Holy Spirit (Judaism) - Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible

The term ruach hakodesh occurs once in Psalm 51:11 and also twice in the Book of Isaiah. (Isaiah 63:10,11) Those are the only three times that the precise phrase "ruach hakodesh" is used in the Hebrew Scriptures, although the noun ruach (רוח, literally "breath" or "wind") in various combinations is used often, and the adjective kodesh ("holy") is also used often. The noun ruach, much like the English word breath, can mean either wind or some invisible moving force.

The following are some examples of the word ruach (in reference to God's "spirit") in the Hebrew Scriptures:

Genesis 1:2 (Schocken Bible - The Five Books of Moses)
"Rushing-spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters."

1 Samuel 16:13 (ASV)
"And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon David from that day forward."

Psalm 143:10 (KJV)
"Thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness."

Isaiah 44:3 (KJV)
"I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring."

Joel 2:28 (RV)
"I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy."

The first Hebrew Scripture use for the phrase ruach hakodesh (or "holy spirit") in Psalm 51 contains a triple parallelism:

10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit (רוּחַ נָכֹון) within me."

11 "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit (רוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ) from me."

12 "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with a (רוּחַ נְדִיבָה) free spirit."

The other two times that ruach hakodesh occurs, in Isaiah 63 (R.V.), read:

10 "But they rebelled, and grieved his holy spirit (רוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ); therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them."

11 "Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? where is he who put his holy spirit (רוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ) in the midst of them?"