Psalms 33:6 - By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. -- American Standard Version.
It is being claimed that all three persons of the alleged "Holy Trinity" are spoken of in Psalm 33:6. The claim is "Lord = Father; word = Son; breath = Spirit."
We should note that there is no form of any Hebrew word that means "Lord" in this verse. What most translations do is change God's Holy Name to "the Lord" in this and most verses of the Bible. The American Standard Version more properly renders God's Holy Name by the English form of "Jehovah".
Oddly, however, by making "Lord = Father", this would mean that Jehovah is presented as being only one person, not three persons. Of course, the trinitarian will imagine, assume, add to, and read into the scripture that Jehovah in the Old Testament can refer to the Father alone, and then further imagine, assume, add to, and read into the scripture what this actually means is the Jehovah's breath is also Jehovah and Jehovah's word is also Jehovah, and then they would further imagine and assume Jehovah's word is a person of Jehovah and that Jehovah's breath is a person of Jehovah, making Jehovah appear to be three persons.
The Hebrew word that is rendered as "breath" is a form of the same word that means "spirit". The word does not always, however, refer to God's Holy Spirit. Ellicott tells us:
The breath of his mouth. — This is plainly only a synonym for word. (Comp. Isaiah 11:4, where “breath of his lips” is used for the Divine sentence of judgment upon the heathen.)
From the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, we read:
The breath of his mouth is synonymous with the word of the Lord: together they represent and God said in Genesis 1:3 ff. The parallelism and the addition of his mouth seem to exclude a reference to the spirit of God in Genesis 1:2, though the word in the original is the same.
In Psalm 33:6 we cannot be certain that "word" is referring to the Logos of John 1; Revelation 19:13. One could imagine and assume this to be so, but then one would have to further imagine and assume that the "word" of Jehovah is, in fact, Jehovah, and further imagine and assume that "word" in this verse is a person of the imagined and assumed triune God. Likewise, with Jehovah's breath; one would have to imagine and assume that Jehovah's breath here is referring to Jand then further imagine and assume the Jehovah's breath is Jehovah, and further imagine and assume that Jehovah's breath is a person of Jehovah, etc.
Psalm 33:6 is evidently speaking of the creative works of Genesis 1:1-2:1. God (ELOHIM) throughout Genesis 1 is presented as being only one person, as can be seen by its usage in Genesis 1:2. In Genesis 1:2, God's spirit is presented as belonging to the one person who is ELOHIM. We believe that this one person is the same one ELOHIM who is the God of the Messiah as spoken of in Micah 5:4; We believe the LOGOS of John 1:3,10 is the one whom ELOHIM speaks to Genesis 1:26. Thus, we do find that Jehovah, and Jehovah's spirit, and Jehovah's Logos are all referred to in Genesis 1. This does not mean that we need to imagine, assume, add to, and read into the Bible that Jehovah is more than one person, etc.
If the form of the word transliterated as “dabar” (word) refers to Jesus, we know that Jehovah did use his Son in the creation of the skies over the planet earth, and that in doing so, he also used His Spirit, which is likened to His mouth. Whatever God does through agencies is as truly His work as though he were the direct Actor, since all those agencies are of his creation; just as a contractor for a building is said to build a house, though he may never have lifted a tool towards it. He does it with his materials and through his agents. Often in the scriptures, we read of various servants of God who performed great acts on behalf of God. Nevertheless, at the same time the scriptures may refer to these acts as being performed by Yahweh (Jehovah) himself. (A few examples: Exodus 3:8,10,12; 12:17,51; 18:10; Numbers 16:28; Deuteronomy 32:12; Judges 2:6,18; 3:9,10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:24,25; 14:6,19; 15:14,18; 16:20,28-30, 2 Kings 4:27; Isaiah 43:11, 45:1-6) Thus, when we read that Yahweh (Jehovah) — God — created the heavens and the earth, (Genesis 2:4.) we are not to suppose that he personally handled it. Creation did not spring instantly into order; for we read that time was used–six days or epochs. (Genesis 1:3-31; Exodus 20:11; 31:17) We are told plainly that all things are of or from the Father. (1 Corinthians 8:6) God certainly made use of his spirit -- his energy; yet that energy was channeled through his firstborn Son. The Son of God, afterward called Jesus, was used in the creation of the world of mankind. (John 1:3,10; Hebrews 1:8-12.) Additionally, when we turn to Genesis, we find it stated that the power which created was God’s Spirit –“The Spirit of God brooded over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2.) Hence the only reasonable inference is, that it was the spirit, energy, will, of Jehovah, working through His Son, executed by means of the Son. Assuming that Jehovah’s son and His Holy Spirit are being referred to in Psalm 33:6, this still does not give any reason to further assume that God’s Son is God Himself, and that God’s Spirit is a person of Himself, etc.
However, if the word “ruwach” refers to “breath”, this would mean that the Psalmist is speaking figuratively; indeed, the use of the word “mouth” would lend to this understanding. In other words, by saying “breath of his mouth”, we should not think that Jehovah actually "breathes", or that he actually has a physical mouth, but rather the Psalmist provides a figurative illustration of God’s making all things in the skies by means of his command. While God’s spirit could be figuratively referring to His Holy Spirit as His “mouth” (Deuteronomy 8:3; 1 Kings 8:24; 2 Chronicles 6:4; 36:12,21; Ezra 1:1; Isaiah 1:20; 40:5; 45:23; 48:3; 58:14; 62:2; Jeremiah 9:12,20; Ezekiel 33:7; Micah 4:4; Matthew 4:4; Mark 12:36; Acts 1:17; 28:25; Hebrews 3:7; 9:8; 10:15,16; 2 Peter 1:21), the usage in Psalm 33:6 does not seem to be referring to such. “For He spoke, and it was done ; He commanded, and it stood fast.” — Psalm 33:9.
The emphasis in the verse is certainly not about any trinity of persons, but rather that all this creation are works of Jehovah, not of man, “For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm.” (Psalm 33:9) Indeed, “Jehovah brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect,” whereas “The counsel of Jehovah stands fast forever, The thoughts of his heart to all generations.” — Psalm 33:10,11.
-- Rondld R. Day, Sr.
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