Before we can look for the Trinity in the Old Testament, we need to clarify a few points about the Trinity itself.
What Christians believe concerning the Trinity
- Christians believe there is one God. Biblical scholars refer to this characteristic of God as “the Oneness of God,” clarified as being a single being. We are each a human being, God is a Divine Being.
- Christians also believe that God is trinitarian; He consists of three persons within one being. This is where we get the word Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each of these is distinct from each other but not separate from each other, and each has a different function than the other two. They are one and equal in power and in divinity. The three ‘persons’ (not human, but person) are of one essence and are one being, which is God.
How would we find the Trinity in the Old Testament Scriptures?
The word Trinity was only finalised and agreed upon in 325 AD at the First Council of Nicaea and incorporated into theological terminology. Therefore, we need to examine the texts and look for references to where God is described as (the) Spirit and when He appears as a human being.
Translation of Scripture into English
To further your understanding of the topic we will cover, there is one other thing you should be aware of. The Old Testament in the Bible was written in the Hebrew language and has been translated from Hebrew into English and almost every other language in the world today. English, however, has a few limitations.
For example, we love our jobs, our pets, our friends, our parents, our children, and certain beverages. Love, love, love, love, and more love. And God loves us, and we love Him. Hebrew has several (transliterated): Aheb: to love tenderly and magnetically; Ahab: a love, like affection; Ohab: a physical love; Racham: the one-way love of carer to care-receiver; Chabab: a protective, cherishing love; Hasad: like an emotional loyalty between friends; Yada: to make love. Greek also has several: Eros: romantic, passionate love; Philia: intimate, authentic friendship; Erotoropia or Ludus: playful, flirtatious love; Storge: unconditional, familial love; Philautia: compassionate self-love; Pragma: committed, companionate love; Agápe: empathetic, universal love. As indicated previously, English has limitations.
A relevant limitation to our topic at hand is that Hebrew also has many different words for God, but you should remember the following four for the rest of the article to make sense.
- EL, ELOAH [el, el-oh-ah]: singular: The mighty, strong, prominent God
- ELOHIM [el-oh-heem]: the plural of El Eloah, meaning “gods” or “godhood,” is used 2570 times in the Old Testament. Also used as “the powerful ones.”
- YHWH / YAHWEH [yah-way]: “LORD”—strictly speaking, the only proper name for God. In English Bibles, it’s written in all capital letters.
- ADONAI [ah-daw-nahy]: plural form of Adoni, used in place of YHWH (which was thought by the Jews to be too sacred to be uttered by sinful men), and used 449 times in the Old Testament as “my Lords.”
The reason we are drawing your attention to this is that the authors of the Old Testament had many words to choose from when referring to God, but they were led by God to use the words they did, whether they understood the reasoning or not.
See this insightful quote from B.B. Warfield:
“The Old Testament may be likened to a chamber richly furnished but dimly lit; the introduction of light… [the New Testament] brings out into clearer view much of what is in it but was only dimly or even not at all perceived before.” 1
Digging into Scripture
The Oneness of God:
Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, Israel! YHWH is our Elohim; YHWH is one!”
Context: the Israelites were fleeing from Egypt and heading for Canaan, and both of these places practised polytheism. God needed to remind them that He is One and He is the only God.
Isa 44:6 “This is what YHWH says, He who is the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the YHWH of armies: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no Elohim besides Me.”
Isa 44:8b “Is there any Elohim besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.”
The Plurality of God:
The Hebrew word used for God the Creator in Genesis 1 is ELOHIM. “Then Elohim said…”, “Elohim made…” etc. In Genesis 1:24 – Then Elohim said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness.” Us and Our? 100% plural pronouns.
Something very interesting happens in Genesis 2: the introduction of the LORD God. Verse 4: “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.” YHWH Elohim made heaven and earth, clearly using the plural pronoun.
Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of Adonai, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I [Isaiah] said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Hosea 1:7 “But I will take pity on the house of Judah and save them by YHWH their Elohim, and will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.”
Psalms 147:1-8 Praise YHWH! For it is good to sing praises to Elohim; For it is pleasant and praise is beautiful. YHWH builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is Adonai and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite. YHWH supports the afflicted; He brings the wicked down to the ground. Sing to YHWH with thanksgiving; Sing praises to our Elohim on the lyre; It is He who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass sprout on the mountains.
So where are Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, then?
Genesis 1:2 And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of Elohim was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Job 26:13 By His Spirit He adorned the heavens.
Isaiah 32:15 Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high,
Psalms 104:30 You [YHWH] send forth Your Spirit; they [mankind] are created; And You renew the face of the ground.
Genesis 6:3 Then YHWH said, “My Spirit will not remain with man forever, because he is also flesh.”
2 Samuel 23:2 “The Spirit of YHWH spoke through me, And His word was on my tongue,” said the prophet Daniel.
Nehemiah 9:20 + 30 “Instead, You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth; And You gave them water for their thirst.” However, You remained patient with them for many years, and admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, yet they would not listen. Therefore, You handed them over to the peoples of the lands.
Haggai 2:5 says, ‘As for the promise which I [YHWH] made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit remains in your midst; do not fear!’
Ezekiel 36:27 “And I will put My Spirit within you and bring it about that you walk in My statutes, and are careful and follow My ordinances.” This is a shockingly clear prophecy of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us all (think “Pentecost”).
Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; therefore, He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.
Here’s a quotation from Thomas Nelson’s Bible website:
“The Spirit came upon certain judges, warriors, and prophets in a way that gave them extraordinary power: for example, Joshua (Numbers 27:18), Othniel (Judges 3:10), Gideon (Judges 6:34), Samson (Judges 13:25; 14:6), and Saul (1 Samuel 10:9, 10). However, the Spirit later departed from Saul because of his disobedience (1 Samuel 16:14).” 2
Moving on.
Isaiah 11:1-3 “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of YHWH will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge, and the fear of YHWH. And He will delight in the fear of the YHWH, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make decisions by what His ears hear.”
This prophecy says that a descendant of the father of King David will have the Holy Spirit of Yahweh on Him. This prophecy includes all Persons within the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Adonai YHWH is upon me, because YHWH has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” In Luke 4:18–19, Jesus claims to be the One spoken of here.
Gen 18:1-2 Now YHWH appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When he raised his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him, and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down to the ground.
Psalms 45:6-7 Your throne, Elohim, is forever and ever; The sceptre of Your kingdom is a sceptre of justice. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore, Elohim, Your Elohim has anointed You with the oil of joy above Your companions.
Psalms 110:1 YHWH says to Adonai, “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked abandon his way, and the unrighteous person his thoughts, and let him return to YHWH, and He will have compassion on him, and to Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.
Isaiah 48:16-17 Draw near to Me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there.” And now Adonai YHWH has sent Me, and His Spirit. Thus says YHWH, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am YHWH your Elohim, Who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.
Dan 7:13-14 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a son of man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, honour, and a kingdom, So that all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”
Jesus openly declared before the High Priest that He was the Son of Man that Daniel had prophesied. Mark 14:62 “Yes, I am!” Jesus answered. “Soon you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right side of God All-Powerful, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” This conversation was also recorded in Matthew 26:64 and Luke 22:69–70. He also alluded to this several times, but this was a declaration before the Jewish authorities, and this is what got Him sentenced to death on the cross, as it was blasphemy to equate yourself with or call yourself God.
And that is how you prove that the Trinity really was evident in the Old Testament.
For more articles on the Trinity, you can follow the link below:
https://copticapologetics.com/category/the-trinity/
References:
1. Benjamin B. Warfield, ‘Trinity’, B. B. Warfield (blog), 13 March 2011, https://bbwarfield.com/works/trinity/
2. TNB, ‘The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament’, Thomas Nelson Bibles (blog), 21 February 2017, https://www.thomasnelsonbibles.com/blog/the-holy-spirit-in-the-old-testament/
Three sources that were referenced but not quoted directly were the following:
Michael Patton, ‘Session 8 – The Doctrine of the Trinity: Biblical Defense | Bible.Org’, Bible.org, 16 June 2005, https://bible.org/seriespage/session-8-doctrine-trinity-biblical-defense
Charles T. Buntin, ‘The Trinity | Bible.Org’, 30 June 2004, https://bible.org/seriespage/trinity
GotQuestions.org, ‘Is the Trinity Taught in the Old Testament?’, GotQuestions.org, accessed November 28, 2023, https://www.gotquestions.org/Trinity-in-the-Old-Testament.html
