HEBREW WITNESS: CAN THREE BE ONE ?

By The Late Rev. Sam Stern

But how can three names be one? Are they one because we call them one? How three can be one is only to be known through the revelation of the Holy Spirit [Ruach Hakodesh] and in fact with closed eyes. [According to custom, the Jewish people recite the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) with eyes closed]. 

This comment on the "three in one" is from the Amsterdam Edition of the Zohar. It is only one of the many references dealing with the "mystery of three" (roozah deshloshah) that this Jewish mystical book contains. Most Jewish people, however, would express shock upon hearing that the doctrine of a triune God, which they associate with Christianity and consider to be idolatrous, had been accepted by some Jewish sages. This tenet is contrary to what the rabbis have taught their followers—that God is an absolute one, like the integer one.

Although the Zohar is part of recognized Jewish sacred writings, Judaic authorities teach that a student must be completely versed in the Talmud and other rabbinical writings before he is able to venture into the mysteries of the Zohar, which is part of a larger work called Cabala. They believe that a student who is not prepared could actually lose his mind if he should attempt such a study.

In fact, their conviction that the Zohar is almost impossible to understand proved to be so strong that in 1991 they issued a decree that no one should be allowed to study this mystical book. The Zohar remains on the bookshelves, however, for a few older scholars to consult now and then.

Use of Echod in Deuteronomy

The correct understanding of "one God" arises from the meaning of the Hebrew word echod that appears in Deuteronomy 6:4:

• Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.

This prayer reads in the Hebrew:

• Shema, Israel, Jehovah Elohaynu, Jehovah echod.

The word Jehovah is written, but the rabbis consider it too holy to pronounce. When the Shema is read, therefore, another word for Lord, Adonai, replaces it. Thus Deuteronomy 6:4 is pronounced as follows:

• Shema, Israel, Adonai Elohaynu, Adonai echod.

The word echod means a compound unity, as when a father, mother and child comprise one family. An important Biblical example of this usage describes the unity of Adam and Eve when they became one flesh while still retaining their separate identities:

• Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh [basar echod] [Genesis 2:24].

Yet, the Jewish understanding of "one God" evolves not from the Scriptures, but from Maimonides’ Thirteen Articles of Faith. When he formulated these principles, he replaced the word echod, which appears in the Bible and means a unity of more than one element, with another word, yachid, that means an absolute "one." Maimonides influenced the Jewish people so greatly that they accepted his teaching as the Word of God and his representation of "one God" as yachid.

The Mystery of the Voice

The following quote from the Jerusalem Edition of the Zohar on Deuteronomy 6:4 deals further with the question of whether three can be one. It mentions the unity of the godhead. It also answers the question of the "mystery of three"-- that all three are one, a doctrine proven by the mystery of the voice. In other words, God is not referred to simply as yachid.

• Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one Lord. In these words we hear first the singular Jehovah, then Elohaynu, meaning our plural, God plural, and then again the singular Jehovah, concluding with echod, one.

Although only the two names of God, Jehovah and Elohaynu, are used, when the name Jehovah is repeated, the unity becomes three, because the two names and one repetition are read as three. This explains what the writer meant by the mystery of the voice..

• These three entities are one God. The prescribed confession of the unity in the godhead has for its object that "thou shalt know and comprehend it." We have said in many places that this form of prayer speaks of the unity of God…

This passage in the Zohar continues, adding three more elements:

• How can three names be one? But through the revelation of the Holy Spirit and with closed eyes, we know that the three are one. This is the mystery of the voice. The voice is heard only as a sound, yet it consists of three things: fire, wind and water, but all three are one as proven by the mystery of the voice.

The Zohar also presents a fuller treatment of the doctrine of "three in one," which is based on the names of God in Deuteronomy 6:4 and focused on the way the verse is read. The following passage presents the concept that God is infinite but that He has revealed Himself in three. This advances the idea that we cannot put God into finite numbers, which would limit Him. Instead, we accept the fact that He chose to reveal Himself in three equal, true persons, each capable of acting as the others, all being equally God:

• But one unity, three beings which are one. This is indicated by the voice in reading Hear O Israel, thereby comprehending with the understanding, the most perfect unity—who is infinite because all three—Jehovah, Elohim, Jehovah—are read with one voice which indicates three.

  
  

  And this is the daily faith of the unity which is revealed by the mystery of God. Although there are many persons united in the unity, yet each person is a true one. What the one does, that does the other.

Daily faith of the unity mentioned in the above reference means compliance with God’s commandment in Deuteronomy 6:7, 8 and 9. The Shema [Deuteronomy 6:4] is one of the three Scriptures that is written in the mezuzah, a covered piece of parchment which the observant Jew affixes to his doorpost (verse 9). The Bible instructs the Jewish people to recite the Shema when they sit in the house, walk by the way and arise in the morning (verse 7).

Three in One From the Very Beginning

In the very first verse of the Bible, God refers to Himself using a plural noun, giving evidence through grammar that He chose to reveal Himself in three personalities:

• Bereshit bara Elohim [In the beginning God created] – Bereshit 1:1 (Genesis 1:1).

The word Elohim is the plural of the word El because it is formed by the use of im at the end of the word.

The Jerusalem Edition of the Zohar, in its comment on Genesis 1:1, explains why the authors believe that God is triune. They point out especially that the name of God, Elohim, is made up of the two Hebrew words El and Haym. El means God and Haym means they; therefore, they conclude that God is a plural being. The Zohar passage is as follows:

• Jehovah, Elohaynu, Jehovah. There are three steps to accept the mystery from above. In the beginning God created. In the beginning is the first mystery from where all else spreads…The name takes three forms and from there the name is interpreted in several ways…Rabbi Bechai explained: Elohim is El Haym. These are gods. Remember your creators (Ecclesiastes 12:1). The wise will understand.

The above passage translates the words "Remember now thy Creator" as a plural—"remember your creators." This translation is based on the word used in the Bible, boraicha, "your creators." Boraicha contains the letter yod, as well as the aah sound (kometz), at the end of the word, which makes it plural. The singular form is boraich, which does not contain the yod or the kometz.

Further in the passage, the Zohar shows Eliezer and his father entering into a dialogue regarding the threefold nature of God. They conclude that He is revealed with three heads that are united in one. The passage also cites Daniel 7:13 as proof. Daniel 7:13 mentions one like the Son of man coming from heaven with clouds as one person of the godhead, and the Ancient of Days as another person of the godhead. Both of these are one. Here the Zohar makes reference to "three" several times:

• Eliezer’s father said to him, Come and see the mystery of the word Jehovah. There are three steps, each existing by itself; yet they are one and so united that one cannot be separated from another…The ancient Holy One is revealed with three heads, which are united in one. That head is three times exalted.

  
  

  The three lights which come out from Him are included in the three, yet the ancient one is described as being two [Daniel 7:13]. The ancient one includes these two. He is the crown of all that is exalted, the chief of the chief [head of all heads]. He is so high that he cannot be known to perfection. The other lights are two complete one, yet He is described as complete one. He is one. They are united and glorified in one.

Furthermore, in relation to Genesis 1:1, the Amsterdam Edition of the Zohar deals with some of the points mentioned above in the Jerusalem Edition. Further, It presents the attributes of God as both righteous and benevolent:

• Elohim is composed of two words, El and Haym. These are God. That Elohim is plural, though there is only one God, is truth. Eliezer sat before his father. We have learned that to him is justice. How is it that wherever we meet Adonai Elohim [yod, hay, vav, hay, the letters of Jehovah’s name], it means mercy?

  
  

  He answered, It is written, know therefore this day and consider in thine heart that Jehovah is Elohim. Sometimes justice can coexist with mercy and mercy with justice. Come and see the mystery of the word Jehovah. There are three steps, each existing by itself, nevertheless, they are one and so united that one cannot be separated from the other.

Continuing this passage the Zohar presents a new interpretation, which considers the meaning of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet:

• The 22 letters comprehend three steps—the letter chaph signifies the crown, the letter bet signifies binah, understanding…

  
  

  He is the highest and hidden light, which cannot be known. The ancient Holy One is revealed in three heads that are united in one, and that head is three times exalted. The ancient Holy One is described as being three [Daniel 7:13]…

Rabbi Eliezer Hakkalir, commenting in the Sefer Yetsira, teaches with even greater clarity about three distinct beings in the godhead:

• When God created the world He created it through the three sephiroth [countings]—sepher, sapher and sipper—by which three beings are meant. The rabbi, my lord and my teacher of blessed memory, explained that sepher, sapher and sipper are synonymous with Jah, Jehovah and Elohim, meaning to say that the world was created by these three names.

This great corroboration in the Jewish mystical books of the teaching that God is "three in one" shows that the ancient sages believed in the triune unity of the godhead who created the world. Moreover, the Creator is conceived of as the Name. When a Jewish person wants to say God, he sometimes says Ha Shem, which means The Name. In the same way, the Zohar also uses the names sepher, sapher and sipper to denote the godhead.

Not many can study the Zohar or understand its profound doctrines. Hence, in order that monotheism should make sense for the uninitiated, teachings for them preserve the idea of absolute and indivisible unity.

Man’s Creation – Genesis 1:26

In Genesis 1:26, which deals with man’s creation, God refers to Himself in the plural form:

• 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…

In this verse the word used for "our image" is betsalmaynu, and the word used for "our likeness" is kidmahtaynu. In both instances the ending nu is the plural pronoun meaning "our." Some of the ancient rabbis tried to explain this usage of the plural "our" instead of the singular "my" by suggesting that God actually spoke in the singular in this verse, but that Moses changed it and wrote it down as plural. Other commentators, Eben Ezra for one, admits, however, that this explanation does not make sense:

• Let us make man [naase]. In our image, Moses said it. But this interpretation is not right…But Let us make man is plural because, when asking, it is customary to speak in the plural.

In other words, some rabbis agree that the pronouns used in Genesis l:26, the written Word of God, are plural, but they do not interpret this verse literally because it does not fit in with their concept of God as yachid. Instead the commentators imply that "we" is used for the sake of humility.

Others who deal with the question say that God spoke to the angels. Rashi, for example, taking into account God’s humility, makes his case that God consulted the angels when He created Adam and Eve. Further, he cautions that Christians would claim that God is echod and not yachid according to the grammar used in Genesis 1:26:

• Let us make man in our image. God is humble, and because man looks like an angel, the angels will be jealous; therefore he asked the angels. When he judges, he asks his family [pamalia], as we find regarding God’s judgment of Ahab in 1 Kings 22:19:

  
  

  Micaiah the prophet said, Hear ye the word of the Lord. I saw God sitting on his throne and all the heavenly host stand on his right side and on his left side. Is there a right side or a left side to God? But the right side are the good angels and the left side are the bad angels.

  
  

  Also, in Daniel 4:17: The matter is by the decree of the watchers and the demand by the word of the holy ones…God asks the angels before He gives a decree and he [Daniel] calls it a question. Let us make man even though they did not help God in the creation. The minim [Christians or unbelievers] can say that some one helped, yet the Scripture speaks in the plural.

Another Bible commentator, the Radak (Kimchi), gives his opinion that Moses understood that the plural was used. Kimchi also mentions the minim in his comment on Genesis 1:26:

• Said Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman in the name of Rabbi Jonathan, When Moses wrote the Torah and came to this portion, Let us make man, he said to God: Creator of the world, why do you give an open mouth to the minim? God said to him, Those who want to blunder, let them blunder.

Another interpretation of who helped God in the creation is presented by Kley Yakor, who, in the following reference, advances the possibility that God spoke to the earth when He created man:

• Let us make man…The Ramban [Rabbi Moishe ben Nachman] said in the name of Rabbi Kimchi, God spoke to the earth, Let us make, I and you, because the earth gives the material for the body and God gives the spirit. In our image…man is like both, the body is earth, the soul is from above, a spirit.

Perhaps this idea arises from the fact that the Bible says God created man from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). Since the earth is inanimate, however, this interpretation is not sound and has no value. The earth would never have a voice in the creation. God used the earth, but more importantly, He made the first man Adam a living soul (nefesh haya).

The Zohar, which places great emphasis on numbers and on the roozah deshloshah [mystery of three] especially when dealing with Genesis 1:1, refers to the number three again in its following comment on Genesis 1:26. It introduces the three separate aspects of God as 1) the king of wisdom in the heavens above, 2) the middle pillar who is king upon earth and 3) the shekinah (divine presence).

The writer of the following passage in the Zohar also credits God’s will and His word for the creation and His plural name, Elohim, with immediately creating something out of nothing [bara]:

• Let us make man in our image. God speaks in the plural. To whom does He speak? Three times the word "us" is repeated in one verse. He began and said: A king has many buildings and he has a master builder, but he was not permitted to do anything without the king’s permission as it is said: Then I was by him a master builder [Proverbs 8:30].

  
  

  The king surely is the wisdom in the heavens above, and the middle pillar is the king upon the earth. Elohim is the master builder above. He is also the master builder below and the shekinah upon the earth. The building could only come through the will of God.

  
  

  Said Rabbi Abba: God said, Let this be and let that be, and immediately it was, as it is written, And God said, Let there be light: and there was light [Genesis 1:3].

In addition, the Jerusalem Edition of the Zohar refers to the master and his builder cited above:

• …The master said to the builder, Let us make man. Said his disciples, Blessed is our lot to hear these words which we did not hear before…Said the master to the builder, It is good to make man.

The implication here is that one person of the godhead, the master builder, spoke to another person of the godhead, the Lord of the buildings, at the creation.

Genesis and Isaiah

Another verse at the beginning of the Torah that confirms the composite unity of God says:

• And the LORD said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: [Genesis 3:22].

Here the phrase "as one of us" cannot apply to angels or other created beings, but only to God because the angels that God created do not have the knowledge of good and evil. Their ministry is to lead, comfort, protect and help in other ways God’s other created being, man.

One of the strongest depictions of God as one who is more than a single person appears in a later chapter of Genesis:

• And the LORD appeared unto him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself toward the ground. And said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: (Genesis 18:1-3, emphasis added).

In this passage Abraham used the word Adonee for "My lord," which means Lord in the singular. In other words, Abraham addressed the three men as one man because the three who appeared before him was one God.

In addition to these citations from Genesis, the Biblical commentator Eben Ezra also noted that Isaiah mentioned God in the plural in the following verse:

• Thy makers are thine husbands [Isaiah 54:5].

Although Eben Ezra could not explain this plural usage in the Hebrew, he referred to it in his comment:

• "Thy husbands" is plural, also " thy makers" is plural, as the word Elohim is plural and "your Lords"…

The doctrine of a triune God is as old as the Bible, and it is a Jewish teaching. God designated the Bible, and nothing but the Bible, to be the rule of our faith. Yet the children of Israel, through their own interpretations, invented a variety of traditions that they exalt above God and His Holy Word. Consequently, most of the Jewish people have lost the knowledge of God that He revealed to them in his written word.

 By the second century C.E. even those few exceptions who had clung to the Word of God and had not accepted the Talmudic teachings died out. Between the third and seventh or eighth centuries C.E. the rabbis extracted the teachings of their ancient masters. Instead of citing the complete Biblical texts, they contributed their own ideas. In the following verse Jeremiah correctly deals with this type of situation in his day. His words at that time, more than two thousand years ago, also serve as a prophecy for the future:

• For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water [Jeremiah 2:13].

The Israelites departed from the Word of God. They continue to do so in this present day. The Book of Psalms offers a remedy for this situation in which the Jewish people find themselves:

• Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day [Psalm 25:5].

Thus, by analyzing the original languages of the Bible, the Zohar and the comments of other Jewish sources, we find simple and clear proof that some words used for God are in the plural, and that God is indeed a triune God, the mystery of three.

All Scriptures are KJV