The Trinity
Is the concept or doctrine
of the trinity found in the Old Testament, even though the word “trinity” isn’t
mentioned? By “trinity” is meant that within the one God, there are three
distinct personalities/persons; one Being or essence, but tri-personal. God is
a plurality.
The name “Elohim” is a
plural noun having the masculine plural Hebrew ending “im”.
It is used of the true God in Gen. 1:1, “In the beginning God (Elohim) created
the heavens and the earth…” It is also used of false gods (plural) as in Ex.
20:3, “You shall have no gods (Elohim) before Me…” or as in Deut. 13:2, “Let us
go after other gods (Elohim)…” While the use of the plural Elohim doesn’t prove
the trinity, it shows the possibility of the plurality in the Godhead. It is often
called the “plurality of majesty” in a singular sense of the one true God. For
this reason, singular verbs are usually used with this plural noun (Elohim) to
show God’s singular Being as in Gen. 1:1, “God created” (a singular verb in
Hebrew). But Elohim is also used with plural verbs, emphasizing the plurality
of this one God, as in Gen. 20:13, “when God caused” (literally, “They caused”,
a Hebrew plural verb is used). Or, as in Gen. 37:7, “God appeared” (literally,
“They appeared”, a Hebrew plural verb is used). The writers of the Old
Testament could have used the singular form of “Elohim”, which is “Eloah”, if they wanted to communicate God as only singular
(e.g., Deut. 32:15, 17). Yet, this singular noun for God is used only 250 times
while “Elohim” (plural) is used 2,500 times.
Also, when God speaks of
Himself, He often uses a plural pronoun, as in Gen. 1:26, “God said, ‘Let Us
make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. ’” Or, as in Gen. 3:22 and
11:7. In Isaiah 6:8 it says, “the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I
send, and who will go for Us?’” Both the singular “I” and the plural “Us” are
used, thereby, showing God as a plurality in a unity (plurality of persons in
the one Being/God).
Also, Hebrew nouns and
adjectives used in speaking of God are plural. Eccles. 12:1 says, “Remember now
your Creator (literally, “Creators”, in Hebrew); Psa. 149:2 says, “Let Israel
rejoice in their Maker” (literally, “Makers”, in Hebrew); and Isa. 54:5 says,
“For your husband is your Maker” (literally, “husbands and Makers”, in Hebrew).
While Deut. 6:4, “The LORD
is our God, the LORD is one” shows that God is one (Heb. “echad”),
this oneness is a compound “one” and not an absolute “one”. It’s the same
Hebrew word used in Gen. 2:24, where a man and a woman become one (echad) flesh in marriage. Or, in Ezra 2:64, where the whole
assembly was as one (echad), though it was composed
of numerous people. Or, in Ezek. 37:17, where two sticks are combined to become
one (echad), showing this word to mean a compound and
not an absolute unity. There is a Hebrew word, “yachid”,
which means an absolute unity or oneness or the only one. This is seen in
Judges 11:34, “she was his one (yachid) and only
child”. If Moses wanted to teach God’s absolute oneness as opposed to His compound
unity, he would have used “yachid” instead of “echad”.
God
is at least two different personalities/persons. In Psa. 45:6, 7 “Elohim” (God)
is applied to two different personalities in the same verse, “Your throne, O
God, is forever and ever…; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the
oil of joy above Your fellows.” The first Elohim is being addressed, and the
second Elohim is the God of the first Elohim. Hebrews 1:8, 9 states that God
the Father is addressing His Son (Jesus) in this quote from Psalm 45.
God is three
different personalities/persons.
In Isa. 48:12-16, it states,
“Listen to Me, O Jacob, even
“YHVH” (“Yahweh”) is the
Hebrew word for “LORD”, the name of God (“I AM”) in Ex. 3:14. In Isa. 63:7-14,
the trinity is also seen. “I will make mention of the lovingkindness of the
LORD (YHVH) …. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His
presence saved them …. But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit;
therefore, He turned Himself to become their enemy …. Where is He who put His
Holy Spirit in the midst of them … As the cattle which go down into the valley,
the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest…” In this passage, there are the LORD
(YHVH) – vs. 7, the angel of His (YHVH) presence – vs. 9, and His (YHVH) Holy
Spirit – vss. 10, 11 or the Spirit of the LORD – vs. 14. Three different
persons, all of whom, however, are the LORD (YHVH). The angel of His presence
(Isa. 63:9) is the angel of the LORD (Ex. 33:14, 15; 40:34-38; 23:20-23), and
the angel of the LORD is God/the LORD (Ex. 3:2-7). That the angel of the LORD
is the LORD can also be seen in Gen. 16:7, 13; 22:11, 12, 15, 16; &
31:11-13. Yet, the angel of the LORD is a distinct/different person from the
LORD as seen in Ex. 23:20-23; Judges 13:16, 21, 22; and Gen. 24:7, 40 with
24:27, 48.
Much of the above is taken
from Dr. Lawrence Richards, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, p.
313; Dr. Merrill Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, p. 411; Dr. J. D.
Douglas, The New Bible Dictionary, p. 478; and Arnold Fruchtenbaum’s “Jewishness
and the Trinity”.
Further
evidence for the trinity:
The prophet David calls the
coming Messiah/Christ, Lord and distinguishes Him from the LORD in Psa. 110:1-4
(also seen in Matt. 22:41-45). David also calls the coming Christ/Messiah, God
and distinguishes Him from God in Psa. 45:7 (also seen in Heb. 1:8, 9 as God’s
Son being called God). And Psa. 2:2, 6-12 shows the LORD’S Anointed/Messiah to
be God’s Son, whom the throne is given to. David is also aware of the Holy
Spirit as God yet distinct from God as seen in Psa. 51:10, 11 and 139:1, 7.
The prophet Isaiah calls
the coming son who is to be born of a virgin, God or Immanuel in Isa. 7:14, yet
distinguishes Him from the Lord in the same verse. And in Isa. 9:6, Isaiah
calls the coming child/son, Mighty God, yet distinguishes Him from the LORD who
gave Isaiah this message (8:11). Then in Isa. 11:1-4, Isaiah speaks about a
shoot/branch from the stem of Jesse ruling the earth in the future, who is the
same person referred to in Isa. 9:6 as the child/son called Mighty God who will
have the government rest on His shoulders yet Isaiah distinguishes Him from the
Spirit of the LORD in 11:2 and from the LORD in 11:3. So the trinity is seen in
Isa. 11:1-4. The prophet Moses talks about the LORD/God in Ex. 31:1 and 35:30
as distinct from the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit) in Ex. 31:3 and 35:31. And
in Ex. 20:1, God is seen as distinct from God’s angel in 23:20-23 who is God
(3:2-7). Since no man has seen God (the Father – Ex. 33:20; Jn. 1:18), yet Abraham
saw God in the form of an angel/man (Gen. 18:1, 2, 9-22; 19:1), and Jesus said
that Abraham saw Him (Jn. 8:56-58), therefore Abraham saw Jesus as an
angel/man/God in Gen. 18. This makes sense since Jesus existed from eternity
past (Micah 5:2 with Matt. 2:4-6; Jn. 1:1, 2, 14-17; 17:5).
The prophet Jeremiah
distinguishes the LORD from the coming Messiah/Christ, who is called “the LORD
our righteousness” in Jer. 23:5, 6. And the Psalmist in 104:24, 25, 30
distinguishes God from God’s Spirit as two different persons.
The Trinity
in the New Testament Briefly speaking:
The Father is called God in 2
Pet. 1:17.
Jesus is called God in Titus
2:13; 2 Pet. 1:1; Col. 2:9; 1 Jn. 5:20; Jn. 1:1, 2, 14-18 or viewed as God (Jn.
10:30, 33; 5:18; 14: 9, 10; Heb. 1:8, 9).
The Holy Spirit is called God
in Acts 5:3, 4; 1 Cor. 6:11; Matt. 3:16; 2 Cor. 3:3.
The three persons of the one
God are seen together in Matt. 28:19 and 2 Cor. 13:14. One God (1 Tim. 2:5).
From all of the above it is rather obvious that the
one God is in three distinct persons, a trinity.