There is a perhaps excusable practice of substituting “Holy Spirit” for “Holy Ghost” when reading the King James Bible. In its turn this has brought about a similar switch from “gave up the ghost” to “gave up the spirit”, which is not so defensible. Ekpneo is, quite simply, “breath out”, i.e. “to breathe one’s last (breath)”. “Expire” is the exact (Latin) equivalent. Ekpsucho is, literally, “to out-soul” or “out-life”. To turn this into “give up the spirit” is both inexact and misleading. This practice should stop. Either let us have the good old English, which no congregation misunderstands, or else “expire” (this is perhaps best), or the plain unvarnished “die”.
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Author: Harry Whittaker
Keywords: Give Up the Ghost, Ghost, death, gave up the spirit, expire, expired, give up the spirit, life, breath, last breath, die, death
Source: “Give Up the Ghost,” Word Studies.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.