In our investigation thus far we have seen that Moses and the prophets were Trinitarians. They believed in the three divine personalities who subsist in the one divine essence. This conclusion is inescapable--for the one who is willing to take the Holy Scriptures at their face value.

The ancient synagogue, as the heading of this section indicates, believed in אֲדֹנָי יֱהוָה, the Lord Jehovah, דְבַר־יְהוָה, the Word of Jehovah, and רוּחַ קֹדֶשׁ, the Holy Spirit. This fact is reflected in the Targums, the recognized Aramaic translations of the Hebrew text of the Scriptures. The two principal Targums are those of Onkelos on the Pentateuch and of Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the prophets, although there are others of various sections of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Scholars are disagreed as to the dates of these translations. Some try to place them after the Talmudic Period--after the third century of the current era. Certain ones tell us that they did not assume the present form in which they appear until the Middle Ages. Most of the arguments for assigning a late date to them are purely subjective. Reasoning from silence figures largely in the determination of these late dates. As is well known, this type of argument is very fallacious and cannot with confidence be relied upon.

What do the historical facts indicate? We know that up to the time of the Babylonian captivity the Jews spoke their native tongue, the Hebrew. When, however, they were deported to Babylon, they adopted the language of their conquerors--the Chaldean, or Aramaic--which from that time until the second or third century of the present era was the lingua franca of all southwestern Asia, including Palestine. Certain portions of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel are in Aramaic. For this reason these books were not translated into Aramaic. This is just what one, who knows the historical facts, would expect. That the Jews were speaking this language is evident from the Aramaic documents that have been recovered from the Elephantine district of Upper Egypt in which a large Jewish population flourished during the Persian Period. Aramaic was the language of this section of the world throughout the Persian and Greek periods. After the conquests of Alexander, the Greek language began to supplant the Aramaic. In the first century of the present era, Palestine was a bi-lingual country, the two tongues being Aramaic and Greek.

We see the first indications of the Targums, or translations of the original into the Aramaic, in Nehemiah 8:8: "And they read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading." An examination of this context shows that the sacred historian was recording the reading of the law to the returned exiles in Jerusalem after Nehemiah had arrived from the Persian capital. The people in daily life were no longer speaking the Hebrew but the Aramaic. Nevertheless in the services of the synagogue the Hebrew was used. Those who were reading the Word of God on this occasion naturally, since it was in their mother tongue, the Hebrew language, and doubtless many others of the older generation, understood the reading; but the younger generation, which arose during the Exile, spoke and understood only the Aramaic. For them it was therefore necessary that that which was read in the original should be translated into the tongue spoken by the masses. From this early beginning we can get an intimation of the character of the translation; namely, that it was a kind of paraphrase or explanation of the original.

The synagogue arose in the time of the Exile, became an authorized institution in Jewry, and has remained so until this day. At religious services the original was read; but during the time when the Aramaic was spoken by the great masses, a translation had to be made immediately for the benefit of the hearers. According to the rules, which were based upon custom, a verse from the law was read and was immediately rendered into Aramaic; but three verses of the prophets were read and then were rendered into the current language. These translations made in the synagogue were of course oral at first and doubtless from usage became stereotyped, more or less. In the course of time they were put into the permanent form of writing. Whether or not Onkelos was the one who translated the Targum of the Pentateuch, one cannot say positively. Neither can one be dogmatic with reference to Jonathan Ben Uzziel and his being the author of the Palestinian Targum. The authorship of these translations is not a vital question in this investigation. Only the time, or an approximation of it, is in this connection vital.

After the Greek had supplanted the Aramaic as the language of the people in general, there would be no occasion for the rise of these Aramaic Targums. Since the Greek had largely supplanted the Aramaic in popular usage no later than the second century of the present era, we are logical in concluding that these Targums were made and were in current use in the synagogues before or by the close of the second century of our era. It is quite likely that the same reason which led to the codification of the Talmud was the cause for committing the Targums to the permanent form of writing. The Jewish state had been destroyed, and Israel had been scattered to the four winds. This new situation demanded the reduction of both the traditional laws and the Aramaic translation of the Scriptures to be crystalized in writing. With confidence therefore we may believe that the Targums in their present form--with very few exceptions--date back before or at least to the first and second century of the present era. Upon this hypothesis we may conclude that these Targums reflect the ideas and the theological conceptions of the Synagogue in the centuries immediately preceding the present era. We may with confidence, then, come to the Targums and see reflected therein quite accurately the teachings of the great masters in Israel. Especially can we draw this conclusion with regard to the two Targums about which we have been studying, since they are the ones that appear along with the Hebrew text in Bibles edited by the rabbis. This fact gives official sanction, in a general way at least, to these Targums. With these indisputable facts in mind, let us now turn to them to see what we can learn concerning the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

We shall begin with Genesis 19:24 which reads in the American Revised Version as follows: "Then יְהוָה, Jehovah, rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from יְהוָה, Jehovah, out of heaven. . . ." Jonathan Ben Uzziel renders the original text of this passage as follows: "And the Word of the Lord caused to descend upon the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from the Lord from heaven." Here we see that the Jehovah who was upon earth and who caused the fire to come down out of heaven from Jehovah is called "the Word of Jehovah." The translator then used the term, the Word of Jehovah, in referring to the one in the sacred text called Jehovah. Thus one of the personalities of the one true God of whom we have been reading and studying in the Scriptures is here by the translator designated as the Word of Jehovah.

In Genesis 1:27 we read: "And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him. ..." This same Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel renders the verse thus: "And the Word of Jehovah created man in his likeness, in the likeness of Jehovah, Jehovah created, male and female created he them." Here we see that our translator calls one of the divine personalities by the designation of "the Word of Jehovah."

This same Jerusalem Targum or paraphrase renders Exodus 3:14 as follows: "And the Word of the Lord [Jehovah] said unto Moses: I am he who said unto the world, Be! And it was: And who in the future shall say to it, Be! and it shall be. And he said: Thus thou shalt say to the children of Israel: I AM hath sent me unto you." Here again the one who is called the "angel of Jehovah" and also Jehovah himself, who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, is called in this translation "the Word of Jehovah." Here, as in the passages just mentioned, one of the divine personalities is called the Word of Jehovah.

Once again we see another illustration of this interpretation in the case of the patriarch Jacob. Onkelos in his paraphrase rendered Genesis 28:20,21 as follows: "And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If the Word of Jehovah will be my support, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Word of Jehovah be my God." From this quotation we see that Onkelos understood that one of the divine beings is called the Word of Jehovah.

Who was the lawgiver? We shall let the Jerusalem Targum of Jonathan on Exodus 20:1 tell us: "And the Word of the Lord spake all these glorious words [Ten Commandments]." In the original we are told that God spoke these words. Then in the translation we are told that the Word of Jehovah spoke them. From this it is clear that our translator conceived of one of the divine beings as the Word of Jehovah.

Abraham had faith in the same one as did Jacob according to the Targum of Onkelos on Genesis 15:6: "Abraham believed in the Word of Jehovah, and He counted it to him for righteousness." In the Targum of Genesis 22:7 Isaac is said to have asked, "Where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" To this Abraham replied, according to the Jerusalem Targum, "The Word of the Lord will provide me a lamb; and if not, then thou, my son, shall be the burnt-offering."

While we are considering the patriarch Abraham, let us ask in whose name did he pray? According to the Jerusalem Targum on Genesis 22:14, "Abraham worshipped and prayed in the name of the Word of the Lord, and said, Thou art the Lord who doth see, but Thou canst not be seen." He doubtless inculcated the same doctrine in Hagar, his handmaiden, who, according to Jerusalem Targum of Genesis 16:13 said, "Hagar praised, and prayed in the name of the Word of the Lord, who had revealed Himself unto her: she said, Blessed art Thou, 0 God, who liveth to all eternity who has seen my affliction."

Whom did Moses, the great lawgiver, worship? According to Jonathan Ben Uzziel in the Jerusalem Targum on Numbers 10:35,36, "It came to pass when the ark was lifted up Moses stood with his hands lifted up in prayer, and said; Stand up now, 0 Word of the Lord in the strength of thy might, and let the enemies of thy people be scattered, and those that hate Thee, flee from before Thee. And when the ark came to rest, Moses lifted up his hands in prayer and said: Return now, 0 Word of the Lord from the might of Thine anger and come to us in Thy mercies, which are so good, and bless the ten thousand, and multiply the thousands of the children of Israel." According to the Targum of Onkelos on Exodus 14:31, the children of Israel held the same faith as did Moses; for in translating the sentence, "They believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses," Onkelos rendered this passage, "and they believed in the Word of the Lord, and in the prophecy of Moses, His servant."

Moses charged the Israelites that they should fear the Lord their God, should serve Him, and should swear by His name. The Jerusalem Targum renders Deuteronomy 6:13, "Ye shall fear before the presence of the Lord your God and before Him ye shall worship, and by the name of the Word of the Lord ye shall swear in truth." Israel was strictly charged to swear by none other than by the Lord her God. Yet according to this Targum she was to swear by the name of the Word of the Lord. This translation then assumes that the one who is called the Word of Jehovah, and who is differentiated from Jehovah, is divine. The matter of swearing by the Lord appears again in Joshua 2:12, which by Jonathan is rendered, "Now therefore swear unto Me by the Word of Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token." According to the same authority on Joshua 9:19, "But all the Princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the Word of the Lord, the God of Israel; and now, therefore, we dare not injure them." Quotations could be multiplied very greatly which show that the translators of the Targums in differentiating Jehovah from Jehovah often called one the Word of Jehovah and at the same time attributed the divine nature to Him who was thus designated. These examples are sufficient to establish the point under investigation.

I shall now call attention to only two examples illustrative of the position taken by the translators of the Targum in regard to the Holy Spirit who in the original Scriptures is recognized as a divine personality subsisting in the one divine essence. In Genesis 6:3 we are told that Jehovah said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man for ever. . . ." In Jonathan's Targum on this verse we read, "Have I not given my Holy Spirit in them, in order that they should do good works, but behold, they have corrupted their works?" Once more, Jonathan Ben Uzziel rendered the question, "Who has directed the Spirit of Jehovah or being his counsellor, has taught him?" in this manner: "Who has directed the Holy Spirit?" From these two quotations it is clear that the expression, the Spirit of the Lord, in the original is understood as a reference to the Holy Spirit, to whom, as noted above, all the attributes of deity in the Scriptures are ascribed.

In the Targums we find references to Metatron, to whom divine attributes are ascribed. This one is especially mentioned in the Talmud, Sanhedrin 38 B, in connection with the words of Exodus 24:1: "And he ( God) said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord, it is asked: 'Why does not God say: "Come up unto Me"?' The answer is this: 'It was Metatron, whose name is equal to that of God, to whom he was bidden to come up.' Logically, there is no difference here between God and Metatron. One must remember the significance attached to names by the Jews to realize the importance of this passage; the name was equivalent to its bearer (see further on this point below). In the passage just quoted, Metatron is said to bear the 'Tetragrammaton,' i. e., the four consonants יהוה which represent the unpronounceable name of God; another instance of the practical identity between God and Metatron"--Oesterley and Box in The Religion and Worship of the Synagogue. From various references to Metatron in the Talmud and Midrashic literature, we see that this name was applied to one of the divine beings. In certain passages He is represented as a mediator between God and Israel. In others He is thought of as the consoler of God--as if the Almighty needed comfort.

Personal, divine attributes are likewise, in certain passages of rabbinic literature, ascribed to the Shekinah of glory. But it is not necessary to enter into an investigation of these passages. From the quotations which I have noted, it becomes clear that the official ancient interpretation of the synagogue was that דְבַר־יְהוָה, the Word of Jehovah, and רוּחַ קֶדֵשׁ, the Holy Spirit, were divine personalities and were distinguished from the one who is called יְהוָה Jehovah. From all the facts which we have learned thus far, we see that Moses and the prophets were Trinitarians, and the great leaders of Israel in pre-Christian times were likewise Trinitarians. In view of these facts, then, we can assert with all confidence that Christians who worship the Holy Trinity--the three divine personalities subsisting in the one divine essence--are simply worshiping the same אֱלֹהִים, God, who revealed Himself to Abraham and entered into a covenant with him, and who reaffirmed His covenant with his seed at Sinai. We Christians are worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

For a full and scholarly discussion of rabbinical teaching regarding the Memra of Jehovah, the Holy Spirit, the Metatron, and the Shekinah, see Judische Theologle auf Grund des Talmud und ver-wandter Schriften.--von Dr. Ferdinand Weber.

Although the Holy Trinity is taught both in Tenach and in the Targums--the official interpretation of the ancient synagogue--this teaching is set forth more clearly in the Christian Scriptures, the New Testament.