Who is the "Us" that god refers to in Genesis?

Question

I could be wrong but i think this was written before any mention of the Trinity....Or is God using "Us" in the same sense that royalty and egocentric people do

Answer 1

I don't think the "Us" of Genesis 1:24 refers to the Trinity. Rather it refers to a Heavenly Host, or group of entities.

Check out Genesis 3:22, where God says "see, the man has become..." He is talking to a separate entity who does not share his perspective.

Check out 1 Kings 22:19-23, where Micaiah claims to have scene a Celestial court ruled over by God, but inhabited by celestial beings who can come up with suggestions and ideas seperate from God's.

Check out Job 1:6-12, where Heavenly Beings come to "present themselves before the Lord." This includes Satan.

There are more references to the Heavenly Court (or Heavenly Host, sometimes. They seem interchangable.) Try Genesis 11:7, Isaiah 6:8, 1 Samuel 16:14, and Zechariah 3:1-2. I haven't read them all, but I hope they will give you more info.

Answer 2

As a matter of fact, the word "Trinity" is never mentioned in the Bible at all. It was coined in 325 A.D. at the council of Nicea. This only means that the *word* hadn't been invented yet - not that the concept wasn't alive and well. The new testament is full of references to a triune God. And as you stated, even back in early Genesis there are references to the godhead, such as when God speaks of "we" and "us." As the Bible teaches, there is only one God, but He has revealed Himself in three persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are each the one God. If you say that this doesn't make sense, well, do you think that an infinite Being can perhaps accomplish things that you as a very finite being cannot do? If you need an analogy, suppose you have a container and fill it with ice, water, and water vapor, and seal it up. The container contains H2O, and it's all H2O, but it's in three different forms. All the same substance, though, right? Same thing in a way.

Answer 3

Verse 26 is a proclamation by God in the midst of his heavenly host. Literary plural (use of a plural pronoun representing a singular person/thing) is used by many speakers and writers especially in formal addresses and proclamations.
Dr. Ephraim A Speiser wrote about this verse, “Even though plural pronouns are used a singular sense is meant. God refers to himself which may account for the more formal construction in the plural pronoun ‘our’.”
Note that in verse 27, God is not making a speech but rather it is the record of what took place.
Other examples in scripture show that the Hebrew language commonly uses this idiom when God/royalty is speaking in the presence of the heavenly host/the royal court and never in descriptive reference towards God. (Gen 11:7, Isa 6:8, Ezra 4:18)

Answer 4

THE TIMES: It was written at a time when most of the known world was polytheistic and Christianity itself sprung from those religions and was greatly influenced by them.

THE AUTHORS: There are 4 basic writing styles within the first five books of the bible and each of those "writing styles" (groups of people) have different agendas. One of them is very serious about monotheism and one god, which becomes a theme throughout the bible.

MONOTHEISM AFTER CHRISIANITY: The seriousness of monotheism doesn't pick up until later in the religion, and Christianity brings about the idea of the trinity which threatened to break the rules of monotheism. There are ways of getting around this though. ;-)

Answer 5

Lots of people think that the Bible, especially Genisis, was compiled from lots of creation stories that were floating around at the time. Many scholars think that some stories had multiple gods, and when they put them together, not all references were taken out. After all, consider how long the Bible was purely verbal. Some changes were bound to have been made- think of the game "Telephone."
Also, the Bible has been translated from translations of translations over the years, so changes were made there.
I figure that the true meaning of the Bible is what's important, and that the essence is still there, so the details are not as important.

Answer 6

The others gods of the Semitic pantheon. extraordinarily Asherah. The oldest parts of Genesis were written earlier Hebrew monotheism develop into thoroughly consolidated. human beings nevertheless worshiped the different gods. The crackdown on worshiping each person yet El comes about contained in the approach Genesis.

Answer 7

So, the first thing to remember is the early books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch, or "First Five" books) are written accounts of oral stories passed down from generation to generation for several hundred years. Most biblical scholars believe that the author(s) were somewhat sympathetic to polytheism (belief in multiple Gods) and was not edited out centuries later when the texts were canonized because it wasn't inconsistent with the Trinity.

Answer 8

There are three who bear witness in Heaven; The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. These three agree as one and ARE one. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jesus).

In light of your question, the word "trinity" is never found in the Holy Bible. The concept of this "tri-unity" is, however. It's a hard concept to explain with the intellectual mind but very easy to understand and believe with a renewed heart.

Answer 9

God and His firstborn of creation (before his Role as Jesus)

true, there is no mention of trinity in the bible and ideology made its first appearance on the world scene some 200 years after christ

Answer 10

The bible was written to the ones that will serve and rule in heaven with Christ. It was their guidebook. They are spiritual jews. So it starts out with the knowledge that Christ exists in heaven with his father.
His father unfolds the circumstances that lead to Christ being crucified. He first says lets us make man in our image.
It was a fact that God created Jesus. Jesus had a beginning. God did not. Then Jesus became what the bible calls a masterworker. Jesus made for his father all other things. As if Jesus were a master carpenter.
So to answer your question...Jehovah God had already created Jesus when they formed the earth and universe around the earth.