tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Apr 20 07:05:41 1995
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: KBTP: "Tetragrammaton"
- From: "Mark E. Shoulson" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KBTP: "Tetragrammaton"
- Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 10:05:39 -0400
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]> (message from Kevin Doerr on Tue, 18 Apr 1995 15:02:45 -0400)
>Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 15:02:45 -0400
>Originator: [email protected]
>From: Kevin Doerr <[email protected]>
>On Tue, 18 Apr 1995, Mark E. Shoulson wrote:
>The reason why "adonay" and "elohim" are plural is because Jews believe
>in one God that has different "personalities" (much like the Trinity in
>Christianity). That is why in the book of Genesis they use plural
>pronouns (ie. we, us) to translate from Hebrew to English when God is
>talking about himself.
That only happens once, I think, in the famous "Let us make Man" line. The
Rabbis interpret that as God addressing the angels, since the creation of
humanity is so momentous and to teach humility that even God seeks advice,
not that God is plural. The idea of things resembling the trinity really
dioesn't fit in that well with the rest of Judaism. Then again,
occasionally in Rabbinic texts God's various attributes (Mercy, Justice,
etc) are treated as though they were very separate aspects.
~mark
I think we'd better take this offline.