Who is God talking to in Genesis 1:26 when he said, "Let us"? Who is the us? A good friend of mine is telling me that God is referring to Eve or the "second Adam and Eve," when Jesus comes again. Also, he said that "the Spirit and the bride" in Revelation 22:17 are the Holy Spirit and Eve. He said that Eve is the mother of all the living in Genesis 3:20 -- which is why she's coming back too. I know this sounds crazy. -- Aurora B.

I am persuaded by those who reason that "Let us" is the "royal plural." In one sense, the Lord may be talking to his "divine council," much as a monarch today might speak. Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain might say, "It is our decided pleasure to invite Sir John to the ball." Us? She's the one doing the inviting, but the royal plural is used all the same.

Many conservative theologians see in this passage a hint of the trinity: the relationships among Father, Son, and Spirit that have existed from all eternity. This is hard to prove, esp. to a skeptic, but I think the theologians are on the right track.

There is absolutely nothing in the Bible that would lead one to identify one of the other parties of "us" (Genesis 1) as Eve! This is a bizarre interpretation, which depends on the apocryphal or pseudepigraphal speculative literature outside the Bible. These documents were written mainly in the centuries after the death of the apostles. If you do a web search, that will probably illuminate the exact sources. It sounds Gnostic. Among the Gnostics, Eve was a favorite figure, as was Sophia (wisdom personified), and also Mary Magdalene.

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