According to Trinitarians, when the term Yahweh ('LORD') is used in the OT, who exactly is being referred to?

Question

According to Unitarian Christians, the identity of Yahweh is straightforward. Yahweh = the Father = God. Therefore, linguistic usage in the OT is fairly straightforward. Whenever Yahweh ('LORD') is mentioned, it is the Father.

For Trinitarians, when Yahweh is used in the OT, what does it mean? Is it God inclusive of the 3 persons of the Trinity? Or does it mean the Father? The Son? Or, like the word 'God' in the New Testament according to Trinitarians, does the meaning of Yahweh in the OT change depending on context?

Answer 1

Yahweh is God, the Trinity.

That name means the I AM and thus indicates the Divine Essence and Existence (I am who am - Exodus 3:14, cf. John 8:58).

It is thus similar to "God" in that God refers to the essence and thus all 3 persons are described as God.

Answer 2

It can be any specific Person or all three

One can't say that every mention of Lord refers to Father or that every metion of Jahweh refers to all 3 Persons. Sometimes, the context points to a specific Person, sometimes not and we can only guess that it refers to Father or to all 3.

Father is probably the easiest to find in OT. One specific example that comes to mind is Jesus praying to Father on the cross with Ps 22: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" and we can be fairly certain He refers to Father (given He will ask Father for forgiveness to people in a moment and that He always prays to Father throughout Gospel).

I'm not sure if Jesus is mentioned directly in OT as God, but He refers to Himself with the name Jahweh (J 8, 58).

Holy Spirit is also not mentioned directly, but we know He is the source of prophecies given by God (1 Cor 12, 8-11).

God as Trinity is creating the world in Genesis ("Let Us make man in Our image, in the likeness of Ourselves").

But...

The core issue to me is that it cannot possibly be important. Father, Son and Spirit are One God. Whatever is done by one of them is also with full approval of others. We cannot even distiguish them with our human minds, we only separate them based on what Jesus told us about actions taken by each Person.

Holy Spirit is the one that empowers us, tells us about God and grants His gifts.
Son is the one who saved us with His Sacrifice.
Father is the one that gives us life, who cares about our wellbeing and grants us what we need to flourish.

But any of these could still be done by any other Person. Or maybe this understanding is wrong and everything happens because of all three, they are not even separate enough to deliver us in separate ways. The mystery of Trinity is impossible to understand and whetever we think about God, it's probably wrong (but we believe Holy Spirit would fix any blatant heresy eventually).

Answer 3

Here's the question of the thread? "According to Trinitarians, when the term Yahweh (Lord) is used in the OT, who exactly is being referred to?

My understanding of the question is which person of the Trinity is being referred to in the OT and what does "Yahweh" stand for in the OT?

God's Name Is Almost Always Translated Lord In The English Bible. But the Hebrew would be pronounced something like “Yahweh,” and is built on the word for “I am.”

The following statement was made by One God the Father referring to Unitarian Christians, "According to unitarian Christians, the identity of Yahweh is straightforward. Yahweh = the Father = God."

Another poster in the comments section said this: "God" in the OT is usually the Father. God in the OT is Yahweh. Therefore, the notion that only the Son is Yahweh seems silly."

The Holy Spirit is a person in relation to the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is God in relation to us. If you are in a relationship with the Father/Son/Holy Spirit, then you must be in a relationship with them all, for there is only one God. If you deny one, you deny all three persons.

For example at Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." No distinction of persons. Genesis 1:2, "And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God, was moving over the surface of the waters." Notice the distinction of persons where the Holy Spirit is now introduced.

From Genesis 1:3-25 there is no distinction of persons, it just says God.

Here is another example at Genesis 17:1-3, "Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless, Vs2, And I WILL establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly. Vs3, And Abram fell on his face and God talked with him saying etc." Here again no distinction of persons.

So where is there a distinction of persons in the Old Testament? One excellent example is at Malachi 3:1. "Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before ME/God. And the LORD whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, (Who is the Lord that will come to HIS temple?)

"and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, HE is coming. (Who is the messenger of the covenant that is coming?) says The LORD of hosts. (Who is the LORD of hosts?) Which persons of the Trinity are referred to in this verse?

The bottom line is the fact that the context determines which persons of the Trinity are referred, and where there is no distinction made, it is obviously unnecessary to make a distinction. If God says to us His glory He will not give to another, that is because there is only One God.

Answer 4

I can't help but notice some people quoting scriptures without understanding that "Lord", in many Bibles, is originally YAHWEH. Malachi 3:1 “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will clear up a way before me. And suddenly the true Lord, whom you are seeking, will come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant will come, in whom you take delight. Look! He will certainly come,” says Jehovah of armies.

Answer 5

It refers to Jesus. In Isa. 9:6 we read:

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

So Jesus is called the everlasting Father. Then, in Jn. 8:58 we read:

58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Jesus here says He is the great I AM. Thus it is clear to me who is refered to under the name you asked.