Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
God the Mother or the Royal We?
The verse above is one of the most debated verses in the Bible. The reason is because God speaks in a plural form, instead of a singular form. Biblicists and scholars have come up with different theories and explanations to the “us” in Genesis, yet in this article, we are going to focus on one explanation – The Royal We.
What is the Royal We?
The royal “we,” also known as majestic plural, is the use of a plural pronoun to refer to a single person holding a high office, such as a king or a religious leader. The speakers who use the royal we refer to themselves using a grammatical number other than the singular. One example of this can be seen in the Constitution of the country Oman. The constitution of Oman opens with the following statement:
“On the Issue of the Basic Law of the State We, Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman, In confirmation of the principles which have guided State policy in various fields during the past period, and in asserting our determination to continue efforts to create a better future characterised by further achievements which will bring benefits to the Country and its Citizens.” – Oman Constitution 1996 ¹
The Origin of the Royal We
The origin of the royal we has been traced to around 1169, when King Henry II of England used it to mean “God and I,” and also to King Richard I, whose use of the royal we supported his claim to be acting on behalf of God and to be the ruler of divine selection. A more recent example of the royal we would be Queen Victoria’s often quoted “We are not amused.”²
It’s Not The “Royal We” but It’s God the Mother
Now, although the royal we could be a very elaborate and intellectual explanation to the “us” in Genesis, it is wrong. The reason why the royal we cannot explain the “us” in Genesis 1:26 is due to the fact that Genesis 1:27 exists.
Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27 clearly says that mankind was made in the image of God, but the images that came out were two – male and female. The fact that two images came out of God’s image, and not one, lets us understand that the Royal We doesn’t explain Genesis 1:26. The reason why God said Let us is because the ones speaking were God the Father and God the Mother – the male and female image of God.
The “Us” in Genesis Appear as the Spirit and the Bride in Revelation
The book of Genesis contains many important teachings. However, many of them cannot be understood without cross referencing the book of Revelation. For example, everyone knows that the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is Satan or the Devil. Yet, not once does Genesis say that the serpent is Satan. It’s not until we read the book of Revelation that the serpent’s identity is revealed as the devil.
Revelation 12:9 The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
This example can be also used to let us understand who is speaking when God says let “us” make man in “our” image. The one who appeared and said “Let us” in Genesis is revealed to be the Spirit and the Bride in the book of Revelation.
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
The Holy Spirit who according to the trinity is God the Father (for Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one and the same), and the bride our Mother (Revelation 21:9-10, Galatians 4:26) appear to give us the water of life. Just like physical life comes from a Father and Mother. In the same way, spiritual life comes from God the Father and God the Mother.
If you would like to know more about God the Mother and want to see more testimony about Her in the Bible I encourage you to visit the following links:
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Clearly the royal We does not relate to the Spirit and the bride who are testify to give us the water of life. Thank you for such a clear explanation.
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This to me is by far the most nonsensical argument to what Genisis 1:26 means. If the royal we wasn’t coined until the 10th century then how would it be used to refer to God in a book that was written in 1,500 B.C almost 12,000 years before the term was first used. Furthermore if the Royal we is used to represent a person speaking on behalf of God why would God need to use it? Any way you look at it, the Royal we does not make sense to explain why God said “let us make man in our image”. I’m glad that this article was written to more clearly demonstrate that fact and shed light on the fallacies that people come up with to prove their own points instead of believing what the Bible teaches.
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Wow, that’s a clear explanation. Thanks a lot. It’s funny how some theories are used to make the speaker sound more intellectual but when it comes to the bible the truth is truth and Gods word speaks for itself. Great article!
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That’s crazy that people would think its the “royal we”. The male and female image are seen from genesis to revelation CLEARLY. If people read the context of the verse they’d notice how verse 27 clarifies any possible misunderstanding in verse 26 of Genesis ch 1. Great post!
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This is very helpful! I have heard that the “us” in Genesis was referring to the “Royal We” before, but this is a detailed explanation that makes a clear point of explaining the plurality of God to be God the Father and God the Mother.
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Wow. I’ve never even heard about people saying that the “us” in Genesis being “royal we”. I would have been in confusion if I didn’t see this clear explanation. Thank you for this website. This website has the most logical and biblical explanation than people or other websites of different churches. Great and excellent website and I thank God for this!!
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Simply Amazing ! There is an answer for everything in the Bible. God’s words are truly life . Through each and every word God wants us to clearly Understand the correct path of faith we should walk. That is believing in God the Father and God the Mother.
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I have heard of the royal “We” before when explaining my faith in God the Father and God the Mother to some of my friends. This article makes it so clear and easy to understand that Genesis 1:26-27 is really speaking of God having two images, male and female. I will definitely be using this explanation to let my friends know the next time they bring that up.
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I have always wondered about the verse in Genesis chapter 1 when God spoke in plural but the answers that I received throughout my lifetime never fully made sense until now. It makes so much sense that God the Mother must exist and it’s so amazing to see that the bible shows us Her existence from the first page to the last.
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People are always discounting the whole context of the verses to try to prove their point yet they say, “Why do you only take one verse?” Actually, you can’t understand verse 26 without verse 27. God said They will create mankind in the image of God in verse 26 and verse 27 shows the result of that – male and female. 2 images came out of God’s image because there were 2 beings originally present. It’s really not that hard to understand.
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Amazing.
Every question that pops up towards this church has an answer. Clear and informative.
I wish people of the world to broaden their hearts to receive the message about God the Mother.
There are so many churches across the world that keep teachings taught by man such as Xmas, Easter, sunday etc. And they do so faithfully, however those words or even traditions are not found in the bible… not even once. But when we preach about God the Mother, they are so quick to tell us we are wrong and they say we are not following God’s teachings.
God the Mother IS testified numerous of times in the bible and in numerous ways but still people find it hard to accept that fact. I’m glad at our church, the World Mission Society Church of God we have answers to better strengthen our faith and understand why we worship and praise God the Mother, unlike the many churches that do NOT have evidence to prove why they keep the teachings they do.
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Thank you for making this very clear, I have often heard people say “Royal We” in reference to Gen 1:26 but if you read a little more it’s actually Not “Royal We” but God the Father and God the Mother.
Thanks
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The explanation in this article is very clear. And it’s very true that the fact that Genesis 1:27 exists, there shouldn’t really be a debate at all about the “us” and “our” as the Royal “we” being used here.
Based on the historical explanation of the origin of its usage, I came to think a little more about how, based on its historical usage, the royal we definitely cannot apply here: King Henry II used it to refer to “God and himself”, henceforth the “we.” If King Henry only spoke referring to himself, he would preaumably say “I.” Here, the one speaking is God, so He doesn’t need to speak in plural form. Then why does God say “us” and “our?” I’m pretty sure King Henry II wasn’t there helping God create mankind. It’s pretty clear that the “us” & “our” refer to a Co-Creator working with God the Father. And like you mentioned, Genesis 1:27 erases any room for doubt – God the Father was indeed working together with Someone as a Co-Creator. She is the female image of God, God the Mother!
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Well I don’t think there was the Royal We when Genesis-Revelation were written, so I personally wouldn’t apply it to the bible at all.
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This is an awesome article! Thank you so much for the explanation of the royal we and how it is an incorrect explanation of the “US” and “OUR” in Genesis. I especially love the example given, that just as the serpent’s identity is revealed in Revelation as Satan, in the same way,Revelation reveals the identity of US in Genesis as Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother giving us water of life that can only be given by God! It’s so amazing that our Saviors are revealed and the identity of Satan all revealed for our salvation so that we are without excuse!
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