Proposition # 4: The Hebrew word most often used for God is elohim which is a plural noun, thus denoting the plurality in the Godhead. Also, God [elohim] used plural first-person pronouns as in Genesis 1:26, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”
Response: Again, the language in which this was originally written was the native tongue of the Jews, yet they have not felt compelled by the use of the plural noun or pronoun to believe in a triune God. It is true that in a few verses the first-person plural pronoun is used, but this only indicates that God is talking to someone; it does not identify whom. In the vast majority of verses the first-person singular pronoun is used, even though its antecedent is plural! This is a significant grammatical anomaly.
To whom might God be talking at Genesis 1:26? Let’s note what two trinitarian commentators have to say about this verse. F.F. Bruce’s International Bible Commentary says:
…there is an act of God to which He draws attention: Let us make man (26). Leupold still argues for the traditional Christian view that the plural refers to the Trinity. This should not be completely rejected, but in its setting it does not carry conviction. The rabbinic interpretation that God is speaking to the angels is more attractive, for man’s creation affects them (Ps. 8:5; 1 C. 6:3), cf. Job 38:7. But there is no suggestion of angelic cooperation. Probably the plural is intended above all to draw attention to the importance and solemnity of God’s decision.
The Wycliffe Bible Commentary says:
26. Let us make man. The supreme moment of creation arrived as God created man. The narrative presents God as calling on the heavenly court, or the other two members of the Trinity, to center all attention on this event. Some commentators, however, interpret the plural as a ‘plural of majesty,’ indicating dignity and greatness. The plural form of the word for God, Elohim, can be explained in somewhat the same way. The LORD is represented as giving unusual deliberation to a matter fraught with much significance.
Of course, these trinitarian commentators do not reject the trinitarian view of this pronoun usage. But they do show alternative views, and the trinitarian view is presented as secondary, or even tertiary. And, as the Wycliffe Bible Commentary indicates, when used for the singular, elohim, the plural for God, expresses dignity and majesty.
Notice that after saying, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness,” verse 27 says, “So God [elohim] created man in His [not ‘Their’] own image, in the image of God He [not ‘They’] created him; male and female He [not ‘They’] created them.” Notice, too, that Isaiah 45:5 reads, “I am Yahweh, and there is none else, there is no God [elohim (plural noun)] besides Me [singular pronoun].” This is one verse where the use of the plural pronoun [“Us”] should be expected if such were meant to have theological ramifications.