The Old Testament does not contradict or refute the New Testament doctrine of the Trinity (i.e., one God in three divine Persons). Rather, it foreshadowed this divine revelation by expressing God’s plural nature in advance, using non-singular forms of Hebrew words to describe and define God.
Two of these infallible proofs are found in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” The Hebrew word for “one” is “echad,” which is a compound unity and means a single entity made up of more than one part. Interestingly, this same Hebrew term for “one” denotes the one-flesh relationship between a husband and wife despite their separate and distinct persons. Genesis 2:24 says, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one (echad) flesh.”
If God were “one and only one God” and not plural in nature, the Holy Spirit would have inspired Moses to use the Hebrew word “yachid” in Deuteronomy 6:4, which means singular. Yet, “yachid” is never used to describe God in the Old Testament because He is one God in three divine Persons, as the New Testament revealed.
Next, the Hebrew word for “God” in Deuteronomy 6:4 is “Elohim,” which is used over 2,300 times in the Old Testament. “Elohim” is a plural noun, not singular, and means “more than two.” Not surprisingly, the Holy Spirit inspired writers of the Old Testament to use this word to describe and identify the one God of the Bible. Therefore, “echad” for “one” (in Deuteronomy 6:4) and “Elohim” for “God” (in Genesis through Malachi) revealed and expressed God’s plural nature.
Another proof of God’s plurality in the Old Testament is God’s reference to Himself as singular and plural. He said in Isaiah 6:8, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” God’s questions conveyed that He is more than one divine Person, yet operates and functions as a united whole.
God’s plurality is also revealed in the book of Genesis. God said in Genesis 1:26, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” He also said in Genesis 3:22, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.” Likewise, He said in Genesis 11:7, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
God’s references to Himself as plural and not singular are further evidence that the Old Testament does not contradict or refute the doctrine of the Trinity but introduces and foreshadows it. This is also why the translators of English Bible versions used the plural pronouns “Us” and “Our” to express God’s compound unity in these passages.
In light of the Old Testament’s proclamation of God’s plurality and the New Testament’s divine revelation of the Trinity, God is not “three parts” that form “one God,” nor is God “three Gods.” Instead, God is one God eternally existing in three divine Persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Note: Although the terms “Trinity” and “Godhead” are not found in Scripture, they represent the truth of God as revealed in the Old and New Testaments.)
I hope this information helps you understand how the Old Testament does not negate the Trinity but sets the stage for what the Holy Spirit revealed about God in the New Testament more fully.
