Keiw, keep in mind that from the Beginning/Genesis, God is not singular as the word for God is Elohim which is plural and lieteraly means Gods.
Gesesis 1:1 "In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth."
God
אֱלֹהִ֑ים (
’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew 430: 1) (plural) 1a) rulers, judges 1b) divine ones 1d) gods 2)
This is where all understanding Begins = all THREE are present in the Beginning.
Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was hovering over the surface of the waters. And Elohim said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Then Elohim said, “Let
Us make man in
Our image, after
Our likeness" = 3x Plurality of Elohim
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ELOHIM - Plural 'God'
Many trinitarian apologists will tell us that the Hebrew word for God (
Elohim) is plural because it shows that God is a trinity. For example:
"Among Trinitarian Christian writers it is [often] seen as evidence for the doctrine of the Trinity, a plurality in the Godhead." -
Theopedia, "Elohim."
......................................................
That the Hebrew plural is often used for a singular noun to denote “a ‘plural’ of majesty or excellence” is well-known by all Biblical Hebrew language experts and has been known from at least the time of Gesenius (1786-1842), who is still regarded as one of the best authorities for Biblical Hebrew!
Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament (“long regarded as a standard work for students”), p. 49, shows that
elohim, (“God/gods”) is sometimes used in a numerically plural sense for angels, judges, and false gods. But it also says,
“The plural of
majesty [for
elohim], occurs, on the other hand, more than two thousand times.” And that
elohim when used in that sense “occurs in a [numerically] singular sense” and is “constr[ucted] with a verb ... and adjective in the singular.”
Gesenius - Kautzsch’s Hebrew Grammar, 1949 ed., pp. 398, 399, says:
“The
pluralis excellentiae or
maiestatis ... is properly a variety of the abstract plural, since it sums up the several characteristics belonging to the idea, besides possessing the secondary sense of an intensification of the original idea. It is thus closely related to the plurals of amplification .... So, especially
Elohim ... ‘God’ (to be distinguished from the plural ‘gods’, Ex. 12:12, etc.) .... That the language has entirely rejected the idea of numerical plurality in
Elohim (whenever it denotes one God) is proved especially by its being almost invariably joined with a singular attribute.”
Peloubet’s Bible Dictionary, 1925 ed. Pg. 224:
Elohim "is either what grammarians call the plural of majesty, or it denotes the fullness of divine strength, the sum of the powers displayed by God."
More modern publications (trinitarian Protestant and Catholic) also make similar acknowledgments of the intended plural of majesty or excellence meaning for
elohim. (See the
New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, Vol. v., p. 287.)
Nelson’s Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament, describes
elohim:
“The common plural form ‘elohim,’ a plural of majesty.” - Unger and White, 1980, p. 159.
Pluralis Majestatis: Biblical Hebrew
"The term ‘majestic plural’ or
pluralis majestatis refers to the use of a plural word to refer honorifically to a single person or entity. It is also called the ‘plural of respect’, the ‘honorific plural’, the ‘plural of excellence’, or the ‘plural of intensity’. In the Hebrew Bible such plural forms are most commonly used when referring to the God of Israel, e.g.,
adonim ‘I am a master (lit. ‘masters’)’ (Mal. 1.6), although it can also be used when referring to a human, e.g.,
abraham adonaw ‘Abraham his master (lit. ‘master
s’)’ (Gen. 24.9), an object, e.g.
gibroteka ‘your grave (lit. ‘grave
s’)’ (2 Kgs 22.20), ...." -
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HEBREW LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS, p. 145, vol. 3, 2013.
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says:
“It is characteristic of Heb[rew] that extension, magnitude, and dignity, as well as actual multiplicity, are expressed by the pl[ural].” - Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984 ed., Vol. II, p. 1265.
Today’s Dictionary of the Bible, 1982, Bethany House Publishers, written by trinitarian scholars, says of
elohim:
“Applied to the one true God, it is the result in the Hebrew idiom of a plural magnitude or majesty. When applied to the heathen gods, angels, or judges ...,
Elohim is plural in sense as well as form.” - p. 208.
The famous trinitarian scholar, Robert Young, (
Young’s Analytical Concordance and
Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible) wrote in his
Young’s Concise Critical Commentary, p. 1,
“Heb.
elohim, a plural noun ... it seems to point out a superabundance of
qualities in the Divine Being rather than a plurality of
persons .... It is found almost invariably accompanied by a verb in the singular number.”
Both Exodus 4:16 and 7:1 show God calling Moses "a god" (
elohim). This alone shows the error of some that the plural
elohim must mean a "plural oneness" unless we want to believe Moses was a multiple-person Moses!
And
The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Zondervan Publishing, 1986, tells us:
“
Elohim, though plural in form, is
seldom used in the OT as such (i.e. ‘gods’). Even a
single heathen god can be designated with the plural
elohim (e.g. Jdg. 11:24; 1 Ki. 11:5; 2 Ki. 1:2). In Israel the plural is understood as the
plural of fullness; God is the God who really, and in the fullest sense of the word, is God.” - p. 67, Vol. 2.
The
NIV Study Bible says about
elohim in its footnote for Gen. 1:1:
“This use of the plural expresses intensification rather than number and has been called the
plural of majesty, or of potentiality.” – p. 6, Zondervan Publ., 1985.
And the
New American Bible (St. Joseph ed.) tells us in its “Bible Dictionary” in the appendix:
“
ELOHIM. Ordinary Hebrew word for God. It is the plural of
majesty.” – Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970.
A Dictionary of the Bible by William Smith (
Smith’s Bible Dictionary, p. 220, Hendrickson Publ.) declares:
“The fanciful idea that [
elohim] referred to the trinity of persons in the Godhead hardly finds now a supporter among scholars. It is either what grammarians call the plural of majesty, or it denotes the fullness of divine strength, the sum of the powers displayed by God.”
And the prestigious work edited by Hastings says about this:
"It is exegesis of a mischievous if pious sort that would find the doctrine of the Trinity in the plural form
elohim [God]" ("God,"
Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics).
To show how ancient Jewish scholars themselves understood this we can look at the work of the seventy Hebrew scholars who translated the ancient Hebrew Scriptures (OT) into Greek several centuries before the time of Christ. The Greek language did not use the “plural of excellence” that the Hebrew did. So, if we see a plural used in the Greek Septuagint, it was
really intended to represent more than one individual!
So how is
elohim rendered in the Greek Septuagint by those ancient Hebrew scholars? Whenever it clearly refers to Jehovah God, it is always found to be
singular in number (just as in New Testament Greek):
theos ! Whenever
elohim clearly refers to a plural (in number) noun, it is always found to be plural in number in Greek (just as in the New Testament Greek):
theoi or
theois (“gods”).
For example: “I am the Lord thy God [
elohim - plural of excellence in Hebrew becomes
theos - singular in the Greek Septuagint]” - Ex. 20:2. And “know that the Lord he is God [as always, the plural
elohim, as applied to the God of Israel, becomes the singular,
theos in the Septuagint] he made us...” - Ps. 100:3.
But when
elohim really does mean plural in number, we see it rendered into the Greek plural for “gods” in the Septuagint: “Thou shalt not worship their gods [
elohim in Hebrew becomes
theois - plural in the Greek Septuagint], nor serve them .... And thou shalt serve the Lord thy God [singular - Greek].” - Ex. 23:24-25.
We see exactly the same thing happening for translations of the plural
elohim in the ancient Septuagint and in the Christian NT.
Yes, all the NT Bible writers, whether quoting from the OT or writing their own God-inspired NT scriptures, always used the singular “God” (
theos) in NT Greek when speaking of the only true God of the Bible. (If the plural form had been used for the only true God, we would even discover a new “trinity” at John 10:34.)
It is absolutely incredible that John, Paul, and the other inspired NT writers would not have used the plural Greek form to translate the plural Hebrew form of “God” if they had intended in any degree to imply that God was in any way more than one person!
