More than one God?

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man In Our Image, After our Likeness


Who is Us and Our? I was suprised reading the line.

The Father and the Holy Spirit == Plural?

I remember reading something about this before...

The start of Genesis could also be translated as " The Gods made the world in...."

Or something along those lines.

Apparently there could have been a deliberate change in the translation.

Anyone else see anything about this???

Well if you're prepared, and I do mean prepared, (take my word for this lol), and want to read a scholarly explanation for the meaning of us and Elohim, in the bible, then put on your thinking caps and head to (it's a pdf file):

www.thedivinecouncil.com...

Most likely it is a type of plural form of respect, like the Queen saying, "We are not amused." Or, all God had created before, all Life, conspired to create humanity, as all was sacred to God, and we are one of His sacred creations. We are God's manifestation in this physical plane. Oh, yes, the above mentioned site is good.

Or perhaps it is just a mistake man made when writing the bible. To error is human.

Deuteronomy 4:39
The LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.

Deuteronomy 32:39
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me.

Isaiah 44:8
Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.

Isaiah 46:9
I am God, and there is none else: I am God, and there is none like me.

God certainly is worried about his sovereignty being challenge by a lot of gods that dont exist. there are many more verses were gods asserts that he is the only god. but...

Exodus 22:28
Thou shalt not revile the gods.

"gods?" this sounds like something out of greek mythology and is not very suggestive of monotheism.

Exodus 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Jealous of what? hasn't he been trying to make it quite clear there are no other gods.

That's the best explanation I can give. There is only one supreme being: God, the Father, Creator of heaven and earth. Jesus Christ, His only son, who died on the cross for our sins, sits at His right hand in the seat of judgment. Nobody comes to the Father but through Him.

This passage from the Book of Job in the OT may shed more light on it. Then again, it may just confuse matters further.

Job 1 KJV

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

[edit on 23-4-2006 by Icarus Rising]

When i was a kid, this was represented as God and the angels.

From what I understand, really old hebrew traditions have ywh as having a female 'consort'. Ashterah, a semitic goddess, for example, had her idols up in solomon's temple, right there with 'ywh' (and right next to the bronze serpent statue that people offered incense too, btw).

The 'shekinah' aspect of god is sometimes thought to be a survival of this. Shekinah is the phyiscal aspect of the pressence of god, in hebrew mysticism. Similar, in a sense, to the theophany that jesus experiences upon being baptised by John the Baptise, which, traditionally, is said to be the Holy Ghost, represented as a dove.

Originally posted by Nygdan


From what I understand, really old hebrew traditions have ywh as having a female 'consort'. Ashterah, a semitic goddess, for example, had her idols up in solomon's temple, right there with 'ywh' (and right next to the bronze serpent statue that people offered incense too, btw).

Hi Mr. Presid... I mean Nygdan.



You're confusing sumerian/akkadian traditions with hebrew traditions. Jehovah Elohim/ Yahweh was not Enlil or Enki. Those are angelic beings, called elohim in some cases, to indicate they were sons of God or minor gods or angelic beings (all the same thing). Enlil was an angelic being. Enki was an angelic being. They were worshipped as gods at one point. This is where the confusion lies. For example, there's etymological evidence that Enlil was the phoenician Baal, which is not the hebrew Yahweh or El or Elohim.

Yes, however, in the bible, asherah has her cult idols in solomon's temple. Infact, the "ywh only" priests have to constantly fight against the inclusion of other gods in the hebrew pantheon. They, in one example, called up the preists of baal, invited them over for a chat, and then killed them all. Then they knocked down their temple and pooped on it. Apparently they were using the "Triumph the insult dog" method of religious policy.


BUT, in the same incident, they didn't do anything to the preistess of asherah, possibly because she was too popular, OR because she, as ywhs biddy, wasn't much of a threat.

I mean, god's gotta have a hottie on his arm right?

Hubba hubba. (or is Humbaba humbaba more appropriate in this context?? )

Okay, El did not have a consort anywhere but Canaan. It was a local interpretation, you understand. Not a hebrew tradition, as the canaanites and the hebrews were completely different groups. Also, consider that some words were generic for "god", such as "Baal," but which weren't "God," in the hebrew sense of the word. Their "God," would be more closely related to the more ancient sumerian "An", the supreme god of the Anunnaki. However, Semites predated sumerian civilization in that area and as a result, their "God," would predate the Sumerian "gods," who were the "Fallen" angelic beings. The word "Anunnaki" basically proves that is who the sumerian gods were - the sons of God, just as they are described in Genesis 6 and the Book of I Enoch.

[edit on 24-4-2006 by undo]

(in other words, the word "god" tends to confuse the issue, because it can mean totally different beings to people of different culture and language. These people believed their god or "El," was married or had a significant other. These people believed their god or"Baal," was married or had a significant other or many significant others. The words mean "god" but don't necessarily equate to the hebrew "God." See what I mean? If you were to ask a philistine who "god" was they'd say "Oh baal is "Zebûb" (et.al, Baal Zebub - Lord of the Flies or the Flying Lord or the Lord that Flies, etc), in otherwords, "Oh god is Zebub."

(Addendum: Also, if a hebrew was living in phoenicia and spoke their language, they would also call God "Baal," but it would be Baal Jehovah or Baal Elohim or Baal El, because the word "Baal" is generic for Lord or God. Likewise, if a hebrew was living in Canaan or was speaking or writing texts in that language or a language with similar etymological roots, God would be El, as El means god in that language. I hope that isn't too confusing.)


[edit on 24-4-2006 by undo]

as regards the bronze serpent: that was not originally related to astoreth, astarte or asherah. it was a seraphim, an angel, composed of metal. a fiery serpent is a seraphim. look up the word "Seraphim" in a Strong's Concordance, which will give you the original hebrew definition of seraphim as "a fiery serpent", which is not a snake, but a reference to a glowing angelic being of the same angelic race as "Satan", who I believe was an extra-terrestrial.. the word was mistranslated into the english language, just as it was mistranslated in Genesis. Later, the people began to worship the metal angel, the seraphim. It was a metaphor for the coming Messiah, and wasn't supposed to be worshipped itself, as it was nothing but a chunk of metal.

Here's a pdf file on the subject by a scholar of the hebrew language
www.thedivinecouncil.com...

[edit on 24-4-2006 by undo]

Originally posted by undo
as regards the bronze serpent: that was not originally related to astoreth, astarte or asherah. [/qoute]
Just to be clear, I wasn't saying it was. The bronze serpent in The Temple was originally, according ot the story, an item that moses used. It was stored in the temple, as a relic from his times. After a long time, people started offereing incense to it, as if it were a god, but I don't think that anyone ever said it was a god.

But asherah was something different, her cult idol was placed into The Temple itself, seperate from this 'brazen serpent' statue.


Intersting info on the 'fiery serpent' name.

What was this idol that was worshipped in Solomon's Temple?

Well it states about Adam and Eve if they eat from the tree of knowledge they become like a god or a god. Is this a bad thing I don't know.

However God needs some company I would imagine!

I imagine in heaven or hell you don't see God but maybe rest in the godhead however I think the select few may have some sort of deeper connection in the afterlife which don't reside in heaven nor hell. If that makes any sense.

Originally posted by jefferson101
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man In Our Image, After our Likeness


Who is Us and Our? I was suprised reading the line.

I think the tree of knowledge was just the half of it.

Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden once they had eaten of the tree of knowledge of evil, lest they eat from the tree of life, which stood in the very center of the garden, and become like gods themselves.


[edit on 6-5-2006 by Icarus Rising]

Sure there's more than 1 god.

Take a survey round the world and see how many gods/goddesses you see. As for the Genesis account, this is just another of the many contradictions in the bible. And yes, I know these contradictions are fake contradictions...:shk:

Angels can be referred to as lords. However, they are not on the same level. There are several types of Angels:

archangels, powers, dominions, thrones, lords, authorities, serving angels

They all have generally defined functions. When God is using the term 'us' and 'we', I believe he is referring to Angels. Angels are not a race onto themselves nor do we turn into Angels when we go to Heaven. Angels should never be worshiped or treated as the God.

There are also Cherubim and Seraphim. These are often thought of as Cherub's. Although they are not the plump little guys that people would think of. They are very powerful and are often sent as guards.

Although Angels are spirits, when they do appear to people, it is most often in human form.

When the Lord says: "Let no god come before Me", He is referring to anything that you put before Him in life such as money or material possessions. If you pay more attention to your car than the Lord, well then, that is your god.

These are my beliefs as a Christian from the Bible. I thought many would be interested in this info and that's why I expanded on the subject a bit.