Isaiah 44:6 – The King And Redeemer Of Israel

{Isaiah 44:6} This is what Jehovah, the King of Israel and his Redeemer -- Jehovah of Hosts -- says: "I am the first, and I am the last; and aside from me there is no ELOHIM. -- Restoration Light Improved.

One trinitarian states: “The prophet Isaiah speaks of two Persons as Jehovah. We read: ‘Thus saith Jehovah, the King of lsrael, and His Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last, and besides Me there is no God’ (Is. 44:6). Jehovah is here revealed as (1) ‘the King of Israel,’ and as (2) ‘His Redeemer.’ Both of them bear the name Jehovah.” Another tell us that in Isaiah 44:6, “two YAHWEHS speak as one.” Another states concerning Isaiah 44:6: “In this passage of the Old Testament, two Jehovahs are mentioned, indicating two divine beings with one name Jehovah.” 

On one site we read:

There are two Jehovahs in Isaiah 44:6 “Thus saith the LORD [Jehovah] the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD [Jehovah] of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” The first named Jehovah in this verse would be our heavenly Father and the second one would be Jesus, for in Revelation 1:11 and 17, Jesus said, “I am the first, and I am the last” (See also John 10:30). 

The name "Jehovah' appears twice in Isaiah 44:6, and only in that sense could be said that there are two "Jehovahs" in Isaiah 44:6. Any other thought that there are two Jehovahs in Isaiah 44:6 actually contradicts Deuteronomy 6:4, which declares the God of Israel to be "one" Jehovah, not two Jehovahs. (See our study:  As far as the trinity is concerned the idea has to be first assumed that Jehovah is more than one person, and then it has to further imagined, assumed and added and read into Isaiah 44:6 that two of imagined persons of Jehovah are being spoken of here, and it has to imagined, assumed, added to and readinto Isaiah 44:6 that "Jehovah" the King of Israel in one of persons of Jehovah further imagined and assumed to be the God and Father of Jesus (Ephesians 1:3), while it is imagined, assumed, added to and read into Isaiah 44:6 that Jehovah the redeemer of Israel is another person of Jehovah. See also links to studies related Detueronomy 6:4. Regarding Revelation 1:11 and 17, see our studies related to Alpha and Omega.

On another site, we find regarding Isaiah 44:6:

This passage clearly indicates two Jehovahs but it is followed by a declaration that must include both of them and yet is stated with the singular pronouns "I and me."

Again, the idea of "two Jehovahs" is presented, which, in reality contradicts Deuteronomy 6:4. Since the one person who is the "King" of Israel is also Israel's redeemer, He definitely should refer to Himself as "I and me". 

We read on another site regarding Isaiah 44:6

Clearly, two Jehovahs are mentioned in this verse. How can we reconcile this passage with the clear teaching that there is only one God? The only possible way is to understand that God is a plurality in unity.

That which is claimed to be clearly mentioned actually has to be assumed, added to, and read into this verse so as to claim that there is one Jehovah speaking, who is the King of Israel, and there is another Jehovah who is Israel's redeemer (evidently with the thought that "redeemer" refers to Jesus), who is also called Jehovah of hosts, and that this in some vague manner supposedly proves a plurality of persons in the trinitarian idea of Godhead. Is this really what Isaiah is saying? Is he speaking of two Jehovahs in this verse, one who is the King of Israel, and another who is Israel’s redeemer?

We should reiterate that the thought of two Jehovahs has to be read into the text. Jehovah is referred as one person who is both the King and the Redeemer of Israel. Deuteronomy 6:4 plainly tells us that Jehovah is only one Jehovah, he is not two or three. There is nothing in Isaiah 44:6 about two persons and certainly nothing about a plurality of persons in one God. Nor is there any scriptural reason at all to imagine and assume that "the only possible way to understand" this verse is "that God is a plurality in unity." The verse is easily understood without creating a lot of assumptions and adding those assumptions to what is stated, so as to imagine and assumed that two different persons of Jehovah are being referred to.

We would say, however, that most trinitarian scholars do not read this verse as meaning two Jehovahs. (See Bible Hub's comments from various trinitarian scholars) Some renderings make this clearer (Remember that God's Holy Name, often rendered in English as Jehovah,  has been changed to “the LORD”.:

This is what the LORD, Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty, says: I am the First and the Last; there is no other God. — New Living Translation

The Lord, who rules and protects Israel, the Lord Almighty, has this to say: “I am the first, the last, the only God; there is no other god but me. — Good News in Today’s English

The Lord, the king of Israel, is the Lord All-Powerful, who saves Israel. — New Century Version

The LORD is Israel’s king and defender. He is the LORD of Armies. — God’s Word Translation

The Lord, the King of Israel, even the Lord of armies who has taken up his cause. — Bible in Basic English

Jehovah also says in this scripture: “I am the first and I am the last.” Jehovah, of course, is the first and last of all who are uncreated. He is first to never have had a beginning, and the last to never have had a beginning. There will never be another who will be uncreated. Jehovah is also the first and last in Might [ELOHIM], since he is the source of all might. There was no Might or power formed before him (since he has always been) and there will be no Might formed after him (since he will always be). (Isaiah 43:10) Of course, none of the idol so-called "gods" formed by the hands of men can claim to be the first and last as does Jehovah, as they cannot even think, and have no power at all. Nor can any of these idols claim to be the Mighty One Innate as does Jehovah: “besides me there is no God [ELOHIM, meaning Might, Power, Strength].” — Isaiah 44:8-20.

See our studies related to Alpha and Omega.

See also our study on:

The Hebraic Usage of the Titles for God

Thus we find that there is nothing in Isaiah 44:6 that actually supports the idea of a plurality of persons in the one Jehovah. Indeed, one does have to think beyond what written (1 Corinthians 4:6),  formulate many assumptions, and then read those assumptions into what is stated, in order to force the triune God concept into what is stated. The most natural reading, in harmony with the entire testimony of the Bible, is that Isaiah speaks of Jehovah as both the  king and redeemer of Israel, not that there are two Jehovahs being spoken of in this verse.

See also:

The Meaning of Echad
One God, One Lord

One argues that we are misrepresenting the trinity doctrine by claiming that trinitarians believe in “two Jehovahs”. In fact, we are only repeating what trinitarians themselves have said, and it is the trinitarians who speak of “two Yahwehs”, or “two Jehovahs”, in Isaiah 44:6 and other verses.  We gave links to our sources of trinitarians who said such. To further verify this, all one needs to do is search with Google for “two Yahwehs”, “two Jehovahs”, “two YHWHs”, etc., and one can find many statements by trinitarians. Of course, we realize that the idea of "two Jehovahs" actually goes against man's forumlated doctrine of the trinity, which, in effect, claims that there is one Jehovah who three persons. At the same time, many trinitarian apologists will refer to "two Jehovahs" or "two Yahwehs", etc., without realizing that such actually contradicts the doctrine they claim to be defending.

Furthermore, although we are sure that trinitarian apologists don't mean to say such, in reality saying that there are two Jehovahs would actually be the same as saying that there are "two Gods", but most trinitarians would not say that there two "Gods".  For instance, in John 1:1, we do not find the trinitarian referring the two appearances of the word "God" as being "two Gods", although they claim that that it is speaking of two persons who are the one God.  Yet, it is many of these same trinitarians who not seem to see the self-contradiction in saying that there are "two Jehovahs."
For links to some of our Studies Regarding John 1:1

While the word "Jehovah" does appear twice in this scripture, and several other scriptures many trinitarians cite as speaking of "two Jehovahs", the trinitarian usually doesn't simply speak of it as the word "Jehovah" appearing twice, but as there being "two Jehovahs."

Of course, by "two Jehovahs" the trinitarian evidently does mean two persons of the one Jehovah, but then, that idea is no where even once presented anywhere in the Bible; it is certainly not presented in Isaiah 44:6.

The reality, however, is that there is nothing in Isaiah 44:6 that says that Jesus is Jehovah, or that Jehovah is more than one person, etc. Such ideas do have to be added to the what is stated and read into what is stated.

Ronald R. Day, Sr., Restoration Light Bible Study Services (ResLight, RlBible), Updated, 10/11/2018; 12/22/2020; Updated 07/07/2022.

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