Quotes from "Of A Plurality In The Godhead" by John Gill

In John Gill's book A Body of Doctrinal Divinity he addresses the subject of the Trinity in book 1, chapters 26-31

• 26. Of the Unity of God.
• 27. Of a Plurality on the Godhead; or, A Trinity of Persons in the Unity of the Divine Essence.
• 28. Of the Personal Relations; or, Relative Properties Which Distinguish the Three Divine Persons in the Deity.
• 29. Of the Distinct Personality, and Deity of the Father.
• 30. Of the Distinct Personality, and Deity of the Son.
• 31. Of the Distinct Personality, and Deity of the Holy Spirit.

The following quote is from  book 1, chapter 27 Of A Plurality In The Godhead]

...let it be further observed, that the word Elohim is sometimes in construction with a verb plural, as in (Gen. 20:13; Gen. 35:7; 2 Sam. 7:23) where Elohim, the gods, or divine persons, are said to cause Abraham to wander from his father's house; to appear to Jacob; and to go forth to redeem Israel: all which are personal actions: and likewise it is in construction with adjectives and participles plural, (Deut. 4:7, 5:26; Josh. 24:19; 2 Sam. 7:26, 27; Ps. 58:11, Prov. 30:3; Jer. 10:10) in which places Elohim, gods, or the divine persons, are said to be nigh to the people of Israel; to be living, holy, and to judge in the earth; characters which belong to persons; and now, as a learned man[3] well observes, "that however the construction of a noun plural with a verb singular, may render it doubtful to some whether these words express a plurality or not, yet certainly there can be no doubt in those places, where a verb or adjective plural are joined with the word Elohim''. No such stress is laid on this word, as if it was the clearest and strongest proof of a plurality in the Deity; it is only mentioned, and mentioned first, because it is the most usual name of God, being used of him many hundreds of times in scripture; and what stress is laid upon it, is not merely because it is plural, but because it appears often in an unusual form of construction; it is used of others, but not in such a form; as has been observed.
[Underling and highlighting mine]

A little later Gill writes:
 

Another plural name of God is Adonim; "If I am (Adoaim) Lords, where is my fear?" (Mal.. 1:6) now, though this may be said of one in the second and third persons plural, yet never of one in the first person, as it is here said of God by himself; "I am Lords"; and we are sure there are two, "The Lord said to my Lord", &c. (Ps. 110:1). In Daniel 4:17 the most high God is called the watchers and the Holy Ones; "This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the Holy Ones"; which respects the revolution and destruction of the Babylonian monarchy; an affair of such moment and importance as not to be ascribed to angels, which some understand by watchers and Holy Ones; but however applicable these epithets may be to them, and they may be allowed to be the executioners of the decrees of God, yet not the makers of them; nor can anything in this world, and much less an affair of such consequence as this, be said to be done in virtue of any decree of theirs: besides, this decree is expressly called, the decree of the most High, (Dan. 4:24) so that the watchers and Holy Ones, are no other than the divine Persons in the Godhead; who are holy in their nature, and watch over the saints to do them good; and over the wicked, to bring evil upon them: and as they are so called in the plural number, to express the plurality of them in the Deity; so to preserve the unity of the divine essence, this same decree is called, the decree of the most High, (Dan. 4:24) and they the watcher and Holy One, in the singular number in (Dan. 4:13).[Highlighting mine]

In the above quote Gill writes, "and we are sure there are two, "The Lord said to my Lord", &c. (Ps. 110:1)." For precision's sake and in order to preemptively respond to anti-Trinitarians, I want to acknowledge that the Hebrew vowel pointing for the second "Lord" is in dispute. But that doesn't distract from the general point Gill makes.


The above is similar to John Gill's statements in his book, "The Doctrine Of The Trinity Stated And Vindicated." Specifically chapter 2 titled, "Proving That There Is A Plurality In The Godhead"