Genesis 1:26
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Those who use this verse to support the Trinity doctrine argue that the use of the pronoun "us" in this verse means that God is speaking to someone other than Himself. They argue that God could not have been speaking to angels here, because angels were not involved in the creation of man, and that the use of the plural pronoun, "us", excludes the possibility that God was speaking to Himself. For these reasons, they conclude that in this verse God the Father is speaking to God the Son and/or God the Holy Spirit.
On the surface, this looks like a pretty convincing argument. But is it?
First, let's look at the verse that immediately follows this one.
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
If the use of the plural pronoun is significant in verse 26, the use of the singular in verse 27 is equally significant. What does it tell us?
"us" that the speaker, God, was speaking to, they had NOTHING to do with the actual creation of man."us", but rather, in the image of the speaker, God."God", and the speaker is consistently referred to by the singular pronoun in this chapter, whoever else He was addressing as "us" is excluded from the title "God" in Genesis 1."God" in the Old Testament excludes whoever else it was who God was allegedly talking to in Genesis 1.Are there other places in the Old Testament where plural pronouns are used for God? Three other records come to mind. To the best of my knowledge, these are the only places in scripture where plural pronouns are used in reference to God. Let's look at them and see if they shed any light on who God is talking to.
The first record we need to look at is Genesis 3:22-24, which records the expulsion of man from the garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:22-24.
3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Here, as in Genesis 1, there is no indication of who God is talking to. And here, as in Genesis 1, God uses the plural pronoun when He speaks, but the singular pronoun is used in verse 24, when God acts. From this passage we have no indication of who God is talking to. We only know that, regardless of who He may have been talking to, He acted alone.
The next record we need to look at is Genesis 11:5-9, which records the dividing of languages at the Tower of Babel.
Genesis 11:5-9.
11:5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
11:7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
11:8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
11:9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
The word "LORD" in all capital letters in this passage indicates that the Hebrew text originally read "Jehovah." Again, we are not told who the LORD is speaking to, but here, unlike in the previous records, there are no pronouns in the passage to make it clear that God acted alone. However, there is a passage in Acts that mentions this incident, and uses the singular pronoun for God when referring to what He did here.
Acts 17:23-27.
17:23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
17:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
17:25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
Two important points are made here. First, the same God who made the world and all things therein determined "the bounds of [men's] habitation". We have already established that the God who made the world and all things therein was not others in the "us" that God allegedly spoke to in Genesis 1:26, but rather the "he" that was doing the speaking. Second, the singular pronoun is used here for the God who determined "the bounds of their habitation". From this we are justified in concluding that the same pattern occurs in Genesis 11 as in the records we previously looked at: God spoke in the plural, but acted in the singular. Any "others" He may have spoken to are excluded from His activities.
There's one more thing we need to observe about the Acts 11 record. The speaker here is Jehovah. Whoever He was speaking to, therefore, if He was not speaking to Himself, is not included in the name Jehovah in this passage.
There's one more record we need to consider. This one is found in Isaiah.
Isaiah 6:8-9.
6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Here God, in His speaking, mixes the singular and plural pronouns. He will send, but whoever is sent will go "for us." The speaker, then, here as elsewhere, is singular: God. The others in the "us", if there are any, are distinguished, here as elsewhere, from God.
In this record, unlike the previous records, we are given a brief glimpse into Heaven, and at the throne of God.
Isaiah 6:1-5.
6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
6:4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Who does Isaiah see in this vision? He sees the LORD (Jehovah) sitting on a throne, and he sees the seraphims, a particular type of angel. He sees no one else. There is no sign of Christ, and there is no sign of a Holy Spirit distinct from God, the Father. This greatly limits who may be referred to here as "us". Either God is speaking of Himself and the seraphims, or He is speaking of Himself alone. No other possibilities are allowed by the contents of this vision.
A similar phenomenon is seen in Job 1 and 2. There, we are given a glimpse at a meeting of "the sons of God". There, as in Isaiah 6, only God and angels -- and an uninvited Satan -- are mentioned as being present.
There are two records in the Old Testament that might seem to provide some evidence for the opposing view, that God was speaking to Jesus, and possibly to the Holy Spirit. One is the record of dominion being given to one like the son of man in Daniel.
Daniel 7:9-14.
7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
7:11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
7:12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
At first glance this might seem to provide evidence that Jesus may have been present with God in the records we looked at previously, but a closer look establishes that the events described in this record are future, not past. In verse 11, the beast, who is the same beast as described in Revelations, has been destroyed. This passage describes the establishment of Christ's kingdom on earth. Since these events take place AFTER Christ's ascention to heaven, they provide no evidence that he was in heaven at the time of the records we looked at previously.
The other passage that might appear to support the idea that Jesus was in heaven taking part in the creation is Proverbs 8, which warrants its own detailed study. A close look at this passage will show, however, that "wisdom" in Proverbs is female in gender, including in Proverbs 8, and that wisdom, while present with God at the time of creation, actively created nothing. Thus, this passage also provides no support for an "us" other than God the Father who took part in the work of creation.
From our examination of the passages in the Old Testament where God refers to "us", we see that these passages provide no evidence whatsoever for the teaching that God is a Trinity, or that is are a plurality of beings within God.
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