SUMMARY

Sam Shamoun, a Christian apologist, analyzes Hebrew texts in Genesis to argue that plural language like "Let us make man" reveals a multi-personal God, mirroring Adam as a unified male-female "them" from creation's start.

STATEMENTS

• God uses singular commands like "Let there be light" for creation but switches to plural "Let us make man" specifically for humanity, indicating a change in divine address.
• Rabbis historically struggled with the plural "us" in Genesis, rejecting angelic involvement since angels played no creative role, suggesting God addresses other divine persons.
• The Hebrew term "Adam" refers to a plural entity, as Genesis 1:27 states God created "him" (Adam) in His image but also "them" male and female.
• Genesis 5:1-2 explicitly calls the created pair "Adam," blessing "them" and naming "their" name Adam, proving the first human is multi-personal yet one.
• The union of male and female as "one flesh" in Genesis 2 reflects God's own nature: distinct persons sharing one essence, like the Trinity.
• The Spirit of God is active in Genesis 1:2, moving over the waters before creation, proving the Spirit's distinct pre-existence and involvement as a person, not part of creation.
• Job 33:4 confirms the Spirit of God as the life-giver, equating divine breath with the Spirit's creative role alongside God.
• Jewish antiquity included beliefs in "two powers in heaven," a second divine figure, which later rabbis condemned but scholars like Peter Schäfer document as pre-Christian Jewish thought.
• The Talmud describes Metatron as "Yahweh Hakatan" (lesser Yahweh), a divine intermediary bearing God's name, echoing biblical angel of the Lord passages.
• Talmudic texts bizarrely depict God praying to Himself and asking a rabbi to bless Him, contradicting singular personhood by implying intra-divine or relational dynamics.
• Solitariness is declared "not good" only for man in Genesis, implying God's inherent relational nature rejects solitary existence as incomplete.

IDEAS

• The shift from singular to plural divine speech in Genesis highlights humanity's unique creation as a collaborative act among divine persons, unlike impersonal cosmic elements.
• Adam's plural designation from the outset challenges solitary origin myths, embedding gender duality as essential to human identity and divine image-bearing.
• Eve's formation from Adam's "rib" or "side" suggests she was latent within the original Adam, making the first human a unified yet distinct pair from inception.
• The Hebrew word for "one" (echad) in both human "one flesh" and divine oneness allows for composite unity, undermining strict unitarian interpretations.
• God's declaration that solitude is "not good" critiques any notion of divine isolation, positioning relational plurality as foundational to goodness and completeness.
• Pre-Christian Jewish texts reveal widespread acceptance of a second divine power, later suppressed, showing Trinitarian ideas as evolutionary Jewish theology rather than Christian invention.
• The Spirit's pre-creative activity in Genesis 1:2 positions it as an eternal co-creator, distinct yet inseparable from God, animating lifeless chaos.
• Talmudic portrayals of God self-praying or seeking blessings reveal unresolved tensions in Jewish thought about divine relationality, inadvertently supporting multi-personal dynamics.
• Scholars like Daniel Boyarin, an Orthodox Jew, affirm Christianity's incarnation concept as a natural outgrowth of ancient Jewish "two powers" beliefs.
• Metatron as "lesser Yahweh" in rabbinic literature mirrors biblical theophanies, suggesting Jewish tradition retained echoes of a binitarian or trinitarian framework despite denials.
• The angel of the Lord, worshiped as God in Tanakh, embodies a second power that interacts with humanity, prefiguring messianic divine encounters.

INSIGHTS

• Plural language in Genesis subtly unveils God's triune nature through humanity's creation, where Adam's gendered unity mirrors divine persons in shared essence.
• Rabbinic discomfort with "us" stems from suppressing ancient Jewish binitarian views, revealing how tradition obscured scriptural hints of divine complexity.
• Solitude's inherent "not goodness" in creation narrative implies God's eternal relationality, making unitarianism incompatible with biblical emphasis on communion.
• The Spirit's role as life-breath in Tanakh texts establishes its personhood, bridging creation acts and refuting claims of impersonal force.
• Jewish scholars' admissions of "two powers" validate Trinitarianism as authentically Jewish, challenging modern rabbinic portrayals of strict monotheism.
• Talmudic anthropomorphisms like divine prayer expose logical inconsistencies in singular God concepts, inviting reevaluation of intra-divine relations.

QUOTES

• "God said, 'Let there be light.' He didn't say, 'Let us make light.' ... And yet when it comes to man, he changes his vocabulary."
• "Adam is not one person. ... This one Adam is multi-personal. Adam is a them. Male and female."
• "In creating man plural, God was showing that the creator is plural. Like Adam is more than one person."
• "It's not good that the man should be alone. ... So if God is telling you solitariness ... is not good. You're telling me God ... was perfectly good is a solitary person. No, he's not."
• "The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life."

HABITS

• Engage deeply with original Hebrew texts using lexicons and interlinears to verify interpretations, even without formal scholarly training.
• Cross-reference Tanakh passages systematically to build theological arguments, linking Genesis with Job for cohesive evidence.
• Research non-Christian Jewish scholars' works to uncover suppressed historical beliefs, quoting sources like Peter Schäfer for objectivity.
• Share findings through livestreams and articles, encouraging viewer interaction to clarify doubts and promote open dialogue.
• Maintain reverence in discussing divine names, pronouncing Yahweh with honor while critiquing traditions.

FACTS

• Ancient Jewish texts like Enoch and 4 Ezra describe a second divine power, later deemed heretical by rabbis.
• The Talmud (Berakhot 7a) states the Holy One prays, deriving it from Isaiah 56:7's "house of my prayer."
• Peter Schäfer, a Princeton Jewish studies professor, documents pre-Christian Jewish binitarianism in "Two Gods in Heaven."
• Daniel Boyarin, an Orthodox Jewish scholar, argues in "The Jewish Gospels" that Jesus' divinity aligns with ancient Jewish "son of man" concepts.
• Metatron is rabbinically called "Yahweh the Lesser," identified as the angel of the Lord bearing God's name.

REFERENCES

• Genesis 1:26-27 (plural creation of man in God's image).
• Genesis 5:1-2 (naming the male-female pair as Adam).
• Job 33:4 (Spirit of God as life-giver).
• Peter Schäfer's "Two Gods in Heaven: Jewish Concepts of God in Antiquity."
• Daniel Boyarin's "The Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ."
• Benjamin Sommer's "The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel."
• Talmud Bavli Berakhot 7a (God praying to Himself).
• Talmud Hagigah 15a (Metatron as lesser Yahweh).

HOW TO APPLY

• Read Genesis 1:26-27 carefully, noting the shift to plural pronouns and questioning who God addresses beyond angels.
• Examine Genesis 5:2 to see Adam named for both male and female, recognizing humanity's inherent plurality as divine reflection.
• Cross-reference Genesis 1:2 with Job 33:4 to affirm the Spirit's distinct creative role in Tanakh, avoiding New Testament reliance.
• Study the Hebrew word "echad" for "one" in Deuteronomy 6:4 and Genesis 2:24, appreciating its allowance for unified multiplicity.
• Investigate Jewish sources like Enoch or rabbinic texts on "two powers," using scholar analyses to contextualize suppressed beliefs.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Genesis' plural divine speech and Adam's unified duality reveal God's triune nature, challenging solitary monotheism.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Consult interlinear Hebrew Bibles to independently verify plural references in creation narratives.
• Explore works by Jewish scholars like Boyarin to appreciate Trinitarian roots in ancient Judaism.
• Discuss solitude's "not good" status with skeptics, linking it to God's relational essence.
• Avoid rabbinic traditions that dismiss "two powers" without examining pre-Christian sources.
• Pray for clarity on divine plurality, emulating intra-Trinitarian communion in personal faith.

MEMO

In the shadowed corridors of biblical scholarship, where ancient Hebrew whispers challenge modern dogmas, Christian apologist Sam Shamoun unveils a provocative reading of Genesis. He spotlights the divine pivot from solitary edicts—"Let there be light"—to collaborative summons: "Let us make man in our image." This linguistic anomaly, Shamoun argues, isn't a casual flourish but a deliberate hint at God's multi-personal reality, one that early rabbis scrambled to explain away by invoking passive angels, despite their admitted non-role in creation.

Delving deeper into the text, Shamoun dissects the enigmatic figure of Adam, not as a lone male archetype but as a primordial "them"—male and female entwined from the outset. Genesis 1:27's "He created them male and female" and 5:2's blessing of "their name Adam" paint humanity's origin as inherently relational, a mirror to the Creator. Eve emerges not from dust but Adam's very side, underscoring their shared essence: distinct bodies, unified flesh. This "one flesh" echoes the Shema's declaration of God's oneness, a composite unity that defies singular isolation.

Shamoun's exegesis gains force from the Spirit's cameo in Genesis 1:2, hovering over formless waters as an active force, uncreated and co-eternal with God. Drawing from Job, he posits the Spirit as the divine breath animating life, a distinct person in creation's symphony. Such insights ripple into Jewish antiquity, where scholars like Peter Schäfer and Daniel Boyarin unearth "two powers in heaven"—a binitarian worldview in texts like Enoch, later anathematized by rabbis to safeguard monotheism. Even the Talmud, in its esoteric layers, conjures Metatron as a "lesser Yahweh," betraying traces of divine multiplicity.

Yet Shamoun doesn't shy from the Talmud's odder flourishes: a God who prays to Himself, derived from Isaiah's "house of my prayer," or beseeches a rabbi for blessing, nodding in approval like a supplicant at the Wailing Wall. These anthropomorphic quirks, he contends, expose the strain of enforcing solitary deity amid scriptural relationality. Solitude, after all, is the sole creation God deems "not good," a theological thunderclap implying divine completeness demands plurality.

Ultimately, Shamoun's case reframes the Trinity not as Christian novelty but as Tanakh's buried blueprint, resolving rabbinic riddles through humanity's gendered union. In an era of accessible scholarship, these revelations democratize theology, urging seekers to reclaim suppressed truths from antiquity's vault.