One God, and a Plural Word

Start with a question Imagine you lived in the days of Moses or David. You have Scripture, but only what had been written so far. No Gospels, no letters of Paul. What would you believe about God? And would you have understood a God made of three Persons? That’s what we’re asking in this module. Not “what can we conclude with the full Bible in hand?” but “what did the people of God actually understand?”

Fact 1: God is one The first thing the Old Testament says about God is that there is one.

Fact 2: Elohim is a plural form The Hebrew word translated “God” in the Old Testament is Elohim. Its ending is plural. This sometimes leads people to say: “So there must be a plurality in God.” Is that so? Let’s use the Reader’s Checklist from Lesson 6: Does the word alone establish the point, or must we see how Scripture uses it?

a) A plural form can describe a single person “And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god (Elohim) to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.” (Exodus 7:1) God tells Moses that He has made him Elohim to Pharaoh. Moses is one man. The same plural form is used of him because he stands in a position of authority and speaks for God. Notice the standing Moses had in Egypt, the standing that Exodus 7:1 calls “a god to Pharaoh”:

Although Elohim is a plural noun, it is used in reference to Moses, a singular person, to indicate greatness and majesty. This is called the “plural of majesty.” The use of Elohim is an indication of greatness and majesty, not a plurality of persons.

b) Hebrew has other plural-form words for singular things

1. Mayim (water) is always in the plural form (Genesis 16:7).
2. Panim (face) is also plural in form. When Joseph “washed his face” (Genesis 43:31), the Hebrew uses the plural form, though he had one face. Abraham didn’t have more than one face. This is unique to the Hebrew language. Plural form, singular meaning. It’s a feature of the language.

c) What the New Testament writers did If Jesus and the apostles had understood Elohim to mean a plurality of persons when it referred to God, we would expect them to render it with a plural in Greek. But look at what they did: “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God (Theos, singular) is one Lord.” (Mark 12:29) Here the Greek word for God is theos, singular. When Psalm 82:6 uses Elohim of human rulers, John records the plural theoi (John 10:34). The writers distinguished between the two.

Four facts to account for As we go through the Old Testament, four things appear:

1. There is one God.
2. The word for God (Elohim) is plural in form, but used in a singular sense.
3. There is evidence of two divine Beings, both called LORD and God.
4. There is a Spirit of God.

These four facts fit one picture: there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things; He has a Son, equally divine, by whom are all things; and He is present everywhere by His Spirit, His own life and presence. The next lessons follow each fact through the Old Testament.