The Trinity in the Old Testament

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Hi,
I would like to know if there is anything in the OT that suggests the Trinity, or the existence of the Trinity. I always interpret the three “men” who visited Abraham as a the three members of the Trinity. Thank you, this will help me as I try to understand the OT better!

God Bless
Happy Easter:)
 
Hi,
I would like to know if there is anything in the OT that suggests the Trinity, or the existence of the Trinity. I always interpret the three “men” who visited Abraham as a the three members of the Trinity. Thank you, this will help me as I try to understand the OT better!

God Bless
Happy Easter:)
Notice in Genesis 1:2 that there are three Divine characters. They are God, the Word that He speaks, and the “Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.” We also see that in Genesis 1:26-27 God seems to be talking to Himself in the plural, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.”

Glory to Jesus Christ,
ZP
 
Hi,
I would like to know if there is anything in the OT that suggests the Trinity, or the existence of the Trinity. I always interpret the three “men” who visited Abraham as a the three members of the Trinity. Thank you, this will help me as I try to understand the OT better!

God Bless
Happy Easter:)
In the book of Tobias chap 12 verse 6, It clearly states: “Blessed Be the Holy Trinity and Undivided Unity: We Will Give Glory to Him, Because He Has Shown His Mercy to Us.” Tobias 12:6.

This proclamation and hymn is usually said on the Feast of the Most blessed Trinity.
 
In the book of Tobias chap 12 verse 6, It clearly states: “Blessed Be the Holy Trinity and Undivided Unity: We Will Give Glory to Him, Because He Has Shown His Mercy to Us.” Tobias 12:6.

This proclamation and hymn is usually said on the Feast of the Most blessed Trinity.
From the DR Tobias 12:6 Then he said to them secretly:Bless ye the God of heaven, give glory to him in the sight of all that live, because he hath shown his mercy to you.

What bible did you get your verse from?
 
Hi,
I would like to know if there is anything in the OT that suggests the Trinity, or the existence of the Trinity. I always interpret the three “men” who visited Abraham as a the three members of the Trinity. Thank you, this will help me as I try to understand the OT better!

God Bless
Happy Easter:)
From my understanding, there isn’t even evidence in the NT for it.
 
From my understanding, there isn’t even evidence in the NT for it.
Funny, isn’t it, most Christians BELIEVE in the Holy Trinity. Yet, some don’t, of course.

One should always check several sources, maybe line up the evidence on each side of the argument.

hellopeople, what would those arguments be on the side of your “understanding”?

Jesus said to baptise all nations in the “name” of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. the Trinitarian formula for God is pretty evident there. Jesus also referred to it when He said such things as “the Father and I are one” “if you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.”

On this website, follow this link to the encyclopedic article on the Blessed Trinity:

oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Trinity
 
Although its not evident until after Christ came about, but the Fathers of the Church saw the Holy Trinity (and the Church) in the family of Abraham.
  • Abraham is a type of God, the Father.
  • Isaac, his only beloved son, whom Abraham offers up as a Sacrifice, is a type of Jesus, God’s Beloved Son, whom is offered up in Sacrifice.
  • The Unnamed Servant, who travels abroad to bring Rebekkah as a Bride back for Isaac, is a type of the Holy Spirit, who is unnamed, who goes where It Will to retrieve lost souls and bring them into the Church, the Bride of Christ.
  • Rebekkah, the bride of Isaac, is a type for the Church, the Bride of Christ.
 
Well, this doesn’t constitute proof of any trinity per se but I post merely to show a possible Catholic view of one key verse in Genesis followed by a Jewish view.

Go to VeritasBible.com on the side of CAF’s title page and type in Genesis 1:26 (the verse mentioned by ziapueblo upthread 🙂 ) and you will read of God creating man: 26 And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth…

Note the “us” and “our” upon which Catholic Haydock comments: “God speaketh here in the plural number, to insinuate the plurality of persons in the Deity. Some of the ancient Jews maintained that God here addressed his council, the Angels; but is it probable that he should communicate to them the title of Creator, and a perfect similitude with himself?”

The Jewish response and interpretation of the exact same verse in Genesis can be seen in the prominent Rabbi of the Middle Ages, Rashi’s commentary:

"*Let us make man: From here we learn the humility of the Holy One, blessed be He. Since man was created in the likeness of the angels, and they would envy him, He consulted them. And when He judges kings, He consults with His Heavenly household, for so we find regarding Ahab, that Micah said to him, (I Kings 22:19): “I saw the Lord seated on His throne, and all the host of heaven were standing by Him, on His right and on His left.” Now do “left” or “right” apply to Him ?! But rather, [the passage means that] these [angels] were standing on the right to defend, and these [angels] were standing on the left to prosecute. Likewise, (Dan. 4:14): “By the decree of the destructive angels is the matter, and by the word of the holy ones is the edict.” Here too, He took counsel with His heavenly household. He said to them, “Among the heavenly beings, there are some in My likeness. If there are none in My likeness among the earthly beings, there will be envy among the creatures of the Creation. ” - [from Tanchuma, Shemoth 18; Gen. Rabbah 8:11, 14:13]

Let us make man: Even though they [the angels] did not assist Him in His creation, and there is an opportunity for the heretics to rebel (to misconstrue the plural as a basis for their heresies), Scripture did not hesitate to teach proper conduct and the trait of humility, that a great person should consult with and receive permission from a smaller one. Had it been written: “I shall make man,” we would not have learned that He was speaking with His tribunal, but to Himself. And the refutation to the heretics is written alongside it “And God created (וַיִּבְרָא) ,” and it does not say,“and they created וַיִּבְרְאוּ.” - [from Gen. Rabbah 8:9]"

There you go, two different interpretations, with Rashi specifically addressing the Christian approach, and Haydock the Jewish.*
 
A) The three people who came to visit Abraham were, unfortunately, not the Trinity. Although the fact that there were three of them does hint greatly at it. The first was Christ, although since this is before his incarnation, he would be the Elect One, the Son of God. The other two are angels, as we see at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Very likely they were Michael and Uriel.

B) The passage in Genesis where it says “Spirit of God” is a very good one. It is very likely this was a reference to the Holy Spirit. The Father, is of course, the persona of the Holy Trinity most commonly mentioned in the Old Testament. He is the one who conversed with Moses in the meeting tent. The one who, if you behold his glory (face) you will die.
There is, however, one part where a possible distinction is made between the Father and the Son.

“Thrones were set in place
and one of great age took his seat.
His robe was white as snow,
the hair of his head as pure as wool.
His throne was a blaze of flames,
its wheels were a burning fire.
A stream of fire poured out,
issuing from his presence.
A thousand thousand waited on him,
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
A court was held
and the books were opened.”

Dan 7:9-10

and

“I gazed into the visions of the night,
And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven,
one like a son of man.
He came to the one of great age
and was led into his presence.
On him was conferred sovereignty,
glory and kingship,
and men of all peoples, nations and language became his servants.
His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty
which shall never pass away,
nor will his empire ever be destroyed.”

Dan 7:13-14

This description lines up with what we see in the New Testament
“And when he had said this, he was lifted up from their eyes, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing up to heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white garments, and said to them, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall come in the same way as you have seen him going up to heaven.’” Acts 1:9-11

“and in the midst of the seven lamp-stands One like to a son of man…” Rev 1:13

Christ also refers to himself on numerous occasions as the Son of Man.

If you’re looking for a perfect, undeniable support for the Trinity, you’re not going to find it. Not in this, not anywhere. There are somethings that we do need to take on faith. If you read Revelation though, you will see that the Father, Son, and Spirit are always with each other.

Hope this works out for you,
Archistrage
 
From the DR Tobias 12:6 Then he said to them secretly:Bless ye the God of heaven, give glory to him in the sight of all that live, because he hath shown his mercy to you.

What bible did you get your verse from?
It was in an Old missal from the 1950’s. I am guessing that it was from the Douay Rhelms bible.
 
It was in an Old missal from the 1950’s. I am guessing that it was from the Douay Rhelms bible.
I have that same missal and did read what you quoted but it did not come from the Douay Rheims bible. I have no idea where it came from. The quote in my previous post came from the DR. No where in the bible is the word trinity mentioned. Hmmm most confusing to say the least.
Thanks for the reply
Jeanne
 
Thanks for the info everyone.
I still believe in the Trinity (of course:)) but I was curious to see if there was anything in the Old Testament about it.
👍
 
It’s not really evidence, but an interesting thing to note is how in David’s covenant with God, God promises he will be a father to the Messiah, and he shall be a son to him. Obviously this was just an expression for the Jews, but Jesus fulfilled it in a transcendent and real way by being God’s actual son. (2 Samuel 7:14)
From my understanding, there isn’t even evidence in the NT for it.
Your understanding is poor. There’s the baptism of Jesus, the Trinitarian formula (for baptizing people), and the beginning of John’s gospel, for starters. Those are all pretty obvious.
 
Your understanding is poor. There’s the baptism of Jesus, the Trinitarian formula (for baptizing people), and the beginning of John’s gospel, for starters. Those are all pretty obvious.
I disagree to be honest. Why don’t you let someone that has no idea about the trinity or the church read those passages and see if they can come up with the idea of the trinity. I guarantee you that they won’t.
 
I disagree to be honest. Why don’t you let someone that has no idea about the trinity or the church read those passages and see if they can come up with the idea of the trinity. I guarantee you that they won’t.
Some will, some won’t. There’s a factor you’re not considering that will make the difference, my brother…The Wind blows where It will.
 
I disagree to be honest. Why don’t you let someone that has no idea about the trinity or the church read those passages and see if they can come up with the idea of the trinity. I guarantee you that they won’t.
How did the idea of the Trinity ever come about then? 😉
 
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