Hebrew Streams: Ruach Studies

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Ruach Studies

"If the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3)

"The word of our God stands forever." (Isaiah 40:8)

The articles in this portal focus on the Hebrew foundations of New Testament teaching on the Spirit. Following the list is an Introduction to this vital subject.

From Holy Spirit to Holy Ghost
Since the Middle Ages, Christian English Bibles have contained translational and typographical biases involving the Holy Spirit. Their purpose has been to promote the idea that the "Holy Ghost" of the NT is not the "Holy Spirit" of the OT. The Medieval Church taught that the Holy Ghost was unknown to the Jews in ancient Israel, because he (the third member of the Trinity) was first revealed only after the resurrection of Jesus. [8 HTML pages]

The Messiah and the Spirit
This table lists activities that the NT attributes to both Yeshua the Messiah and to the Holy Spirit. [3 PDF pages, 60k]

The Personhood of the Holy Spirit
Various Christian authorities have expressed the view that, within the pages of the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit of God is not clearly depicted as a "person" distinct from God himself or as a third member of the Godhead. These quotations summarize those positions. [4 HTML pages]

Ruach in the Hebrew Scriptures
This is a concordance list of all the occurrences of ruach in the Tanakh. Each citation gives the rendering of the word in the Revised Standard Version and the Jewish Publication Society's Tanakh. [5 PDF pages]

The Shepherd Messiah of Acts
Who supervised the emergence and growth of the Messianic Community following Yeshua's resurrection? The book of Acts attributes this work to the Holy Spirit and to the Resurrected Messiah. How do we reconcile this dual headship? [7 HTML pages]

Synonyms of Ruach (A Study in Hebrew Metaphors)
To understand why Yeshua is called Messiah, it is key to examine the Hebrew Bible word ruach. The breadth of meanings encompassed by ruach also explains the oneness between God and Yeshua, Yeshua and his disciples, and what defines a true child of God. [1 HTML + 7 PDF pages, 159k]

Related Text Lists
• Occurrences of "Holy Ghost" in the King James Version
• Psalm 110:1 in the N.T.
• Salutations & Benedictions in the N.T.

A Brief Survey of the Meaning and Use of Ruach

In the Hebrew Bible the word ruach occurs nearly 400 times. The base meaning of ruach is "moving air" — whether in the form of breath, a breeze, or (storm) winds. In about 100 places, the word is rendered "wind" in most English Bibles.

Ruach is pronounced roo-ach (-ach like the ending of Pesach or Bach).

In most English Bibles, ruach is usually rendered "spirit" or "Spirit."

In the Hebrew Bible: ruach elohim (spirit or Spirit of God) occurs 13x; ruach YHVH (spirit/Spirit of the LORD) 26x; ruach qodesh (holy spirit/Spirit) 3x; ruach tovah (good spirit/Spirit) 2x. The phrase "(the) Spirit" (referring to God's Spirit) occurs some 76x.

ruach elohim: Gen 1:2; 41:38; Exod 31:3; Num 24:2; 1Sam 10:10; 11:6; 19:20, 23; Ezek 11:24; Ps 106:33; Job 33:4; 2Chron 15:1; 24:20.

ruach YHVH: Jud 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1Sam 10:6; 16:13, 14; 19:20; 2Sam 23:2; 1Kgs 18:12; 22:24; 2Kgs 2:16; Isa 11:2; 40:7, 13; 59:19; 63:14; Ezek 11:5; 37:1; Micah 2:7; 3:8; 2Chron 18:23; 20:14.

ruach qodesh: Isa 63:10, 11; Ps 51:13 (Eng. v. 11).

ruach tovah: Ps 143:10; Neh 9:20

As just noted, ruach conveys different ideas in the Hebrew Bible.

Ruach or "spirit" can denote God's life-giving or revelation-communicating breath, which comes from his mouth and forms his words and word (message).

Since words express one's mind, God's Spirit/Breath can denote his inner thoughts or mind. The common Hebrew word for "mind" is lev (or levav) or "heart." And God's Spirit/Heart could be called his nature, his resident character. This nature is what he wants implanted in human beings to remake them, rebirth them, in his image, so they become truly his children, in nature. (Ezekiel the prophet often speaks of God wanting to give his people a new Ruach/Lev.)

When God comes near human beings and speaks to them, his Breath and Word convey his Presence. In some passages, Spirit (ruach) is synonymous with Presence (panim, face). Thus, the Spirit of God is another way of saying the Presence of God.

Where can I go from your Ruach?
Or where can I flee from your Panim? (Psalm 139:7)

When sin-ladened King David feared God would "hide his face" from him, he was afraid the Lord would no longer look at him, hear his cries, or speak a word of forgiveness to him. David thought he might totally withdraw his Presence and thus abandon him. So he begged God not to remove his Holy Ruach from him (Psalm 51).

God's Presence is simply himself. His Spirit isn't someone else. Just as a human's spirit is not another person (1 Cor 2:11), God's Ruach is God.

God . . . (is) . . . Ruach. (Isaiah 31:3)
God is Pneuma. (John 4:24)

The word "Spirit" is key for understanding the concept of "Messiah," the Anointed One, in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. For God's ruach underlies the deeper meaning of biblical anointing:
The ruach of the Lord God is upon me,
Because he has anointed me. (Isa 61:1a; cited in Luke 4:18)

[The LORD says],
Behold, my Servant, whom I uphold;
My Chosen One in whom my soul delights,
I have put my ruach upon him;
He will bring forth justice to the Goyim [nations]. (Isa 42:1; cited in Matt 12:18)

Not often enough is the question raised why Yeshua of Nazareth is called "Messiah" (Mashiach in Hebrew; Christos in Greek) 529 times. But for us to decide whether Yeshua was a messiah or the Messiah depends on how we understand his anointing.

Medieval English Christian theologians coined the phrase "Holy Ghost" to designate the Third Person of the Trinity. They believed the Holy Ghost first came at Pentecost/Acts 2. Therefore, since he could not be the same as the "holy spirit" mentioned in the OT, these men created an artificial verbal distinction.

Capitalization of "Spirit" in English Bibles began in the 1500s. Its use or non-use is solely the opinion of the editors. Ancient Hebrew and Greek do not have capital and small letters.

To reinforce their innovation, Bible editors began using "Holy Ghost" only in their NT portions, never in the OT. John Wycliffe's version of 1380 was the first major translation to do this.

The King James Version of 1611 followed this tradition and has the phrase 90x only in its NT. Yet it never has "the Ghost," "Ghost of God," or "Ghost of Jesus." Instead, we read "(the) Spirit, of God, of Jesus," even though the same Greek word pneuma lies behind "ghost" and "spirit."

Editors and printers also introduced the convention of capitalizing the word "Spirit" when they believed the word stood for the Third Person. In many Bible versions, "Spirit" was used only in the NT. Even today, "spirit of God/of the Lord" is found in some OT translations. [See the article "From Holy Ghost to Holy Spirit" listed above.]
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A Brief Survey of the Meaning and Use of Ruach