19. Who is Us? Part 1 "Let us make mankind in our image, after our likeness." — Genesis 1:26 The Majestic View: held to be false by both Jews and Christians Some claim the "us" in Gen 1:26 is the royal "us" or majestic plural, which is when a plural (we, us, our) is used to refer to a single person who is a monarch. (This is similar to the editorial "we," such as when a small business run by one person says, "You can reach us at..." or "Our hours of operation are....") Yet the royal "us" is not used in ancient times, as both Jewish and Christians scholars note: "Such a pluralis excellentiae was, however, a thing unknown to Moses and the prophets. Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, David, and all the other kings, throughout TeNaKh (the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa) speak in the singular, and not as modern kings in the plural." —Rabbi Tzvi Nassi, Lecturer in Hebrew at Oxford University1 1 "This fir...
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