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Question regarding the meanings of "ru'ach" and "pneuma"

Terry Sampson

Well-Known Member
Cautionary note: This thread is intentionally posted in the Jehovah's Witnesses DIR. If you ain't one, don't respond.
  • Commonly, the English translation of the Hebrew word "ru'ach" and the Greek word "pneuma" is "spirit".
  • According to www.jw.org, "The term "spirit" is used in seven different ways in the Bible and is applied both to persons and to impersonal things."
    • Persons:
      • Jehovah,
      • Jesus Christ,
      • Angels (good and bad),
    • Impersonal things:
      • Life force,
      • Mental disposition,
      • Inspired utterances (whether inspired by God or the Devil and his agents), and
      • Active force, which is not the same thing as "life force"
  • Attached below is, I believe, a complete, numbered list of all instances in the New American Standard Bible (NASB-1995) of the word "spirit".
  • Following JW guidance stated above, when I read "Holy Spirit" in the Bible, I should understand that Jehovah's "active force" is meant.
  • My question: Is there a written or on-line JW resource that clearly identifies the proper interpretation of all the other instances of "spirit" in my numbered list?
    • If the answer to my question is "Yes", can and will you tell me where to find it?
    • If the answer to my question is "No", please just say so and I'll do my own interpreting.
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Last edited:

Eyes to See

Well-Known Member
Hmmm, ... I'll take the silence as a "No".

Hey Terry. I just noticed this question of yours.

You may want to try the Publications Index:
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200275486
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200027341

The Indexes above will lead you here but here this link is in any event:
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200004211#h=1:0-65:437

The second link is to the older Publication Index between 1935-1986, so not everything you see there will be available for you online. I think the cut off is 1950.
 

Bree

Active Member
you can download the JW study bible from the online JW Library ....get it free on playstore That is an amazing resource and you can also download several versions of the bible with it. The study bible has footnote references that explain the word being translated. It also offers other possible renderings.
 
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