The Hebrew word רֽוּחַ ruaḥ, which christians almost invariably translate as “spirit”, in fact nearly always means something else. It usually means a “wind” (as in “north wind” or “east wind”), but it can mean a “mood” or a “fit”; and it can also refer to God’s tangible “presence”. For example, in B'midbar 5:14 and 5:30 it occurs in the phrase רֽוּחַ קִנְאָה ruaḥ kin'ah which means “a FIT of jealousy”, while Sh'muel Alef 16:14 reads

וְר֧וּחַ יְיָ֛ סָ֖רָה מֵעִ֣ם שָׁא֑וּל וּבִֽעֲתַ֥תּוּ רֽוּחַ־רָעָ֖ה מֵאֵ֥ת יְיָֽ׃
“Now Adonai’s Presence (ruaḥ) had deserted Sha'ul and moods (ruaḥ) of melancholy from Adonai kept tormenting him”
which is not referring to a spiritual entity (“evil spirit”), but rather to a medical condition (some kind of neurosis) engineered by God.

In this verse, and also in T'hillim 51:13 (v.11 for christians who can’t count), the word רֽוּחַ ruaḥ is also used in the sense of “Presence”:
אַל־תַּשְׁלִיכֵ֥נִי מִלְּפָנֶ֑יךָ וְר֥וּחַ קָ֜דְשְׁךָ֗ אַל־תִּקַּ֥ח מִמֶּֽנִּי׃
“Don’t send me away from before You, and do not remove the Presence (ruaḥ) of Your Holiness from me!”


Finally, the expression רֽוּחַ הַקֹֽדֶשׁ ruaḥ hakodesh can’t mean “holy spirit” because קֹֽדֶשׁ kodesh isn’t an adjective, but is actually a noun meaning “holiness” or “sanctity”; the Hebrew words for the adjective “holy” are קָדוֹשׁ kadosh (masc.) and קְדוֹשָׁה k'doshah (fem.)—the corresponding plural forms being קְדוֹשִׁים k'doshim and קְדוֹשׁוֹת k'doshot. The correct translation of רֽוּחַ הַקֹֽדֶשׁ ruaḥ hakodesh is therefore “presence of [the] holiness”.


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Last Edited By: ProfBenTziyyon Sun, 9-Oct-11 08:36:18. Edited 3 times.