Special Feature: "Us in Our Image" - What does this mean?

Walking...& Stumbling...with God

Week 2 - Genesis 1:1-2:3

A confusing phrase: the "us in our image" of Genesis 1:26

Year ago as a college student I was confronted by friends who challenged my Christian beliefs.  They asked me how I could believe there was only one God even though the Bible itself said there was more than one who created humankind.  They pointed to Genesis 1:26 to shake my confident faith.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

The phrase “Let us make man in our image according to our likeness” has intrigued and confounded many people through the years.  As commentator Gordon J. Wenham notices, it all boils down to two questions:

1. Why does God speak in the plural (us/our)?
2. Why did he not say, “Let me make man in my image?”

Bible scholars like Wenham point to two likely answers/explanations, and two that are less likely.  It’s important to remember that the original text was Hebrew scripture, from a religious community that was uncompromising in its monotheism (believing in one god).

 

Two Likely Possible Original Meanings

God’s Heavenly Court

“Us” = God & angels in heaven

Jewish commentators (originating with Philo) have generally held that the plural is used because God is addressing his heavenly court, which would include heavenly beings such as angels (see Isaiah 6 for such a scene of heaven).

 

Linguistic Exception

“Us” = God alone

Many scholars prefer the view that what is at work here is a particular manner of speaking, in which the singular speaker uses the plural “we.”  This is known as the plural of self-deliberation or self-encouragement; think about times you may have thought to yourself in words such as “What do we have here?” or “Let’s do this.”  On a similar note, some have suggested that this is an example of the plural of majesty, similar to the royal “we” used by British monarchs.

Regardless of which of these likely explanations you are drawn to, you'll notice that the immediate context of verse 26 is clearly monotheistic.  In verse 27, the actions following God’s words of self-deliberation are summarized as God (singular) creating man in his own image.  And in the summary verse of Genesis chapter one, verse 31 simply states: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

 

Here are the Two Less-Likely Original Meanings

Reference to the Trinity

“Us” = Father, Son, Holy Spirit

Many Christians have seen this as a reference to the Trinity: Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit present with Creator God.  It has also been suggested that God may be addressing his Spirit who was present and active at the beginning of creation (Gen 1:2).  It’s a legitimate Christian view to see Christ as present and active in creation, but it isn’t likely that the original Hebrew authors had this in mind.

Leftover from Ancient Creation Myth

“Us” = God, who is (accidentally?) attributed with saying what the gods of another story said.

Some scholars of modern Biblical criticism suggest that this plural might be left over from an original polytheistic account of creation on which the Hebrew account was based.   However, they also believe that the purpose of the Hebrew writer is to debunk other ancient Near Eastern views of creation and present a monotheistic alternative.

For more detailed information, take a look at Gordon J. Wenham’s Genesis, Volume 1 in the Word Biblical Commentary series (1987).

 

Next week we take a look at our first characters and their tragic flaws and their unique relationship with God: Eve & Adam.

 

Joyfully in Christ,

 

Kurt