Ruach HaKodesh
Encyclopedia
The Hebrew language phrase ruach ha-kodesh (Hebrew: רוח הקודש, "holy spirit" also transliterated ruah ha-qodesh) is a term used in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...

 (Tanakh
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...

) and Jewish writings to refer to the Spirit of YHVH. (The expression in Hebrew is: יהוה .קָדְשְׁך) The Hebrew term ruakh kodeshka (רוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ, "thy holy spirit"), without the definite article
Definite Article
Definite Article is the title of British comedian Eddie Izzard's 1996 performance released on VHS. It was recorded on different nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre...

, also occurs. The "Holy Spirit" in Judaism generally refers to the divine aspect of prophecy and wisdom. It also refers to the divine force, quality, and influence of the Most High God, over the universe or over his creatures, in given contexts.

Hebrew Bible

The term ruach hakodesh occurs once in Psalm 51:11
Psalm 51
Psalm 51 , traditionally referred to as the Miserere, its Latin incipit, is one of the Penitential Psalms. It begins: Have mercy on me, O God....

 and also twice in the Book of Isaiah
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...

 (Isaiah 63:10,11) Those are the only three times that the precise phrase "ruach hakodesh" is used in the Hebrew Scriptures, although the noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...

 ruach (רוח, literally "breath" or "wind") in various combinations is used often, and the adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....

 kodesh ("holy") is also used often. The noun ruach, much like the English word breath, can mean either wind or some invisible moving force.

The following are some examples of the word ruach (in reference to God's "spirit") in the Hebrew Scriptures:

Genesis 1:2 (Schocken Bible - The Five Books of Moses)
       "Rushing-spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters."

1 Samuel 16:13 (ASV)
       "And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon David from that day forward."

Psalm 143:10 (KJV)
       "Thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness."

Isaiah 44:3 (KJV)
       "I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring."

Joel 2:28 (RV)
      "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy."

The first Hebrew Bible use for the phrase ruach hakodesh (or "holy spirit") in Psalm 51
Psalm 51
Psalm 51 , traditionally referred to as the Miserere, its Latin incipit, is one of the Penitential Psalms. It begins: Have mercy on me, O God....

 contains a triple parallelism:
10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit (רוּחַ נָכֹון) within me."
11 "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit (רוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ) from me."
12 "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with a (רוּחַ נְדִיבָה) free spirit."


The other two times that ruach hakodesh occurs, in Isaiah 63 (R.V.), read:
10 "But they rebelled, and grieved his holy spirit (רוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ); therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them."
11 "Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? where is he who put his holy spirit (רוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ) in the midst of them?"

Talmud

The term is discussed in the Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 23b and elsewhere. Rabbinical use is discussed by Joseph Jacobs
Joseph Jacobs
Joseph Jacobs was a folklorist, literary critic and historian. His works included contributions to the Jewish Encyclopaedia, translations of European works, and critical editions of early English literature...

 and Ludwig Blau in the article "Holy Spirit" in the Jewish Encyclopedia
Jewish Encyclopedia
The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...

 of 1911.

In Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, God is One, the idea of God as a duality
Binitarianism
Binitarianism is a Christian theology of two personae, two individuals, or two aspects in one Godhead . Classically, binitarianism is understood as strict monotheism — that is, that God is an absolutely single being; and yet with binitarianism there is a "twoness" in God...

 or trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...

 among gentiles may be Shituf
Shituf
is a term used in Jewish sources for the worship of the God of Israel in a manner which Judaism does not deem to be monotheistic. The term connotes a theology that is not outright polytheistic, but also should not be seen as purely monotheistic...

 (or "not purely monotheistic"). The term Ruach HaKodesh
Ruach HaKodesh
The Hebrew language phrase ruach ha-kodesh is a term used in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish writings to refer to the Spirit of YHVH. The Hebrew term ruakh kodeshka , without the definite article, also occurs...

 (Holy Spirit) is found frequently in Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

ic and Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....

ic literature. In some cases it signifies prophetic inspiration, while in others it is used as a hypostatization or a metonym for God. The Rabbinic “Holy Spirit” has a certain degree of personification, but it remains, “a quality belonging to God, one of his attributes” and not, as in mainstream Christianity, representative of “any metaphysical divisions in the Godhead.”

In Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, the references to The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of YHVH, abound, however it has rejected any idea of The Eternal God as being either dual or triune.

Shekinah

The concept of Shekinah ("presence") is also associated with Holy Spirit in Jewish tradition, such as in Yiddish song: Vel ich, sh'chine tsu dir kummen "Will I, shekinah, to you come".

See also

  • Biblical inspiration
    Biblical inspiration
    Biblical inspiration is the doctrine in Christian theology that the authors and editors of the Bible were led or influenced by God with the result that their writings many be designated in some sense the word of God.- Etymology :...

  • Holy Spirit
    Holy Spirit
    Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...

    , general article
    • Holy Spirit (Christianity)
      Holy Spirit (Christianity)
      For the majority of Christians, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and is Almighty God...

    • Holy Spirit (Christian doctrinal variations)
      Holy Spirit (Christian doctrinal variations)
      Christian denominations have various doctrinal variations on their beliefs regarding the Holy Spirit.-Catholicism:According to Roman Catholic theology the primary work of the Holy Spirit is through the church...

    • Holy Spirit (Islam)
      Holy Spirit (Islam)
      The Holy Spirit in Islam is mentioned several times in the Quran, and is interpreted by many muslims as referring to the angel Gabriel.-The Holy Spirit, al-Ruh al-Quds, in the Quran:...

  • Ruah, Hebrew word for "breath," "wind"
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