The US in Genesis 1.26-27
Who's the "us" in Genesis 1:26-27? Who was God speaking to?
I'm sure I know of no satisfactory explanation for the "us". It's
more a case that some explanations are less likely than others. Some
scholars have taken the view that it's a polytheistic version of the
creation story that was taken and made part of the Genesis narrative. Of
course Genesis 1 is explicitly concerned to expose polytheism ,
especially Egyptian polytheism that Israel had so recently seen shamed
and exposed in the plagues. So it hardly makes sense that someone made
use of a polytheistic snippet to write his narrative.
Early
Jewish interpretation took it that God was speaking to his heavenly
court (compare Job 1:6 and 2:1 and perhaps, Isaiah 6:8), the angelic
beings.
I tend to agree with that view
and see it as God preparing to create his "masterpiece" and saying to
the enthralled angelic watchers as a man might say to his children who
were watching him build something (compare Job 38:4-7), "Now, let's put
the finishing touch on it."
I've said he says to
the angelic watchers but it would probably be more accurate to say that
he says it "in the presence" of the heavenly court. It would probably
be more that he is speaking to himself. Not in any formal manner! But
sort of murmuring to himself, "Now..." This might ease the little
difficulty of the "our" image phrase.
Since
there is no development of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit or Satan or
the resurrection, and such, in the OT I wouldn't expect a development of
the plural unity of God, though there are hints of it (compare Psalm
110:1 and Jesus' use of it). So I wouldn't be prepared to rule out the
plural unity of the Godhead.