Let’s Take a Breath and Review
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What does the Hebrew word *ruach* mean and why is it translated as spirit, breath, or wind?
Welcome to Bible Project Podcast. Take a big breath with me. And let it out. What is that? Oxygen? Breath? Wind? Those are all words we use in English, but Biblical Hebrew, it's all one word. Ruach. And it's how the Hebrew Bible talks about God's personal, life-giving energy, his power and presence, or simply spirit. We're halfway through a series on the Spirit of God, and we've looked at how God's Ruach shows up in many ways in the Hebrew Bible. And it's been a lot for me to wrap my head around, maybe the same is true for you. So today, Tim and I slow down, take a breath, and review what we've learned so far in our study of Ruach. Thanks for joining us. Here we go.
Hey Tim. Hello, John. Hello. Hello. Hi. We are right in the middle of a series of conversations around the Spirit of God. We are. The Spirit of God. Yeah. Yeah. And in real time we recorded like seven in a row.
Hmm.
Kinda were in it. Yeah. And then took a what, three week break? Yeah, it's been a about three weeks. And have done a bunch of other things since then. Yeah. Now we're jumping back in. Now we need our mind back in.
Yeah, that's right. So maybe this is a good opportunity to see what stuck from our conversations three weeks ago. 'Cause a lot of ideas about work and parenting have gone through our minds since then. Okay, we're doing a refresh on Spirit of God. And so basics are in the Hebrew Bible, Ruach. Is a Hebrew word to describe Invisible. Energy. That makes a visible impact in the world. And it can be described as the thing animating the trees. The thing animating you and me, our breath, that we inhale and exhale. And even though it's invisible, the space between me and the tree, if I'm standing in front of one. is filled with ruach.
Mm-hmm.
And so I it's very intuitive to say the thing blowing the trees is the thing that I inhale and blows me around. Like you know, there's that. And then whoever it is that's behind all of reality. That's making all of it go. m must be someone who is above and beyond all who's making it all work and carrying it, s originated it, sustaining it. And so it's not just a something blowing the trees around or blowing me around, it's someone. It's God in my nostrils. As Job would say. As Job would say. So spirit of God becomes a way to talk about the invisible personal energy, personal presence of a person. that animates all things. And those are its three most basic meanings throughout the
Hebrew Bible. And as we got into that, I really wrestled with the paradox, which is that God is not the wind. God is not my breath. God is not in my nostrils. However In God I live and move and have my being. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hm. In the biblical imagination, when you watched the wind blow the waters to recede so dry ground.
Mm-hmm.
was visible and now you can walk through. Yeah. Like in the Exodus. Like in the Exodus. Yeah.
That is God's Ruach. Yeah. Well, actually what it says is in Exodus fourteen is God sent a ruach. God sent a ruach. Creates a little little bit of distance between God and the Ruach.
So there's a sense of distance.
And here we well, here we're to it. Here we are. This is biblical language about God is actually doing a lot of heavy lifting. Terms of What are c classically these would be questions and conversations in the realm, what we call like philosophy of religion. Yeah. But conceptions of God. that in especially in monotheist religious traditions of of which ancient Israelite religion and um Judaism, Christianity, where if you believe that all reality must have its source in one, who's the source of all things, we're talking about s some one who is above and beyond anything we could possibly imagine. If that one really has created something other than God's self and is create holding it in existence, sustaining it.
then you can't go anywhere or any when or encounter anything or any who. Where you're not also in some way encountering that one.
In the tree in the wind. In the food, in each other, in my body. is to say that the Ruach of Elohim is blowing those trees, is parting those waters. And is animating me. But then there'll be other times where the biblical authors will really want to make a distinction.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What does the Hebrew word *ruach* mean and why is it translated as spirit, breath, or wind?
0:05–6:43
2
How does the episode define the “Spirit 1.0” – God’s essential gift of life, breath, and energy?
6:43–12:48
3
What is the “Spirit 2.0” concept – individuals being super‑charged for specific tasks?
12:48–18:00
4
Why do the hosts say God is not the wind, yet the wind is a visible sign of God’s Spirit?
18:00–24:44
5
How do the biblical authors distinguish between the heart and the spirit (ruach) in the Hebrew Bible?
24:44–31:43
6
What lessons do the stories of Saul and David teach about the proper use of the Spirit’s “plus‑up” power?
31:43–38:55
7
How does the vocabulary shift from *ruach* in the Hebrew Bible to “Holy Spirit” in the New Testament?
38:55–47:33
8
What do the hosts anticipate for the next episode on Luke’s Gospel and the outpouring of the Spirit?
47:33–47:41