03. Part 2

Part 2
The God of Israel 1. Nathanael examines whether God has revealed himself in threefold nature. His name, Elohim (God). On opening my Bible, the very first sentence drew my mind forcibly into deep meditation. "In the beginning Elohim (He) created." I cannot make "He created," being in the singular, agree grammatically with "Elohim" in the plural. There must therefore be a logical agreement between the noun and the verb. Our later rabbis, having imbibed infidel notions, could give me no assistance. Even the rabbis of the twelfth century, as Aben Ezra, speak of God as speaking like modern kings. If our great master, Moses, of blessed memory, had known of such a use of the plural in reference to God, he would have put the verb also in the plural "they created." At any rate Elohim is a plural.

I went to R. Bechai (Genesis 1:1), and he explained to me the word Elohim in the following manner:

Elohim (אלהים) is compounded of two words, אל הם , i.e. These are God. The plural is expressed by the letter yod (י) as in Ecclesiastes 12:1 "Remember now thy Creator." The letter yod in "thy Creator" expresses the plural, and we should therefore translate "Thy Creators." He that is wise will understand it.

2. Nathanael’s irresistible desire for the knowledge of God.

Having received this valuable instruction, I felt a desire to search further into the mystery implied in the word Elohim. That Elohim is a plural, I cannot deny; and that there is only One God is a truth which approves itself to my mind; but it is my bounden duty to search after a right knowledge of the God of my fathers, in order to see the vast superiority of the God of Israel.

3. The Zohar teaches Nathanael the Mystery of the Trinity expressed by the word Elohim. In my anxiety of mind, I went to one of the Fathers, and sought instruction respecting the nature of God. R. Simeon ben Jochai gave me the following light on this subject, so profoundly interesting to us Israelites (Zohar, vol. iii., p. 65, Amsterdam Edition).

1. R. Eliezer sat before his father and said: "Since we have learned that Elohim expresses in every place the justice of God, how is it that wherever we meet Adonai Jehovah (Genesis 15:8), that Jehovah (Yud Hei Vav Hei - יהוה) is pronounced Elohim (אלהים), though the letters of the word Jehovah, express always the mercy of God?"*

* The Rabbi’s remarks on the connexion in which Elohim and Jehovah are always said to stand, is one with which we must not be supposed to coincide. His words, however, necessarily involve a belief in a Triune God.

2. He answered him: "It is written in the Scripture (Deuteronomy 4:39), ’Know therefore this day, and consider in thine heart, that the Lord (יהוה) He is Elohim (אלהים).’"

3. The other replied: "I know that sometimes justice can exist with mercy, and mercy with justice."

4. He said: "Come and see; it is thus. The name Jehovah (יהוה) certainly expresses mercy; but when mercy must be turned into justice, then the word written Lord (יהוה) is read Elohim (אלהים)."

5. "Eliezer’s father said to him: Come and see the mystery of the word Jehovah (יהוה): there are three steps, each existing by itself; nevertheless they are One, and so united that one cannot be separated from the other."

[JCR - We have found a copy of the Zohar online. The Hebrew in our book for #1 and #5 above is the same as the Hebrew at the Zohar online. Seeing the Hebrew of the Zohar online is exactly letter for letter with our book and the English translation is basically the same we are going to assume that all other instances of the Zohar within our book equally line up with the Zohar online. For those who need further verification for all the following quotes from the Zohar presented in this book, please see the online version.

1. Here is the Hebrew and English for #1 above from the online Zohar version:
Zohar Volume 15 Acharei Mot,
Section 25: Yod Hei Vav Hei with the vowelization of Elohim:

157. Rabbi Elazar was sitting before Rabbi Shimon, his father. He said to him: We have learned that THE NAME Elohim always denotes Judgment. The name Yud Hei Vav Hei is sometimes pronounced Elohim, MEANING WHEN IT IS WITH THE VOWELS OF ELOHIM, such as "Adonai Yud Hei Vav Hei" (Beresheet 15:8), PRONOUNCED WITH THE PUNCTUATION OF ELOHIM. HE QUESTIONS: Why pronounce it "Elohim" when its letters, NAMELY YUD HEI VAV HEI, always denote Mercy?

2. Here is the Hebrew and English for #5 above from the online Zohar version:

159. Come and analyze the secret of the matter. There are three degrees, yet each degree is independent even though they are one, connected into one and do not separate one from the other.] 4. Nathanael’s reflections.

It is clear to my mind that the unity of the three steps cannot mean certain attributes of God. Which three of the attributes should be meant by the three steps? Why only three instead of all? One attribute in the Godhead is as great as another. By these three steps must be understood three distinct and substantive beings in Elohim. This appears to have been the doctrine of my fathers, which R. Simeon ben Jochai and other ancient teachers have preserved in their esteemed writings (Zohar, vol. iii., p. 281, versa). The two and twenty letters (of the Hebrew alphabet) comprehend the three steps; the letter Kaph (כ) signifies the crown (our heavenly Father); and the letter Beth (ב) the understanding (the Son, because the Hebrew word for understanding—בינה/binah—has implied the two words the Son of God—בן יה/ben Yud Hei), and Jehovah includes both.

5. Corroboration of the truth stated in the former paragraph.

I find that I am not too bold in supposing that my Fathers considered that these three steps in Elohim are three substantive beings united in one; for R. Simeon ben Jochai explains himself saying (Zohar, vol. iii., p. 288, versa, Amsterdam Edition):

God is Light in His Trinity in Unity

Proverbs 4:18, "But the path of the just is as the shining light"; and on this account it is written, Isaiah 58:14, "Then thou shalt delight thyself in the Lord." Who is that Path, from which all paths derive their light, and upon which the lesser lights depend?

It is the Ancient One (Daniel 7:13), the cause of all causes (the primitive cause), that exalted Crown, through whom all diadems and crowns exist (the crown of crowns). Every thing that is light receives its light from Him, and is made to shine through Him, and He is the highest and hidden light, which cannot be known (compare 1 Timothy 6:16).

Daniel 7:13, I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
1 Timothy 6:16, Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. The Ancient Holy One is revealed (lit. found) with three Heads, which are united in One, and that Head is thrice exalted. The Ancient Holy one is described as being Three; it is because the other Lights* emanating from Him are included in the Three. Yet the Ancient One is described as being two (Daniel 7:13). The ancient One includes these two (i.e. the two are found in him). He is the Crown of all that is exalted; the Chief of the chief, so exalted, that He cannot be known to perfection. Thus the other lights (lit. Shining Ones) are two complete ones, yet is the Ancient Holy One described and complete as one, and He is one, positively one; thus are the other lights united and glorified in one; because they are one.

* That these lights are two, is plain from what follows, and that two lights are meant, will clearly be shewn in the following parts of this work.

I find also in the other celebrated work of R. Simeon ben Jochai (The Propositions of the Zohar, cap. xxxviii., p. 113, Amsterdam Edition) these words: The exalted Shechina comprehends the Three highest Sephiroth*; of Him (God) it is said (Psalms 62:12), "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this." Once and twice means the Three exalted Sephiroth, of whom it is said: Once, once, and once; that is, Three united in One. This is the mystery: God hath spoken, one, two,—I heard One (God).

* Though under the name Sephiroth ten attributes of God are sometimes understood, yet we shall see in the sequel, that Sephiroth oftentimes signify, as in the passage quoted above: 1. Jehovah, 2. our God, 3. Jehovah; the Three Heads in the Godhead.

6. The world has been created by the Three Substantive Beings (ג׳הויות) in the Unity of the Godhead (המיוחד) . A contemporary of R. Simeon ben Jochai speaks, if possible, still more plainly of Three distinct Beings, in the one undivided Godhead. R. Eliezer Hakkalir writes on Genesis 1:1 thus:

"When God created the world, He created it through the Three Sephiroth, namely, through Sepher, Sapher, and Vesaphur, by which the Three Beings are meant; because it is written in the history of the creation, Genesis 2:4, ’These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created (בהבראם).’ Our rabbis, of blessed memory, have expounded the letter ה in the word when they were created thus: through the letter ה He created; thus the world is created through the letter ה; because in this letter ה (signifying יהוה, Jehovah) are indicated the three Beings (הויות), and this is the secret of the law, when saying, ’in the beginning God created,’ etc.; and afterwards when it is said, ’In the day that the Lord God (Jehovah Elohim) made the earth and heavens.’ The Psalmist (peace be upon him) said, Psalms 33:6, ’By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the Spirit of His mouth.’" And again, says the same writer:

"The Rabbi, my Lord Teacher of blessed memory, explained Sepher, Sapher, and Sippur, to be synonymous to Ja, Jehovah, and God (Elohim), meaning to say, that the world was created by these three names."*

* The ancient Jewish teachers were anxious to avoid any expression which might imply any corporeal idea respecting the adorable Godhead: therefore they used this expression, Three Names; modern writers would say three Persons, without therefore attaching to it any corporeal idea; God is a Spirit. By Name, the Jewish writers mean very often God. The three names mean here the three Divine beings in God. Name is often used in the Holy Scriptures instead of Jehovah: Psalms 20:1, The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; Psalms 54:3 (Hebrew text); Proverbs 18:10, The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe; Isaiah 30:27, Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire. The most corroborating evidence of the ancient belief in the truth stated above, that the three Beings in the Unity of the Godhead, created the world, I read in The Book of the Creation:

"Ja, Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, the living God, the everlasting King, the merciful and gracious, the high and exalted One, inhabiting eternity, the heaven, holy is His name, created the world through Sepher, Sapher, and Sippur, (the three Beings in the Godhead)." The very same doctrine I find taught by R. Menachem, of Recanati, in his Commentary on Deuteronomy 10:17, "For the Lord your God, &c. I have oftentimes made thee to know, that there is not in the law (the Pentateuch) a single letter upon which great matters do not depend. Consider, he (Moses) mentions here first God’s especial name Jehovah, and then, the God of gods, and then the Lord of lords. So in Psalms 136:1-3: ’O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good’; then, ’O give thanks unto the God of gods’; and then, ’O give thanks unto the Lord of lords.’ He alludes with these three names of God to the Three first Beings in the Godhead. Of the first, he (David) says, verse 4, ’To Him who alone doeth great wonders.’ (According to the opinion of the Book of Creation.) Concerning the second Being, saith David, verse 5, ’To Him, who by Wisdom (Proverbs 8:1-36) made the heavens.’ Concerning the third Being, he saith, verse 6, ’To Him that stretched out the earth above the waters,’ &c. The God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible one. The God, that is, God the highest. With these three adjectives, great, mighty, and terrible, he alludes to the original Beings (lit. Fathers)."

7. Nathanael believes that there is but One God, but Threefold in nature.

It is the duty of every Israelite to make a daily confession of his faith in the mystery of the Trinity, and Unity in Trinity, when saying his prayers. This confession is not taken from human but divine writ, namely, from Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." In these words we hear first the singular Jehovah, then the plural Elohim, our God (strictly Gods), and then again the singular, Jehovah, concluding with One (Echad), meaning to say, "These Three substantive Beings are the One God."

I found, to my infinite joy, that this interpretation of this passage had been considered in the Jewish Church, long before the Christian era, the only true one.

Thus we read in Zohar (vol. ii., p. 43, versa, Amsterdam Edition),

1. The prescribed daily form of prayer (a confession of the Unity in the Godhead), has for its object, that thou shalt know and comprehend it.

2. We have said in many places, that this daily form of prayer is one of those passages concerning the Unity, which is taught in the Scriptures. In Deuteronomy 6:4, we read first Jehovah, then Elohim (our God), and again Jehovah which together make one Unity.

3. But how can three Names be one? Are they verily one, because we call them one? How three can be one can only be known through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, and, in fact, with closed eyes.*

* This refers literally to the custom, that when we say this prayer (Deuteronomy 6:4), "Hear, O Israel," we shut our eyes. The scholar will perceive, that the Rabbi means to say, that even with closed eyes (with a deficient understanding) we can know by revelation that "These Three are One in the Godhead."

4. This is also the mystery of the voice. The voice is heard only as one sound, yet it consists of three substances, fire, wind, and water, but all three are one, as indicated through the mystery of the voice.

5. Thus are (in this place, Deuteronomy 6:4) "The Lord, our God, the Lord," but One Unity, three Substantive Beings which are One; and this is indicated by the voice which a person uses in reading the words, "Hear, O Israel," thereby comprehending with the understanding (will) the most perfect Unity of Him who is infinite; because all three (Jehovah, Elohim, Jehovah) are read with one voice, which indicates a Trinity.

6. And this is the daily (confession of faith) of the Unity, which is revealed by the Holy Ghost in a mystery.

7. Although there are so many Persons* united in the Unity, yet each Person is a Verity (a true one); what the one does, that does the other.

* As above (#4) substances, also with the signification of "excellent ones," "mighty ones," as in the Targum, Ecclesiastes 5:7, "strong men."

8. Explanation of the preceding paragraph.

"What the one doeth, that doeth the other," which is evident from the Unity they form, as there cannot be any difference of will or purpose among them. The attributes of the one must be the attributes of the other, as is taught by R. Menachem, Recanati; his words are these: The reason why it is said: ’Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know, that the Lord He is God’ (Deuteronomy 4:35), is the desire that thou shouldest not separate the Inherent Ones, the three Persons united in the eternal, although the attributes are spoken of in the plural, yet whatever attributes are in the one are also in the other." (Here follows a quotation from the Zohar.) R. Menachem concludes: "These are secrets which are revealed only to those who are reaping upon the holy field, as it is written (Psalms 25:14), ’The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.’"

9. Nathanael remains in the company of R. Menachem, of Recanati, who unfolds to him the Mystery of the Trinity in the Unity, from Deuteronomy 6:4, as R. Simeon ben Jochai, in Section 7. That in this our daily confession of faith (Deuteronomy 6:4), the mystery of the threefold nature in the Unity of the Godhead is undeniably revealed, is clearly taught by another of our celebrated rabbis, R. Menachem, of Recanati, in his Commentary on the Pentateuch. His words are these:

"’Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.’ This verse is the root of our faith (religion), therefore Moses records it after the ten commandments. The reason (that there is said Jehovah, our God, and Jehovah) is, because the word Shema does not here signify Hear; but to gather together, to unite, as in 1 Samuel 15:4, ’Saul gathered together the people.’ The meaning implied is, The Inherent Ones (lit. Inplanted Ones) are so united together, one in the other without end, they being the exalted God. He mentions the three names mystically to indicate the three exalted original Ones (lit., Fathers)." This doctrine I find in all the Ancients; thus for brevity’s sake I shall only mention what the Book of Creation teaches:

"There are three original ones (lit., Fathers), and their generations (the Angels). Three there are, each exists by Himself (though they are one).

10. Nathanael ponders over the Mystery of the Creation of Man, and discovers the Mystery of the Trinity (רזאדשלושא) in the Unity, revealed therein.

I pondered much upon the mystery which hovers over the creation of the first of mankind, Adam and Eve.

I went to my only certain guide, the Word of God, and my spirit within became deeply engaged with these words (Genesis 1:26), "Let us make man in our image."

God evidently speaks here in the plural. To whom does He speak? No less then three times is the word us repeated in one verse. I find that all our modern rabbis, from the twelfth century downwards, have had no small perplexity about these words. Those who maintain that "let us make" is to be rendered in a passive sense, "there is made" (the Niphal), and that the words "in our image, after our likeness," are added by Moses, are, as Aben Ezra observes, "without sense." But it appears to me that also Rashi, Aben Ezra and the Yalkut Chadash (Nitsachon), could not have been in earnest, when they maintained that God, the Creator, took counsel with His creatures, the angels. I exclaim, with the prophet of old. "With whom took He counsel," "and who has instructed Him?" (Isaiah 40:14).

I felt very much pained in my mind that our modern teachers had fallen into such ignorance with respect to spiritual things, that R. Yitschak (Nitsachon), and even R. Abarbanel, teach, that in the passage mentioned above, the great Creator asked the earth to help to create man, and that He said to the earth, "Let us make man"; implying that the great God could bring forth the whole of the inferior creatures, but, for the creation of man, He needed the assistance of His creatures. Truly such teaching is, as Aben Ezra saith, "void of understanding."

I went with a wounded spirit to my ancient teacher, R. Simeon ben Jochai, and he gave me the following instruction (Zohar, Gen., p. 22, Amsterdam Edition):

1. And God said, "Let us make man." "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him" (Psalms 25:14).

After some sentences which we do not insert, we read:

2. He, i.e. R. Simeon, began and said: A certain king had a variety of buildings to be erected; and he had a master-builder, who, however, was not permitted to do anything without the king’s permission, as said (Proverbs 8:30), "Then I was by him as a master-builder."

3. The king is evidently the Wisdom in the heavens above, and the Middle-pillar is the king upon the earth.

4. Elohim is the master-builder above...and Elohim is the master-builder below, and this is the Shechinah upon the earth.

5. The buildings could only come through the Emanation from God (the Father).

6. The Father spake through the Word (Memra)...this and that be, and immediately it was; as it is written (Genesis 1:3), and He, Elohim, said, "Let there be light, and there was light."

7. The Lord of Creation commanded, and the master-builder did it. Thus the Emanation* of God created all things. He said, let there be a firmament, let there be light, and it was immediately.

* We shall in the sequel find that by the Emanation is meant the Memra, "the uncreated Word."

8. When God appeared in the world of the intelligences, which is the world of the separated ones (Angels), the master-builder said to the Lord of the buildings: "Let us make man after our image, after our likeness."

R. Simeon’s disciples were rejoiced at these words, and all of them said (Zohar, Gen., page 22, versa):

"Blessed is our favoured lot to hear words which have not been heard till now."

11. Nathanael meets another friend, whom he introduces into the number of his teachers.

Onwards, onwards run my mind, and clearer became my path in search of truth, the knowledge of God in His threefold nature and in His unity of essence, which I perceive is the great mystery, even that godliness which is not a dead external form and cold round of ceremonies, but light and life, affecting the inner man. I met, to my great joy, a very old and sincere friend, the Tikkune Zohar,* amongst my father’s books. My soul as well as my eyes became fixed on opening at this passage, "’Let us make man.’ To whom did the Highest say this? (Answer). The Highest said it to Jehovah."

* Written by the same person as the author of Zohar, R. Simeon ben Jochai.

I thanked my old friend for his kind instruction, and felt much encouraged to press forward in my search after the mystery of the Trinity in the Unity.

12. The Unity in the Trinity, and the Trinity in the Unity.

I have investigated those passages in Holy Writ, where we find God as the subject of the verb, in the plural number; but followed immediately by another passage, in which God is spoken of in the singular. This shews us that there is only One God, though there is a Trinity, and that the Trinity in Unity, and the Unity in the Trinity, is the God whom we worship. Our teachers, in ancient times, expressed this truth, when speaking of the "Three Steps, or Three Beings, or the Three Original Branches," that these Three are One, yet each exists of Himself; as the author of the Book of Creation expresses it, "There are Three, but each exists of Himself."

Thus we find (Genesis 1:26), "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness," God speaking in the plural; and then there follows a sentence in the singular (verse 27), "So God created man in His own image"; meaning to intimate that God, in whom are "Three Beings," is only One God. Again, in Genesis 11:5, Moses speaks of God in the singular, "And the Lord came down to see the city." In the 7th verse God Himself speaks in the plural, "Go to, let us go down, and we will confound their language."

13. Subject and predicate both in the plural.

If our teacher Moses, and our Prophets of blessed memory, had used the verb or the adjective attached to the name of Elohim (God) always in the singular, many objections might have been urged against this primitive doctrine, "The mystery of the Trinity in the Unity"; but there are not a few passages in the Holy Scriptures, in which the adjective or the verb, joined with Elohim is also in the plural. For example (Genesis 20:13), "And it came to pass, when Elohim (they) caused me to wander from my father’s house." Genesis 35:7, "Because there Elohim (they) appeared unto Him." Joshua 24:19, "Elohim holy Ones"; i.e. "He is a holy God." 2 Samuel 7:23, "And what one nation in the earth is like Thy people, even like Israel, whom Elohim (they) went to redeem for Himself, and to make Him a name," &c. Psalms 58:11, "Verily He is Elohim—(they are) judging in the earth." Isaiah 54:5, "Thy makers are thine husbands," i.e., "Thy maker is thine husband."

14. The key to the Mystery of the Trinity in Unity, and the Unity in Trinity.

I continued my search in the Zohar for the key of this great mystery, the threefold nature in the Unity of Elohim, and found the following passage (Gen., p. 15, versa, Amsterdam Edition):

Jehovah, Elohenoo (our God), Jehovah (Deuteronomy 6:4), are (i.e., denote) the Three Steps in the Godhead, by which we can comprehend the profound mystery implied in the words, "In the beginning Elohim (God), created," &c. (Genesis 1:1).

Thus my teacher, R. Simeon ben Jochai, instructed me (Zohar, vol. iii., p. 26), that these three steps in Elohim (God) are three Spirits, each existing of itself, yet united into One. His words are these:

"Thus are the three Spirits united in one. The Spirit which is downwards (that is, counting three), who is called the Holy Spirit; the Spirit which is the middle pillar, who is called the Spirit of Wisdom and of Understanding, also called the Spirit below.* The upper Spirit is hidden in secret; in Him are existing all the holy Spirits (the Holy Spirit and the middle-pillar), and all that is light" (lit., all faces giving light).

* In the original text there is a parenthesis: "But that Spirit which goes forth from the horn comprehends fire and water." The ram’s-horn, which is blown on new year’s day, represents the lamb, which God provided instead of Isaac (Genesis 22:13). The threefold sound with the ram’s-horn is an emblem of the threefold nature in the Unity of the Godhead.

15. Only in the Shechinah (שכינה), that is, in Him who is the brightness of the glory of God, the middle-pillar in the Godhead, can the Mystery of the Three in One, and the One in Three, be seen.

Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai, in his instruction about prayer, alluding to Song of Solomon 2:6, "His left hand is under my head, and His right hand does embrace me" says (Tikkune Zohar, p. 66, versa, ch. xviii., Amsterdam Edition):

"Come and see! Jehovah and Adonai (the Lord) and His Shechinah, are the Holy blessed One, and His Shechinah is between two lines: Jehovah to the right, and Adonai, the Lord, to the left; and they are a bright glass, but without the Shechinah it is a dark glass (lit., not giving light). In the righteous-One, the Shechinah, are Jehovah Adonai one." The same figurative language we find in Song of Solomon 2:6—the two arms, Jehovah to the right, and Adonai to the left.

"In the middle pillar, in the mysterious Amen,* are Jehovah and Adonai One Unity.**

* Lit., "In the mystery of Him who is The Truth." Isaiah 65:16, "That he who blesseth himself in the earth, shall bless himself in the God of Truth."

** By Adonai, the Lord, R. Simeon ben Jochai means the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh); whilst by Jehovah (Yud Hei Vav Hei), he means our heavenly Father. The Shechinah, commonly translated "the glory of God," means literally the dwelling, the presence of God, who dwelt in the Holy of Holiest in the Shechinah, called by my teacher, R. Simeon ben Jochai, in the above passage, "the Righteous One, the Amen" (the Truth), and the Middle-pillar. This passage is fully explained by Philo, the Jew, who flourished in the year 40 after Christ. He was a man of high authority amongst his nation. He was one of the three ambassadors sent to Caligula, to beg the removal of the Emperor’s statue out of the Holy of the Holiest. Philo, in his work, "The Migration of Abraham," has this remarkable passage, almost verbatim with the above: The Father of all things is in the middle, who in the sacred Scriptures is called by His proper name, He that is; but on each side are the powers (two in number), which are most ancient and nearest to Him; one of which is called the Creative the other the Royal Power. The Creative Power is God, for by it He has placed and set in order all things; and the Royal power is called Lord, for it is right that the Maker should govern and command that which is made. He, therefore, who is the middle, being attended by each of His powers presents to the intelligent mind the appearance sometimes of One, sometimes of three. (See also Philo’s work, "Sacrifice of Abel and Cain.")

16. Nathanael’s determination to investigate the revelation of each of the three self-existing Beings in the Trinity.

Since there are in the Unity of the Godhead three distinct subsistences, each being perfect in itself, each called Jehovah, yet only One God, it necessarily follows that a revelation of each of them must have been made. Without this, there could not have been any knowledge of their existence.

I must therefore investigate this point, and ascertain whether such revelations, such distinct subsistences have been vouchsafed.