One of the problems is the Hebrew word "Elohim". As used in Genesis 1:26, it should read in the singular...but is translated, reads and governs the plural verb "make" as a plural itself. This is incorrect. Elohim can be translated in the plural....as when speaking of "pagan" gods etc., but when speaking of the one, true God....it should be rendered in the singular. So....is it a uni-plural noun....or isn't it? The answer is yes....and no!
Genesis 1:29 renders "Elohim" correctly....in the singular. Same word as used for God in Genesis 1:26 governs the singular phrase "I give you every seed bearing plant..." In verse 26 the phrase of course is in the plural. The noun "Elohim" governs both verses.....so, which is it?
Throughout the Old Testament the Hebrew noun "Elohim" behaves as a singular noun and governs singular verbs, adjectives and pronouns. Verse 27 is also in the singular, not saying "they" or "their"....but "He"....in "His" image.
So, why does it say "Us" in the translation? We know that the translators were Trinitarians....that's a given. They had preconceived notions. The verbal mood for expressing a command to the "first person singular....or plural" is referred to as a Cohortative mood. This is related to the imperative mood which is a more common mood for expressing commands from the first person....to the second person singular. The Cohortative mood is found in Genesis 1:26. The singular person, God, addresses Himself jointly with those present at the time. Therefore in Genesis 1:26 God, and those present with Him, jointly make up the plurality expressed by the pronoun "Us".
The plurality of "Us" extends back to God and the Cohortative mood causes God, as the speaker who issued the command, to be singular.
The first person may be singular,(I, you, he). It can also be plural,(we, you, they). The first person can only speak to the second person. Speaking to the third person is ungrammatical. You can speak about them...but not to them. The first person can speak to the first person singular as when speaking to them self. But when the first person speaks to the first person plural, he addresses himself and the ones with him.
The three verbal moods for expressing commands or intentions are "Imperative, Cohortative and Jussive". All three moods are used by the first person and he may address them to the first person by using the Cohortative mood, or to the second person by using the Imperative mood and to the third person by using the Jussive mood.
The imperative mood is usually used by a superior to a subordinate...like "Sit down!" In the Jussive mood the command for a third person to a second person would be, "Make him sit down!" It is impossible for a first person to speak directly to a third person because the third person is the one being spoken about to the second person.
In the Cohortative mood the first person commands the first person, singular or plural. When the first person commands himself (first person singular)...it is as "I will sit down". But when the first person commands the first person plural, the command would be "let us sit down". The first person (subject) is still singular. The plurality of the ones commanded does not extend back to the subject.
Immediately before the words "Let us make man in our image" we read "And (he) Elohim said" וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים. The word וַיֹּאמֶר "and he said" is the third person singular form of the verb אמר (qal inverted future). This indicates that the speaker is a singular individual. Were Elohim a plurality the verse would have opened "And (they) Elohim said" וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֱלֹהִים. The phrase "Elohim said/ spoke" appears about fifty times throughout the Hebrew Scriptures and in every single instance it is "(he) God said/ spoke" in the singular and never "(they) God said/ spoke" in the plural.
But, then I could be wrong!
When you get a minute, could you tell me what in the world you just said? That is so far over my head, I bet your ears popped, amigo :)
No. The Jews aren't trinitarians. I gave their translation.
From Job 38-7, "And all sons of God shout for joy?"
The Jewish believe these are angels.
"I said [Genesis 1:26]"Let us make man in Our image" does not prove a Trinity......does not even suggest it!"
That's correct on it's own. The Jews believed they were angels, as in Gen 3. It's not until the NT that the meaning becomes clear. John 1:1-5, Isaiah 63, and the other passages I posted makes it very clear. Man being a trinity of soul, body and spirit, was made in the image and likeness of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That's the evidence for the Trinity. It's the NT that makes it so.
Matt 11:27
"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
No one knows the Father, except the Son, and those whom the Son chooses to reveal Him!