bigbee

Genesis 1:26 reads

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

The usual Christian answer to who Yahweh was talking to is that Yahweh was talking to Jesus and the Holy spirit. . . .It is my understanding that the Jews that wrote the story do not agree with the Christian explanation and claims at all. . . .I will like to know the Jewish explanation to the phrase "Let us make man in our likeness". . . . .

Kosh

Look up some articles in the library WRT to the JEDP theory.

IIRC, the early Jews were polytheistic, and this is a leftover from the merging of multiple texts.

A Quick Google Search

aa5874

But it would appear that before the Jesus believers the WORD of God was the LOGOS and was allegorically called the Son of God. It would seem that Jesus believers later claimed that the LOGOS was made flesh as found in gJohn.

It would be noticed that the Synoptics, regarded as earlier than gJohn, do not contain any information about Jesus as the Logos of God.

That the God of Genesis was talking to Jesus was a late invention.

spin

What is interesting in the verse is the fact that "image" (צלם) is singular. That should make one pause about the plural pronouns. What's more, the following verse clearly states that "god created man in his (own) image".


spin

Joan of Bark

It's a mystery why plural pronouns are used only(?) in this passage, and not later.

That YHWH spoke of other gods is clear throughout the Torah, but I don't think this passage is evidence of polytheism. And I agree with aa (for a change) that the idea of God speaking to Jesus or the HS is simply a desperate attempt by Christians to justify the trinity.

HaRaAYaH

R. Simon said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, came to create Man, the ministering angels formed themselves into groups and parties, some of them saying, 'Let him not be created,' whilst others urged, 'Let him be created.' Thus it is written, 'Love and Truth fought together, Righteousness and Peace combated each other" (Tehilim 85, 11). Love said, 'Let him be created, because he will dispense acts of love'; Truth said, Let him not be created, because he is compounded of falsehood'; Righteousness said, ' Let him be created, because he will perform righteous deeds'; Peace said, 'Let him not be created, because he is full of strife.' What did God do? He took Truth and cast it to the ground. Said the ministering angels before the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Sovereign of the Universe! Why do You despise Your seal? Let Truth arise from the earth!' Hence it is written, "Truth springs up from the earth" (ib. 12). … R. Huna the Elder of Sepphoris, said: While the ministering angels were arguing with each other and disputing with each other, the Holy One, blessed be He, created (Man). Said He to them: 'Why are you debating (to no avail)? Man has already been made! (Midrash Rabbah - Genesis 8:5)

The creation of man defies the attribute of Truth, the very Seal of God. Man's nature, with all its foibles and inner contradictions, cannot even approximate truth as it exists in Heaven. This is the point of the Midrash: The act of creation required an admission that man could not exist, nor should he be expected to exist, according to the level of absolute, Divine Truth which exists in Heaven. When God flung Truth to the earth, He effectively relinquished control upon truth; moreover, here on earth, there is a different level of truth, which is as least partially based upon human understanding. Truth on earth - human truth - is based necessarily on human nature. It is created by the majority opinion of our scholars; it is born of their collective understanding of Divine Law. And when the scholars are mistaken in substance, when their conclusions are erroneous, we can take comfort in the knowledge that, had God expected man to always completely identify with truth as it exists in Heaven, man never would or could have been created.Kol Eliyahu commentary to Talmud Bavli Bava Metzia 59b.

John Kesler

See here for a Jewish perspective. The most likely explanation is that God is talking to members of the heavenly court. See 1 Kings 22:19-22; Isaiah 6:1-3; Job 1:6

spamandham

It seems to me that the simplest explanation is that this is the head god talking to all the other gods about making man contain a spark of divinity rather than just another animal.

Judaism clearly grew out of the polytheism of the region. It's absurd to postulate anything else.

HaRaAYaH

So sayeth you. Judaism may have grown out of a polytheistic culture, but that does not make your conclusion correct from a Jewish POV. Clearly Jewish tradition speaks of the angels or the heavenly court as indicated before.

spamandham

A 'jewish point of view' is irrelevant. We are discussing real history, not religious propaganda.