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Ordinary Time

Hebrew Word Study

Ruach

רוּחַ
ROO-akhStrong's H7307

Breath, wind, spirit — the Spirit hovering over the waters.

The wind over the waters

The Bible's second verse sets ruach hovering over the dark deep like a bird over its nest — wind, breath, Spirit, all held in one Hebrew word. Hebrew thought never fully separates them: the breath in your lungs and the Breath of God are spoken with the same syllable.

Breath into dry bones

Ezekiel's valley gathers the whole range: 'Come, O ruach' — wind — 'and breathe' — breath — into the slain, and they live by the 'Ruach' — Spirit — of God. The Old Testament hope of resurrection is a hope in the life-giving Breath. The New Testament's pneuma is this same ruach, now poured out at Pentecost.

Where This Word Decides Debates

Ruach grounds pneumatology and the divine identity of the Spirit, and feeds the baptism (water-and-Spirit) and new-creation themes.

When This Word Study Proves Too Much

Don't force one English sense onto every ruach — the word is deliberately multivalent. And the Spirit's personhood is established by the wider canon, not by the noun's grammar.

Related Disputed Questions

Ruach (רוּחַ) — Breath, Wind, Spirit: Genesis 1 & Ezekiel 37 | Theologos | Theologos Media