Nope-
Jewish recognition of a TrinitySF
BySeth Fitzgerald
General Topics
As an introduction to this paper, let me be very clear. I am by no means an Orthodox Jew, nor do I partake in any sect of Rabbinic Judaism,
though I am Jewish. I am a Christian (not a Catholic). But before you read this and are immediately put off by this fact, allow me to take the opportunity to at the very least, show you my thoughts and findings.
It is a common belief among religious Jews alike that the doctrine of the Trinity is merely a Christian invention, and before the rise of Christianity, early Jews never thought of or even considered the idea of a multi-personal G-d, and only thought of G-d as being a completely unified single figure (Deuteronomy 6:4).
Christians either made up the Trinity to explain how Jesus revealed himself, or they stole it from the pagans. This, however, is simply untrue.
And if one took the time to carefully study early Jewish writings you'll find that indeed many Jewish authors struggled with the idea of three powers in the Tanakh who all seemed to be G-d. I will publish more papers exclusively elaborating on the presence of the Trinity in the Tanakh alone, but I'll continue.
דברים ו׳:ד׳
(ד) שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהֹוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד׃
Deuteronomy 6:4
(4) Hear, O Israel! יהוה is our God, יהוה alone.
Many ancient Jews and Jewish scholars today recognize the fact that there seemed to be multiple powers in heaven. Jewish Scholar and Theologian Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer has stated in a lecture series on one of his published works The Bodies of God And the World of Ancient Israel that the concept of the Trinity isn't at all foreign to the Near East or in Judaism. In that lecture, he states:
"I'm actually rather uncomfortable with my own conclusion here, but as a Scholar, I got to call 'em as I see 'em..."
he goes on to say,
"...one of the conclusions that I came to, to my shock when I finished this book is that we Jews have no theological objection to the doctrine of the Trinity."
He goes on to explain that Kabbalistic texts, specifically Sefer HaBahir explains that the same concept appears in Jewish literature and mysticism. Even in a published paper by Hadar Cohen, simply titled Sefirot which in actuality is a quotation of the works by Rabbi David Seidenberg. He took the time to explain what they actually are, "God emanates ten vessels through which the world is created, called sefirot, which are both parts of God and created by God." Clearly, this concept functions in a monotheistic context, although there are slight differences between the two teachings.
ספר הבהיר קכ״ה
(קכה) ואמאי קרי ליה ספירות, משום דכתיב (תהלים י"ט ב) השמים מספרים כבוד אל:
Sefer HaBahir 125
What are the Sefirot?
The Sefirot – God emanates ten vessels through which the world is created, called sefirot, which are both part of God and created by God. These vessels are channels of light or water, and they also are light. They are God and of God, but they cannot define God or limit God – what is truly God is wholly beyond these descriptions, beyond the first sefirah, called Keter or crown, denoted by the term Ein Sof – without limit, without end.
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So as Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer points out, there are plenty of clear passages in the Tanakh where we see different "persons" or "powers" of G-d who are all distinct, yet still one G-d.
Early Jews wrote about this nature of G-d because they recognized it throughout the texts.
To be fair, not all of them interpreted (or will interpret) these passages the same way a traditional Christian Trinitarian would.
But the point is that they do recognize the existence of other powers alongside G-d and multiple powers who are all called G-d (by the Divine Name). This is written about in the Talmud: Sanhedrin 38b:19. The passage describes a debate between a "heretic" and Rav Idit regarding Exodus 24:1. The "heretic" argued that it is odd that G-d said "Come up to YHWH" instead of "Come up to me." Now the Rabbi in response could have simply said that G-d's usage of the third person is not unusual. But the Rabbi instead replies that G-d was actually speaking of a different "power." namely the Metatron, the highest of all angels (keep in mind the word "angel" simply means messenger, and does not by default imply a created being (see Genesis 32:3). The early Rabbis recognized that the Torah taught there were different figures called G-d (by the Divine Name). Then eight verses later in that same chapter in Exodus, the text makes it clear that they were in fact going up to G-d.
סנהדרין ל״ח ב:י״ט
אמר רב נחמן האי מאן דידע לאהדורי למינים כרב אידית ליהדר ואי לא לא ליהדר אמר ההוא מינא לרב אידית כתיב (שמות כד, א) ואל משה אמר עלה אל ה' עלה אלי מיבעי ליה א"ל זהו מטטרון ששמו כשם רבו דכתיב (שמות כג, כא) כי שמי בקרבו
Sanhedrin 38b:19
Rav Naḥman says: This one, i.e., any person, who knows how to respond to the heretics as effectively as Rav Idit should respond to them, but if he does not know, he should not respond to them. The Gemara relates: A certain heretic said to Rav Idit: It is written in the verse concerning God: “And to Moses He said: Come up to the Lord” (Exodus 24:1). The heretic raised a question: It should have stated: Come up to Me. Rav Idit said to him: This term, “the Lord,” in that verse is referring to the angel Metatron, whose name is like the name of his Master, as it is written: “Behold I send an angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Take heed of him and obey his voice; do not defy him; for he will not pardon your transgression, for My name is in him” (Exodus 23:20–21).
שמות כ״ד:א׳
(א) וְאֶל־מֹשֶׁ֨ה אָמַ֜ר עֲלֵ֣ה אֶל־יהוה אַתָּה֙ וְאַהֲרֹן֙ נָדָ֣ב וַאֲבִיה֔וּא וְשִׁבְעִ֖ים מִזִּקְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶ֖ם מֵרָחֹֽק׃
Exodus 24:1
(1) Then [God] said to Moses, “Come up to יהוה, with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel, and bow low from afar.
שמות כ״ד:ט׳-י״ב
(ט) וַיַּ֥עַל מֹשֶׁ֖ה וְאַהֲרֹ֑ן נָדָב֙ וַאֲבִיה֔וּא וְשִׁבְעִ֖ים מִזִּקְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (י) וַיִּרְא֕וּ אֵ֖ת אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְתַ֣חַת רַגְלָ֗יו כְּמַעֲשֵׂה֙ לִבְנַ֣ת הַסַּפִּ֔יר וּכְעֶ֥צֶם הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם לָטֹֽהַר׃ (יא) וְאֶל־אֲצִילֵי֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֥א שָׁלַ֖ח יָד֑וֹ וַֽיֶּחֱזוּ֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים וַיֹּאכְל֖וּ וַיִּשְׁתּֽוּ׃ {ס} (יב) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה עֲלֵ֥ה אֵלַ֛י הָהָ֖רָה וֶהְיֵה־שָׁ֑ם וְאֶתְּנָ֨ה לְךָ֜ אֶת־לֻחֹ֣ת הָאֶ֗בֶן וְהַתּוֹרָה֙ וְהַמִּצְוָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר כָּתַ֖בְתִּי לְהוֹרֹתָֽם׃
Exodus 24:9-12
(9) Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel ascended; (10) and they saw the God of Israel—under whose feet was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity. (11) Yet [God] did not raise a hand against the leaders of the Israelites; they beheld God, and they ate and drank. (12) יהוה said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and wait there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the teachings and commandments which I have inscribed to instruct them.”
On top of this, other than the alleged Metatron. Early Jews also knew and recognized the existence of someone known as the "Holy Spirit" interceding between G-d and Israel. Dr. Michael L. Brown (another Jewish Scholar and Theologian) says:
"Lamentations Rabbah 3:60, 9 relates after the Roman emperor Hadrian indiscriminately executed two Jews, the Holy Spirit kept crying out, "You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me. Uphold my cause! You have seen the depth of their vengeance, all their plots against me" (Lamentations 3:59-60). This provides an example of the Spirit making intercession. According to Leviticus Rabbah 6:1, the Holy Spirit is a defense counsel who speaks to Israel on behalf of the Lord and then speaks to the Lord on behalf of Israel. In all these citations, which can be easily multiplied (see, e.g., Genesis Rabbah 84:11; Song of Songs Rabbah 8:16; Lamentations Rabbah 1:48), there can be no question that we are dealing with a "who" and not just with a "what," with a personal dimension of God and not just with an impersonal power, with God himself and yet with a "separate" entity who can mediate between God and man. And these citations closely parallel some of the New Testament descriptions of the Holy Spirit, although virtually all the Rabbinic texts cited were written many years later."
Early and modern Jewish scholars have wrestled with the fact that the scriptures teach that there is only one G-d. But there are three distinct figures who all seem to be G-d. Thus we can see that the doctrine of the Trinity came out of the Jewish scriptures, it was not an idea stolen from pagans or made up by Christians, but revealed from what Jesus taught of himself and what the Jewish scriptures had already established.
We all wrestle-but Christians did not "invent" the Triune Godhead.
Shalom
J.
