The Dead Sea Scrolls present some of the earliest Jewish literature of the post-Biblical period. First discovered in 1947 in caves near the Qumran ruin in the Judaean desert, the Scrolls include a wide variety of Biblical, apocryphal, and sectarian texts dating from the mid-second century B.C.E. to the first century C.E. The languages of the scrolls are Hebrew (predominantly), Aramaic, and some Greek. Here one already finds an expansion of the meanings of the term Ruah in its connotation of “spirit.” Spirit and spirits ... are a frequent concern of the Qumran scrolls, which also introduces the formulation “Ruah Kodesh” (without the definite article and sometimes with possessives “his” or “your”) to refer to the holy spirit of God or even of human beings. In the non-Biblical, Hebrew scrolls of Qumran, the terms ruah and kodesh are juxtaposed more frequently than in the Bible. The absence of the definite article difference probably has little theological significance, but it shows an articulation that is distinct from that in Rabbinic sources.
The term Ruah Kodesh finds varied uses in the scrolls, from cleansing, to enlightenment, to the guidance of the righteous. God’s Ruah Kodesh is said to cleanse [a] man of sin in the Community Rule (1QS 3:7, 4:21). This text declares that the correct path for humanity is the study of Torah and the Law of Moses, “that they may do according to all that has been revealed from age to age, and as the Prophets have revealed by His Holy Spirit.” (1QS 8:16), leading to a community founded on the “spirit of holiness according to everlasting truth” (1QS 9:3).
The term is also used in connection to granting wisdom and enlightenment to the believer. The Thanksgiving Hymns praise God for “shedding his Ruah Kodesh” upon the believer (1QH 7:6/7), which has delighted him and opened his heart (1QH 9:32). The “psalmist” has hearkened faithfully to God’s holy spirit (Ruah Kodshekha) (1QH 12:12). These Hymns also speak of multiple spirits and link the concept of spirit with the concept of divine Wisdom. The “Words of the Heavenly Lights” (4Q504, 4, 5), which contains fragments of prayers from Qumran, and thanks God for “shedding his holy spirit” Ruah Kodsho on the faithful and teaching them through it.
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Author: Julie Hilton Danan
Keywords: Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, Spirit of God, Spirit of Yahweh, Spirit of YHWH, Spirit of holiness, God's spirit, YHWH's spirit, Yahweh's spirit, Comforter, Parakletos, Paracletos, Paraclete, The Spirit, Shekinah, Shekhinah, Divine spirit, Metonym for God, Metonym, Metonymy, Ruah ha-Kodesh, Ruach ha-Kodesh, Ruach, Ruah, Dead Sea Scrolls, Two yetzers, Two yetsers, Two yetsarim, spirit of holiness
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 6:19, 1 Corinthians 12:3, 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. vi-vii, 76-82.
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