SURE, NO PROBLEM, SEE POST #287 FOR STARTERS.
and if you like we can also go bact to the beginning... and we can start at Genesis 1:1, and 1:26 & 27 on through Revelation 22, (smile)
I've read post #287 and really nothing new that you can add as to what already has been said. When we start with a wrong premise our conclusions will always make our doctrines false.
In Hebrew, the letters "
im" after a pronoun makes it a plural word. The word God in Ge. 1:1 is the Hebrew word "Eloh
im" which is a plural word in lieu of the letters (
im).
There are three numbers in the Hebrew language:
a)
Singular, speaks of one number
b)
Dual, speaks of two
c)
Plural, speaks of three or more.
In our language, there are only two numbers:
singular and
plural.
This makes sense as we read Genesis 1:1 to have at least three or more involved in the creation because of the word "Eloh
im". AND, this is confirmed by God Himself as He has stipulated in Genesis 1:26 "Let
us make man in
our image, after
our likeness..." There are no other meaning here except numbers to emphasize plurality. Therefore, Genesis 1:1 should be rendered this way: In the beginning, Gods "
they" created the heaven and the earth (according to grammar). Note however; the word "
created" is the singular word (bara).
Seem like a contradiction isn’t it? If the subject God is plural, then the verb and inferred or pronoun should be plural as well according to the rule of grammar. In other words,
in the beginning, Gods "they" created the heaven and the earth. The point however that the Bible distinctly teaches that although God subsists in three different persons, He is still one God and NOT three Gods.
Below is another example on how God uses the words singular and plural.
In Genesis 1:26-27 we read: “And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” So God created man in his image, in the image created He him male and female created He them. In this passage the word “said” is
singular and “God said” so it is, and Elohim “He said” not
they said. The uni-plural noun Elohim is declared to be one by the singular personal pronoun as inflected in the word said, and then chooses a suitable dialog along or between the three persons of the Godhead. Elohim says (
singular) let us (
plural) make man in our (
plural) image. So that God (
plural) created (
singular) man in His (
singular) own image. Now notice in verse 26 the personal pronouns are plural, in verse 27 the personal pronouns are singular. The singular and plural interchange defies such a carnal philosophy nor are we dealing with three Gods for the same interchange with the same combination declares that Jehovah though He is three persons is ONE.
The sons of Arius who deny that the ONE GOD JEHOVAH subsist as three persons love to quote Deuteronomy 6:4 in defense of their heresy; apparently, they are
unaware that Elohim is used in reference to the Godhead. Remember its a uni-plural noun. And they also fail to recognize that Jehovah is the sublime title for Him who is ONE GOD. So they quote, “hear O Israel Jehovah our Elohim is one Jehovah. Remember when LORD is spelled with all capital letters in the Old Testament in the KJV of the Bible, the printer is telling the English reader that the word behind LORD is YHWH or JEHOVAH. Please observe certain things quite plain in the English and even more clear in the Hebrew text: Jehovah (
singular) our Elohim (
plural) is one Jehovah (
singular). The one God Jehovah is seen subsisting in the plurality of three or more because the “im” ending of Elohim means three or more, and yet it declares He is one Jehovah even as in over Deuteronomy 4:35. Another thing to be observed in this passage which so plainly declared the doctrine of the Trinity in such a dynamic way, is the little word “one.” This term speaks of a compound unity, the Hebrew word is “echad” and declares “oneness” in plurality. Now there are several examples of this in the Old Testament that are openly displayed. For example, look at Genesis 11:6. Here we read: “
Behold the people is one” and the word for ‘one’ here is the Hebrew word ‘echad’ where it says over in Deuteronomy 6:4 that Jehovah is “one.” People refer to the plural number but the predicate the “
is” is
singular, and the ‘
one’ “echad” speaks of the “
oneness” or complete unity of the plurality. In other words,
there is a unity among the people that binds them together as “one people.” Therefore, we discover that the plural being spoken of is actually
unity or singular.
This same Hebrew word can also be used in Genesis 2:24. This is a beautiful illustration here where “echad” is used and translated as “one.” The "two" shall be one flesh! Now the two (
plural) shall be (
plural) one (
singular) flesh. Obviously, the word of God does not mean that when a man knows his wife that there shall after that be only one body, only one personality, and no longer two people.
No, the idea is that plurality of persons shall continue to exist as separate and distinct personality, but they will share a “oneness” from the results of their intimate knowledge of one another. It is quite clear that the favorite text of the Unitarian is a powerful statement to the fact that God exists as a plurality of persons “Elohim” in one compound unity of the Godhead known as Jehovah. We might also observe here for the technical term
one only, or
one alone and that’s “yahid,” but that is not the term used in Deuteronomy 6:4 or these other passages noted where it speaks of unity, or plurality, or the fact that God exists in three persons is ONE GOD.
There are at least two more examples on how God uses the words singular and plural, but for now, the above examples should suffice.
To God Be The Glory