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SUBJECT: God…one God…Deuteronomy 6:4
QUESTION: Please explain the meaning of “one God” as we
find it in Deuteronomy 6:4.
ANSWER:
This is a subject that goes round and round and just about
everyone asks questions or wonders about what is being said.
If all the words involved were singular, there would be one
conclusion but the words are not all singular. One
important word is plural.
Take this quote from our booklet, "Is God a Mystery?"
https://www.garnertedarmstrong.org/is-god-a-mystery/
The term for God is "Elohim," which is PLURAL, meaning more
than one! Notice, " And God said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness:..." (Genesis 1:25). Obviously,
One of the Divine Persons implied in "Elohim" said to the
other member of Divine Elohim, "Let US..." Now, WHO did the
speaking, and to WHOM did He speak?
Take a look at the verse you referenced.
Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Deuteronomy 6:4
8085 Hear,
3478 O Israel:
3068 The LORD
430 our God
9999 is
259 one
3068 LORD:
(Interlinear Transliterated
Bible)
Now take words 430---our God and 3068 LORD.
OT:430-----our God
'elohiym (el-o-heem'); plural of OT:433; gods in the
ordinary sense; but specifically used (in
the plural thus, especially with the article) of
the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to
magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:
KJV - angels, X exceeding, God (gods)-
dess, -ly), X (very)
great, judges, X mighty.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive
Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew
Dictionary)
Note: Word is plural.
OT:3068-----LORD
Yehovah (yeh-ho-vaw');
from OT:1961; (the)
self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of
God:
KJV - Jehovah, the Lord.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive
Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew
Dictionary)
So the verse is saying Jehovah, the Lord is our Elohiym [family
of Gods] is Jehovah, the Lord. This is another
way of saying that the Family of God, currently two beings
is one Lord or Jehovah.
Here is Word 430 from another source:
OT:430
'elohiym --
1) (plural)
a) rulers, judges
b) divine ones
c) angels
d) gods
2) (plural intensive -
singular meaning)
a) God, a god, a goddess
b) god-like one
c) works or special possessions of God
d) the one true God
e) God
(from The Online Bible
Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew
Lexicon)
Note: Clearly plural.
Word 430 is used 2,597 times in the Old Testament
There is no way for Deuteronomy 6:4 to mean one singular
God. If this WERE the meaning, why would God use 'elohiym,
which clearly is plural. Clearly He meant for it to be
plural. In a separate study, one with the Holy Spirit can
easily prove that Jesus is God. If Jesus is God and God the
Father is God, how could there be one [singular]
God? The Bible would be in GROSS contradiction and would
have to be discarded as totally flawed and not making
sense. Ironically there are not a few running around trying
to convince others that Jesus is not God, but some other
type of spirit being. They deny the deity of Christ. My
answer to them? Go here:
http://www.icgchurches.org/Las_Vegas_NV/Ministers_Notebook/Notebook_76.shtml
"Deity of Jesus Christ...my answer to a non-believer"
Now let us look at the word "One":
OT:259
'echad (ekh-awd');
a numeral from OT:258; properly, united, i.e. one; or (as
an ordinal) first:
KJV - a, alike, alone, altogether, and, any (-thing),
apiece, a certain, [daily-],
each (one), +
eleven, every, few, first, + highway, a man, once, one,
only, other, some, together,
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive
Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew
Dictionary)
OT:259
'echad --
one (number)
a) one (number)
b) each, every
c) a certain
d) an (indefinite article)
e) only, once, once for all
f) one...another, the one...the other, one after another,
one by one
g) first
h) eleven (in combination),
eleventh (ordinal)
(from The Online Bible
Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew
Lexicon)
Note: One means "one",
as in one single item. The question is ...
ONE WHAT???
Answer: One LORD. Notice the designation "one" is on
LORD---Eternal or Jehovah. Now the next question...
WHAT IS ONE???
Answer: our God---'elohiym
Therefore 'elohiym [plural]
is one [single number]
Jehovah or LORD. You and I would say that Christ and God
the Father are one God or one Family God.
MARRIAGE ANALOGY
God invented marriage for a number of purposes. One of
these is a living analogy to teach us about Christ and the
Church [man = Christ and
woman = Church] and by extension God, the Father
and Christ being one. What does God say about the man and
woman---the husband and the wife? Notice: To make the
point abundantly clear, God gives it to us FIVE TIMES.
Genesis 2:24
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and
shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Matthew 19:5-6
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and
mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall
be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What
therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Mark 10:8
8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no
more twain, but one flesh.
1 Corinthians 6:16
What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is
one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
Ephesians 5:31
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and
shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one
flesh.
Note: They become ONE
FLESH. How many become ONE? Two become one. Why would God
even venture to set that up unless He was telling us about
Deuteronomy 6:4 and verses like it? The two beings are one
God
The idea or concept of there being one, single God being is
nowhere supported in the Word of God.
John 10:30
I and my Father are one.
One means “one”.
NT:1520----one
heis (hice); (including the
neuter [etc.] hen); a primary numeral; one:
KJV - a (-n, -ny, certain),
+ abundantly, man, one (another),
only, other, some.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive
Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew
Dictionary)
What could be more clear? |