SPIRIT:
The Hebrew word
ruʹach and the Greek word
pneuʹma, often translated “spirit,” have a number of meanings. All of them refer to that which is invisible to human sight and gives evidence of force in motion. The Hebrew and Greek words are used with reference to (1) wind, (2) the active life-force in earthly creatures, (3) the impelling force that issues from a person’s figurative heart and causes him to say and do things in a certain way, (4) inspired expressions originating from an invisible source, (5) spirit persons(Angels) (6) God’s active force, or holy spirit.—
Ex 35:21; Ps 104:29;Mt 12:43; Lu 11:13.
Breath; Breath of Life; Life-Force:
The account of the creation of man states that God formed man from the dust of the ground and proceeded to “blow [form of
na·phachʹ] into his nostrils the breath [form of
nesha·mahʹ] of life, and the man came to be a living soul [
neʹphesh].” (
Ge 2:7)
Neʹphesh may be translated literally as “a breather,” that is, “a breathing creature,” either human or animal.
Nesha·mahʹ is, in fact, used to mean “breathing thing [or creature]” and as such is used as a virtual synonym of
neʹphesh, “soul.” (Compare
De 20:16; Jos 10:39, 40; 11:11; 1Ki 15:29.) The record at
Genesis 2:7 uses
nesha·mahʹ in describing God’s causing Adam’s body to have life so that the man became “a living soul.” Other texts, however, show that more was involved than simple breathing of air, that is, more than the mere introduction of air into the lungs and its expulsion therefrom. Thus, at
Genesis 7:22, in describing the destruction of human and animal life outside the ark at the time of the Flood, we read: “Everything in which the breath [form of
nesha·mahʹ] of the force [or, “spirit” (
ruʹach)] of life was active in its nostrils, namely, all that were on the dry ground, died.”
Nesha·mahʹ, “breath,” is thus directly associated or linked with
ruʹach, which here describes the spirit, or life-force, that is active in all living creatures—human and animal souls.
The
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Vol. VI, p. 336) states: “Breath may be discerned only in movement [as in the movement of the chest or the expanding of the nostrils], and it is also a sign, condition and agent of life, which seems to be esp[ecially] tied up with breathing.” Hence, the
nesha·mahʹ, or “breath,” is both the product of the
ruʹach, or life-force, and also a principal means of sustaining that life-force in living creatures. It is known from scientific studies, for example, that life is present in every single cell of the body’s one hundred trillion cells and that, while thousands of millions of cells die each minute, constant reproduction of new living cells goes on. The life-force active in all the living cells is dependent upon the oxygen that breathing brings into the body, which oxygen is transported to all the cells by the bloodstream. Without oxygen some cells begin to die after several minutes, others after a longer period. While a person can go without breathing for a few minutes and still survive, without the
life-force in his cells he is dead beyond all human ability to revive him.
When Jesus said, "into your hands I comment my spirit," it meant that God was being called upon to guard, or care for, that one’s life-force. (Compare
Ac 7:59.) That there be an actual and literal transmission of some force from this planet to the heavenly presence of God is not necessarily required. Even as the fragrant scent of animal sacrifices was spoken of as being ‘smelled’ by God (
Ge 8:20, 21), whereas such scent undoubtedly remained within earth’s atmosphere, so, too, God could ‘gather in,’ or could accept as entrusted to him, the spirit or life-force in a figurative sense, that is, without any literal transmission of vital force from earth. (
Job 34:14; Lu 23:46) A person’s entrusting his spirit evidently means, then, that he places his hope in God for a future restoration of such life-force to himself through a resurrection.—Compare
Nu 16:22; 27:16; Job 12:10; Ps 104:29, 30.
Concerning the Transfiguration Moses and Elijah were not literally there because they had been dead for centuries. The scriptures show us that Jesus himself said this was a vision. Stephen when being stoned to death said he saw God with Jesus beside him. Did Stephen literally see God? No, He saw a vision.