The Divine Plural: A Literary-Contextual Argument for Plurality in the Godhead

Abstract

Throughout scholarly research, the referent of the divine plural in Genesis 1 has experienced a proliferation of interpretations, accompanied by a lack of consensus due to the problems associated with each. The view which has gained considerable popularity is that the divine plural represents God’s address to the heavenly court. However, this view has the significant weakness that it approaches the matter from outside its literary context. This study offers a consideration of the divine plural from within that literary context and suggests that there is considerable basis for understanding it as an intended but unspecified reference to plurality in the Godhead.