What is the meaning of the Hebrew word ruach?

Answer

The Hebrew term ruach means “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit.” The equivalent Greek term is pneuma. Both terms are frequently used in passages referring to the Holy Spirit. The term’s initial appearance in the Bible is in the second verse: “The Spirit of God [Ruach Elohim] was hovering over the waters” «And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. », (Genesis 1:2). In Genesis 6:17, ruach is translated as the “breath of life.” Genesis 8:1 uses ruach to depict the “wind” God sent over the earth to cause the Flood waters to recede. In total, the term ruach is encountered nearly 400 times in the Old Testament.

Frequently, when the Old Testament mentions the “Spirit of the Lord” or the “Spirit of God,” the term for “Spirit” is Ruach. The use of ruach as “spirit” when not associated with God typically refers to the human spirit. This can denote the actual spirit of a human (the immaterial part of humans similar to the soul) or one’s mood, emotional state, or general disposition. Ruach as “breath” or “wind” can signify literal breath or wind, or it can adopt a figurative meaning as in the expression “a mere breath.”

God’s Ruach is the fount of life. The Ruach of God is the One who bestows life upon all creation. It could be said that God’s Ruach has brought into being every other (non-divine) ruach that exists. All living beings owe the breath of life to the Creative Spirit of God. Moses explicitly affirms this truth: “God . . . gives breath [ruach] to all living things” «Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, », (Numbers 27:16). Job also grasped this truth: “As long as I have life within me, the breath [ruach] of God inMy Nostrils” «All the while my breath is in me, And the spirit of God is in my nostrils; », (Job 27:3). Later, Elihu tells Job, “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life” «The Spirit of God hath made me, And the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. », (Job 33:4).

God used the phrase Ruach Yahweh in His promise that the Messiah would be empowered by the Holy Spirit: “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:2;see also Isaiah 42:1). This prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus; at His baptism in the Jordan River, John saw “the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him” «And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: », (Matthew 3:16).