Scholars have noted two main uses of the term Ruah ha-Kodesh [the Holy Spirit: ruah = spirit; kodesh = holy] in classic Rabbinic literature. First, it is used to signify a prophetic spirit or “divine inspiration” given by God that enables a person to prophesy, or sometimes endows him or her with other leadership abilities. This use is firmly rooted in Biblical precedent. In Rabbinic use, this spirit visits not only (or even especially) the classical literary prophets, but many biblical characters, including females. On rare occasions it is used in references to sages in the Rabbinic present.
Second, Ruah ha-Kodesh is personified. This usage is a new development not found in the Bible. Ruah ha-Kodesh is used in the sense of a metonym1 (in this context, something associated with God that stands in for God) or hypostatization (from the Greek, “a personification of certain attributes proper to God, occupying an intermediate position between personalities and abstract beings”). This should not be confused with “hypostasis” as understood in Christian theology, where it refers to the three “persons” of the Trinity. Due to the theological loadedness of “hypostastatization,” I prefer the term “divine metonym.”1 Like other terms (Shekhinah, Kavod, Bat Kol) that express “divine immanence,” it may be used as a substitute for God’s name or as an expression of divine involvement with humanity. In some rabbinic texts, I will note that Ruah ha-Kodesh is interchanged with other such personifications. Both the use of Ruah ha-Kodesh to mean prophecy, and Ruah ha-Kodesh as divine metonym1 are attested, beginning in Tannaitic literature and continuing through both Talmudic literature and Aggadic Midrash of the Amoraic period [200 to 500 C.E.]. What changes is the specific use, emphasis, formulae or nuances of the uses, which I will note and examine in detail.
The central function of this personification of Ruah ha-Kodesh is its role as the divine voice in the Torah. The main (and heretofore largely ignored) difference between personified Ruah ha-Kodesh and the Shekhinah is that the former speaks. As prophecy, Ruah ha-Kodesh is the divine spirit animating select human beings, enabling them to articulate the word of God. As a divine metonym1, the association with speech continues. We find Ruah ha-Kodesh speaking with certain formulaic words, such as “shouting” (tsovahat), replying (meshivah), spreading news (mevaseret), or saying (omeret). The content of these speeches is almost always a scriptural quotation, occasionally with added comments, and often representing “God’s perspective” on matters, as it were.
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Author: Julie Hilton Danan
Keywords: Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, Spirit of God, Spirit of Yahweh, Spirit of YHWH, God's spirit, YHWH's spirit, Yahweh's spirit, The Spirit, Spirit of Elohim, Shekinah, Shekhinah, Divine spirit, Metonym for God, Metonym, Metonymy, Ruah ha-Kodesh, Ruach ha-Kodesh, Ruach, Ruah, Dead Sea Scrolls, Divine voice, Personification, Personified, Bat Kol, Bath Kol, Voice of God, Sarah as prophet, Sarah as prophetess, Prophet Sarah, Daughter of the voice, Vox dei
Bible reference(s): Genesis 1:2, Genesis 6:3, Genesis 41:38, Exodus 31:3, Exodus 35:31, Numbers 24:2, Judges 3:10, Judges 6:34, Judges 11:29, Judges 13:25, Judges 14:6, Judges 14:19, Judges 15:14, 1 Samuel 10:6, 1 Samuel 10:10, 1 Samuel 11:6, 1 Samuel 16:13-14, 1 Samuel 19:20, 1 Samuel 19:23, 2 Samuel 23:2, 1 Kings 18:12, 1 Kings 22:24, 2 Kings 2:16, 2 Chronicles 15:1, 2 Chronicles 24:20, 2 Chronicles 18:23, 2 Chronicles 20:14, Nehemiah 9:30, Job 27:3, Job 33:4, Psalms 51:11, Psalms 104:30, Psalms 139:7, Psalms 143:10, Isaiah 11:2, Isaiah 30:1, Isaiah 40:13, Isaiah 42:1, Isaiah 44:3, Isaiah 59:21, Isaiah 61:1, Isaiah 63:10, Isaiah 63:11, Isaiah 63:14, Ezekiel 3:14, Ezekiel 11:5, Ezekiel 11:24, Ezekiel 36:27, Ezekiel 37:1, Ezekiel 37:14, Ezekiel 39:29, Joel 2:28-29, Haggai 2:5, Zechariah 4:6, Micah 2:7, Micah 3:8, Matthew 1:18, Matthew 1:20, Matthew 3:11, Matthew 3:16, Matthew 12:28, Matthew 12:32, Matthew 28:19, Mark 1:8, Mark 3:29, Mark 12:36, Mark 13:11, Luke 1:15, Luke 1:35, Luke 1:41, Luke 1:67, Luke 2:25, Luke 2:26, Luke 3:16, Luke 3:22, Luke 4:1, Luke 4:18, Luke 10:21, Luke 11:13, Luke 12:10, Luke 12:12, John 1:33, John 14:26, John 20:22, Acts 1:2, Acts 1:5, Acts 1:8, Acts 1:16, Acts 2:4, Acts 2:17-18, Acts 2:33, Acts 2:38, Acts 4:8, Acts 4:25, Acts 4:31, Acts 5:3, Acts 5:9, Acts 5:32, Acts 6:5, Acts 7:51, Acts 7:55, Acts 8:15, Acts 8:17, Acts 8:19, Acts 8:39, Acts 9:17, Acts 9:31, Acts 10:38, Acts 10:44, Acts 10:45, Acts 10:47, Acts 11:15, Acts 11:16, Acts 11:24, Acts 13:2, Acts 13:4, Acts 13:9, Acts 13:52, Acts 15:8, Acts 15:28, Acts 16:6, Acts 19:2, Acts 19:6, Acts 20:23, Acts 20:28, Acts 21:11, Acts 28:25, Romans 5:5, Romans 8:9, Romans 8:14, Romans 9:1, Romans 14:17, Romans 15:13, Romans 15:16, Romans 15:19, 1 Corinthians 2:11, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 1 Corinthians 7:40, 1 Corinthians 12:3, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 2 Corinthians 3:17, 2 Corinthians 6:6, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Ephesians 1:13, Ephesians 4:30, 1 Thessalonians 1:5, 1 Thessalonians 1:6, 1 Thessalonians 4:8, 2 Timothy 1:14, Titus 3:5, Hebrews 2:4, Hebrews 3:7, Hebrews 6:4, Hebrews 9:8, Hebrews 10:15, 1 Peter 1:12, 2 Peter 1:21, Jude 1:20, 1 John 4:2, Susanna 1:45, Wisdom of Solomon 1:7, Wisdom of Solomon 9:17, 2 Esdras 14:22, Judith 16:14
Source: Ph.D., Dissertation: The Divine Voice in Scripture: Ruah ha-Kodesh in Rabbinic Literature, The University of Texas at Austin (Austin: 2009), pp. 99-131.
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