Here’s an example. When Adam and Eve came together, they became “one flesh.” The equation for this would be 1+1=1. That may be bad math, but it demonstrates how aplurality can form a unity. We can go a little deeper and And see how the Hebrew the Bible was used to make this point.
God the Singular – Echad The Hebrewword for “one” is —‘echad— while the Hebrew word for“sole” or “unique” is —yachiyd. Going back to Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:24, ‘echad is used in the term “one flesh.” ‘Echadallows Adam to be distinguished from Eve while they are spoken of as“one.”
Their unity is being emphasized according to the grammar, the very linguistic structure of the words. In the Sh’ma itself, the word for “one” is ‘echad. “Hear, OIsrael, the LORD our God is one [‘echad] LORD, and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy might.” Jesus even quotes this passage in Matthew 22 when He is asked about the greatest commandment.
This whole concept of being one, or unique, is emphasized by God Himself repeatedly in about 150 references, including the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.” Here's a few to consider a few:
And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. Zechariah 14:9
Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. Nehemiah 9:6
In Isaiah, we find an unusual letter that God drafted to Cyrus—by name—over a century before this great Persian king was born. Long before the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, God tells Cyrus that he will rebuild Jerusalem and lay the foundations for the Temple (Isaiah 44:28). When Cyrus the Great ultimately does read the prophecy after he conquers Babylon, he takes it seriously, and he turns the Jews loose to go home, as described in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 and Ezra 1.
As part of Isaiah’s letter to Cyrus (again, written more than a century before this Persian king’s birth) God makes some major assertions about His own nature and character, beginning with verse five: “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:5-6
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Isaiah 45:22
These are just a few of many passages that emphasize that God is One, unique, singular and very jealous of that position. In fact, in the middle of the Ten Commandments, He says, “I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God.” He uses that term, maybe in a very special way, but He uses the term “jealous.” God the Plurality – Elohim God emphasizes His unique character in the Universe, His role as the only LORD, the only Creator. This emphasis does not, however, exclude a plurality within that unity.
The Scriptures are full of implications that the One God is more than one Person, beginning with the very first verse of the Bible.
