Therefore, the translators were absolutely correct with the translation using US and OUR as plural pronouns to describe God, however keep in mind that the plurality of Elohim was merely a custom of respect to majesty. Also please read verse 27 which says...
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
If there had been a "trinity" I would have to ask the question which person of God was man created in? The first, second, or third?
Of course this is silly. The answer is simply that God's image was Jesus Christ (John 1:1,14 2 Cor 5:19, Colossian 1:15) an image that God created before the foundation of the world, but did not become a reality until the fullness of time came. (Galatians 4:4). Remember that the Bible says that Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world, and that He was the Word with God from the beginning of time. This does NOT MEAN that God was talking to His Son from the beginning of time, It means that God had the plan of Salvation, and the plan of manifesting Himself in flesh before the foundation of the world. It was not until Mary concieved through the power of the Holy Ghost that the Son of God became a physical reality. Before Bethlehem the Son of God was not manifested, but was simply known to His people as the ONLY GOD. Isaiah 63:16.. Thou O LORD are our Father and our Redeemer, and thy name is for everlasting....
