The Plural Pronouns of Genesis

Of the discrepancies within the Torah, the use of plural pronouns by God to imply the presence of unnamed entities (during pivotal narrative moments) is perplexing. Though textual evidence either providing or explaining examples was located in Exodus, Judges, Numbers, Chronicles, and Isaiah, this argument will focus exclusively on the book of Genesis. To whom is the Lord speaking when the words “us” and “our” are used? Were heavenly beings created before man but not listed in the first two chapters of Genesis? Per Alter’s text, other non-human entities do exist and visit the earth.

The first example occurs in the first creation story, And God said, “Let us make a human in our image, by our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Once mankind has been created and has eaten of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, God again speaks to an unknown audience in Genesis 3:23, “Now that the human has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he may reach out and take as well from the tree of life and live forever.” A third example of cryptic dangling modifiers occurs during the Tower of Babel story as God reacts to the ambition of Noah’s descendants, “Come, let us go down and baffle their language” (Gen. 11:7). To whom is the Lord speaking?

The identity of God’s unnamed companions may be found in chapter 18; two angels accompany God to Abraham’s dwelling prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The first occurrence of the word angel (mal’akh) as a divine emissary of the Lord occurs in Genesis 16:7. Hagar has fled from her mistress, “And the Lord’s messenger found her by a spring of water in the wilderness.” Reiterating the entity’s identity and authority, the description “Lord’s messenger” is repeated in verses 7, 9, 10, and 11. Hagar is spoken to again after being exiled, “And God heard the voice of the lad and God’s messenger called from the heavens” (Gen. 21:17). In a nearly identical address, the sacrifice of Isaac is prevented by divine intervention, “And the Lord’s messenger called out to him from the heavens and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” (Gen. 22:11). Only a few verses later, the text again repeats the title of the divine emissary, “And the Lord’s messenger called out to Abraham once again from the heavens” (Gen. 22:15).

Yet, angels and messengers are not the only spiritual beings in Genesis, and one must go back to Eden for understanding. The decision to exile Adam and Eve is based not just on disobedience, but on humankind’s ability to “become like one of us, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:23). This implies that other heavenly beings existed and had God’s permission to eat the tree’s fruit. They therefore had free will and moral choice, which explains why “the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were comely, and they took themselves wives howsoever they chose” (Gen. 6:2). Interestingly, the JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh translates “sons of God” as “divine beings.” Consequently, another non-human species is introduced; “The Nephilim were then on earth, and afterward as well, the sons of God having come to bed with the daughters of man who bore them children (Gen. 6:4). Further, as Adam and Eve are being exiled from the garden, “cherubim” wielding fiery swords are placed as guards (Gen. 28:24). Therefore, angels, the Lord’s messengers, the sons of God, divine beings, and / or cherubim may be the audience to whom God is speaking when the plural pronouns “us” and “our” are found in Genesis.