Notice that verse 27 says,
"So God created man in His own image (not, "Their own image"), in the image of God created He (not, "they"") him; male and female created He (not, "they") them."
Why isn't the phrase "in Their own image" used? If verse 26 had any theological importance, it would certainly have been carried over into verse 27.
Again, in
Genesis 11:7,
8, "us" is used and yet YHWH alone scattered them abroad. According to
Job 38:4-7, "the sons of Elohim shouted for joy" when YHWH created the earth.
This doubtless refers to the angels who were also present at the creation of man. YHWH could be speaking to them, in
Genesis 1:26, using the plural of majesty. An example of this is found in
Ezra 4:18; "The letter which you sent unto us has been plainly read before me." In this case, a letter was written strictly to King Artaxerxes and no one else (vs. 11). Yet the King speaks as though it was written to others as well. Another example would be the Queen of England saying, "We, the Queen of England, . . .".
Genesis 1:26 can also be understood in the sense of someone saying, "Let us drive to the lake for a picnic," and yet, only the speaker does the driving. To believe YHWH is talking to
His supposedly pre-existent Son is an assumption. It is reading into the text something that it does not say. The fact that "Elohim" is used thousands of times in Scripture with singular pronouns and verbs shows that "Elohim" is a single being with a plural title out of respect and majesty.