Ruach--Power

The Hebrew word "Ruach" and the Greek word "pneuma" often mean "power," especially when used in the expression "spirit of God." Here are a few examples:

1. Judges 14:6. In the well-known story of Samson's battle with the lion with his bare hands, Judges 14:6 says: "The SPIRIT [Hebrew RUACH] of the Lord rushed on him, and he tore the lion apart barehanded." The NRSV translates "ruach" here by "spirit" with a small "s," not a capital "S," which is clearly correct, as the context makes clear. The word "spirit" here means "strength" or "power." The "power" of the Lord which rushed on Samson enabled him to kill the lion with which he fought. For a similar meaning of "ruach," see Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 1 Samuel 11:6; 16:13; etc.

2. Micah 3:8. After describing the false prophets in Judah in his day in Micah 3:5-7, Micah says concerning himself in verse 8:
"But as for me, I am filled with POWER,
with the SPIRIT [Hebrew RUACH] of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin."
Micah here virtually defines "the spirit [note the lower case "s" in the NRSV] of the Lord" as "power."

Some try to define "the spirit of the Lord" in passages like these with the Newer Testament "Holy Spirit," but the contexts of these passages indicate that they are not referring to a "person" separate and apart from Yahweh [God the Father of the Newer Testament], but to the "power" which Yahweh bestows on a person or a group in order to accomplish his purposes against a strong enemy.

More to come

John Willis