Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SPIRIT

In the OT, Heb. rûaḥ means first of all wind and breath, but also the human spirit in the sense of life force and even personal energy. In 1 Kgs. 18:45; Ps. 103:16; Jer. 4:11 it means wind, a phenomenon of nature. In some cases, however, wind is seen as God’s instrument (e.g., Gen. 8:1; Num. 11:31; Isa. 11:15). The term occurs with the meaning of breath in Gen. 6:17; Job 34:14-15. In the latter passage, it is explicit that God is the source of human breath. In Judg. 15:19; 1 Kgs. 10:5 “breath” stands for human energy. Sometimes the term becomes virtually a synonym for nepeš, “soul” or “life force,” and lēḇ, “heart” (not in the modern sense of the seat of love, but in the ancient meaning of the center of the personality, including intelligence and will); cf. Job 20:3; 32:18; Isa. 54:6; 57:15; 66:2; Dan. 5:20.

Heb. rûaḥ refers not simply to the life given to humanity by God. God also is spirit. God’s spirit came upon people and empowered them for special service (Judg. 3:10). God could also trouble people with an evil spirit (Judg. 9:23; 1 Sam. 16:14-23). Prophecy was understood as a sign of the presence of God’s spirit (Num. 11:25-26; Isa. 41:1; 61:1; Mic. 3:8). God’s spirit was expected to be poured out in abundance in the future (Joel 2:28-29[MT 3:1-2]). The ancient Hebrews understood God’s power to be everywhere (Ps. 139:7), to be personal (Isa. 34:16; 48:16), and yet to be awesome and transcendent.

Sometimes it is not clear which nuance of rûaḥ is intended. Gen. 1:2 may be translated “a wind from God,” “a mighty wind,” or “the spirit of God.”

A notion of spirits as supernatural beings is found in certain Hebrew writings (e.g., 1 Kgs. 22:21).

In the NT Gk. pneúma can mean wind (John 3:8; Heb. 1:7, quoting Ps. 104:4). It can also have the meaning breath (2 Thess. 2:8; Jas. 2:26; Rev. 11:1; 13:15). The term is found with the meaning of inner self in Mark 2:8; 8:12; Luke 1:80; John 11:33; 13:21. The plural is used for the concept of (evil) spirit in numerous passages (e.g., 2 Cor. 11:4; 1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 16:13-14). The plural may also refer to the dead, i.e., to ghosts (Matt. 14:26; Mark 6:49; Luke 24:39; Heb. 12:23; 1 Pet 3:19).

Jesus refers to the spirit when he quotes from Isa. 61:1 (Luke 4:18). What is referred to as God’s spirit in the OT often is described as the Holy Spirit in the NT. For example, when Jesus is baptized Matthew, Mark, and John say that the Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove (Matt. 3:16 = Mark 1:10 = John 1:32). However, Luke 3:22 indicates that it was the Holy Spirit that descended upon Jesus. At Pentecost likewise the outpouring of God’s spirit prophesied in Joel 2:28-29 is fulfilled as people are filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). Sometimes the spirit received by Christians is identified as Jesus’ spirit (Gal. 4:6). In 1 Cor. 12:4-6 the Spirit, God, and the Lord are identified.

God’s spirit is envisioned in the NT as having been given to the people in a new way (John 7:38-39; Acts 2:1-21; Gal. 3:2, 14; Titus 3:6). People worship God “in spirit” (John 4:24; Phil. 3:3), they are born of the spirit (Gal. 4:29), but the conflict between the spirit and the flesh continues (Rom. 8:2-17; 1 Cor. 3:1; Gal. 3:3; 5:16-18). Although this suggests that the NT authors had bought into a Hellenistic body/spirit dualism, probably they used the Greek terminology, but understood it in a more Semitic, i.e., more holistic, way (Rom. 8:10; 1 Cor. 5:5; 2 Cor. 4:16; Eph. 2:2-3; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb 4:12).

Living in the Spirit is contrasted with slavery to the law (Rom. 7:6). Its fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). Those who live by the Spirit are counseled to be guided by it as well (Gal. 5:25).

During the Hellenistic period, the concept of hierarchy of spiritual powers had also developed, and this conception probably colored the NT writers’ understanding of the spiritual forces with which Christians were thought to do battle (Acts 23:8; 1 Cor. 12:10; Eph. 6:12).

Finally, “spirit” can mean an immediate or direct contact with divine realities in contrast with the more cerebral approach associated with the term “mind” (1 Cor. 14:14-15), but both “spirit” and “mind” are used of the whole person and not simply of component parts.

Alice Ogden Bellisb

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SPIRIT

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)