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InJudaism, theHoly Spirit (Hebrew:רוח הקודש,ruach ha-kodesh) is conceived of as the divine force, quality, and influence ofGod over the universe or over God's creatures, in given contexts.[1][need quotation to verify][2][need quotation to verify]
The term "holy spirit" appears three times in theHebrew Bible:
Psalm 51 contains a triple parallelism between different types of "spirit":
Fashion a pure heart for me, O God; create in me a steadfast spirit (רוּחַ נָכֹון). Do not cast me out of Your presence, or take Your holy spirit (רוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ) away from me. Let me again rejoice in Your help; let a vigorous spirit (רוּחַ נְדִיבָה) sustain me.[5]
Variations of a similar term, "spirit of God", also appear in various places in the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrewnounruacḥ (רוח) can refer to "breath", "wind", or some invisible moving force ("spirit").
The following are some examples of the wordruacḥ (in reference to God's "spirit") in the Hebrew scriptures:[6]
The termruach haqodesh is found frequently intalmudic andmidrashic literature. In some cases it signifies prophetic inspiration, while in others it is used as ahypostatization or ametonym for God.[1] The rabbinical understanding of the Holy Spirit has a certain degree ofpersonification, but it remains, "a quality belonging to God, one of his attributes".[8] The idea of God as aduality ortrinity is consideredshituf (or "not purely monotheistic").[citation needed]
What the Bible generally calls "Spirit of God" is called in the Talmud and Midrash "Holy Spirit" due to the disinclination to the use of theTetragrammaton.[9] It is probably owing to this fact that theShekhinah is often referred to instead of the Holy Spirit. It is said of the former, as of the Holy Spirit, that it rests upon a person. The difference between the two in such cases has not yet been determined.
Although the Holy Spirit is often named instead of God,[10] it was conceived as being something distinct. The Spirit was among the ten things that were created on the first day.[11] Though the nature of the Holy Spirit is really nowhere described, the name indicates that it was conceived as a kind of wind that became manifest through noise and light. As early asEzekiel 3:12 it is stated, "the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing," the expression "behind me" characterizing the unusual nature of the noise. The Shekhinah made a noise beforeSamson like a bell.[12] When the Holy Spirit was resting upon him, his hair gave forth a sound like a bell, which could be heard from afar. It imbued him with such strength that he could uproot two mountains and rub them together like pebbles, and could cover leagues at one step.[13]
Although the lights which accompanied the noise are not expressly mentioned, the frequently recurring phrase "he beheld (hetzitz be-) the Holy Spirit" suggests that he upon whom the spirit rested saw a light. The Holy Spirit gleamed in the court of Shem, of Samuel, and of King Solomon.[14] It "glimmered" inTamar (Genesis 38:18), in the sons ofJacob (Genesis 42:11), and inMoses (Exodus 2:12), i.e., it settled upon these individuals.[15] Like everything that comes from heaven, the Holy Spirit is described as being composed of light and fire. When it rested uponPinchas, his face burned like a torch.[16]
From the day thatJoseph was sold, the Holy Spirit left Jacob, who saw and heard only indistinctly.[17] When the Temple was destroyed and Israel went into exile, the Holy Spirit returned to heaven; this is indicated inEcclesiastes 12:7: "the spirit shall return unto God".[18] The spirit talks sometimes with a masculine and sometimes with a feminine voice, as the wordruach is both masculine and feminine, the Holy Spirit was conceived as being sometimes a man and sometimes a woman.
The Holy Spirit dwells only among a worthy generation, and the frequency of its manifestations is proportionate to the worthiness. There was no manifestation of it in the time of the Second Temple,[19] while there were many during the time ofElijah.[20] According to Job 28:25, the Holy Spirit rested upon the Prophets in varying degrees, some prophesying to the extent of one book only, and others filling two books.[21] Nor did it rest upon them continually, but only for a time. The stages of development, the highest of which is the Holy Spirit, are as follows: zeal, integrity, purity, holiness, humility, fear of sin, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit conducts Elijah, who brings the dead to life.[22] Pious individuals act through the Holy Spirit;[23] whoever teaches the Torah in public partakes of the Holy Spirit.[24] When Pinchas sinned the Holy Spirit departed from him.[25]Abiathar was deposed from office as High Priest when he was deserted by the Holy Spirit without which theUrim and Thummim could not be consulted.[26]
In Biblical times the Holy Spirit was widespread, resting on those who, according to the Bible, displayed a propitious activity; thus it rested onEber and (according to Joshua 2:16) even onRahab.[27] It was necessary to reiterate frequently thatSolomon wrote his three books (Proverbs,Shir haShirim, andEcclesiastes) under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,[28] because there was a continual opposition not only to the wise king personally, but also to his writings. A teacher of the Law says that probably for this reason the Holy Spirit rested upon Solomon in his old age only.[29]
The Holy Spirit rested not only on the children of Israel who crossed the Red Sea,[30] but, toward the end of the time of the Second Temple, occasionally on common people; for "if they are not prophets, they are at least the sons of prophets".[31] The Holy Spirit is at times identified with the spirit of prophecy.[32]Sifre remarks:"'I will put My words into his mouth,' means 'I put them into his mouth, but I do not speak with him face to face'; know, therefore, that henceforth the Holy Spirit is put into the mouths of the Prophets."[33] The "knowledge of God" is the Holy Spirit.[34] The division of the country by lot among the tribes was likewise effected by means of the Holy Spirit.[35]
The visible results of the activity of the Holy Spirit are the books of the Bible, all of which are believed (in Jewish tradition) to have been composed under its inspiration. All the Prophets spoke "in the Holy Spirit"; and the most characteristic sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit is the gift of prophecy, in the sense that the person upon whom it rests beholds the past and the future. With the death of the last three prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi), the Holy Spirit ceased to manifest itself in Israel, and only theBat Kol remained available to the sages.[36] Although the Holy Spirit was not continually present, and did not rest for any length of time upon any individual, yet there were cases in which it appeared and made knowledge of the past and of the future possible.[37]
Frequently, in rabbinical literature, a single Biblical verse is described as having been spoken by the Holy Spirit (for example, verses in which God speaks in the first person).[38]
The opposite of the Holy Spirit is the impure spirit (ruach tum'ah; lit. "spirit of impurity"). The Holy Spirit rests on the person who seeks theShekhinah, while the impure spirit rests upon him who seeks impurity.[39] On the basis ofII Kings 3:13, the statement is made (perhaps as a polemic againstJesus) that the Holy Spirit rests only upon a happy soul,[40] although such a line of reasoning is problematic to explain the cases of Elijah, Jeremiah, among others, who certainly faced difficult circumstances. Among the pagansBalaam, from being a mere interpreter of dreams, rose to be a magician and then a possessor of the Holy Spirit.[41] But the Holy Spirit did not appear to him except at night, all pagan prophets being in possession of their gift only then.[42] The Torah includes the Balaam section in order to show why the Holy Spirit was taken from the non-Jew—i.e., because Balaam desired to destroy a whole people without cause.[43] A very ancient source explains, based on Deuteronomy 18:15, that in the Holy Land the gift of prophecy is not granted to the non-Jew or in the interest of the non-Jew, nor is it given outside the Holy Land even to Jews.[44] In the Messianic time, however, the Holy Spirit will (according toJoel2:28–29) be poured out upon all Israel; i.e., all the people will be prophets.[45] According toTanna Devei Eliyahu[46] the Holy Spirit will be poured out equally upon Jews and pagans, both men and women, freemen and slaves.
The Shekhinah (Biblical Hebrew:שכינהšekīnah; also RomanizedShekina(h),Schechina(h),Shechina(h)) is the Englishtransliteration of a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling" or "settling" and denotes the dwelling or settling of the divinepresence of God. This term does not occur in the Bible, and is fromrabbinic literature.[47]: 148 [48][49]
Rashi taught that quasi-SefirahDa'at isruach haQodesh.[50]
Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Abiathar".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.Whereas the verb shakan and terms from the root škn occur in the Hebrew Scriptures, and while the term shekhinah/shekhinta is extremely common in rabbinic literature and the targums, no occurrence of it is attested in pre-rabbinic literature.
The term "shekhinah" is not found in the Bible, and it was formulated in talmudic literature from the biblical verb designating the residence (shkn) of God in the temple in Jerusalem and among the Jewish people. "Shekhinah" is used in rabbinic literature as one of the many abstract titles or references to God.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Holy Spirit".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
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