Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν Κύριος εἷς ἐστιν
How do we know this?
Grammarians and scholars alike confirm that εἷς [heis] means "one person" in their exegesis of texts like John 10.30:
Metzger, Lexical Aids to the New Testament:
“In the masculine, heis must be distinguished from the neut. hen. Heis means one
numerically while hen means one in
essence, as in John 10:30…Had it said heis,
it would have meant one person.”
Thayer, A Greek, English Lexicon of the NT:
"Heis
means the cardinal numeral 1 where the word heis takes the place
of a predicate it means one person.”
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures of the Greek NT:
"One, when masculine, sets forth the
idea of the cardinal numeral 1; when referring to people or
beings ALWAYS the cardinal numeral is implied.”
Robertson's
Word Pictures:
"One person.”
Wuest’s Word studies from the Greek N.T. v.1:
"The word 'ONE' is masculine in
gender, and therefore is personal, referring to a person."
Vincent's Word Studies:
"The masculine εἶς, one person.”
Brown, John 10:
“From earliest times it has been observed that Jesus says,
‘I and the Father are hen’, not ‘heis’, i.e., one in action, not in
person.”
Anchor Bible, The Gospel According to John:
“One is neuter, one thing and not one
person. [Hen not heis. There is a similar expression in 1 Cor 3.8…We should also notice the
usage in John 17.11; cf. 17.22ff.]”
Luke-Acts,
David E. Garland:
“It is often noted that [John 10.30] uses
the neuter hen (‘one [thing]’), rather than the masculine heis (‘one [person]’).
The latter reading would lead to the unorthodox position that Jesus and his
Father are one person.”
There Is No Male And Female, D.
MacDonald:
MacDonald:
“Notice too that in Gal. 3:28 Paul claims
that believers are no longer male or female inasmuch as they have become one male person (Gk. heis).”
The Point: there is NO other evidence in scripture which indicates that "heis" EVER refers to
"persons" (as claimed by the doctrine of the Trinity where the word
"God" = 3 Persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
Furthermore, heis appears 90+ times in the N.T. relating to people. Never
is it used for MORE than One Person: Matt 19.17; 23.9; Mar 2.7; 10.18; 12.29-30, 32; Luke 18.19;
Gal 3.20; 1Tim 2.5; Jas. 2.19; Rom 3.30; 1Cor 8.4, 6; Eph. 4.6.
Scripture time and again identifies the “One Father” as the
Only Person of the Shema: cp. Mat 23.9; John 8.41; Heb. 2.11.
Summary:
1. The nominative masculine form 'heis' is used throughout the N.T. for
one person.
2. Scholars confirm that 'heis' means one person.
3. No other evidence in scripture has been presented in
Trinitarian controversies to indicate that "heis" ever refers to
persons.
4. Whenever two or more persons are stated to be one in scripture,
their state of unity is described by the neuter form of the word "one" (hen). This form is used to
depict the "one body" which consists of many members. 1 Cor.12:12
5. "Hen is never used in scriptures to modify the word "God"-NEVER.
6. Each time the Greek N.T. speaks of God as being one, it employs
“heis" (i.e., heis theos, theos heis).
7. Heis appears 90+ times in
the N.T., relating to people. NEVER IS IT USED FOR MORE THAN ONE PERSON. NEVER!
