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Why does God use the pronoun us in Genesis 1:26?

In Genesis 1:26 God said let us make man in our image after our likeness. Who is the us and the our image and the our likeness referring to?

Genesis 1 : 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Diotrephes · 70-79, M
@James25 In the Bible and in other Jewish literature such as the Jewish Babylonian Talmud, only Jews are considered humans and men. Gentiles are called animals, beasts, swine, snakes, dogs, etc.

The Israelites, Hebrews, Jews were almost always under the control of one of the dominant empires - Egyptian, Assyrian, Hittite, Babylonian, Roman, etc. All of the emperors and pharaohs considered themselves to be gods. So, maybe a Babylonian emperor just wanted them to be his stooges?

It can be a major error to think that the fairytale is about a celestial deity instead of just a series of ancient lunatics who thought that they were really "gods" instead of just crazy homicidal maniacs.
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@SpiritualMan And your evidence is?
Diotrephes · 70-79, M
@SpiritualMan yep =
TurtlePink · 22-25, F
Because it stands for The US
@LadyGrace in response to your, no, just no, my answer is yes, just yes. How the bible reads in Hebrew. It may go against your TRADITION, that means you were taught wrong.
@SpiritualMan Your book is supposed to match up with God's Word, not the other way around. You don't have the authority to change that. I wasn't taught wrong. God taught me from His Word.
@LadyGrace I do match up with God's Word. Just because I speculate on what some verses means doesn't mean I am wrong. We ARE allowed to speculate on some things that are not clear, I am not being dogmatic about it. Being this way does not make me a false teacher. "Supposed to match up with God's Word". Basic doctrine is easy because it is clear, but in every little detail that the bible isn't clear on? HOW can one do that overnight? I don't think so? If you think so then it is pride.
Because he was speaking of the Holy Trinity. God the Father, God the son, jesus, and God the Holy Spirit and they were conferring one with the other, in the plan of creation. That's why it said let US make man in [b]our[/b] image.
2 reasons: 1 I believe in the Trinity, so that is an US. Second, the word in Genesis 1:26 is Elohim instead of Yahweh. Yahweh means God and God ONLY, but Elohim is another Hebrew word that can mean angels, fallen angels, demons, human spirits, and any other resident of the spiritual realm, it includes God but it doesn't mean God only. So the US could mean the Trinity and also the other spiritual beings in heaven that God patterned mankind after. Elohim can mean God or "gods" small g.

Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.

1
God presides in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the “gods”:

2
“How long will you[a] defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?[b]
3
Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

5
“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6
“I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’
7
But you will die like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler.”

8
Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.

The "gods" were sons of God, the principalities and powers that were supposed to shepherd the nations back to God after the Tower of Babel, but they didn't do what they were supposed to. They wanted worship for themselves. They are the reasons nation became pagan after the Tower of Babel. But then God curses them and says they will fall and even "die like men".

The members of the Divine Council are the powers and principalities that remained faithful to God. These parts of the bible may seem strange to some, but they are important, that they are truth.
@SpiritualMan [quote]So the US could mean the Trinity and also the other spiritual beings in heaven that God patterned mankind after.[/quote]

I will have to differ with you on that. I don't see how it could have meant anything other than the Godhead that makes up the Trinity. As I feel Genesis makes it pretty clear that it was the Trinity who was conferring amongst themselves about creation, when they said "us". I don't think we can read into that because no other spiritual beings in heaven were mentioned in that conversation. The emphasis being, that God let us know it was He that was doing the conferring, and he alone....

Genesis 1 : 26 And [b][c=BF0000]God said[/c][/b], Let us make man in [b]our image, after our likeness[/b]: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

NOT after the likeness of any other creatures in heaven or outer space. Further, he would not have been talking to the angels or any other creatures, not even principalities, because they do not have the power to create like God did. God wanted us to know that it was he and he alone, that created everything. No one else gets credit for that and no one else deserves it.

Diotrephes · 70-79, M
@SpiritualMan 1 Samuel chapter 15 depicts Samuel and the emperor as two parts of the trinity. Maybe the emperor's daddy was the holy ghost. Samuel and the emperor (God) were joined at the hip and one couldn't do anything without the other. And we know that the God character was just a man because he regretted his actions. Why would a creature that created everything ever regret anything that he did? Only people have regrets.
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Heavenlywarrior · 36-40, M
Anunaki or the sons of God. They collectively made the world we live in. They are personas of The Most High. Ancient Nature Spirits that still exist and are worshipped
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@LadyGrace I am not a false teacher, you are just misinterpreting what I am saying. What I am saying goes hand and hand with ancient Hebrew and how the Hebrew bible reads, which is the foundation for the New Testament and Christianity. That is just how it is.

NO WAY NO WAY NO WAY NOW WAY I am like a Jehovah's WItness, NO WAY. I believe that the Father is GOD, Jesus is GOD, the Holy Spirit is God. All three are GOD, Yahweh in Hebrew. Other spiritual beings are Elohim which can sometimes be translated as gods lower g. That is just how the Hebrew language works, take it or leave it. If you are offended, I am NOT sorry at all whatsoever.
@LadyGrace Just because I believe you can call the angels Elohim, but never ever ever Yahweh, THAT would be blasphemy, does NOT mean I deny the Trinity. It isn't either or, it is both and. THAT is the correct answer per the Hebrew bible.
NewBecky · 51-55, F
1 God in 3 persons, unlike anything in His creation, except He made us in His image and likeness. Body, Soul, and Spirit. Wonderful observation!
DeluxedEdition · 26-30, F
@NewBecky You know the app you download on your phone? I have that and it just says "holy bible" but i don't think its king james version because a lot of the words are more updated
James25 · 61-69, M
@NewBecky yes we are of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit

It means that we are born the son to become the father and to die as the spirit
James25 · 61-69, M
@DeluxedEdition that is what I was thinking. Whether that particular verse is written differently.
Carazaa · F
God was referring to The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! Jesus is Elohim is Hebrew and was mentioned in the first sentenced in the Bible.
Axeroberts · 56-60, M
Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness];
57phoseman · 61-69, M
John 1:1-3 states that Christ was with God in the beginning, that He made all that was made. "Us" refers to Jehovah, or Christ, and Michael, or Adam,
@LadyGrace Debating over whether the angels were involved in creation with God or just God by himself is not a false gospel at all, it is just a debate that in my mind is more academic.
@SpiritualMan I appreciate your thoughts on this but it does make a difference. It makes a big difference because we don't want to get what the gospel says, wrong. The Bible says if we teach something different then it is false teaching.
@LadyGrace Except that if the bible isn't clear we ARE ALLOWED to speculate and discuss different positions on unclear things, or do you have a perfect interpretation of EVERY LITTLE thing in the bible?
The Skeptics Annotated Bible site goes into detail on this.

http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/gods.html
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The other gods that were part of the Canaanite Pantheon at the time before Yahweh's narcissism got the better of him and they had a falling out. Particularly Baal and Yahweh's own wife Asherah.
Subsumedpat · 36-40, M
That is not what it says in the first place, you are reading a translation of the Hebrew, I don't know what it said but I do know it was not in English and translations are often tricky.
@Subsumedpat In Hebrew Elohim means God or gods, but Yahweh means God ONLY. ONLY Yahweh is to be worshiped, or Elohim if you are using that name to refer to Yahweh. Lesser Elohim are NOT to be worshiped.
fakable · T
it seems that this translation of the bible was made from the arabic language.

in order to exalt the speaker of that language, this method of speech is considered normal.
Good question, James. The fact of the matter is, Judaism was not always monotheistic in nature. In nature. The original Hebrew tribe actually broke away from the Canaanites, who worshiped numerous gods, including El, the supreme god, and Yahweh, a lesser ranking battle god. When the Hebrews made a clean break from the Canaanites, they merged the concept of El with the concept of Yahweh, creating a new god who was jealous of the other gods, and commanded the Hebrews to kill everyone who stood in their way.
Carazaa · F
@LordShadowfire He taught them in the 10 commandments to NOT KILL! But he also helped them in war! God conquered their enemies. Jesus helped them from the beginning.
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