Does Deuteronomy 6:4 disprove the doctrine of Trinity?

Question

This verse is the Hebrew Shema: " Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God. The LORD is one!"

Jehovah's Witnesses say that becaue God is "one," He cannot possibly be triune. " The Shema excudes the Trinity of the Christian creed as a violation of the unity of God" (Mankind's Search for God,1990,219)

Is this correct understanding of this text?

Answer 1

No it does not disprove the trinity. The fact is there is only one God . God being able to do anything chose to manifest or show himself in 3 different ways. First as the Father, then as the Son , and third as the Holy Ghost... Three in one. The JW denial that Jesus was God is wrong . This false treaching must ignore a multitude of scriptures....

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

John 14:10-11 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

God bless you, Cap'n Arlo

Answer 2

Hebrew Transliteration:

Deuteronomy 6:4 "Shema, Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad."

Literally, the verse reads "Hear Israel Hashem Our God Hashem One."

The word "echad" in Hebrew means "one." There are instances, as some Trintrians are quick to point at, where the word "echad" denotes a compound unity. They point to passages in Genesis, for instance:

Genesis 1:5 God called to the light: "Day," and to the darkness He called: "Night." And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Trinitarians point to other instances where "echad" is used to denote a compound unity, and as such, they declare that every time "echad" is used, that it denotes a compound unity, and therefore, The Lord must be a compound unity, proving that the Trinity is in the Torah! Correct?

No, this is totally incorrect.

The word "echad" in Hebrew actually works in the same way the word "one" does in English. It can mean either a single unity or a compound unity. These Trinitarians are very quick to point to Genesis 1:5, but you’ll never see them point at verses like:

Exodus 9:7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go. (KJV)

OR

2 Samuel 13:30 And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that tidings came to David, saying, Absalom hath slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of them left. (KJV)

The word for "one" used here is "echad." "Not one of the cattle" Was each cow a compound unity? Were the king’s sons more than one person each? Of course, not. Just as "one" in English can work both ways, so can the word "echad."

In trying to prove a plurality, all that a Trinitarian does is create the possibility of a 2-part, or even a 2-thousand part God.

The fact remains:

Nowhere in the Torah will you find that God is comprised of a Trinity. It's a product of Greek mysticism and fused with Judaism and Egyptian mysticism in Alexandria. It should be no surprise that Athanasius of Alexandria would be the force behind the Trinity.

Answer 3

I would argue that it is an absolute assertion of Judaism's view, namely that G-d is One and indivisible. Thus, that makes any statement to the contrary irrelevant.

For the record, some people made some basic mistakes.

- Elohim when referring to G-d is NOT plural and does not imply a plurality to G-d. Moses is called an "Elohim" to Pharoah yet the last time I checked he was a single person.

- The hebrew word "echad" functions the same way it does in English. It can refer to a compound unity (e.g. This table and 4 chairs are ONE dinnette set) or an absolute statement of quantity (e.g. There is one car in the driveway... which means there is NOT two, zero, or any other number).
Thus, the only way you know which one it is is from context. It is a compound unity when it LISTS the parts of the UNITY. But if it doesn't, it is a statement of fact.

In the Shema, it does not list the "parts" of G-d that comprise a unity. It states that G-d is One. Thus, the implication is clear. G-d is One and Only.

Answer 4

There is no doctrine of Trinity in the Old Testament whatsoever. There are hints especially in the first verse, Genesis 1:1 where the word "God" is in the plural form of the original Hebrew word. Thats why the Jews in general never accept the New Testament as Yahwe"s divine inspired books. The doctrine of Trinity is the only unique doctrine of the Christian second to the major doctrine of Verbal and plenary inspiration (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Christ attested this fact when He prayed in John 17:5 & 24 that there was already a divine conference in the throne of God before there was any creation. The doctrine of the unitarianism of only one God makes God in-active and cannot communicate before there was ever any creation He created.

Answer 5

If there is ever any number associated with a straightforward description of God, what is it?

"Jehovah God is our God, Jehovah is ONE." - Deut. 6:4, ASV f.n. (This is a literal translation of both Hebrew OT manuscripts and ancient Greek Septuagint OT manuscripts.)

This scripture is part of the very keystone of the religion of Israel. It was understood from the beginning down until today to mean that God is ONE person only: the FATHER, Jehovah. Judaism has never had a different belief.

Even Jesus quoted Deut. 6:4 at Mark 12:28-29 when asked which is the most important commandment of all. " ‘The most important one,’ Jesus answered, ‘is this: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is ONE." ’" - NIV, 1984.

Jesus also declared at John 17:1, 3: "FATHER, .... This is eternal life: to know thee who ALONE [the only ONE] art truly God...." - NEB, 1971. The Father in this trinitarian translation is the only ONE who is God.

Paul says at 1 Cor. 8:6, "yet for us there is but ONE God, the FATHER...." - NIV.

Note how some TRINITARIAN translators render another scripture, Gal. 3:20. The Roman Catholic New American Bible (1970) renders Gal. 3:20 as:

"Now there can be no mediator when only one PERSON is involved; and God is ONE [heis - masculine singular]."

And the highly trinitarian Good News Bible (GNB) renders it:

"a go-between is not needed when only one PERSON is involved; and God is ONE." - also TEV.

Even the extremely trinitarian The Amplified Bible, which often goes to incredible lengths in its attempt to produce trinitarian "proof" scriptures, renders Gal. 3:20 as:

"there can be no mediator with just one PERSON. Yet God is [only] ONE PERSON."

So what number (exclusively) is associated with God in straightforward statements of his identity and person? "ONE"!

But if there were really a 2 or 3-person God, what word, above all others, would we expect to find in the inspired Scriptures describing (or at least commonly and clearly used in connection with) God? But is the number "two" or "three" ever used in Scripture to identify or describe God? EVER? No.

This simply could not be IF that knowledge of God, the trinity, were true! -RDB


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Answer 6

That is one way to interpret it...but there are others. The way I see it (and yes, I believe in a triune God), this verse affirms that there is but one God AND it suggests a much more complex meaning than the one we typically ascribe to the word "one".

The original Hebrew word used In Deut. 6:4 was "echad" (I don't have the ability to type the original Hebrew characters but this is the transliteration). This word "echad" is the same word used in Genesis 2:4 when God said that a man and a woman would "become one flesh". Even at the height of sexual intimacy, a man and a woman are still separated by their skin, but God said they would become "one" (echad)...this isn't consistent with a view of Deut. 6:4 disproving the trinity. We know that a man and a woman retain their separate identities and bodies even in marriage so either God was lying or he was talking about some other kind of unity of the flesh.

From that perspective, Deut. 6:4 becomes support for the doctrine of Trinity...God is one and if he can cause two people to become "one" flesh, he is perfectly capable of existing as "one" in separate forms. God the father whom few have seen, God the son who put on human skin and walked among us, and God the spirit who lives in our hearts if we invite him in.

Answer 7

The Jehovah’s Witnesses give much more than that for evidence against the Trinity. A logical person might list other evidence such as:
•Passages where the NT writers quote Old Testament Scriptures that contain the divine name. There are seventy-eight passages where this occurs.[16]
•New Testament scriptures that suggest, according to Jehovah's Witnesses, that the name would be there if 1st century manuscripts were discovered, most notably Jesus' words as recorded at John 17:6, "I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world..."[17]
•A first century B.C. Septuagint copy of the Book of Deuteronomy contains the Tetragrammaton in paleo-Hebraic script within the Greek text.[18] The Name was indeed known by some Greek speaking Jews of the time, albeit not readable to the average Greek reader.[citation needed]
•The Watchtower cites 28 Hebrew translations (ranging from 1533 A.D. to present) of the New Testament that contain the Divine name, commonly known as the "J texts". Because the practice of using the tetragrammaton (YHWH) in the New Testament was particularly common in translations of the NT into Hebrew, these texts are cited to show where other translators also believed the tetragrammaton should belong in the New Testament.[19]
•Four instances in the book of Revelation contain a transliterated Hebrew word: "Hallelujah!" (Literally: "Praise Jah!") (Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6). "Hallelujah" does not contain the full tetragrammaton (YHWH), although "Jah" (YH) is the abbreviated form of "Jehovah".[20]
Jesus also prayed to his father, said the father and him were not equal, and said his father gave him authority, etcetera. This would be strange if he himself was God.
As for I and the father being one – man and woman can also be one.

But everyone has their own ideas - to each his own.

Answer 8

It's so simple, Jesus gave an example of the model prayer. In it he says to direct our prayers to "Our Father," one person. This of course agrees with Deu 6:4.

I ran across a verse recently, John 20:21-22 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." RSV

This last verse does not indicate that the Holy Spirit is a person. Why people persist with their handful of verses supposedly supporting the trinity when most of the bible does otherwise is the "real mystery of the trinity."

Answer 9

The 'trinity' claims three individuals, all equal in power.
Jesus denies this. Many times. Once should be enough.

(John 5:19) Therefore, in answer, Jesus went on to say to them: “Most truly I say to YOU, The Son cannot do a single thing of his own initiative, but only what he beholds the Father doing. For whatever things that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner.

A clear separation.

As to the third part...the Holy Spirit.
It has no name, and it can be given, granted, prayed for.
It is simply a power. God's power he uses to get things done.
Is our strength a personality?
We use it to do things.
Is electricity a personality?
We use it to get things done.
And in no way is 'it' equal to God.

Answer 10

Jesus said if you have seen me you have seen the Father. The word Christian means little Christs, for those that are saved that is what we are, Christians are also called sons of God, doesn't jewish tradition say that the first born son it the strength of his father, A good couple of verses to understand the trinity is the 15th Chapter of John, The Husbudman, the vine, and the branches, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And notice Jesus says I AM, I AM was there when the foundation was laid, Jesus took on the form of a servant to be a perfect sacrfice for us all, a perfect Lamb and died for our sins, The Bible clearly teaches that without a personal relationship with Him you are headed for a lake of fire. If you believe in anything, do you believe in Hell. Jesus washed away your sins on the cross, listen to your heart, the old devil will put lies in your mind, he was a liar from the begining the Bible says. don't listen to him, Jesus will save you today if you will take that next step, all you have to do is confess your sins and ask him to come into your heart and save you, do it with a broken and contrite heart and he will save you, pray this pray believing ,Dear Jesus, I know and confess that I am sinner in need of salvation. I believe you died on a cross at calvery and arose from the grave to wash away my sins, I ask you right now to come into my heart and save me, I pray this Prayer believing in the name of Jesus Amen. If you prayed this prayer with a sincere heart you are now a child of God, rejoice that your name is written in the Lambs book of Life. Jesus will now send his Holy Spirit to come and live in your heart and guide you into all truth. If you have any questions just send me an email, God Bless YOU!!