In Genesis 1 we’re introduced to the Creator of the cosmos, “Elohim” (אֱלֹהִ֑ים). It’s well known that this Name is a bit of a “grammatical anomaly,” given it’s in the plural form yet uses verbs in the singular. Whereas our translated text would read, “God says,” the original Hebrew would read, “Gods says.” Although some speculate that this is simply the “plural of majesty” (i.e. using plural form to signify an important figure), there’s no evidence that the ancient Hebrews knew of this concept; and even if such evidence did exist, it would beg the question of why they believed ascribing plurality to something (especially their supposedly monadic God) was a sign of respect. It’s almost as if God’s “oneness” isn’t all there is to His being. 

Indeed, following Peter Leithart, I would posit that the reason why Genesis 1 introduces the Creator God as a plural subject is because the text genuinely reveals plurality/distinction within Him. And I would even go so far as to say that the text truly bears witness to the God, Word, and Spirit distinction that we see throughout the NT. To see this, we have to start by considering the divine Name in Genesis 1-2. As most are aware, while Genesis 2 refers to God as “Yahweh Elohim” (יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים), Genesis 1 simply refers to Him as “Elohim” (אֱלֹהִ֑ים). Leithart, however, has an interesting suggestion: Even though Genesis 1 never uses the word “Yahweh,” it nevertheless anticipates the Name’s revelation. 

As we know from Exodus 3:13-15, the Name of Israel’s God, Yahweh, is derived in some way from the Hebrew verb “to be” or “ha-yah” (הָיָה), which is a word that’s used very often in Genesis 1. “Ya-hi” (וַֽיְהִי), “h-yeh” (יִֽהְיֶ֖ה), “wha-yu” (וְהָי֤וּ), the text almost rhythmically chants before “Yah-weh” (יְהוָ֥ה) is finally revealed in Genesis 2:4. Significantly, “ha-yah” is used with consonants exclusive to the divine Name (i.e. with ו ,י, and ה) exactly 26 times in Genesis 1. This number, 26, is the gematria value for Yahweh. So in the text, the very verb from which the Name Yahweh is derived, is used the number of times that constitutes this Name’s numerical value (and as Casper Labuschagne demonstrates, 26 is used throughout the OT to signify the divine Name). Thus it seems very likely that Genesis 1’s usage of “ha-yah” is an intentional introduction to “Yah-weh.” 

This is given further significance when we consider that the word “ha-yah” is used within Elohim’s speech exactly 7 times during the creation week (Gen. 1:3, 1:6a, 1:6b, 1:14a, 1:14b, 1:15, and 1:29), which is a number that’s plastered all over Genesis 1. The implication being: “Yah-weh” is what Elohim/God says throughout the week to bring forth His creation. God’s speech, His Word, Yahweh, was truly the means by which Elohim made the world. This would explain why Genesis 2:4 then refers to God as “Yahweh Elohim,” because both of these figures are the Creator in Genesis 1. This, I would argue, is the logic behind St. John’s famous prologue: 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him. (Jn. 1:1-3)

So in the creation narrative we have Elohim, who is Yahweh (cf. Deut. 6:4), we have His Word, who is also Yahweh, and it seems we’re introduced to another character in Genesis 1:2, “the Spirit of Elohim” who was “hovering over the face of the waters.” The identification of this figure is often disputed because the word that gets translated as “Spirit” (וְר֣וּחַ) can also be translated as “breath” or “wind”; so there are some who think that it was simply the wind/breath of God that was blowing over the waters in Genesis 1:2, some kind of “force,” but not a personal Being. However, even though both interpretations are possible, I think only the latter is warranted from the text.

In Genesis 1:2, before we’re told that the Spirit was “hovering” (מְרַחֶ֖פֶת) over the waters, we see that the earth is “formless” (תֹ֙הוּ֙). This is significant because these two words are only used one other time in the whole Torah, and when they are, they just so happen to be together again. Deuteronomy 32:10-11 describes how Yahweh found Israel to be “formless” (וּבְתֹ֖הוּ) in the wilderness, which stirred Him to care for her just “like an eagle” that “hovers (יְרַחֵ֑ף) over its young.” Just as the Spirit hovered over the formless earth, so did Yahweh hover over formless Israel. Given the Torah begins and ends with this parallel language, it’s clear that “the Spirit of Elohim” from Genesis 1:2 is Yahweh. The Spirit is truly “Yahweh of Elohim,” true God of true God. So already in Genesis 1, we’re not simply given an Elohim/God who’s plural in some abstract sense, but specifically a God who eternally exists with His Word and Spirit. 

With all of this in mind, it should come as no surprise that God’s plurality finds its most concrete expression when He creates an image of Himself:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)

When creating man in His image, the Lord explicitly invokes His own inner plurality that we’ve seen throughout Genesis 1. Although some would like this to be a reference to the divine council of angelic beings, this simply doesn’t work because “our image” is directly identified as “the image of God,” and not the image of any angels. However what’s even more significant is that, as Labuschagne points out, the Torah contains exactly eleven “divine monologues,” of which this is the first; and the sixth of these monologues (the center) is when the Lord speaks “to Himself” or “in His heart” (Gen. 8:21). This tells us with little doubt that “let us make man in our image” was something God also said to Himself, thus truly revealing His inner plurality. 

This indeed makes the most sense of why man is created the way he is. The unity (image of God) and plurality (our image) of God is invoked during the creation of man because he is also a unity in plurality. Mankind is referred to as a single “man,” a single “image,” yet he exists as “male and female,” which is why the Lord refers to mankind as both “him” and “them.” The image of God, the thing in creation that’s supposed to look like Him, is a communion of distinct persons who come together as “one flesh” to produce life. This is precisely what the divine Persons have been doing throughout Genesis 1, and so it’s no surprise that Their image is called to nothing less.