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Elohim

Although Elohim has several different applications, it is the first word used to designate, God. 'Elohim' is the God who created the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein. It is also openly admitted to be plural. The verb create in Gen. 1:1, is singular, demanding a singular subject. So even though the noun Elohim is plural, it is viewed as a singular subject, thereby matching the singular verb. The fact of the singular verb demonstrates that creation is the act of One God.

In Jewish thought, this plural Elohim designates plurality of majesty, or plenitude of might/power. That is, the God of creation is a multifaceted God. He is not one dimensional, or just three dimensional. Just as a diamond is multifaceted, so also there are many aspects or attributes to God in His One Infinite Being. This is to say, God, as the Infinite Being is incomprehensible. The ancient rabbis had another name for the Infinite One, which was Eyn Sof. This term literally meant without limit or boundaries. To them, God was Eyn Sof, i.e., He is without limits, boundaries, and is incomprehensive to the mind of man. He has no boundaries by which man might perceive Him. Another way of understanding this is that God has no edges or corners by which man may get a handle on Him. If man is going to know the unknowable, fathom the unfathomable, see the unseeable, he will have to have revelation, from this Limitless One. This is what the Scriptures are about: the revelation of This Infinite, Limitless God. Edmund J. Fortman, a Jesuit priest, Catholic theologian and a staunch trinitarian, in his book The Triune God, says this concerning what the Old Testament says of God,

What does the Old Testament tell us of God? It tells us there is one God, a wonderful God of life and love and righteousness and power and glory and mystery, who is the creator and lord of the whole universe, who is intensely concerned with the tiny people of Israel. It tell us of His Word, Wisdom, Spirit, of the Messiah He will send, of a Son of Man and a Suffering Servant to come. But it tells us nothing explicitly or by necessary implication of a Triune God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

He also makes this observation,

Thus the Old Testament writings about God neither express nor imply any idea of or belief in a plurality or trinity of persons within the one Godhead. Even to see in them suggestions or foreshadowings or 'veiled signs' of the trinity of persons, is to go beyond the words and intent of the sacred writers.

To make this word, Elohim, into a term for a trinity proof, is totally unfounded. There is no precedence for its use or understanding in this way.

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 powers displayed by God. (William Smith: A Dictionary Of The Bible, p220).

With this in mind, it is nothing but reading into the text, what is not there, to say that Elohim points to or even suggests a plurality or a trinity of persons. It is supposed by some, that when God says, "let us make man . . .” that He is speaking to the other two "persons" of the trinity, the Son and the Spirit.

However, what do the Jews say in regard to this statement of 'let us'. Some regard the "us" as referring to God and His holy angels. However, this is not likely, for the following reason. Did the angels assist God in making man, as though God needed help? Not so. Is the 'our image' referring to the image of God and the image of angels? Not so. Man was made in the image of God alone. This joining of the image of God with the angels is explicitly denied by Heb. 2:16, “For verily he took not on the nature of angels: but he took on him the seed of Abraham”.

If we dig a little deeper into ancient Hebraic thought, we will find what they called the Blueprint of Creation, or Adam Kadmon. This Adam Kadmon is nothing but the image and likeness of God, in Jewish thought. It is also known by another name, the Messiah. Suffice it to say, Adam Kadmon is the totality of God's Revealed Person, in a single Image, from which image man was created, that image being the Messiah.

The 'let us', can only be that God was taking counsel of himself and referring to his character and resplendent glory. That is, God created man with His own character in mind, as a blueprint. The early church father, Theophilus of Antioch agrees, “Moreover, God is found, as if needing help, to say, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." But to no one else than to His own Word and wisdom did He say," Let Us make."


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