Old Testament Plurals and the One God
Bernard’s answers to Elohim, Genesis 1:26, echad, the Angel of the LORD, prophetic Son texts, Wisdom, the Word, and other Old Testament plurality arguments.
Overview
David K. Bernard reads disputed Old Testament passages under the weight of the Bible’s explicit monotheistic confessions: Yahweh is one, no God exists beside him, and he creates by himself. His question is whether plural forms, heavenly scenes, theophanies, or prophetic dialogue overturn that clear pattern.
His answer is no. Elohim can function as a singular designation; plural self-address can involve the heavenly court or deliberation; theophanies are temporary manifestations; angels can bear and speak God’s message; and Son texts are prophetic. These are interpretive arguments, not uncontested linguistic results, so this article marks them as Bernard’s Oneness reading.
Elohim and singular grammar
Elohim has a plural form, but when it identifies Israel’s God it normally governs singular verbs and receives singular predicates. Genesis 1:1 says Elohim creates, and the narrative repeatedly returns to “he” and singular action.
Bernard therefore rejects the claim that the noun by itself reveals multiple divine persons. It can refer to plural gods in other contexts, so syntax and referent—not morphology alone—determine number.
“Let us make”
Genesis 1:26 says, “Let us make,” while Genesis 1:27 immediately says God created humanity in his image. Bernard considers divine deliberation and address to the heavenly court. Isaiah 6:8 similarly moves from “Whom shall I send?” to “who will go for us?” in a throne-room setting.
On either explanation, God alone performs creation. Isaiah 44:24 explicitly says Yahweh stretched out the heavens by himself. Nicene readers often hear a canonical resonance with later Father–Son–Spirit revelation, but careful Trinitarian interpretation also recognizes that Genesis 1:26 is not an explicit three-person formula.
Does echad mean compound unity?
The Hebrew echad means “one.” It can modify a collective reality—one people, one cluster, one flesh—but that does not make “compound unity” part of the word’s definition in every use. Bernard argues that Deuteronomy 6:4 declares the unique identity of Yahweh and calls for exclusive allegiance; the adjective does not secretly encode multiple persons.
Theophanies and the Angel of the LORD
God appears through fire, cloud, human form, glory, dream, and angelic messenger while remaining invisible Spirit. Bernard distinguishes temporary theophanies from the permanent incarnation. A manifestation does not become another divine person.
Angel-of-the-LORD passages require case-by-case reading. Sometimes the angel speaks with divine authority or bears God’s name; elsewhere the angel speaks to Yahweh and is plainly a messenger. Biblical agency allows a commissioned representative to speak in the sender’s first person. Bernard therefore refuses to identify every angelic scene with a preincarnate Son.
Word, Wisdom, and prophetic Son texts
God’s Word is God’s own expression and action, not another person in the same way that a human word is not another human. Proverbs poetically personifies Wisdom as a woman. Bernard treats Wisdom as a divine attribute revealed fully in Christ, not a female divine person.
Psalms 2 and 110, Isaiah 7 and 9, and other messianic passages look forward to begetting, anointing, incarnation, suffering, and reign. Bernard reads the dialogues prophetically as God addressing the future man Christ. Nicene theology reads their ultimate fulfillment in the eternal Son.
Daniel 7
The Ancient of Days and one like a son of man form one of the sharpest disagreements. Bernard emphasizes the chapter’s interpretation in which the holy ones receive the kingdom and also notes Revelation’s application of Ancient-of-Days imagery to Jesus. Many Christian scholars instead read the humanlike figure as a messianic representative who becomes central to New Testament Christology. The Atlas should not present Bernard’s identification as scholarly consensus.
Key passages
Deuteronomy 6:4 · Genesis 1:1, 26–27 · Isaiah 6:8 · Isaiah 44:24 · Genesis 18 · Exodus 3:2–6 · Judges 13 · Psalm 2:7 · Psalm 110:1 · Proverbs 8 · Daniel 7:9–14
Connected Atlas concepts
One God, Shema Fulfilled · Biblical Monotheism · Angel of the LORD · Theophany · Sonship · The Word Before Bethlehem
Primary source
This article paraphrases The Oneness of God, chapters 2 and 7, especially pp. 23–41 and 146–169. It flags places where Bernard’s linguistic or historical conclusions are disputed.