Jewish Trinitarian Monotheism

Further reflections on Revelation 1:4.

First, Eugene Boring emphasizes that the three participles in the name of the Father are not all from the same verb. Some Jewish texts expound on the “I am” in a similar triadic fashion, and some Hellenistic texts apply a similar temporal triad to Zeus. Yet, these typically use three forms of the verb “to be.” John doesn’t. “The one who comes” is part of God’s name, part of what it means for God to be “I am.” It is part of His nature and being.

Second, John begins from a Jewish root (Exodus 3, expanded, as per some Jewish reflection, into a temporal triad) but when the root springs up and flowers, we get a Triune formula. Grace and peace come “from . . . from . . . from” – form the “I am” and from “seven Spirits” and from “Jesus Christ.” As NT Wright says about Paul, John puts Jesus and the Spirit right there in the middle of the name of God. This is a Triune formula, but one seamlessly Jewish as well.