holy spirit in the hebrew bible

God in the Hebrew vision was a plurality of oneness.19. To summarize the priceless teaching of the Hebrew Bible on the Spirit of God into one article is almost an impossible task. Your email address will not be published. The Holy Spirit conducts Elijah, who brings the dead to life (Yer. Spirit " ("spirit") is by far the most common translation (application) of 4151 (pneúma). In summary, in the first two verses of Genesis there is a parallel construction between the masculine and feminine. He is invisible and like wind, because He can be felt or experienced, but not seen. The Holy Spirit in the Hebrew Bible (2) Prophecy. This ruach Elohim (Gen. 1:2) is identified with the mother eagle of Deuteronomy 32:11. Log in. Rather, it became described in allegory and metaphor. Aleph (1) and Bet (2) equal Gimmel (3), suggesting that Gimmel (3) represents the Holy Spirit proceeding forth from the Father (Aleph) and the Son (Bet). © 2020 CBE International - All rights reserved. In the Western church, we rightly (in my view) believe in the procession of the Spirit from the Father and the Son. Enjoy this website? This verse has often been interpreted to mean that man/male is the image and likeness of God; in recent years, however, many scholars are interpreting Genesis 1:26-27 as humankind, male and female, as the image and likeness of God.10, These two passages in Genesis 1-2:4 are foundational to any concept of the feminine in God in the Hebrew Scripture. Scholars call this poetic section the Elohistic account of Creation because of the divine name used predominantly throughout and consider it to be newer than the earlier Yahwist (another divine name) account of the creation of Adam and Eve in chapter 2. (It is not customary to use the pronoun She to identify the spirit, but in the Hebrew the Spirit cannot be identified with the pronoun He, according to many Hebrew scholars.)7. Now, in my maturing years, it is all coming together. He grieves, He knows, He is eternal, He encourages, He gives understanding, He gives peace, He … 9, end; comp. In 1 Samuel 10:1, 6, 9 we discover that King Saul was anointed and the Holy Spirit was actively present in his life and changed his heart. Help CBE spread the message that #Godvalueswomen. This God of the Hebrews was also demythologized. To begin with it is important to realize that out of the 378 occurrences of the term “spirit” in the Old Testament it actually means “wind” or “breath,” not “spirit,” ab… This is why no material thing was ever to be used to represent God ( Exodus 20:4 ). Wherever this word ruach appears in the Hebrew, the translation of it is highlighted with bold and yellow. No clearer statement of the intimate interworking of the triune God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and especially of the Spirit’s powerful role can be found in the Old Testament than in Isaiah’s prophecy of the Servant of the Lord (Is. Kroeger, Catherine Clark, “Faith, Feminism and Family,”. R. xxxv. Messiah had the title of “Anointed” (Psalm 2:2) The truth will be revealed by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). Lev. If we truly believe this is the Word of God, then the Word is inspired by a God who loves word play and delights in symbolism and a sophisticated use of language. Note 5 on Genesis 2:7 in the Holy Bible Recovery Version explains the meaning of the spirit in this verse: In the process I’ve had two books published, Woman: Image of the Holy Spirit and Elohim. Elohim was a masculine plural noun most often used with a singular verb.16 This word image of Elohim also incorporated the feminine as a noun concept, the ruach Elohim. 1, 1988 ed., pp. Second, it includes the description in Genesis 1:26-27 of ha-adam, mankind, male and female, as the image and likeness of God.11, The poetic imagery of God in Genesis 1-2:4 spins in my mind in ever-widening circles of the concept of God in feminine form. On occasion this poetic imagery is allegorized literally as female; most often the feminine appears in the Hebrew Bible in metaphor and allegory, as in Deuteronomy 32:18b where God, here named Eloah, gives birth to Israel in groaning and travail as of a woman giving birth.1 In later Jewish writings in the midrashim, or stories, the Shekhinah, or Divine Presence, is depicted literally in female form.2, In the Hebrew Old Testament itself, the feminine imagery is most often allegorical and poetic. A Note about the Hebrew and Greek Texts for the Holy Spirit's Names The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, of course, and that's the starting point for serious exegesis of its writings. For women, the significance is that the ruach Elohim of Genesis 1:2 is a feminine noun accompanied with a feminine-ending verb form, m’rechephet. Further, it can be expanded into our ecumenical concepts of the ways in which people follow Christ. Both words are commonly used in passages referring to the Holy Spirit. The Feminine Imagery of God in the Hebrew Bible, Gifts of Stock, Mutual Funds, and Retirement Accounts, CBE International’s Favorite Books of 2020, The Importance of Gender-Inclusive Language, Sign Up to Get CBE’s Academic Journal Online, “Eloah” as a name for God is listed under “Elohim” in the. There the Holy Spirit is identified as the Spirit of Jesus. Answer: The Hebrew ruach means “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit.” The corresponding Greek word is pneuma. In Greek, both masculine and neuter words are used to refer to the Holy Spirit. the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It is a person. A devotional study of the Holy Spirit which looks at His ministry throughout Scripture as revealed in the names the Bible gives Him. Sign up for my free updates! The Holy Spirit possesses attributes belonging only to God. As God, the Holy Spirit has existed through all eternity. In the first verse, God, Elohim, creates the heavens and the earth. Creation was by God’s Word when God said, Let there be light. It has taken me a long time to come to this understanding—in fact, forty years of wandering through Scripture study groups, prayer meditations and graduate school. The Old Testament teaching on the Holy Spirit paves the way for the New Testament interpretation of this biblical theme. It has taken me a long time to come to this understanding—in fact, forty years of wandering through Scripture study groups, prayer meditations and graduate school. 1:20-22; 8:1-9:6; Wis. 1:6-7, 6:22-25).20. Throughout the Bible, we see the Holy Spirit power used to empower individuals for specific tasks. I now have this awesome certitude that, as a woman, I have been defined in the Hebrew Scripture as made in the image and likeness of God.21, Sign up for our newsletter to receive our most up-to-date news, articles, and information. It allows for our Christian concept of the mystical body of Christ: We are one breed. This God was a plurality of oneness, the one including the many, the masculine and feminine combined, the two in one.17, This is a brilliant use of language. It allows for the unity of the married couple in our Christian sacramental teachings in which man and wife become two in one flesh. Blenkinsopp, Joseph, contributor to The Jerusalem Bible; interview 1974. That is, anointing implied the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the king. Yet the feminine is there in the language incorporating the feminine principle into the very essence of God.3, The foundation for thinking of God in feminine terms is in the prologue to Genesis, Genesis 1:1 to 2:4. We are one in the Spirit. Rudin, Rabbi James. In the Old Testament it is mentioned 23 times, but in a different form: “Ru•ach Adonai,” the Spirit of God. Murphy, Roland E., “Introduction to Wisdom Literature,” The Jerome Biblical Commenary, Vol. The Hebrews emphasized the ruach Elohim, identified with the mother eagle of Deuteronomy 32:11. Our spirit is the deepest part of our being and was created by God to contact and receive Him. I view this allusion to the feminine in Genesis 1:2 as a brilliant synthesis. In Genesis 8:8 Noah sends out a dove to see if the flood waters had receded, but one should not interpret this as Noah sending out the Holy Spirit. He is the breath of God which disperses His life-force, His energy and His intentions/mind. Interviews with Rabbi Isaac VandeWalle, then head rabbi at Cnesses Israel Congregation, Green Bay, WI, summer 1978. Ibid. For those of us who are Christians there is something that has been lost since around the 2nd-3rd century after Jesus walked the earth. There is only one God and He is the third divine person of the Trinity. If gender is an attribute of the body, then a spirit does … The Holy Spirit is identified with the feminine spirit of Wisdom in the Catholic Apocrypha. Although the feminine in God was transformed and lifted into the realm of spirit, it was not eliminated. THE HOLY SPIRIT In Hebrew, the original inspired language of the Tanach (Old Testament), the word 'Ruach' can be construed as a person. The short answer is that if this is true, then the Spirit is also an “it” since the Greek word for “spirit” (πνευμα) is neuter. This word also means “wind.” The word “kodesh” comes from the word “kadosh” that means “holy.” Ru•ach Ha•ko•désh is mentioned 55 times in the New Testament. What is the human spirit? Wisdom is identified as She in the Protestant Book of Proverbs (8:24). Sexuality was taken out of the literal performance of the fertility rites that were performed in pagan temple rituals to insure the productivity of the land; it was spiritualized and taken into the realm of transcendence and spirit. In their poetic imagery the god Elohim became singular-plural. God is invisible and spirit (i.e., non-body) - ( John 4:24; Luke 24:39; Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17 ). From Scripture we learn that the Holy Spirit is God. I believe that Genesis 1:2 was a deliberate allusion to the ancient poetical Song. The noun, spirit or breath or wind, is feminine, and the verb ending is feminine. Bible verses about the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible combines essential tools for Hebrew and Greek with translations that are accurate and clear. So perhaps “he” is correct, but recognising that in English “he” implies far more than “he” in greek or Hebrew. According to the Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, the meaning of the word is unclear, but at times it can even refer to the council of the gods.12 It is derived from the ancient Ugaritic where God was El, the goddess was Elat, and the plural of the gods was Elohim.13. The idea is that God is totally different from us as He is spirit (John 4:24 ) and desires those who worship Him do so in spirit and in truth (John 4:23 ). We are one in the Lord. I personally believe this was part of their genius. The Holy Spirit first appears in the second verse of the Bible, in the account of creation : The verb m’rechephet is identical to the verb used in Deuteronomy 32:11 where God is compared to a mother eagle: God upholds Israel as an eagle hovers and spreads her wings. The Holy Spirit is a she. It also helps develop the argument that the feminine imagery is integral to the original Hebrew concept of God.9, This allusion to the feminine in God builds in Genesis 1:26-27 where mankind, ha-adam, is made in the image and likeness of God, and ha-adam, male and female, is given dominion over all earth. We are one body. When it says the Holy Spirit came “upon” Joshua, as well as others, it speaks of a “special anointing” of the Holy Spirit – not the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is poetry.18 This is metaphor. The word’s first use in the Bible appears in the second verse: “The Spirit of God [Ruach Elohim] was hovering over the What the Hebrew Bible presents in a nutshell, the New Testament enlarges in light of the first coming of Jesus and His victory over the forces of evil on the Cross. For example, even though the Holy Spirit is identified with a dove in Matt 3:16 it would be an interpretive mistake to see the Holy Spirit in every place a dove is referred to in the Bible. 42:1–9).The passage summarizes the redeeming work of all three Persons of the Trinity in the salvation of the lost. The Hebrew Scripture contains rich and sometimes even unique material about the Spirit of the Lord, so those specific thoughts are not repeated in the Newer Testament. Shab. The Jerusalem Bible, commentary on Genesis. This is the second installment of a multi-part series exploring the activity of the Holy Spirit through the Bible. Any meaningful understanding of the Holy Spirit of God in the Bible will need to begin with an understanding of the term “spirit.” The various ways ruakh (“spirit”) is used in the Hebrew Bible contributes a great deal to our understanding of the revelation of the person and divinity of the Holy “Spirit” in the Old Testament and in the New. Just like the Father and Son, the Spirit is depicted as a Creator. But when the attributive adjective ("holy") is used, it always refers to the Holy Spirit. " However, the Lord inspired these writers of Scripture to reinterpret what they found.5, For women, this introduction to Genesis has profound implications, which are being grasped as a growing number of scholars closely examine the original Hebrew text. God in Genesis 1 is Elohim, a masculine plural form most often used with a singular verb. The Canaanites worshiped the goddess Elat. Joseph is empowered to understand and interpret dreams, an artist named Betzalel is empowered to create beautiful things for the tabernacle, and a group of people - the prophets - are empowered to bring messages from God to the people of Israel and to see what is happening from God's point of view. Male and female are in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-27). The longer answer is that Hebrew … I am now aware that there are many passages concerning God in the Hebrew describing God in maternal and feminine metaphor, including Deuteronomy 32:18b, where God groans and gives birth in an image of a woman in labor. Life began with the living breath of the Spirit of God, the ruach Elohim. it likewise can refer to spirit/Spirit, wind, or breath.] Based on notes to Genesis 1:2 and Deuteronomy 32:11 in The Jerusalem Bible and the Soncino Press translation of. The pious act through the Holy Spirit (Tan., Wayeḥi, 14); whoever teaches the Torah in public partakes of the Holy Spirit (Cant. The noun is masculine and the verb ending is masculine. קָדְשׁוֹ), also occur (when a possessive suffix is added the definite article ha is dropped). קָדְשְׁ "ruach qedosh") is only found three times in the Old Testament. The basis of this claim was that the Hebrew word for “spirit” (ruach) is feminine. It is not theology as I think of theology. Then even later in the Wisdom literature, including Proverbs and the apocryphal books of Wisdom and Sirach, this holy spirit of God was identified with Lady Wisdom (Prov. The Holy Spirit is identified with the feminine spirit of Wisdom in the Catholic Apocrypha. My foundational concept of the feminine in God is in Genesis in the introduction, where God is described with both masculine and feminine nouns and verbs, as Elohim and ruach Elohim. An easy-to-use style plus the benefits of the Strong's Dictionary numbering system makes this study Bible one for every student of God's Word, no matter what age. We might note that in the Hebrew language, in which the Old Testament was written, the word translated "spirit," ruach, is referred to with feminine pronouns. There are profound metaphors of God as feminine in the Hebrew Old Testament. In 1 Samuel 16:13 we are told that the Holy Spirit came upon King David. 3. Heaven’s Muscle: Unleashing the Power of the Spirit Within You. They demythologized the gods of the surrounding Canaanite culture, revealing God as a more spiritualized concept.15 In so doing, they eliminated the fertility gods and goddesses, and they taught that God is One. God (a masculine noun) creates by his Word, and life begins as the spirit (a feminine noun) of God hovers over the earth with her life-giving breath.6, The Hebrew word for God in Genesis 1 is Elohim. In Hebrew, the … R. i. Simply stated, God is described in both masculine and feminine imagery in the opening verses of Genesis. 487, 494. In the New Testament, he is sometimes called the Spirit of Christ. 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