• Spirit
    Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2

    • The expression “my spirit” (ru·chiʹ) used by God at Genesis 6:3 may mean “I the Spirit,” even as his use of “my soul” (naph·shiʹ) has the sense of “I the person,” or “my person.” (Isa 1:14; see SOUL [God as Having Soul].) He thereby contrasts his heavenly spiritual position with that of earthly, fleshly man.

  • Spirit
    Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2

    • Distinguished from “power.” Ruʹach and pneuʹma, therefore, when used with reference to God’s holy spirit, refer to God’s invisible active force by which he accomplishes his divine purpose and will. It is “holy” because it is from Him, not of an earthly source, and is free from all corruption as “the spirit of holiness.” (Ro 1:4) It is not Jehovah’s “power,” for this English word more correctly translates other terms in the original languages (Heb., koʹach; Gr., dyʹna·mis). Ruʹach and pneuʹma are used in close association or even in parallel with these terms signifying “power,” which shows that there is an inherent connection between them and yet a definite distinction. (Mic 3:8; Zec 4:6; Lu 1:17, 35; Ac 10:38)

  • Spirit
    Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2

    • Its Use in Creation. Jehovah God accomplished the creation of the material universe by means of his spirit, or active force. Regarding the planet Earth in its early formative stages, the record states that “God’s active force [or “spirit” (ruʹach)] was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.” (Ge 1:2)

  • Spirit
    Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2

    • SPIRIT

      The Greek pneuʹma (spirit) comes from pneʹo, meaning “breathe or blow,” and the Hebrew ruʹach (spirit) is believed to come from a root having the same meaning. Ruʹach and pneuʹma, then, basically mean “breath” but have extended meanings beyond that basic sense. (Compare Hab 2:19; Re 13:15.) They can also mean wind; the vital force in living creatures; one’s spirit; spirit persons, including God and his angelic creatures; and God’s active force, or holy spirit. (Compare Koehler and Baumgartner’s Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, Leiden, 1958, pp. 877-879; Brown, Driver, and Briggs’ Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1980, pp. 924-926; Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by G. Friedrich, translated by G. Bromiley, 1971, Vol. VI, pp. 332-451.) All these meanings have something in common: They all refer to that which is invisible to human sight and which gives evidence of force in motion. Such invisible force is capable of producing visible effects.

      Another Hebrew word, nesha·mahʹ (Ge 2:7), also means “breath,” but it is more limited in range of meaning than ruʹach. The Greek pno·eʹ seems to have a similar limited sense (Ac 17:25) and was used by the Septuagint translators to render nesha·mahʹ.

      Wind. Consider first the sense that is perhaps easiest to grasp. The context in many cases shows ruʹach to mean “wind,” as the “east wind” (Ex 10:13), “the four winds.” (Zec 2:6) The mention of such things as clouds, storm, the blowing of chaff or things of similar nature appearing in the context often makes evident this sense. (Nu 11:31; 1Ki 18:45; 19:11; Job 21:18) Because the four winds are used to mean the four directions​—east, west, north, and south—​ruʹach at times may be rendered as ‘direction’ or ‘side.’​—1Ch 9:24; Jer 49:36; 52:23; Eze 42:16-20.

      Job 41:15, 16 says of Leviathan’s closely fitting scales that “not even air [weruʹach] can come in between them.” Here again ruʹach represents air in motion, not merely air in a quiescent or motionless state. Thus the thought of an invisible force is present, the basic characteristic of the Hebrew ruʹach.