3. The Noun Elohim Applied to Two Persons The third line of evidence for plurality of the Godhead in the Old Testament is that the word Elohim, or God, is often applied to two different personalities within the same passage. There are two examples. In Psalm 45:6-7, the writer states: Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever: A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness: Therefore God, your God, has anointed you With the oil of gladness above your fellows. Notice that the word God is actually applied to two different Persons within these two verses. He is addressing God, and, after addressing God, he says that another God had anointed the first God With the oil of gladness above your fellows. It should be noted that in this verse the first Elohim is being addressed. The second Elohim is the God of the first Elohim. It is God's God who has anointed Him with the oil of gladness.
A second example is in Hosea 1:7: But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by Jehovah their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. In this passage, the speaker is Elohim or God, who says He will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by the instrumentality of Jehovah their God Elohim. In other words, Elohim or God number one will save Israel by means of Elohim or God number two.
4. The Name YHVH Applied to Two Persons The fourth line of evidence for the plurality of the Godhead in the Old Testament is the fact that the personal name of God, which is comprised of the four Hebrew letters corresponding to our English letters YHVH and sometimes translated “Jehovah,” is applied to two different Persons in one passage. The first example is in Genesis 19:24: Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven. In this verse, Jehovah number one rained fire and brimstone from a second Jehovah out of heaven. The first Jehovah is on earth; He is the One who had been speaking previously to Abraham. Jehovah had appeared to him at the oaks of Mamre, and had warned him about the coming destruction of Sodom. That Jehovah who was on the earth, Jehovah number one, was now raining fire and brimstone from Jehovah number two, who was in Heaven. The term Jehovah, God's personal name, is used here of two different Persons.
A second example is Zechariah 2:8-9: For thus says Jehovah of hosts: After glory has he sent me unto the nations which plundered you; for he that touches you touches the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall be a spoil to those that served them; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts has sent me. This verse says that Jehovah number one is the speaker: For thus says Jehovah of hosts. As He speaks, He says that He is being sent to accomplish a task by Jehovah number two. Again, there is one Jehovah sending another Jehovah to perform a specific task.
Not only is the word Elohim, meaning “God,” applied to two different Persons in one passage, but God's personal name is also applied to two different Persons in one passage as well.
5. The Plural Noun Adonai A fifth line of evidence for the plurality of the Godhead that comes from the Old Testament is the Hebrew word Adonai, which means “Lord.” Whenever that word is used of God, it is always found in the plural. The singular form is never used of God. The Hebrew word for Lord, Adonai, is also always plural in reference to God and this, too, is evidence for plurality in the Godhead.
6. The Plural Pronouns A sixth line of evidence concerning the plurality of the Godhead in the Old Testament is the fact that plural pronouns are used of God. One example is Genesis 1:26a: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Notice the words us, our, and our. These are plural pronouns in reference to God. God could hardly be including angels in the terms us, our, our, because man was to be created, not in the image of angels, but in the image of God. The pronouns us, our, our, can only be a reference to God, not to any angel; and they are plural pronouns.
A second example where the plural pronoun us is used in reference to God is found in Genesis 3:22a: And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us.
A third example where the plural pronoun us is again used is Genesis 11:7a: Come, let us go down, and there confound their language.
An example outside of the Book of Genesis is in the Prophets, Isaiah 6:8a: And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?
Notice, it starts out with a singular pronoun, but then changes to a plural: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? The singular shows that God is one, and the plural shows plurality in the Godhead. These plural pronouns clearly show that God is seen in terms of plurality.
7. The Plural Adjectives A seventh line of evidence, which shows the plurality of the Godhead from the Old Testament comes from the fact that God is also described in terms of plural adjectives. In English translations, these appear as nouns, but in the Hebrew text, these words are Hebrew adjectives. They are also in the plural form. For example, Joshua 24:19 reads in English, holy God. But the adjective holy is a plural form, which literally reads, “holy Gods.” A second example is Psalm 149:2, which in some English translations reads: in his Maker. The adjective that is translated Maker is plural in Hebrew; so, it literally reads, “Let Israel rejoice in his Makers.” A third example is Ecclesiastes 12:1: your Creator. Again, the word Creator is a plural adjective in Hebrew, and it literally reads, “your Creators.” Isaiah 54:5 has two examples. In English, the verse reads, your Maker is your husband. But both the terms Maker and husband are plurals in the Hebrew text, and they read literally , “your Makers, your husbands” in reference to God. This, too, emphasizes the concept of a plurality.
8. The Angel of Jehovah The eighth line of evidence which shows the plurality of the Godhead in the Old Testament is the teachings concerning the “ Angel of Jehovah” or the “ Angel of the LORD.” Throughout the Old Testament, this figure appears here and there. In some translations, He is called the angel of Jehovah; at other times, He is identified by the expression the angel of the LORD. What is interesting is the fact that, in every passage where He appears, in one part of the context He is called the angel of Jehovah, and in another part of the same context, He is called Jehovah Himself. What is clear is that the Angel of Jehovah is not a common, ordinary angel, but is a unique Being, who is a visible manifestation of God Himself. The context always makes this evident.
