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Instead of clear, simple statements that God is three persons who are equally the one God, trinitarians most often compare one scripture with another and manage to “discover” that God is three equal persons. So here is a tongue-in-cheek example of that technique used for another person. It’s more difficult since Jesus has more and loftier words written about him to choose from than David.
Quadrinarian “proof” that David is equally God
First, David is actually addressed as Jehovah God!
1 Sam. 20:12 actually, literally says in all the ancient Hebrew manuscripts:
"Then Jonathan said to David: 'Jehovah God of Israel, I will certainly sound out my father....'" (Compare
KJV and
JPS). Most Bible translators who are not Quadrinarians actually add to the inspired word of God at this verse to make it say: "
By the LORD God of Israel" (
NIV) or "
I promise you in the sight of the LORD the God of Israel" (
NEB) or "Jehovah, the God of Israel,
be witness" (
ASV, cf.
NASB,
RSV). But these translations are distorting and actually adding to the inspired word of God which clearly calls David "
Jehovah God"!
Second, God Himself calls Jesus
"My Servant" [literally "
the servant of me"] - Matt. 12:18; cf. Acts 3:13,
RSV. He also calls
David "My Servant" [literally "
the servant of me"] - 2 Kings 19:34; Ps. 89:3. The person God calls "My Servant" is well-known to Bible scholars as
The Messiah ("Christ" in the Greek translations),e.g., Is. 53:11 - see New Bible Dictionary (2nd ed.), p. 1093, Tyndale House Publ .
Therefore David is equally Christ (and, therefore, also equally God).
Third, David claims the exclusive title of Christ (and God) by declaring himself to be the great
"I Am" [Ego Eimi] at 2 Kings 15:26, Septuagint (2 Sam.15:26 in English Bibles) which when translated literally says
: "Behold! I AM." (
idou Ego Eimi). This is the very same exclusive title of God, as trinitarians well know, that
Jesus claimed for himself at John 8:58: "Before Abraham was born,
I Am [Ego Eimi]."
David is Christ and God!
Fourth, David is equally
Christ with Jesus himself: Luke 9:20 tells us that Peter declared Jesus to be
"The Christ [
christon]
of God." But 2 Samuel 23:1 also declares
David to be "The Christ [
christon in the Septuagint]
of God"! Yes, Jesus
and David are the one "Christ of God." Since the Christ is also God, as trinitarians well know, then David, too, is God!
Fifth, In 2 Sam. 14:20-22 we find
David called
"My Lord" - the title for Jesus and Jehovah. (cf. Acts 2:34; Jn 20:28; Ps. 8:1).
Sixth , also in this same highly significant passage David is being declared
omniscient or all-knowing (which trinitarians well know is one of the
exclusive, untransferrable qualities of God alone) - 2 Sam 14:20.
Seventh, 1 Kings 1:43 - "Jonathan answered Adonijah, 'No, for our lord king
David has made Solomon king.'" -
NRSV.
2 Chronicles 1:8 - "And Solomon said to
God, 'Thou hast shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and hast
made me king in his stead.'"
Eighth, and, again, to show the absolute equality of Jehovah God and King David we find David the King receiving
equal worship with Jehovah God at 1 Chron. 29:20. Yes, the actual Hebrew of the original God-inspired scriptures says: "so the entire assembly
praised Jehovah, the God of their fathers: they bowed low and
worshiped [
shachah]
Jehovah AND THE KING." - cf.
KJV.
The word 'worshiped' (
shachah) used here is exactly the same word as used at 2 Chron. 7:3 (see
The NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament, Zondervan, 1982). The praise of
Jehovah included worship [
shachah] of God
and David! There is no separation of the two found here. They are inseparably bonded together in the very same expression of faith ("Jehovah and the king") and adoringly bathed in the same single united act of worship which recognizes and celebrates their one essence!
We also find David being
worshiped at 2 Sam. 14:22. The Israelite Joab (whose name means 'Jehovah is the Father') actually
worshiped David. The word used in the ancient Hebrew scriptures is
shachah - the very same word translated "worship" at 2 Sam. 12:20 and 15:32 - see
Strong's Concordance. This is also the same word used at 1 Kings 1:31 where the inspired word of God tells us that Bathsheba also
worshiped David! - see
Strong's.
Ninth, the King's throne in Israel was known as "the
throne of
Jehovah" - 1 Chron. 29:23. This very same throne was called (and continues to be called through the ages) "the
throne of
David." - Jer. 17:25. David is Jehovah God. Even at the end time when the Messiah sits down on Jehovah's throne, that very throne is called (not Jesus' throne, but) the
throne of David! - Is. 9:7. The eternal throne of Jehovah is at the same time the eternal throne of David! David
is Jehovah God.
Tenth, another, similar proof is that "the
Son of God,"
Jesus,
is also called "the Son of David"! (Luke 4:41; 18:38) The one Father of Jesus has both the title "God"
and the name "David"! David is God!
Eleventh, we find 1 Chron. 29:29 literally using the terminology for David as that used for Jehovah: "
THE FIRST AND THE LAST"!
Strong's Concordance shows that the same Hebrew words used to identify
Jehovah as the "First and Last" at Is. 44:6 are also used here to describe
David. As trinitarians know, this is one of the prime identifiers for God (Is. 44:6) and also for Jesus as being equal to God (Rev. 1:17). So when we see "First and Last" used for
David (cf.
Young's;
LITV; KJV; NKJV; ASV; NAB; JPS 1917), we know absolutely that he is one of the Persons of the Holy Christhead
and, therefore, also one of the Persons of the Holy Godhead!
And,
Twelfth, in a final and conclusive confirmation we have proof of a Quadrinity (Jehovah, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and David):
Whereas the number
three is
never used in Scripture in any way that could reasonably be construed as proper evidence for a trinity (see the
IMAGE study, note #8), the number
four is clearly given in scripture as evidence of the Holy Quadrinity.
Some examples are listed in the trinitarian
New Bible Dictionary (NBD):
"
Four ... is one of the symbols of
completion in the Bible." [So the
complete identity of God will not be perfected until the
four (complete) persons are known. - T2.] "The divine name Yahweh has
four letters in Heb. (
YHWH)." - p. 845, second ed., Tyndale House Publ., 1984.
What could be more clear as to the
four-person composition of God than the evidence found in the composition of his very own personal name? And what could be plainer than the evidence of David's place as the fourth member of this Quadrinity as shown by the
four letters of his name (
DWYD) in Hebrew. The very first letter of this significant name is the
fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet; the very last letter is the
fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Thus, the "First and the Last" (see #11 above) of the composition of his name show his place in the composition of the
four-fold God!]