The idea that Ruah ha-Kodesh [the Holy Spirit: ruah = spirit; kodesh = holy] is present in court is another Rabbinic tradition that develops over several texts. These [Biblically themed] “court scenes” not only show divine metonyms1 interacting, but also being interchanged in different verses of the same tradition (not only in different texts, but in different manuscripts of the same text of Genesis Rabbah)... This tradition inserts Ruah ha-Kodesh ... into three biblical “court scenes” or better, “trial scenes”: “in the court of Shem, in the court of Samuel, and in the court of Solomon.” The Rabbis anachronistically describe the three trial or accusation scenes as taking place in “court” (beit din). In the first scene (Genesis 38), Judah has accused Tamar of harlotry, and she has tactfully demonstrated that he himself is the father of her unborn child. In the second scene (1 Samuel 12), Samuel calls all the people to witness that he is righteous and did not exploit the people who are now calling for a king to be appointed in his place. Finally, in the third scene, Solomon decides which woman gets to keep a disputed infant (1 Kings 3).
In Genesis Rabbah 85:12, [God] “appeared in court” on three occasions in the Bible. In each biblical “appearance,” however, it is Ruah ha-Kodesh who does the speaking, at times on behalf of God and at times on behalf of an individual. Thus, the two terms are paralleled as metonyms for God.
And Judah acknowledged them, etc. (Genesis 38:26). Rabbi Jeremiah said in the name of Rabbi Samuel ben Rabbi Isaac: “The Holy One, blessed be he, revealed himself (hofia) in three places: in the courts of Shem, Samuel, and Solomon.”
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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, The Spirit, Spirit of Elohim, Shekinah, Shekhinah, Divine spirit, Metonym for God, Metonym, MetonymyRuah ha-Kodesh, Ruach ha-Kodesh, Ruach, Ruah, Personification, Bat Kol, Bath Kol, Voice of God, The Law personified, Scripture personified, Personified, Divine voice, Divine court
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, Genesis 38:26, 1 Samuel 12:5, 1 Kings 3:27
Source: Ph.D., Dissertation: The Divine Voice in Scripture: Ruah ha-Kodesh in Rabbinic Literature, The University of Texas at Austin (Austin: 2009), pp. 178-181, 186.
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