Marie E. Isaacs - Concept of Spirit - A Study of Pneuma in Hellenistic Judaism and Its Bearing On The New Testament (1976)
Marie E. Isaacs - Concept of Spirit - A Study of Pneuma in Hellenistic Judaism and Its Bearing On The New Testament (1976)
Marie E. Isaacs - Concept of Spirit - A Study of Pneuma in Hellenistic Judaism and Its Bearing On The New Testament (1976)
by
Marie E. Isaacs
HEYTHROP MONOGRAPHS
1
London, 1976
O Marie E. Isaacs, 1976
ISBN: 0 905764 005
Composer set by
Margaret Helps, King's Lynn, Norfolk
Prin tcd by
H. Chailesworth & Co. Ltd., Huddersfield, England
To
ERIC W. HEATON
PREFACE
Page
Preface 1
9 W i p a and eschatology
IIve6pa as an eschatological concept in contemporary
Judaism
Ibeipa and the eschatological community
Spirits - hofy and unholy
Page
APPENDICES
A The Literature of Hellenistic Judaism which has survived
in whole or part
B A Classification of the various occurrences of IIueipa in
the Literature of Hellenistic Judaism
C The Distribution of IIveipa and Cognates in the N.T.
D A Classification of the various occurrences of lIveipa in
the N.T.
E Additional references to lIueipa in the Western Text
(Codex Bezae) of Acts
Bibliography
Index of Authors
Index of References
TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS
General
ET English Translation MT Masoretic Text
LXX The Septuagint NEB New English Bible
Books
V. Amim H. Von h i m , Stoicomm Veterum Frogmento (4 Vols., Leipzig, 1904
1924).
Blass, F. Blass, A. Debrunner, ET and Revised by R.W. Funk, A Greek Grammar
Debrunner ofthe New Testament and other Early Christian Literature ( I 0th ed.,
Chicago, 1961).
Diels H . Diels,Die Frogmenre der Vorsokratiker (5th ed., 3 Vols., Berlin, 1934-
1935).
Miiller C. and T. MiiUer, FrogmenfaHistoricorurn Groecorum (4 Vols., Paris, 1885).
Strack- H.L. Strack and P. Billerheck, Kommentar zum neuen Testament nus Talmud
Billerbeck undMidmseh (4 Vols., Munich, 1922-1928).
TWNT Theologisches W6rterbuch zum Neuen Testament, ed. G. Kittel and
G. Friedrich (Stuttgart, 1933-1973).
TWNTE Theologieol Dictionary ofthe New Testament, ET of TWNT, (Amsterdam
and Grand Rapids, 1968-1 974).
Commentary Series
BNTC Black's New Testament MNTC Moffatt's New Testament
Commentaries Commentaries
CB Century Bible PGC Pelican Gospel
EB Etudes Bihliques Commentaries
ICC International C~itical TBC Torch Bible Commentaries
Commentaries WC Westminster Commentaries
periodicals
BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands NT Nowm Testamenturn
Library NTS New Testament Studies
Expos The Expositor RB Revue Biblique
Exp.T Expository Times ZNTW Zeitsehrift f i r die Neutesta-
HTR Hamard Theological Revue mentliche Wissenschaft
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature und die Kunde der
ITS Journal of Theological Studies ilteilteren Kirche
Classical works
Aen. Virgil, Aeneid Pers. Aeschylus,Peme
Def. oracl. Plutach, De Defectu Phaedr. Phto, Pkaedrus
Oranrlanrrn Phys. Aristotle, Physica
De nat. deo. Cicero, DeNatura Deorum Prom. Aeschylus Fmmetheus
Diog.Laert. Diogenes Laertes Vinctus
Em. Plotinus, Enneads Rep. Plato,Respublica
Od. Homer, Odyssey Stoh. Ecl. Stobaeus,Eclogae
Or. Euripides, Orestes Tim. Plato, Timaeus
Works of Early Church Fathers
C.Cels. Origen, Contrn Celsum P~aep.Eu. Eusebius, Pmeparatio
Const.Apost. Apostolic Constitutions Evnngelico
Hist.Eccl. Eusebius, Ecclesiosticol Strom. Clement of Alexandria,
History Stromateis
Philostorg. Philostoigius, Ecclesiastical
E.H. History
1
INTRODUCTION
Needless t o say, such a procedure could prove highly subjective; one man's
'Hellenistic' is another man's 'Jewish'. Although value judgements are part of
the business of scholarship, such judgements must be arrived at via an appro-
priate and valid methodology. All too often, when applied to Judaism, the
term 'Hellenistic' has carried with it overtones of 'heretical', or even 'contami-
nated'. Not only are such value judgement. unhelpful; they can distort the
evidence and confuse the issues. T o take Rabbinic theology as 'normative' of
JudaismZ and to see Hellenistic Judaism as a kind of heretical deviation, is, no
doubt, to echo the sentiments of later Judaism, but it hardly reflects the true
state of affairs in the period with which we areidealing. At that time Judaism
was far from being homogeneous in its approach or its beliefs. It was only from
the second century AD. that Jewish thought was tightly laced into the shape
in which we see it in the Talmud and Mishnah. In this later period Talmudic
Judaism ruthlessly attempted to destroy the culture of its Hellenistic brothers -
and with considerable success. That any of the literature of Hellenistic Judaism
has survived is largely a result of its preservation by the Christian Church. The
Church, of course, only bothered with those works which it found useful fur
its own purposes. Even granted that what is extant has gone through this highly
selective process, it is plausible to assume that what has survived represents but
the tip of an iceberg, and that originally the literature of Hellenistic Judaism
was both extensive and influential.
The evidence of excavations, inscriptions and papyri would certainly seem to
bear this out. Even if we adopt a cultural definition of Hellenism, the extent
of Hellenistic influence was obviously far greater than has been assumed in the
past. No longer is it possible to assume that such influence was confmed to the
Diaspora; Palestine itself was not immune.3 V. Tcherikover has reminded us
that some thirty Greek cities were established in Palestine in the Hellenistic
period? I Maccabees5 bears witness t o the presence of Hellenism in the very
heart of Judaism - Jerusalem. Whether with E. Bickermann we interpret the
events which led up t o the Maccabean revolt as an attempt on the part of the
'hellenizing' party to reform Jewish religious practice by abolishing its current
ex~lusiveness,~ or whether we accept Tcherikover's contention that the
2 As does for example G.F. Moore,Judaism in theFirsr Cenfu"es of the ChrisisTinn Era,
Val. I (Cambridge, 19271, p. 125.
3 See M . Hengel, Judoism ondHeNenism, 2 Vols. (London, 1974). which attempts t o
assess the degree o f Hellenization in Palestine from the third century B.C. onwards.
4 V . Tcherikover,Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews (Philadelphia, 1961), p. 105.
5 I Macc 1:11-15.
6 E. Bickemann, Der GottderMakkabZer (Berlin, 1937), p. 132.
The Concept of Spirit - 3
'hellenizers' were political rather than religious in their aims: the fact remains
that Hellenistic culture had reached Jerusalem and that it had gained a number
of supporters. This movement came to a head in the reign of Antiochus IV and
led to the Maccabean revolt. Such Hellenistic influence must have been at work
before the crisis of 167 B.C. It is also unlikely that it was banished forever with
the Maccabean victory. Hellenism obviously continued to influence Palestine.
Therefore, it would be an over-simplification toconfine Hellenism to the
Diaspora, or, on the basis of such an assumption, to make a rigid distinction
between Palestinian and Hellenistic Judaism.' Both were open to the same
cultural influences, although by virtue of their very situation, the latter group
were more so. Furthermore, we must not forget that there were frequent con-
tacts between both groups. The Jews of the Diaspora made regular pilgrimages
to the Temple in Jerusalem. Moreover, exchange between Dispersion and
Hellenistic Jews was not limited to the annual levy of Temple dues; Palestinian
literature was widely read in the Diaspora, as is borne out by the fact that most
of the Hebrew and Aramaic literature of the period was subsequently trans-
lated into Greek? It would seem improbable that the exchange of literature
was only a one way process.
Although one cannot, therefore, confine Hellenism to the Diaspora, undoubt-
edly Dispersion Judaism was more open to its influence. The settlement of
Jews outside their homeland has a long history, stretching back t o the time of
the Assyrian Exile, and gaining in impetus during times of political and econo-
mic pressure. Strabo said that Jews 'were to be found in every city and that in
the whole world it was not easy to find a place where they had not penetrated
and which was not dominated by them'.'' Even allowing for the exaggeration
of such a statement, i t is undoubtedly true that, by the Hellenistic period, the
~-
7 V. Tchcrik.,ver, up. ~ i tp., 81, that ihi, diip~llculthln Judaism was over Iltc
H ; I I ~ n v e i . ; ' ~ t t e mI,~ til~,~ngr.
~ h r:unstltutlun
. di J d r ~ u l r n t in
, ordsi to m-ke 11 a
(;reek polii. Ther<rure, rhc diffsrrnce bcrwr:n the HrUmlrsrr and thrar opponent, w.3.
essentially a political rather than a ~eligiousone. He maintains that the Hellenizers, con-
trary to the account given in I Maccabees, were not proposing any change in religious
practice. The defence of the Law of Moses was merely the war cry to which the Hasidun
rallied the masses. Cf. especially pp. 187-191.
8 M. Friedhder, Die Jiden in der vorchristlichen p.echischen Welt OVien, 1897) is a
typical example of a previous generation of scholar$ who maintained that Dispersion
Judaism was entirely different from that of Palestine.
9 E.g.PsalmsofSolomon, Book ofAdam andEve, Jubilees. IEnoeh. 2 Baruch, 2 Esdras,
Mortyrdom o f Isaiuh, Apocalypse ofAbrohom, Assumption of Moses. For an introduc-
tion which includes this translation literature, as well as the original Greek works of
Dispersion Judaism (although omitting the LXX, Philo and Josephus) see A.M. Denis,
Introduction nuxPseud~piPphes Grecs d'Aneienf Testament (Leiden, 1970).
10 Quotod by Josephus, Ant. XIV.115.
4 - The Concept of Spirit
Jewish Diaspora was both largen and widespread. l'apyriI2 and inscription^'^
point to particularly large settlements in Egypt, Babylonia and Asia Minor. It
was these Jews, scattered throughout the Graeco-Roman Empire, who were
most open to Hellenistic influence.
The main vehicle of this influence was the Greek language itself. The need for
a Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures is a reflection of the Diaspora's
adoption of Greek as its predominant language.I4 R. Marcus has pointed out
that 'the mere use of the Greek language by the Jews in the Diaspora could not
fail to produce some measure of assimilation, although the process may have
been quite subconsciously effected'.I5 However, we should remember that the
influence was a two-way process. The Greek language not only constituted the
means whereby Jews were influenced by Hellenistic ideas; its adoption by the
Jews, and especially its use in translating the O.T., enabled them to communi-
cate their religious thought to the pagan world. It is the very dynamic of this
cross-fertilization, which produced the creative thinking of Hellenistic Judaism.
The Jews of the Dispersion had a sense of being in the Hellenistic world,
although not of it. This created the tensions which are evident in their thought,
and out of which their distinctive contribution to Judaism emerged.
For the purposes of this study, Hellenistic Judaism is defined as the Greek-
speaking Judaism of the Diaspora. This defmition does not prejudge the issue
of how far 'Greek' influence was paramount. Neither does it assume that such
influence was absent from Judaea itself.
The data examined will be Jewish literature originally written in Greek, together
with the Alexandrian text (K) of the Greek translation of the O.T. (i.e. the
11 H. Lietzmann, A Hirtory of theEnrly Church (2nd ed. London, 1949). Vol. 1, p. 76,
estimates that the Jews constituted some 7% of the total population of the Graeco-
Roman Empire.
12 Cf. V. Tcherikover, A. Fuks, M. Stem, CorpusPapyrorum Judoiennrm. 3 Vols.
(Jerusalem and Cambndge [Mass.] ,1957-1964). The Elephantind Papyri also provide
evidence of an Aramaic spe&ing settlement in Egypt in the fifth century B.C.
13 Cf. J.B. Frey, Corpus Inseripfionum Judaieamm (Rome, 1936).
14 The Leffer ofAriststens (c. 100 B.C.) maintains that the Greek translation was made
for the benefit of Ptolemy 11 Philadelphus (285-245 B.C.), as an addition to his
library at Alexandria. However, as with other elements of Pseudo Aristeas' story of
the origin of the LXX, we may assume that apologetic motives played a dominant
ole in his writing. It is far more probable that the translation was primarily intended
for the use of Jews in their worshb. The discovery of second-century A.D. Jewish
prayers, embodied in a fourth-ceniury Christian work (Const. ~ ~ 0 . s ;7,. 33-38)
furnishes furthei evidence of the use of Greek in Jewish worship. See W. Bousset,
'Eine jiidische Gebetsammlung im siebenten Buch der apostolischen Konstitutionen,'
Nnchrickten, K.G.W. (GGttingen, 19151, pp. 435-485.
15 R. Marcus, 'Divine Names and Attributes in Hellenistic Jewish Literature', Proceedings
of theAmerican Academy forJewish Resenrch (1931-1932), p. 44.
The Concept of Spiiit - 5
LXX). Although, strictly speaking, the latter comes into the category of trans-
lation literature, it has been included for two reasons: a) because of its unique
influence on Hellenistic Judaism, and b) because much of the translation is by
way of paraphrase and interpretation, and as such is a work in its own right.
'Anyone who translates interprets at the same time. In a translation there
appears not only the underlying text, but also the translator's own apprehen-
sion of Therefore, just as the Authorized Version of the Bible rightly
constitutes a proper area of study in English literature, so the LXX may be
studied as part of the culture of the Diaspora.
Exactly which Jewish works were originally written in Greek is still open to
debate." For our purposes the following have been examined,'' although not
all have provided data about the use of nvefiw:IEsdrns 3:l-5:6, the Rest of
Esther, additions to Daniel (i.e. the Prayer ofAzarias, the Song of the Three
Holy Children, the History of Susnnnn, and Beland the Dragon), the Prayer of
Manasseh, the Book of Baruch, the Epistle ofJeremizh; various works extant
only in fragments, e.g. Demetrius, Enpolemus, Artapanus, Aristeas,
Cleodemus, Philo the Epic Poet, Theodotus, Ezekiel the Tragic Poet, Aristobulus,
Sibylline Oracles 111.98-808, Pseudo-Hecataeus, Pseudo-Phocylides; together
with the larger extant works of 2 E n o ~ h 3, Baruch,
~ 2 Maccabees (incorporating
Jason of Cyrene's work), 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, Pseudo-Aristeas, Wisdom
of Solomorz and the writings of Philo Judaeus and Flavius Josephus.
Although much of i t is fragmentary, this material covers a wide range, both in
time (from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D.) and literary genre.
including within i t histoly, legend, fable, poetry, drama, mantic, propaganda
and philosophy. This must be borne in mind if we are to avoid sweeping state-
ments about 'Hellenistic Jewish Literature': in period or genre it is not all the
same; neither does it reflect one point of view. Hence, we must beware of
imposing upon it a homogeneity absent from the material.
Purpose
The purpose of this study of Hellenistic Jewish literature is a) to ascertain what
Jews of the Dispersion understood by the term mreGpa, b) to determine whether
any development took place in their ideas of mreGpa, and c) to attempt to
explain how and why such changes took place. Only when this has been accom-
plished can we examine the question of its bearing on the N.T.
Previous studies have tended t o be confined t o listing the occurrences of ? i v e @ ~ ~
or to labelling the various uses 'Greek' or 'Jewish'. Obviously such source criti-
cism has provided the essential basis for any further work. However, we are
concerned primarily with an understanding of the uses which Hellenistic Judaism
made of its various sources. Furthermore, we shall attempt to see the concept of
w e V p a in Hellenistic Judaism in the light of the Sitz im Leben which influenced
its uses.
As we have seen, recent trends in scholarship have inclined to the view that the
basic similarities between Palestinian and Hellenistic Judaism far outweigh their
differences. 'The difference between Palestinian Jews and the Jews of the
Diaspora was not a difference of principle but only of degree.'" What united
them was their belief in the One God, a fidelity to the Mosaic Law (with its
ensuing ritualistic and ethical obligations), and an awareness of inheriting a
common history. However much later generations may have underestimated
the links between the Diaspora and Palestine, the Jews of our period were very
much aware of them. They thought of themselves as Sews, and as such were
primarily regarded by their Gentile neighbours. It was this very awareness of
their distinctive character as a people which made them the object of attack
and lidicule.2'
The Jews of the Diaspora were internally weaker and more exposed than their
Palestinian co-relidonists. They were particularly vulnerable, not only to perse-
cution, but to something more subtle, i.e. to the attractions of the culture
which surrounded them. Wherever they lived, the Jews were granted the right
to practise their religion. However, the tensions inherent in attempting to main-
tain their own traditions in a Hellenistic milieu were more acute for the Jews
23 Certainly in Egypt this is borne out by the papyri. Cf. V. Tcherikover, A. Fuks,
M. Stern, op. cit. For the evidence of such influence inside Palestine, see M. Hengel,
op. cit. pp. 6-57.
24 This question was not contiid to the Diaspora, although it was mole acutely posed
there. Thus the various parties within Palestinian Judaism (i.e. Pharisees, Sadducees,
Essenes and Zealots) can be seen as representing different answers to this question.
25 Cf. also the reference in 3 Macc. 1:3 to the apostate Dositheos.
26 Thus most scholars recognize Stoic and other Greek philosophical influence in Sap Sol.
Cf. C. Larcher, Etudes sur le livre de la Sngesse (Paris, 1969), pp. 181-236.
8 - The Concept of Spirit
the presence and activity of God outside Israel, and yet allow a unique place
for the Jewish people in God's revelation. This attempt is particularly evident
in the works of Philo and Josephus.
Their effort has been variously assessed by subsequent scholars. Some have
seen in it nothing more than an indiscriminate syncretism. They would judge
them to have failed in that they do not retain their Jewish heritage. Thus
H. Leisegang maintains that Philo totally departed from the spirit of his fore-
fathers' religion." If this judgement is correct, then Jews such as Philo were
basically no different from anyone else in the Hellenistic world. They simply
introduced the woship of Jahweh as one more element in the syncretistic
amalgam which we call 'Hellenism'.
However, not all scholars share this evaluation of the work of Philo. Some
see it as a genuine andlargely successful attempt to relate Judaism to the
Hellenistic world, without jeopardizing the main tenets of the former. The very
exercise was naturally hazardous, whereas the extremes of total assimilation
or particularism were naturally less complex. However, it can be maintained
that those who did try to span the two cultures by and large succeeded in
retaining the integrity of their religious beliefs. Obviously, the very nature of
the task meant that they were prepared to be open to foreign influence. But
their borrowing was not indiscriminate.
Judaism was in need of translation: not only into the Greek language, but also
in terms of the culture in which it was living.28 This was necessary if its own
adherents were not to relinquish their faith. It was also essential if Judaism
were to win the understanding and respect of its foreign neighbours and if it
were to make converts. Inevitably, such a translation would not necessarily be
in terms appropriate to the Judean situation.
Theological questions could not be avoided. Bombarded as they were by the
various philosophical questions of the Schools, Diaspora Jews were obliged to
speculate about the nature of their God, if they were to face the accusations
levelled against their beliefs. For those who were not content to rest on mere
assertion, the defence of Jewish beliefs and practices needed to be couched in
the terms of their opponents. Hence the form of much Hellenistic Jewish
apologetic was that of rational, critical and logical argument. Judaism needed
its own champions, who could defend it in philosophical terms.
27 H. Leisegang, DerHeilige Ceisf (Berlin, 1919), erpecially pp. 266-267.
28 So E.R. Goodenough,Jewish Symbols h the Graeco-RomonPeriod (N.Y., 1953-1968),
Vol. 12, p. 5, 'Only by finding Greek ideas in the Torah could Judaism have taken
Hellenism into itself and have survived as Judaism. It would have last itself in the
syncretistic mixing bowl of Hellenistic cNikation if its center of gravity had shifted
from the Torah to the Sibyl'.
The Concept of Spirit - 9
The defence of Jewish ethical monotheism was their major task. They were
obliged to re-think and restate their belief in a God who was both transcend-
ent and immanent. They had to defend the moral nature of the Deity, whilst
taking into account the existence and origin of evil. In an environment riddled
with fatalism and determinism, they asserted not only the moral nature of the
Creator, but the moral nature of His creation - man. Finally, in a culture
which possessed its own wise men and philosophers, the defendants of Judaism
had to argue the superiority of their own sages, lawgivers and propheB. Thus
Hellenistic Jewish apologetic was both defensive and attacking; conciliatory
and uncompromising.
Any study of the history of ideas has to take into account the social, political
and cultural backgrounds in which these ideas circulated. A study of the
concept of nv6pa is no exception. Ideas do not exist in vacuo. Therefore, we
shall have to consider how far the questions posed by the Hellenistic milieu
are reflected in the Diaspora's understanding of the term nvetjpa.
10 - The Concept of Spirit
L
ITNETMA IN THE SEPTUAGDNT
Procedure
The 'Septuagint" translators normally use nveri@ to translate the Hebrew
much. Of 378 occurrences of much in the Hebrew O.T., 277 appear in the
LXX as riverim. These include a11 the various uses of the word to be found in
Hebrew: breath, wind, life principle: human disposition, mood, thought or
determination; and the spirit of God.'
To determine whether n v e i p is used in any different sense from much, it is
necessary to examine those passages where much is not translated mreipa,
together with those in which ?iueGw is introduced into the text where much
is not part of the original. In this way it should be possible to see whether the
meaning of ruach has undergone any change as a result of the process of trans-
lation from Hebrew into Greek. A comparison of the LXX usage with that
found in pagan Greek literature should also reveal how far the Greek concept
of riveG@ has itself been modified or extended as a result of its adoption by
the LXX translators.
.
-
s
-
-
1 ~ t n e t l vsneakins~~
~ ~
-~~
the term 'Seotuaemt' should
~~ .
- anlv be annlied
~ ~ r- r
~~to the
~. translation
.~
the Pentateuch. However, here it is used loosely to refer to the Alexandrian text (K)
o
- -f
of the whole of the O.T. For a discussion of the oriPjns and transmission history of
the G~eekO.T. see S. Jellicoe, The Septuagint andModem Study (Oxford, 1968),
pp. 29-171.
2 For a complete statement of the use of mock in the O.T. see C.A. Briggs, The Use of
Ruack in the Old Testament', JBL 19 (1900), pp. 132-145. Cf. also W.R.\Shoemaker,
The Use of Ruoch in the O.T. and of nueCm in the N.T.', JBL 23 (1904). pp. 13-67.
3 E.g.Ex 10:13;'14:21;3Kgdrns 22:11;Jer5:13;28(51):1;Isa41:16;57:13;
Ps 1:4;34(35):5;Ezek5:10;12:14;17:10;19:12;Hos 13:15;lob 15:30;Dan8:8;
Prov 11:29;25:14;27:16 ete.
The Concept of Spirit - 11
15 E.g.Prov 15:13; 16:lf; 16:18; 17:22; 17:27. For alistof thesealternative terns
employed for man's spirit see Baumgartel and Bieder, 'nusriplra in the LXX', TWNTE
ed. Kittel and Friedrich (Vol. VI, 19681, pp. 367-372.
16 Cf. also Prov 16:lf and Isa 40:7 where m c h is also omitted.
17 3 Kgdms 20:4: ~ a i ~ y 4 ~d u weQa
~ ~ o 'Ax& ~ e ~ n p a ~ w & vAo vsimilar
. introduction
of nueripacan be seen in 2 Kgdms 13:21, and in Jab 7:15 where nusripa isused to
translate nephesh. The MT of thisverse reads, 'So that my soul (nephesh) chooseth
strangling and death rather than my bones'. The Greek rendering is: 'AnaAA+m bnd
tivetirrar6s pou 7ju'lyuxtiv pou, hnd S h eavhr~uiir bore gw.
18 3 Kgdms 20:4 (1 Kgs 21:4); 2 Kgdms (2 Sam) 13:21;Job 7:15.
The Concept of Spirit - 13
19 Zech 1:6: Soa &7& &vr&AAopar&v rrue6uariuov .rob &odAos pow .rob i r p d r a s
20 See Ezek 2:2; 3:24,1sa61:1, Joel 3:lf, Zech 7:12.
21 W. R. Shoemaker, 'The Use ofRuoch in the O.T. and of ~ V & W in the N.T.',
JBL 23 (1904), pp.37-38.
22 Note also that 1 Sam (1 Kgdms) 18:lO and Judg 9:23 speak of 'a spirit'.
14 - The Concept of Spirit
Spiritual realities were more usually described in terms of 6aijwv or its cog-
nates. This was used by Greek writers to indicate gods or divine powers.% It
could also be synonymous with n j ~ 1 , 9the ~ power controlling the destiny of
men and nations. Sometimes it referred to the good or evil genius of a person.
Thus Gdwrou was applied to the genius of Socrates?' Since fate could be
for good or ill, it could be described as eir6ahwv or ~moGaipwv.
Popular belief regarded the 6a&oves as personal, intermediary beings, control-
ling, supenrising, ar~dindeed possessing man." Sometimes they were thought
of as the spirits of the departed. Since they were supernatural and capricious,
they needed to be controlled by magical means. Some philosophers attempted
to refute such poplllar beliefs. Thns Epicureans denied their existence@
,' and
Posidonius claimed that they had no power over men?' The later Neo-
Pythagoreans incorporated the idea of Gmjiwes into their philosophical
system. As intermediaries, Neo-Pythagoreans gave them a spatial locality -
closer to the earth and therefore (according to their view that divine beings
are less perfect the nearer the earth they come) secondary and inferior to God
Himself.
The Stoics, on the other hand, did not postulate evil of the Gmjiwes.For them
the 6&wv was thc divinely related element in man, equated with vok. Like
the authors of the LXX, the Stoics preferred to describe this reality in terms
of ?rv~ipa?~ In the teachings of the Stoa there is an attempt to give some
systematic understanding of the concept of nveipa.
Although the Stoics sometimes speak of mtecpa as afip, one of the four
elementsp3 usually they regarded it as having an oboh of its own, which was
the source and divine principle of the elements. Therefore, it constituted a
kind of quintessence.* For the philosophers of the Stoa, nvei,pa was the
universal reason Rhos or voisi),which permeates, integrates and gives life to
the cosmos. This universal principle was embodied in man himself. Hence it
could also be equated with $ u ~ f i . ~ ~
36 Cf. Plato, Phaedr. 246E. The LXX translators of Isaiah, far from using Kaipwu of God,
however, explicitly retain it as a contemptuous term for heathen gods. See Isa 13:21;
34:14:
- .,6.. 5% ..
37 Menander, Fr.482, equates 7GXq with me6p.z BeiOv.
38 Cf. Ongen, C.Cels6.8.
39 Cf. Plutarch, Def.Orac1.13.11.416E.
40 Origen, C.Cels3.35.
41 Posidonius, Philostarg. E.H.8.10.
42 Cf. Posidonius, who described God as rrveGpa, Stob.EcL1.1.
43 Chrysippus, F1.440 (V.Arnim, 11, 145.1-3).
44 C~NS~DIIUS. Fr.310 (V.h i m . 11. 112.33-35).
45 ~ e n ig, 1 3 5 (V. ~ A i m I,, 3813-5).
The Concept of Spirit - 17
It would therefore seem that only in Stoicism was nueipa normally applied t o
God. I t is evident that, in choosing the phrase irvefipa Beoi or nveipa OeEio,
the LXX introduced a new dimension into the usual Greek usage. Apart from
Stoicism, nu&pa had only secondary significance in Greek philosophical and
religious writings. In faithfully translating the Hebrew term much as meipa,
when it applied not only to wind, breath and life, but also t o God, the LXX
played a significant part in the development of its meaning in subsequent
Greek literature.
18 - The Concept of Spirit
3
IINETMA AND THE NATURE OF GOD
Thus, since Judaism insisted upon the sanctity and moral perfection of God,
equally spirit is spoken of as i i y w ~ Stoicism
.~ did not use the epithet h r o v of
spirit, since to do so would have been contrary to its immanentist theology.
The Stoic philosophers endowed matter with the characteristics of spirit, or,
viewed another way, they endowed spirit with the characteristics of matter.
'The strict immanentism of the Stoa can be taken to assert either the divine
character of the cosmos or the strictly mundane character of the divine.'?
Either way, Stoicism would allow no dualism between spirit and matter. Both
were of the same essence and that essence was reason (Xbyos); whereas in
Jewish belief the gulf between God and man and an insistence upon the
immaterial nature of the deity were central. These beliefs were conveyed by
the word iiyrou. For the Jews there could be no equation of God and the
world, nor of the divine with matter. This is in contrast with Posidonius, who
although using nueupa as a predicate of God, still retained a materialistic view
of both nueliwa and the deity?
Against such views, Philo asserts that it is precisely because of the incorporeal
and moral nature of the spirit, that it cannot remain a permanent possession
of man, who is corporeal and sinfuL9 For Philo, nueipa is that which is of
God - both in that God is its author," and in that it is the essence of the
divinity. Hence, God and we17pa can be described in the same terms. As God
is invisible, so nue6pa is invisible." As God is one and His nature is simple
(@SOLS aniq)" so the spirit is indivisible, 'susceptible to neither severance nor
division'.I3
Thus the main tenet of Jewish theology, i.e. its belief in the One God who is
holy, moral and powerful,14 is reflected in the concept of n w i p a . We will have
to consider later whether w e i p a was thought of as in any sense independent
of God. Whatever conclusions we reach about that particular question, it is
undeniable that, as in the 0.T.,15 there are passages in Hellenistic Jewish litera-
ture which closely identify m e i w a and God.
6 Sap Sol 1.5; 7:22; 9:17.Sib. 01.111, 701 also stresses themoral nature oFnvcSpa,
which 'all over the world.. . cannot lie'.
7 P. Merlan, 'Greek Philosophy from Plato to Plotinus', The Cambridge History of Later
Greek ondEarly MedievalPhilosophy, ed. A.H. Amstrong (Cambridge, 1967), p. 125.
8 Cf. E. de Witt Burton,Spirif, SoulnndFlesh (Chicago, 1918), p. 121.
9 Philo, Gig. 19; 28; 53;Immut 2;Qu. Gen. I, 90.
10 Leg. Alleg. I, 37 11 Plant. 18.
12 Leg. Alleg. 11, 2;Mut. 184; Immut 56. However, unlike the Neo-Pythagoreans, Philo
~efusesto equate God with the One. He is above the One.
13 Gig.26f.
14 Cf. Sap Sol 11:20 which retains the O.T. idea of the power of God's breath (nvecpa).
Cf. Isa 11:4.
15 Cf. Isa 30:l; 40:13; 53:10 where m c h is used in the sense of the divine 'I'.
20 - The Concept of Spirii
The author of the Wisdom of Solomon describes om$& in terms of nveipa and
in some passages identifies the two.I6 Thus, in Sap Sol 1 :6 he speaks of the
nveipa no@&.In Sap Sol 9:17, 'Whoever learnt to know Thy purposes, unless
Thou hadst given him wisdom (a@&) and sent Thy Holy Spirit (76 a ~ oou ~ b
meipa) down from on high?', there is a clear identification of wisdom with the
Holy Spirit." Sap Sol 7 :7 also parallels @ p ~ o withriueipa
ls o o @ h .Grimm"
sees in this verse a distinction between the wisdom of God (nveipa o @ h )
and human wisdom (@pdqols), which is communicated by God to man. The
Aristotelian distinction between theoretical wisdom (oo@h) and practical
wisdom ( @ ~ h q o ocould
) be cited in support of such an interpretation. How-
ever, not all Greek philosophers made such a rigid distinction and frequently
oo+ and@pbvqolswere used inte~chan~eably.'~ Thus the Stoics defmed
wisdom as 'knowledge of things human and d i ~ i n e ' .By~ such a definition
they gave oo@&both a theoretical and practical content. The Stoa attributed
a high value t o the study of the natural sciences precisely because they did not
maintain a distinction between knowledge of God and knowledge of the world.
Although the Stoics regarded God as the principal object of wisdom," they
believed all natural phenomena to be a manifestation of the divine; therefore
its study had a deeply religious significance. Since the major Greek philosophi-
cal influences on the author of Sap Sol seem t o have come via the Stoa, it
would seem unlikely that he made any distinction between o @ h and @ p h o l s .
In the light of this, Grimrn's interpretation of Sap Sol 7:7 would appear
untenable.
The author of Sap Sol not only closely associates w e i p a with oo@k,he also
uses terminology which stresses the afffity (and sometimes the identification)
of ?rveipa/ow&z with God. In 7:25 wisdom is described as the vapour or mist
(&r#ls)" of God's power. Such an image suggests the intimate relationship
between God and the vapour of His breath (nueipa). This affinity between
God and His wisdomlspirit is again stressed in 7:25f where the author seems
to be using one image after another to convey the same idea - the inseparabi-
lity of God and His wisdom/spirit. Thus she is His effluence (iuibpbora);the
reflection ( a n a i r / a ~ p a )of
~ the eternal light;24 the flawless mirror of the
active power of God?' the image (eixwv) of His goodness?6 She is above the
light,'? surpasses the stars and is more beautiful than the sun.
Thus, the meipa/oo& is the effulgence of God Himself. The vocabulary
(especially in Chapter 7) seems t o have been chosen by the author to empha.
size the point that wisdom shares the divine nature. Hence, like God, she is
hyrov and p o v o y ~ v 6 s .To
~ ~her are ascribed the two major divine attributes:
omnipotence (nwro61>vapov)and omniscience ( n a u e n i a ~ a r w ) ? ~
archer" regards this whole passage (Sap Sol 7:22-30) as inspired by the
biblical notion of the 66.5~of God. An examination of the text would seem to
support this, for, like 66$a, in no sense is the m~evpa/a@hindependent of God.
She is firmly attached t o her luminous source, of which she is a pure reflection,
image and ~nirror.~' The author of Sap Sol is affirming that the nveljpa iiyLov
transcends the natural order, and like wisdom (with which it is identified) is
situated in the sphere of the divine. Although not explicitly stated, Sap Sol is
affirming the immaterial nature of nveipa over against Stoic materialism.
Just as the vocabulary used stresses the affinity between God and the nveGpa/
ooqkh, so Sap Sol attributes the same activities to God and the weGpa/u@h.
As wisdom is a spirit devoted t o man's good ( @ h b ~ O p w n w )so
, ~ God
~ loves
all that lives (@th6$1~~e)?~AS the m~eljpa/oo$hknows all that is said,34 so
-- ~ ~~ -~
23 Sap Sol is the earhest Jewish writing to use this term. It was later adopted by Philo.
Cf. Spec. Leg. IV, 123.
24 Cf. Isa 60:19f. where the Lord is Israel's everlasting light. For the relationship of the
divine light to the divine S6go cf. S. Aalen, Die Begriffe Xicht'und 'Finsternis' im
Alten Testament, im Spiitjudenmrns und im Robbinismus (Oslo, 1951). p. 201.
25 Cf Plato. ReD. VI. 510E for the imaee of the mirror.
26 Plato, ~ e p\il,
. 5 0 $ where
~ the sun Fs the image of the Good. For c k w v in Philo, cf.
Mut. 128; Som. II,189;P1ob. 43; Det. 161;V. Mos. I, 158 etc.
27 Cf. Philo, Leg.AUeg. 111, 171, where the A&os is described as unfading, and Sam. I, 75,
where God is the archetype of all light.
28 Sap Sol 7:22. It seems unnecessary to interpret wouo~eu4sin the Stoic sense of a world
soul which, although having many manifestations, is one. Rather the author, like Philo
(e.g. Leg. AUeg. 11, 2; Mut. 184; Immut. 561, is stressing Judaism's monotheism.
29 Sap Sol 7:23.
30 Larcher, op. cit., pp. 387-388.
31 Plotinus was later to stress that the image and its exemplar shared an identical
substance and nature.
32 Sap Sol 1:6.
33 Sap Sol 11:24.
34 Sap Sol 1:6.
i
22 - The Concept of Spzrit
words cannot be hidden from God?' As wisdom is the mother of all good
things,36 so God is the source of all knowledge and As wisdom is the
artificer ( T E ~ U ~ T ISO
S )God
, ~ *is the artificer?'
In three passages the author of Sap Sol explicitly associates nveipa with God:
in 12:l rd ylrp W a p r h oou nveipi i'orw h, naor; in 1 :7 871 nveipn ~upiou
senXqpwe ~ 4 opi x o v p ~ ~ va~b
i ouu&ov ra niwm yv13ow Zxer @wvfp;and in
9:17 pouhi,v 66 o w T&f7uw, ei pq od g6w~asw $ b , ~ ai'nep$as
i rb 'hyrw
o w nveipn knd i~$lurwv.
This last passage, in its parallelism, obviously identifies o@lh with ayrou meipn.
Some authors have seen in the first two, i.e. 1:7 and 12:1, the influence of
Stoic thought. They could be interpreted in the light of Stoic beliefs about the
all-pervading nature of nveipn, and the reference to the spirit which 'fills the
whole world' and which 'holds all things together' could be seen as echoing
Platonic/Stoic beliefs in the permeating, cohesive anima m ~ n d i Those
. ~ who
see here a reflection of Stoic philosophy interpret &ovoyev6s4' simiirly as
referring to the one world soul, with its countless manifestations.
Exactly how much weight should be given to Stoic parallels is a debatable
point. How far the language reflects a conscious use of Stoic philosophy is not
easy to determine. These questions cannot be answered without reference t o
the whole purpose of the author. If it is assumed that Sap Sol was written for
a Gentile audience, it would be likely that its Stoic terminology and ideas were
consciously employed. If, with Wolfson, we regard the book as 'a conscious
effort to interpret scriptural teaching in Greek philosophical terms',42 this
would give even more weight to its Stoic terminology. However, there is little
evidence to suggest that it was addressed to a non-Jewish audience. Simply
because heathen kings are addressed in Sap Sol 6:l-11 is no reason to assume
that the work was intended for GentilesP3 It could be a typical preacher's
device of addressing (and usually attacking) those who are not present!
Furthermore, the fact that O.T. worthies are not named but merely d u d e d
to in chapter 10 need not point to a Gentile audience who were not particu-
larly interested,in their names. It is far more likely that the author did not
provide the names because they were so well known to his audience.
Far from trying to interpret Judaism in Greek terms, the author appears to be
combating Epicurean tendencies,* and, as we have seen, in describing n v e i ~ a
as iiywv opposes Stoic immanentism. Certainly one can detect elements in the
author's thought which echo those found in Plato. Thus, 11:17 can be regarded
as a reference to the notion of creation from formless matter: 9:8 could be
interpreted in the light of the Platonic theory of Ideas. Some scholars see in
8:19f a belief in the pre-existence of the soul, and others see further Platonic
influence in the description of God as b b v in 13:l. However, Sap Sol need
not be viewed primalily in terms of Platonism. Many of the ideas which have
been labelled 'Platonic' could equally have their source in the O.T. One can
look to the LXX of Ex 3: 14 for the designation of God as b bv; and behind
the description of Solomon's temple as 'a copy of the sacred tabernacle pre-
pared . . . from the beginning' 45 probably lies the influence of Ex 25:9,40
and I Chon 28:l If, rather than any direct borrowing from Platonic philosophy
Unlike Platonism our author's transcendentalism does not take the form of a
dualism between God and the world. God can and does make Himself known;*
men can be His friends, open to His influencef7 their very words and thoughts
can be inspired by Him?'
Similarly, it can be maintained that, although Sap Sol contains Stoic terms,
these are not interpreted according to the Stoa's philosophy. The immanentism
of our author did not have \its source in Stoicism, but in the O.T. conviction of
the omnipresence of God?9 The use of Stoic terminology should not blind us
to the fact that there are major divergencies between the Stoa and Sap Sol.
The former not only regarded nveipa as material, but insisted on its presence
in everything - including evil.50 Against this Sap Sol affirms the immaterial
nature of the spirit, which is ?Ly~ovand therefore cannot be present in those
with whom she has no affinity.51
Undoubtedly the author of Sap Sol used terminology current in the Schools.52
However, unlike Philo, his use of this language is inexact and unconscious.
44 Cf. erprridly Sdp Sol 2 whrch, aeunqt Epirur<~nlm,upholds 1 du:trlnc ol lifc sitcr
death m d srren\ a betici in divine prov~dencc.Epicunanisrn c m be srm reflected in
Lcclrs2:23;5 1 7 , 6 : 4 i ; 8 13.9:17 rtc.
45 Sap Sol 9:8.
46 SapSol 1:lf; 1:12; 15:l-3.
47 Sap Sol 7:27.
48 Sap Sol 7:15f.
49 Cf. Jer 23:24;Ps 138(139): 7.
50 E.g.Chrysippus.Cf.V. Am-, ap. cit. Vol. 11, p. 307, fi. 1037-1040.
51 Sap Sol 7:24.
52 Cf. especially the description of life after death in termsof bE&uaros in Sap Sol
3:1;3:3f;4:7;5:15f;8:13; 15:3.
24 - The Concept of Spirit
It is indicative of no more than the fact that such philosophical terms were
part of common parlance. Unlike Philo, Sap Sol does not appear to be an
attempt either to reconcile Jews to Hellenistic culture, or t o win Gentile
adherents for Judaism. The book is intensely nationalistic, rather than con-
ciliatory. The passages describing Israel's triumph over Egypt,53 and of Jahweh
arising for the onslaught,54 would hardly be appropriate in a work whose main
aim was apologetic. Although a universalistic note is struck in 11:23-26, where
God's love and mercy for all men are eulogized, the predominant theme is a
particularist one.55 Judgement is between individual Jews t h e good and the
bad - rather than including the Gentiles.
Post-Exilic literature in general reflects the problems which arose from a
doctline of exact r e t r i b u t i o ~ .How
~ ~ could God's justice be maintained in the
teeth of evidence which pointed to the prosperity of the wicked and the
sufferings of the faithful? Sap Sol partly gets over this problem by transferring
the scene of retribution from this world to an unseen world. This is common
in apocalyptic literature. That Sap Sol speaks of Wisdom as existing before the
creation of the world" could be hut another aspect of the author's tendency
to project ultimate realities on to an invisible world, which is outside the time-
span. It is interesting to note that the combination of wisdom and apocalyptic
motifs is also to be found in the book of Daniel. If we are right in claiming
that Sap Sol reflects a nationalistic eschatology, then it would follow that the
book is an example of the more p a r t i c u l d t reaction to Hellenism. That it
also reveals elements of the terminology of Hellenistic philosophy, far from
disproving this thesis, merely confirms what we have maintained, i.e. that even
the most nationalistic and non-conciliatory literature was not immune from
Hellenistic influence (albeit unconscious).
The writings of Philo provide an interesting contrast. His works were addressed,
not only to Jews, but to the Gentile world. Although intensely proud of his
people and their faith, he attempted to interpret Jewish beliefs in terms appro-
priate to the Hellenistic world in which the Jews of the Diaspora were living.
Hence, his reaction to the Diaspora situation was different from that of the
author of the Wisdom of Solomon. This is reflected in his eschatology, which
is that of a man who was more at home in this world. In fact there is very little
emphasis on eschatology in Philo. Rather he adopts the theocratic position of
not awaiting a new revelation, but of stressing the necessity of understanding
--
what had already been @ven,i.e. the Law. What he does have t o say about the
future is essentially in terms of the consummation of God's purposes in this
world rather than in some supra-terrestrial sphere. His eschatology stands in
the prophetics8 rather than the apocalyptic tradition. For Philo the ultimate
vision of God is not so much attained in some future consummation, however,
be it this or other worldly, but in the ecstatic, mystical experience which the
righteous may achieve in the present.
However, in spite of these fundamental differences between Philo and the
author of the Wisdom of Solomon. they are united in their basic view of God,
and this is reflected in their pneumatology. We have already seen that Philo
stresses the affinity of God and the spirit, and that God is one, holy and omni-
potent. In some passages Philo equates m e i w with God.59 Thus in Gig. 26f
he stresses that it is not Moses' own spirit, but God's - the wise, divine and
excellent. The identification of spirit and God is made explicit in Spec. Leg. N,
123: 'Andclearly what was then breathed was ethereal spirit (ai86p~ovweifla)
or something, if such there be, better than ethereal spirit, even an effulgence
(iurahyaaw) of the blessed, thrice blessed nature of the Godhead'.
A similar identification is possibly reflected in Josephus, Ant. VIII, 114. Here
Josephus has interpreted Solomon's prayer, 'that Thine eyes may ever be upon
this house',60 t o read 'send some portion of Thy Spirit to dwell in the temple,
that Thou mayest seem t o us t o be on earth as well'. In view of the fact that
elsewhere6' 'Josephus speaks of God Himself dwelling in the temple, it could
be maintained that m e i w and God are here used synonymously. If this inter-
pretation is correct, n v e i w is spoken of in much the same way as the shekinah,
to indicate the immanence of God.62 In Rabbinic literature the shekinah
58 Thus he looks forward to the reunion of the Exiles (Praem. 1640, a time of national
prosperity (Praem. 168; V. Mos. 11.44) and the univeisal reign of peace for men and
nature Waem. 79-94). Then the unrepentant enemies of Israel will be punished
(Praem. 169; 171) and the Mosaic Law will be universally accepted (V.Mos. 11, 14,
144). Philo appears merely to be adopting these themes from the biblical prophets.
However, they seem to be part of the biblical heritage mrhich he does not really utilize
or contribute to.
59 A. Laurentin, 'Le Pneuma dans la Doctrine de Philo', Ephemerides Theologicne
Lovonsienses XVII (19511, DD. 390-437, maintains that it is precisely because it is a
reference to the divine thatli becomes Dossihle to regard
. 7iueDlua as one unified
concept. Cf. especially p. 395.
60 3 Kgdms 8:29.
61 Ant. 111, 100; 102; VIII, 102; 106; B.J. V, 459.
62 Thus, in the O.T. shekinah is synonymous for God Himself. Cf. Ex 25:8,29:45f;
Num 5:3; 1 Kgs 6:13;Ezek 43:9; Zech 2:14 for God 'dwoIling'among Israel.
Zech 8:3;Ps 85:21; IChion 2 3 2 5 speak of God's dwelling in Jemsa1em;and
Ezek 43:7 of God dwelling in the Temple.
26 - The Concept of Spiiit
became personified, but even then it was not an intermediary or independent
from G0d.6~It is a circumlocution for God Himself. Similarly, in the litera-
ture of Hellenistic Judaism, liueljpa can be used to indicate the presence and
activity of God.
63 For the Shekimh cf. 1. Abelson, The Immanence of God in Rabbinical Literohire
(London, 1912). pp. 74-145,174-277; L. Blau, 'Shekinah', the Jewish Encyclopedia
XI, pp. 258-260; G.F. Moore,Judaism in the R-mt Cenhiriex of the Christian Em; the
Age of the Tmnaim (1927-19301, Vol. I, pp. 435-438, and idem Sntermediaries in
Jewish Theology', Hnrvard TheologiculReviw 15 (1922), pp. 41-85.
64 See also Palestinian works, e.g. Judith 8:18;Jubilees ll:3ff; 12:3ff; 2023;
Enoch 19:1;46:7.
65 Cf. Isa40:18-20;44:9-20 etc.
66 Aristeas 134.
67 Sap Sol 13:Z;Phila. Decal. 53.
68 Aristeas 135-137. Philo, V. Contempl. 6; Congr. 15; Pmb. 105. That idolatry had its
origin in the deification of dead heroes was the view of Euhernerus.
69 Sib. Or. 111, 606-618.
70 Philo, Aet. 56 etc.
73 Quoted in H. Diels, Die Framente der Vorsokratiker (5th ed. Berlin, 1934-1939,
Vol. I, p. 62, fr. 23. Xenophanes also attacked the Homeric gods for being portrayed
as immoral. Cf. Diels, Vol. I, p. 59, fr. 11.
The Concept of Spirit - 27
~ o d Philosophes
. ~ ~ such as Heraclitus had ridiculed idolatryJ5 I t is evident
that among many Greek philosophers there existed conceptions of God which
were far nobler than those reflected in popular beliefs. The Letter ofAristeas
seems t o be aware of this fact, for its author goes so far as t o state that the
God worshipped by pagans is none other than the God of Israel. Thus he says,
The God who gave them their law is the God who maintains your kingdom.
They worship the same God - the Lord and Creator of the universe, as all
other men, as we ourselves, 0 King, though we call him by different names,
such as Zeus or Dis . . . He through whom all things are endowed with life
and come into beingT6
Like other Jewish writers:7 Pseudo-Aristeas had adopted a pagan guise and
attempted to commend Judaism via the device of pretending to be a Gentile.
Even so, it is most unlikely that this statement which identifies Zeus with
Jahweh was a mere smoke screen designed to hide the author's true opinions.
Other Jewish writings which purported to have Gentile authorship were not
afraid t o condemn pagan beliefs; neither, in other respects, does the author
of Pseudo-Aristeas demur at a blatant glorification of Judaism. It would seem
more likely that these verses reflect the author's awareness of nobler concep-
tions of God held by some Greek thinkers. Since his purpose was apologetic,
he would thus wish to emphasize the points of contact between Judaism and
the Hellenistic world.
The real challenge for Hellenistic Judaism was not the refutation of grosser
forms of pagan belief, but the more sophisticated thinking of Greek philosophy.
AU the Diaspora authors were united in their attitude to the former. Where
they differ is in their approach to the latter. Although these differences are
real, however, they should not obscure the fact that Hellenistic Jews were
united in their adherence to certain fundamental tenets of faith and practice.
This underlying unity springs from the fact that their thinking was biblically
controlled. To speak of Hellenistic Jews as being 'biblically controlled' does
not, of course, mean that as exegetes they all used the same method of exposi-
tion. For example, Philo adopted an allegorical method of interpretation:'
already used by the Stoics in their exposition of Homeric epics. On the other
hand, the author of Sap Sol adopts a haggadic method of exposition, by adding
79 Cf. Sap Sol 11:15; 16:lf, 9, 18, 21f; 17:6, 15-19; 18:12f, 17-19; 1 9 : l l f , 17, 21.
Similar haggadic tendencies can be seen in 2 Maccabees
80 H. Leisegang, Der Heilige Geist (Berlin, 19 19).
81 The fact that he uses Platonic and Stoic terminology is quite incidental to his main
purpose.
82 Leisegang, op. cit., pp. 67, 100.
The Concept of Spirit - 29
correspondence between the immaterial and the material. The world of Ideas
is the Zlp~&unounapiL6ety~aof the created c0smos.8~In adopting the Platonic
theory of creation, Philo emphasizes this correspondence even more than does
Platonism, by claiming that the Ideas are the very thoughts of God.&2'Philo
is the earliest witness to the doctrine that the Ideas are the thoughts of God."'
Therefore, even in adopting Platonic theory, Philo stresses the link between
the human and the divine, the transcendent creator and the material creati0n.8~
Leisegang has failed to see that this reflects the fact that Philo's transcenden-
talism is derived from biblical sources, and is no mere adoption of Platonism.
Similarly, it is unnecessary t o attribute Philo's immanent theology to Stoicism.8'
A belief in the affinty between the divine and the human was certainly stressed
by the Stoa. But in this respect Stoicism and biblical faith shared a common
view. Since Philo was concerned t o build bridges between the two cultures, he
was not averse to using Stoic terminology, when speaking of the immanence
of God. This is reflected in his pneumatology. As God is everywhere," so the
spirit is everywhere, 'diffused in all its fullness everywhere and through all
thing^'?^ God is the intelligence and soul of the ~ n i v e r s e the
, ~ universal mind?'
the ruling mind ( ~ e u w U u O * ) . ~To
~ all these assertions a Stoic could assent.93
Yet a belief in the immanence of God is also found in the O.T., and it is because
Philo is faithful to his biblical sources that he opposes the Stoic equation of the
human with the divine. He denies an immanentism which would make the soul
and body co-essent.ial. Such he regards as a doctrine of impiety and c ~ n f u s i o n . ~
Although he believes in the 'transcendent in the midst', for Philo nveipa signi-
fies the divine and therefore, like God Himself, must ultimately be transcendent
and indefinable. Thus to convey God's immanence Philo draws not only upon
the terminology of Stoicism, with its descriptions of the all-pervading universal
mind or spirit, but also upon the personal'imagery of the O.T. which speaks of
God as Father and Creator. Alongside this, however, jostle the Platonic and
biblical statements which assert that God is transcendent.
In this way, Philo safeguards the transcendence of God, by claiming that Cod
in His Being is superior to the ways in which He reveals Himself. At the same
time, he manages t o retain a belief in the immanence of God, who (albeit
imperfectly) can be known. This implies that there are levels in the Being of
God, only the lower of which may be known. This idea was later adopted by
Middle and Neo-Platonism. Its implications for Philo's pneumatology will be
discussed when we come to consider whether he regarded ?iyei?p~as an inter-
mediary or not.
104 For a list of references to evil spirits in Palestinian writings cf. D.S.Russell,
TheMerhod ondMessage of Jewish Apocalyptic (London, 1964), p. 404.
105 For the doctrine of the two yeserim ef. S. Schechter, Some Aspects ofRab6inic
Theology (London, 1909), pp. 242-292; G.F. Moore, Judaism, Vol. I, pp. 479-486;
H.Strack:P. Billerbeck, Kommentur rum Neuen Testament ous Talmud undMidroseh,
Val. IV, pp. 466-483 (Excurs: Der gute und der bSse T~ieb).
106 Cf. Gen 6:s; 8:21.
107 Cf. Test. Jud. 20; Test. Ash. 1.
108 Cf. Eccles 7:29;Gen 8:21.
32 - The Concept of Spirit
which was not only moral, but ontologkxl; that it not only alluded to a
conflict between good and evil in man himself, but projected such a conflict
into the life of the godhead, and,inso doing, made evil some kind of cosmic
reality.'w
Hellenistic Judaism also had its dualism. This was usually expressed in terms
of the body versus the soul, or the mind over against the passions. Such
expressions conveyed the sense of conilict between good and evil which man
experienced in himself. However, the Jews of the Diaspora managed to avoid
any suggestion of a dualism which was ontological. Indeed, Jewish philosophers
such as Philo were aware of the dangers to monotheism inherent in such a
position. To put evil on a par with good was to impinge upon the sovereignty
of the One God. To attribute evil to God was to blaspheme His holy nature.
Philo tried to avoid the dilemma by postulating that God has different levels
of His Being. He speaks of the lower levels in the Being of God as agents. These
are variously described as reason or word fibyos), mind (uolis), and angels
(ayyexor). Philo interprets the 'Let us make' of Gen 1:26 as God talldng to His
agents. To these he attributes all that is unworthy in creation."' However, in
so doing, Philo does not really solve the problem, for he postulates no dualism
between God and His agents. These agents are always subordinate to rd bu.
'But the primal existence is God and next to Him is the word of God, and all
other things subsist in word only.'"' Frequently God is spoken of as acting
Himself, directly, and without any intermediaries. 'Now (God) with no coun-
sellor to help Him - who is there beside Him?'"' Thus there is no dualism
between good and evil deities in Phito. Neither in his views on cosmology nor
in those on human psychology do we find any reference to evil spirits at war
with the good. Never does Philo mention an 'evil spirit'. IIvelipu is always of
God and therefore good. Thus, in attributing evil to God's agents in creation,
Philo merely pushes the responsibility for its existence one stage further for-
ward. Rather than compromise God's sovereignty, he makes God ultimately
responsible for evil.
H.A. W~lfson"~ has argued that there is evidence of the yeser doctrine in Philo.
He sees this reflected in a passage where the symbolism of Isaac being the father
of twins is explained: 'For the soul of every man from the fust, as soon as he
is born, bears in its womb twins, namely good and evil, having the image of
4
IINETMA AND THE NATURE OF MAN
IIveipa is not only applied to God; it is used with reference to man. Thus a
study of the pneurnatology of Hellenistic Judaism reveals not only its theology,
hut also its anthropology. However, it would he misleading to suggest by this
that Jewish beliefs about God and man were entirely distinct and separate. On
the contrary, perhaps nowhere is the interrelatedness of these concepts more
evident than in the various ways w e i p a is used.
Underlying the assertion that w e i w was a component of man lies the convic-
tion that man is dependent upon God and always has been so since creation.
In the light of this, the connection of n ~ i p meaning
a breath with nveifla in
this anthropological usage is understandable. As respiration is essential for life
and its continuation,? so it can be regarded as synonymous with the life prin-
ciple itself? Just as its presence is essential for life, so its absence means death
or lifelessness. Thus, idols are those <u o& d r &or1
~ nveipa? As the giver and
sustainer of life n ~ i p may
a be described as r w r ~ b u {!W ~THWT~TW or ~{ w' T ~ s ! ~
n v ~ i p and
a SOUI
We have already seen when discussing the occurrence of nueipa in the W(,
that the usual pagan Greek usage for the 'soul' of man was $uxq rather than
w e i p a . If man's emotions were being emphasized Buw& would probably be
used, whereas $uxq was normally resewed to indicate thought or determina-
tion.
In the writings of Hellenistic Judaism, however, as in the LXX, nveipa is
employed in contexts where pagan Greek would use @up&or $uxfi. In Baruch
3:1, $vxil& oreu& Kai liueijm hK$lLjy, J/vx$and nveipa are obviously
equated. A similar equation can be seen in the Song of the Three Holy Children
63 (LXX Dan 3:86).13 Philo, in stressing the affmity between God and man,
states that man's reasonable soul (Xuyr~q$vxrj) was 'a genuine coinage of that
dread spirit (nveipa) the Divine and Invisible One'.I4 Since he is here asserting
the connection between the two, it is unlikely that Philo is making a distinction
between $vxq and nueipa.
Sometimes Pbilo speaks of w&pa as having been given to the $ v ~ ~ whilst , ' ~
on other occasions he describes w e i p a as the essence of the $uxq.16 We have
seen that although Philo sometimes equates $uxq with nu&pa, he also distin-
guishes two elements in the soul: the blood or sense perception which we share
with animals, and the rational nveipa which is the soul's true essence. In earthly
man these two elements are always mixed.ls In making this distinction between
the two elements in man Philo is recognizing that man is both good and evil.
To neglect the latter would be contrary to experience; to overlook the former
would be to destroy the very basis upon which an appeal for faith could be
made. Philo saw that a belief in the spiritual or pneumatic element in man was
essential if he wished to assert the possibility of contact between God and man.
This is stressed in his adoption of the Platonic understanding of creation, since
behind Idealism lies a theory of correspondence; a conviction that the heavenly
world of Ideas is an exemplar of the material world. Thus m & w is the 'impres-
sion stamped by the divine power', 'the image of God'," and man is the copy
of the divine archetype of rational existence." It is the presence of the divine
meipain man which makes contact between God and man possible.
E. Best has examined the occurrence of av&w in Josephus and has come to
the conclusion that, in the sense of a component of man, it virtually disappears?'
He arrives at this conclusion after analysing the ways in which Josephus handles
his biblical material. He cites examples of personal pronouns being substituted
by Josephus in places where the LXX uses nveipa?' He also points to instances
of Josephus substituting J/qq for 7~veipa.~'On the basis of this, Best claims that
Josephus has modifled his use of a v ~ i p to
a accord with normal pagan Greek
usage.
We have already noted this tendency in the LXX.However, just as we saw that
the W[ on occasion does use nueipa of man's spirit, so we shall fmd the same
to be true of Josephus. Best tail claim no more than to have pointed out a
general tendency, for there are instances of nveipa being used in its anthropo-
logical sense. For example, B.J.I1,92 uses weipa of the Romans' martial
frenzy. Furthermore, although the LXX of Gen 2:7 describes man as receiving
nvorj, Josephus substitutes ~ C p and a J/qq." He does not seem clearly to
differentiate between the terms. In fact AntXI, 240 equates the human J/&
with man's n ~ n i p a , ?as~ does Ant.I1,260 where Josephus explains the prohibi-
tion of blood in terms of the blood being regarded as $q+ and nveipa. Here
he has added a reference to nveipa to Lev 17:lOf (where there is no mention
of it). Thus there are occasions when Josephus not only retains the LXX usage
of nveipa for man's soul, but actually introduces it into the text. Knowing
19 Opif. 72-74.
20 Det.83. Ci.Plant. 18.
21 E. Best, T h e use and non use of rrueipa by Josephus', NT 3 (1959), pp. 218-225.
22 E.g. Ant.VI, 360 (1 Kgdms 30:12); Ant.VIII, 356 (3 Kgdms 20:s = 1 Kgs 21:s).
23 E.g. Ant.I1,75 (Gen 41:8); Ant.V, 345 (1 Kgdms 1:s); Ant.XI, 3 (2 Chron 36:22).
24 Ant.1, 34.
25 Ant.X, 240: e b e k bneXLperpot76 ~vsGplla~ a ~arehernd~qrlv
i im6 7f $OX$.
38 - The Concept of Spirit
k i p a and mind
In the writings ofphilo, rather than being associated with the emotions, w e i p a
is closely allied with man's reason. Although he sometimes uses $mi),vois and
w e i w interchangeably,30he regards the vois as the dominant part of the soul.
As God is incomprehensible3' so the vois is unable to see itself or know of what
it is made?' However, in spite of this statement, Philo elsewhere says that vois
is made of n ~ e i p a ?It~ is into the vois alone that God breathes.34 Nois is the
recipient of the f f v ~ i p a ?given
~ at creation,36 as the force which generates
Philo thus identifies w&pa with man's reasoning faculty. Aoy~op&
is the divine in-breathing:' the Xuyubv w e i w is the dominant part of man,
the archetypal form of the divine image.39
The association of nveipa with reason is particularly F'hilonic. Apart from
4 Macc.7:13 it is not found elsewhere. Certainly Hellenistic Judaism associated
n ~ i withw ao&iz,but this wisdom was thought of as a transient inspiration,
granted to the few. Philo also has a concept of inspiration (particularly that
granted to the prophets) as spasmodic. However, this is not to be confusedwith
the w e i p a which is a permanent gift, graciously granted to man at creation.
This w e i p is that which is 'of God' in man; its presence is what Philo under-
stands by man being made m God's image.
26 Cf. C.Ap.l,50 where Josephus acknowledges his Greek assistants. For a discussion of
the evidence of their hand in his works cf. H.St.1. Thackeray, Josephus the Man and
theHisrorian (N.Y. 2nd ed. 1967), pp. 100-124.
27 For a classification of the 'psychic' use of spirit in Palestinian literature cf. D.S. Russell,
op. cit., pp.402-404.
28 For the few occasions when nvedwa is used t o describe an emotional state cf.
Appendix 8,1V (b), p. 151.
29 Cf. e.g. Sib.Or.111, 738;V, 260.
30 Cf. Fug. 133 where uofis and nueCparraare equated.
31 Qu.Gen.IV, 26; Immut.62 etc. 32 Leg. AUeg. 1, 91.
33 Heres. 55. 34 Leg. AUeg. I, 33.
35 Leg. AUeg. I, 37. 36 Leg. AUeg. I, 33.
37 Spec. Leg. 1,6. Cf. Fug. 182 Cthe spirit of vision').
38 Heres 57. 39 Spec.Leg.1, 171. Cf. Spec.Leg.1, 277. -
The Concept of Spirit - 39
Since he locates it in the noetic part of the soul, Philo affords a high place to
man's reason. The mind is God's deputy, inspiring the senses." It is the
divinest part of man:' the godlike image:* the copy of the divine reasonp3
and God's i n ~ t r u r n e n t Philo
. ~ ~ states that God is visible only to the mind,45
and he identifies the manna ofthe wilderness with the divine food of know-
ledge.46
Philo makes his appeal to the Gentiles on the grounds that reason is the com-
mon possession of all men. He believes that God has not left the Gentiles
without knowledge of Himself, and by appealing to reason Philo is appealing
to a God-given faculty. Furthermore, one of Philo's main motives was an
apologetic one. He wished to vindicate the rationality of biblical faith. We
know from the fragments of their works which survived that there were other
Jews of the Diaspora who wished to defend the reasonableness of Judaism.47
Aristobulus had claimed that Moses was the originator of all that was best in
Greek philosophy and culture.* A similar claim had been made by Artapanus,
who also asserted that Moses had instructed the Egyptian priests in the art of
hieroglyphics.49 Artapanus also stated that Abraham had been the father of
astrol~gy?~ and Joseph had taught the Egyptians various agricultural skills?'
These apologetic works were no doubt written in response to anti-semitic
attacks made by such pagan authors as ApoUonius M ~ l o nM , ~a ~n e t h ~and
~~
Apion.54 Pbilo stands f i d y in this apologetic tradition. For him Judaism was
the source of all that was highest in pagan learning. Far from being irrational
and superstitious, its laws were demonstrably sensible.55
Yet Philo was not content to rest on the assertion that reason is the inspired
gift of God. Ultimately he refused to rely on the power of reason to obtain
the vision of God. He was only too aware of the fallibility of human reason.
It could be deluded and seduced,56for earthly man has only the rrvofi of less
robust reas~ning.~" We can know nothing for certain."
Just as we can see an apologetic motive behind Philo's high regard for human
reason, so equally an apologetic motive can be detected in his scepticism. In
commending the Pentateuch to pagans, Philo wished to claim for it an authority
which was beyond that of their own philosophers and sages. For him the Mosaic
Law had an infallibility which could not be claimed for human reason alone.
It contained the very oracles of God. Therefore, for Philo, inspiration par excel-
lence is prophetic inspiration.
A similar position, although not so carefully worked out, is taken by the
author of 4 Maccabees. Like Philo, 4 Macc. is primarily a defence of Judaism;
the author attempts to defend his faith from pagan attack. Hence he asserts
that the Law is not contrary to reason;s9 neither is it a preposterous philo-
s 0 ~ h y . 6On
~ the contrary, it is perfectly reasonable. In fact the whole treatise
is concerned to extol Judaism as b ei~ue5fisAoyrup6s. Like Philo, the author
believes that the best of Greek philosophical ideas are to be found in the O.T.
Thus he asserts that the Mosaic Law teaches the four cardinal virtues of
Platonism and Stoicism!'
In the light of the purpose of 4 Macc. it is not surprising that, like Philo, the
author associates nveipa with reason. In 4 Macc. 7:13 we find reference to
Eleazar becoming a young man again in 'the spirit of his reason' (nwupa TOI?
A o y i u ~ and
) 'possessing Isaac-like reason' ('Iua~erosAoyiopos).' This passage
obviously echoes Philonic thought. Philo uses the figure of Isaac to represent
or ~7110~1n7.6~He also discourses on the Isaac-soul as the type of
knowledge which is intuitive or possessed by nature rather than by eff0rt.6~
However, both Philo and the author of 4 Macc. assert the supremacy of inspired
wisdom. This is not to be confused with the livei,pa which is in every man. It is
possessed only by the sages and prophets of Judaism, whom God has chosen to
be the recipients of His prophetic spirit. Together with his fellow apologists of
the Diaspora, the author of 4 Macc. is not only conciliatoly, looking for the
Ilv~Lipaand conscience
We have seen that Philo regarded meifla as the nobler aspect of man. As such
it obviously plays a large part in his ethical theory. In this connection we
should note that nwipa is closely allied to his concept of conscience. Philo
claims that no soul remains without an idea of God, othenuise there would be
an excuse for failing to believe in Him?' The conscience(ovveuS6s) is 'this man
dwelling in the soul of each of us'." Its function is to make men aware and
conscious of their own misdeedqn to convict man from withinJ3 Philo's
favourite synonym for conscience 1s 'connctor' (kXqyos)," since its nature
is to bate evil and love virtue, and to inculcate the same values in man.?' It acts
as both accuser and judge, gently admonishing unintentional lapses, but threat-
ening deliberate wrong-doing." As the impartial scmtineer from whom the
65 See the reference to Jewish martyrs in 4 Macc. as examples of true nationalism. 4 Macc.
6 ~ 2 97:21
; introduces the idea of the expiatory powers of martyrdom.
66 4Macc. 1:18. 67 4Macc. 7:17-23.
68 C.C. Torrey, The Apocryphal Literature (Yale, 1945), p: 104.
69 W. Bousset, Die Religion des Judenhrms im spiithellenismchen Zeitolter (31d edn.
Tiibingen, 1926), p. 446.
70 Leg. Alleg. I, 35. 71 Det. 23. Cf. Det 87.
72 Virt. 124:Soec. Lee. I1.49:Det 146. 73 Det. 23f.
6-
74 Spec. ~ e g 1.: 235; I?, ?rob. 149; Det.24; Fug. 2 0 3 f ; ~ o n f .121 etc.
75 Decal. 87. 76 Opif. 128.
42 - The Concept of Spirit
5
IINETMA AND THE RELATIONSNIP
BETWEEN GOD AND THE WORLD
given him wisdom (o@h) and sent thy holy spirit down from heaven on high
(76 iiy~bvo w WEUW &rd bJlimwv)?'19 In answer to Solomon's prayer for
understanding ( @ P ~ ~ ~ the
u I sspirit
) of wisdom ( w e i p oo@lhs)was sent.'"
Solomon is used by the author of Sap Sol to typify Jewish inspiration. As a
gift from God it is superior to any insights which pagans may have. Far from
being the r v e i which
~ ~ is the permanent possession of all men, it is an external
inspirational power,2' which grants a wisdom far above that normally available
to reason. This is the nveUw which inspired the prophets. Its possession is the
seal of their authority. Under the influence of this np&~mdV rv~Upa'~ the
mind is inspired,23raisedz4 and guided?5 Yet this inspirational w e i is~
transientz6 and sporadic because we are flesh.z7
On the one hand possession of the divine wiveipa has a moral condition; it
requires singlemindednesszs and a detachment from sensual preoccupations.29
IIveipa being reserved for the wise and good,30 the wicked cannot receive it.31
Yet, on the other hand, goodness does not automatically qualify a man for
the prophetic spirit. It is God's to dispose of as He will. The prophetic nueipa
comes, not as a reward for merit, but as grace?2 It is grace which is necessaly
if man is to achieve virtue, and yet, at the same time, the gift which is depend-
ent upon the prior goodness of its recipient. Such contradictions are evident
in Sap Sol 1:5, where the author speaks of the educative role of the spirit -
A ~ L O V. . .rveipa rat&&,- upon which men are dependent in order to achieve
true wisdom, whilst asserting that, because it is holy, weipa cannot abide
with the unholy. It 'will have nothing to do with falsehood', and 'cannot stay
in the presence of unreason and will throw up her case at the approach of
injustice'.
How are such contradictory statements to be understood? So far we have
maintained that the pneumatology of Hellenistic Judaism reflects the theo-
logical questions with which the Diaspora had to grapple. Thus, statements
which assert both that rrvcipa is the possession~ofall and that it is the gift of
the few, should be viewed in the light of the dilemma which faced Judaism's
apologists: how they were to fmd a common ground for discussion between
their faith and that of their Gentile neighbours, whilst retaining a belief in the
superiority of the revelation granted to their forefathers. Such contradictory
statements about the nature and activity of nveipa reveal the tensions inher-
ent in the Diaspora situation. In them we can see the very real crisis of identity
felt by Jewslliving in an alien land and culture. The questions 'Who is my
neighbour?' and 'Who am I?' were inevitably asked of the traditional doctrine
of election. Were Jews to regard themselves as the chosen people because they
were worthy of such a calling, or as an act of divine grace? If by grace, then
was there no need for human effort? 'Shall we continue in sin then that grace
may abound?'33 was a question raised by Philo as well as Saul of Tarsus. Of
course, in Philo the question does not appear in this particular form,'but it is
inherent in his pneumatology - where divine grace and human effort are
maintained, and yet where the philosophical difficulties of retaining a belief
in both are not resolved.
What is evident is that a special place is claimed for prophetic inspiration. Philo
states that it is the prophetic spirits whom we should emulate? since their
minds alone approach G0d.3~The n p c + q ~ ~ rrvEi)lll~~~
w which they are granted
brings with it a special inspiration. It was this w e i p a which came upon the
70 Elders:? enabled Jeremiah to prophesy:8 and gave Abraham bodily beauty,
a persuasive voice and a responsive audience?' However, the recipient par
excellence of the divine spirit was Moses" since it stayed with him longer
than with other men?' Hence, Philo describes him as 'the purest of spirits'"
upon whom the spirit came at decisive r n ~ m e n t s ? ~
The association of the divine n v ~ 6 p awith prophetic inspiration is also apparent
in the writings of Josephus. In a number of instances, where the LXX speaks
of the n v ~ i coming,upon
w an'0.T. character, he interprets this to mean that
they prophesied." There are also examples of Josephus adding references to
n v e i w to the text of the O.T., where in the LXX they are absent. Thus, into
Num 22 he introduces tho idea of Balaam's ass being conscious of the divine
33 R o m 6 : l . 34 Qu. Ex. I, 4.
35 Qu. Ex. 11,29. 36 Fug. 136.
37 Glg. 24 (LXXNum 11:17). 38 Conf. 44.
39 Virt. 217. 40 Fug. 132;V. Mos. I, 175.
41 Giz. 47. 4 2 V. Mos. iI,40.
43 Cf. the boyl6vrw who mspjred Socrates at decisive moments.
44 Thus Ant.IV, 165 (Num 27:18) re Joshua; Ant. V, 285 (Judg 13:25) re Samson;
Ant. VIII, 295 (2 Chron 15:l) re Azariah; Ant.IX, 168 (2 Chron 24:20) re Zechariah
48 - The Concept of Spirit
spirit approaching?s We have previously noted that in Num 23:6 the JXX
translators introduced the concept of the irueipa B ~ ocoming
i upon Balaam
before he prophesied. Josephus is therefore continuing a tendency already
present in his text. Into Num 23 he introduces the notion of the compelling
nature of the prophetic spirit.46 A reference to the divine spirit coming upon
David in 1 Kgdms 16 (1 Sam) is expanded to add that, as a result of the spirit's
arrival, he prophesied?7 Josephus' own understanding of prophecy is brought
out in his rendering of 1 Kgdms 22: 15, where, to 'but you shall know whether
he is really a true prophet', he adds 'and has the power of the divine spirit'.48
For Josephus, as for Philo, the prophet was one who had the gift of the spirit
of God.
It is also evident that the prophets to whom these apologists for Judaism
referred, were those of the biblical period. Since the common post-exilic tradi-
tion was that prophecy had ceased with the death of Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi, does this mean that Judaism confmed inspiration to the past? Did
they believe that the springs of inspiration had dried up or been turned off?
Obviously not, for there is abundant evidence of a conviction that God conti-
nued His work of inspiration. Hence, Philo can speak of divine assistance which
comes to him when his own literary inspiration dries up." In considering the
relationship between aueipa and conscience, we have seen that Philo certainly
believed in divine guidance. Furthermore, he not only speaks of the corybantic
frenzy which inspired the prophets of the past; a similar frenzy drives the
ascetics of his own day out into the wilderness?' For Philo, it is not only the
prophets of the O.T. who were inspired; so were the translators of the LXX -
KaBhn~p~ v ~ o ~ u ~ ~ , Y ~ E s ? '
The ability to predict the future was thought to be part of the prophetic
activity. Josephus claims that he himself could exercize thisgift. Hence he
foretold the accession of Vespasian," and when this prophecy was fulfilled
says that the Emperor referred to him as 'a minister of the voice of God'
(6hwo.9 n j s ~ o rBj ~ o@i w Y T ~ S ) ? ~ This clearly echoes O.T.beliefs about the
voice of God which spoke to the prophets?4 Josephus not only claims prophe-
tic gifts for himself; he also says that John Hyrcanus united in himself kingship,
high-priesthood and 'the gift of prophecy' (mi n p o @ ~ ~ ~ I b . the ) . ~ same
~ I n pass-
age he goes on to explain what he means by prophecy, i.e. foreknowledge or
45 Ant. IV, 108. 46 Ant. IV, 119f.
47 Ant. VI, 166. 48 Ant. VIII, 408.
49 Abr. 35. Cf. Migr. 34f; Cher. 27; Som. 11, 252.
50 Mut. 39. 51 V. Mos. 11, 37.
52 B.J. 111, 399-408. 53 B.J. IV, 626.
54 Talmudic literature also speaks of predictive prophecy, inspired by the bathqol., i.e.
the echo of the heavenly voice.
55 B.J. 1.69.
The Concept of Spirit - 49
the power to predict the future.56 For Simon the Essene, Josephus claims the
ability to interpret dreamss7 - an ability normally associated with prophecy.
Dreams were frequently thought of as a means of inspiration, and as such
exercized a fascination for the ancient world. Philo devoted two treatises to
the subject of dreams. He saw them as a means of foretelling the
Some dreams were clear in their meaning, whereas others needed interpreta-
~ attributed Moses' ability to interpret the oracles of God to his
t i ~ n . 'Philo
possession of the divine spirit!'
It is therefore clear that both Philo and Josephus did not confme their belief
in inspiration to the prophets of the O.T. In fact they cite evidence of certain
prophetic activities, i.e. prediction and the power of dream interpretation, as
continuing in their own time. However, they do not attribute this contem-
porary inspiration to the possession of the spirit. This they confine to the
prophets of the biblical period. In so doing, they implicitly assert that the
inspiration of the authors of scripture was qualitatively different from any
subsequent insight.
It is also important to note Philo's understanding of the prophetic process
itself. For him prophecy was synonymous with the oracular. He regarded the
prophet as the passive vehicle of the divine in the same way that the Greeks
thought of the Pythia as the human vehicle of ApoUo's utterances. Like
Plate:' he believed that inspiration comes only with the departure of human
~eason,~' for the mind is evicted by the arrival of the nuevpny who becomes
the new tenant and visitor.64 H. Leisegang has maintained that Philo equates
the Platonic vovs with the Stoic nueipn, and, in so doing, has spiritualized the
Stoic concept of rrv~tjpa.He believes that this synthesis of Platonism and
Stoicism had already been undertaken by Posidonius, upon whom Philo was
dependent!' However, Leisegang has failed to notice avery important differ-
ence between Philo and Posidonius in their respective theories of inspiration.
In Posidonius' view the immortal spirits need to get past the senses in order
to ally themselves with the uois. However, Philo is far more Platonic in his
view, for it is the v M s and not the sense perception which is evicted.
In common with most of the Hellenistic world, Philo interpreted corybantic
frenzy as a sign of true inspiration.66 He therefore regards the prophet as an
The author of Sap Sol does not seem concerned with the production of
systematic theology. Hence there are a number of occasions in the book in
which wisdom is not personified, i.e. the device of personification is not
consistently employed?7 Far from such personification being used to over-
come any difficulty which the author felt about the possibility of God making
contact with the world without the services of an intermediary, God is, as we
have already seen, frequently spoken of as acting Himself?' Were the author
attempting to postulate any notion of intermediary agency, onewould have
thought that he would have been far more careful to make a clear distinction
between God and wisdom. Therefore, it seems most unlikely that Sap Sol
presents wisdom as an intermediary. As Larcher has pointed out, if this had
been his intention, the author would have been over-successful in preserving
the transcendence of God, for wisdom would have been given such a central
place that there would be no need for God H i ~ n s e l f . ~ ~
If intermediaries have no place in Sap Sol, do they not figure in the works of
Philo? We have seen that Philo speaks of the lower levels of God's Being, i.e.
Xbos, oat&, Gvviylels, ay-yeha, and in many respects nvecpa alsocan be classi-
fied as one of these levels. But are these regarded by Philo as intermediaries,
as beings who in some sense have their own distinct identity?
As with wisdom in Sap Sol, language is used of these levels which would
suggest that they were God's agents. From this Leisegang argues that nvecpa
is a created being.lm Yet just as we have seen that the author of Sap Sol does
not sustain a distinction between God and wisdom, so we can see that Philo
does not always speak of God acting through these lower levels of His Being.
Thus, God is also described as acting Himself, without agents or intermediarie~!~'
Philo warns his readers against giving any independent status to angels. He says
that it is only because we cannot know 76 w that we take the aspects of God
t o be the sum. 'Angels are God's household servants and are deemed gods by
those whose existence is still one of toil and b ~ n d a ~ e . ' ' ~ T h ewould
y seem,
therefore, t o be personifications of divine attributes, rather than separate beings.
As HA. Wolfson has pointed out, they are only intermediaries in the sense of
patterns or plans in the divine architect's mind.Im
91 Cf. pp.20-22.
98 Cf. SapSol9:1;9:17; 1:3; 14:6 etc.
99 C. Larcher, op. cit., p. 408.
100 H. Leisegang, op. cit., pp. 25, 121.
101 Cf. Opif. 74 where to God Himselfis attributed the creation of everything in the
world except the body and irrational soul of man.
102 Fug. 212. Cf. also Som. 1, 238 where God is said to take the form of angels for the
benefit of ffite men
103 H.A. Wolfson, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 286.
The Concept of Spirit - 55
A. Laurentin has argued that from certain aspects nveipa may be regarded as
an intermediary in Philo. From the point of view of its origin nveipais God
Himsele from the point of view of its effects it is like a created being, whereas
from the point of view of its actions it becomes an intermediary and an instru-
ment.'" However, what Laurentin does not make clear is whether he means
that this distinction is a linguistic one, or whether he is claiming some kind of
ontological status for it. If he is maintaining the former then he is saying no
more than we should expect, i.e. that Philo's language with reference to n v c i w
is inexact and that this is due to the different roles which he sees the divine
spirit playing. If Laurentin is claiming that the author himself made such theo-
logical distinctions believing them to be part of the nature of nvecpa, then it
would presuppose a systematic approach, absent from Philo's
We have already noticed that Philo does not maintain a systematic distinction
between nveipa and the other levels in the Being of God. If we follow Wolfson
in thinking that the latter are not intermediaries, then we may assume this to
be true of nveipa. In fact, if nucipa is compared with Xbyos, it emerges that
spirit has even less claim to the status of intermediary than the others, for
whereas hbyos is spoken of in terms of agency, nveipa is not.
Abym and nveipa are frequently equated in the role which they play in Philo's
theology.'M Both are described as being involved in creation; the Abym as the
~ nveipa 'moving above the face of the
pattern and mediator of c r e a t i ~ n , 'and
~ater'.''~Also both are active in the task of bringing enlightenment to men;
~ the n v e i w , since
the Xbym since he is the archetype of human r e a s ~ n , ' and
it is the invisible, secret tenant,"' guiding the mind to truth."'
However, there is one important difference between them. Whereas X h m is
spoken of as both instrumental and also as that which is imparted, w e i w is
only described as the latter. Spirit is not so much the agency by which some-
thing is given; it is the content of what is imparted. Whereas Xbym is 'the man
127 A. Laurentin, op. cit., p. 415, in an attempt to maintain that Philo's use of nvccpa
is wholly consistent, denies that he ever equates rruecpa with uo*. However, see
Heres. 55; Fue. 133 and Ou. Gen. I. 90 where the two are ohviouslv . svnonvmous.
. .
128 Heres 57:
129 Cf. Leg. AUeg. I, 36 where 'breathe'is said to be the same as 'besoul'.
130 Leg. AUeg. I, 37. Td pdu oinr 2prruedv b B e & . . . rd Sd kpliycdpsvou 76 nueOpa. This
hardly suggests, as Laurentin (op. cir., p. 414) maintains, that nvecpa is instrumental.
131 E.g. G.F.Moore, Judaism, Vol. I, p. 117 and idem. 'Intermediaries in Jewish Theology',
Haward TheologicnlReview 15 (19221, pp. 41-85, Strack-Billerbeck, op. cit.,
Vol. 111, pp. 302-333,J. Abelson,, The Immanence of God in Rabbinical Literature
(London, 1912), pp. 146-173 etc.
132 H.A. Wolfson, op. cit., VoL I, p. 282.
58 - The Concept of Spirit
6
IS IINETMA ONE CONCEPT?
The problem
How meaningful is it to speak of riveipa as one concept? We have examined
how the,word is used in the literature of Hellenistic Judaism, and we have seen
that it is employed in a variety of contexts and with diverse meanings. Yet to
call nveipa a single concept implies that there is some k i d of unity underlying
the word's various usages. Is this in fact true or have we superimposed our own
conceptual framework on a patchwork of references? This is the kind of criti-
cism which James Barr makes of Kittel's TheologicalDictionary~when he
accuses its authors of employing 'illegitimate totality transfer'.' By this he
means the adding up of all the various meanings which can be deduced from
a word's usage in different contexts, and the assumption that wherever the
word occurs it contains within it all its other meanings.
This is certainly not a criticism which could have been levelled at such scholars
as Leisegang and Verbeke. For them the meaning of nueipa, as it occurs in
Philo, falls into separate and distinct categories. Thus it is possible to consider
nueipa as wind, air, cohesion, the human soul, or as an inspirational force -
usages in which the word has radically different senses.
However, Laurentin has argued against this approach, insisting that it is possible
to see in the use of nvetjpa by Philo a unified, coherent concept.3 He claims
that what gives nveipa its unity is that, behind each occurrence of the word,
lies a reference to its divine origin. It is always the divine, active power, all per-
vading and yet external to all it pervades. Laurentin maintains that whenever
the word is used it conveys the idea of movement between God and man and
is that which extends God's presence, allowing it to reach its object - man and
the world.
j Here we have two opposing points of view; the former regarding nveipa as the
linguistic symbol employed to convey a whole series of incompatible and
radically different meanings, and the latter maintaining that wherever the term
is employed it has a common referent. In the first case wrveipa would be seen
as representing a number of concepts, whereas in the second it would be
regarded as one concept.
4 The importance of context for determining the meaning of a word has also been
emphasized in modern linguistic studies. These have revealed that the unit of language
is not the word. since words fall into habitual oatterns. Therefore, the meaning of a
word can only be understood in the context or these larger units. For an admirable
diqcussion
~ - ~ -~~ ~-modern
of ~ - ~- -trends
-~
~ in semantics cf. R.A. Waldron. Sense and Sense
Devefooment
.. . ~
- . . (London
r ~ - ~ 1970)
. ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~, , - .
Just as Hellenistic Jewish writers mostly drew upon the Greek bible for their
vocabulary for God,' so it is to the W( that we must look for their under-
standing of 7iveCpa. Since the predominant and distinctive use of the term in
the LXX was as a theological term, i.e. 'spirit of God', so it is this theological
reference which is the unifying factor which makes it possible to speak of
?rueCpaas one concept.
In claiming that n v e i w has a common referent; we are not implying any theory
of language which would give a word a false f ~ t of y meaning or independence.
We are not attempting to give m e i p a a 'definition' which holds good in every
context in which it occurs. But as R.A. Waldron has pointed out about language
in general, the meaning of a word is already f ~ e byd custom and usage before
it is employed in any context, otherwise we would not consciously notice, as
we do, when a word occurs in a novel context. It is, of course, fallacious to
assume that a word has a central, root meaning. However, it is equally mistaken
to assume that it means something different in every context in which it occurs?
If this were true, language, understood as the commonly accepted use of sym-
bols or signs, would be nonexistent. As T.S. Eliot observed 'the particular has
nolanguage'? What we are claiming is that it is not so much the Stoa as the
W( which has provided Hellenistic Jewish writers with the commonly accepted
use and meaning of nueipa. To say this does not preclude the authors of the
Diaspora from using me6pa in new contexts and, in so doing, from introducing
new ideas about the spirit. However, it is to claim that it is meaningful to regard
m i p a as one concept, which has been biblically controlled.
If nueipa can be regarded as having the same reference, how are we to explain
the fact that Phi10 makes contradictory statements about its nature and activity?
He describesit as human and divine; permanent and transient; the possession of
all and the gift of a few. These statements could be interpreted as referring to
something different and therefore not necessarily contradictory in nature.
However, we have maintained that, although Philo is not systematic in his treat-
ment of rrveipa, there is a discernible coherence in his use of the term. This is
not to deny the contradictions, but to understand how they arise.
We have seen that they can be explained in terms of the author's Sitz im Leben.
To understand Philo's pneumatology one must appreciate the questions he, as
an apologist for Judaism, was attempting to answer.An analysis of Philo's
pneumatology reveals that he was attempting to reconcile Hellenistic and
biblical thought. The purpose of his work was not only to show the reason-
ableness of Mosaic faith, but also to assert its supremacy. In this attempt he
employed the current terminology of Hellenistic philosophy, not only for the
benefit of the Greeks to whom he was commending Judaism, but also for the
Jews of the Diaspora, who were living in a Hellenistic milieu and wanted, as
far as possible, to come to terms with its culture.
In order to understand Philo's concept of n v ~ i p ait is essential to realize that
this apologetic motive was paramount in his works. In the light of this, it is
not therefore surprising that some of the tenets and terminology of Hellenistic
philosophy (especially Stoicism) loom large in his writings. However, it is
equally important to note that these are used as handmaids in his exposition
and commendation of the Pentateuch. Although he adopts the language of
Stoic pneumatology, particularly to stress the immanence of the divine, he
does not do so uncritically. Since, for Philo, n v ~ i p signifies
a the divine, and
since his understanding of God is basically biblical, he vigorously opposes the
Stoic equation of w e i w with matter.
Similarly, Philo not only adopts Platonic ideas, he adapts them. The Platonic
theo~yof creation presents him with a reasonable way of accounting for the
variant creation stories of Gen 1 and 2. Also Platonic transcendentalism accords
with his understanding of biblical theology. However, he modifies Platonism
to stress the principle of correspondence between the world of Ideas and the
created cosmos. In this way he avoids the dualism inherent in Platonism and
retains the biblical assertion that man was made in God's image.
We have seen that in understanding prophecy in terms of the oracular, Philo
was adopting a point of view common to certain parts of the bible and to most
Hellenistic thinking. However, it is important to note that an ecstatic interpre-
tation of prophecy accorded with Philo's apologetic motive, for it enabled him
to claim a supremacy for the Mosaic oracles, to afiirm the superiority of Jewish
beliefs over against any reasoned philosophy.
To claim that the key to Philo's pneumatology is the appreciation of his
apologetic motives, and that these motives explain the mixture of biblical and
Hellenistic ideas, does not necessarily imply that Philo was a systematic theo-
logian. Indeed Philo's use of the term irveipa is far from systematic. Whilst
using it to assert both the immanence and transcendence of God, he does not
resolve the philosophical difficulties which arise from trying to maintain both.
Thus ?rvei,pa is seen as the principle of order and cohesion in the life of man
and the cosmos. As such it is permanent and all-pervading. It is the principle
of reason, which is the link between God and His creation. As conscience, it is
the possession of all, necessary for the apprehension and attainment of the
64 - The Concept of Spirit
truth. However, since Philo rejects Stoic pantheism, for him the nveipa in man
must also be spasmodic and transient, not man's by his unalienable right, but
the gift of God possessed by only the few. In asserting the universality of the
divine nveipa in all men, Philo is able to claim the possibility of faith for all
men - Greek and Jewish. In emphasizing that the np@q~wdvnveipa is wholly
attributable to divine grace, he is also able to assert the supremacy of Judaism
and the unique inspiration of her scriptures. Thus the very contradictions
which may be found in Philo's use of the tefm nveipa, far from indicating that
they reflect totally different categories of usage, are an indication of his attempt
to hold all these different ideas together. In other words, it is only if one recog-
nizes that m e i w has one referent, that one can appreciate Philo's philosophical
problems or his attempted answers.
Conclusions
Apart from its usage as 'wind' it would therefore appear that, since it has a
common reference to the divine, meipa may be considered as one concept.
We have noted the importance of the LXX in determining later Hellenistic
Jewish authors' understanding of m e i p a as aveipa Beoi or m e i p a Beiw.
Continuing the tendency of the W( we have also noted that the term nveipa,
unlike $wG,is not so commonly employed to designate human personality.
Assimilating to more common pagan Greek usage Hellenistic Judaism is inclined
to use the word $wfiinstead. (However, we should stress that this is only a
tendency, and there are instances in which nveipa is used of the human $I&.)
This inevitably emphasized the divine nature of meipa. It could be maintained
that it was Judaism which introduced a theological content into the word
nveipa, which in its pagan usage (apart from in the Stoa) was rarely so used.
There is no evidence to suggest that nveipa was developed in Hellenistic Judaism
to describe an intermediary being, employed by a transcendent God as His agent
in the world. Some scholars have seen this in the figure of wisdom in Sap Sol.
However we have argued that the language of agency is to be understood as
arising out of the use of personification, rather than indicating any theological
perspective. Similarly. we have asserted that nveipa in Philo's writings cannot
bear a hypostatic interpretation.
Thus we have seen that the Judaism of the Diaspora, startmg from the transla-
tors of the LXX, introduced a new dimension into the normal Greek under-
standing of nvevpa. On the other hand, as we can see in the works of Philo,
the Gentile world posed a number of theological questions to Judaism, which
are reflected in its pneumatology.
PART TWO
7
INTRODUCTION
members of the general populace would have had a smattering of the lang~age.~
He goes so far as to suggest that Jesus himself may have known some G ~ e e k . ~
As James Barr has pointed out,~'Evenif we deny that Jesus taught in Greek,
we should not minimize the importance of Greek in the earliest stages of the
transmission of his teaching and even in the original teaching situation itself."
Furthermore we should not minimize the importance of the work of Henenistic
Jews in providing the early Ckristian writers with the language in which they
were to express their faith. It was this debt which Kirsopp Lake acknowledged
when he wrote, 'It is to be remembered that to the student of the New Testa-
a the LXX,not much in the Hebrew which is important."
ment it is n w i ~ in
It is customary to speak of Christianity as the heir of Hellenistic Judaism, but
nowhere is the inheritance more evident than in the use of the Greek language
itself. It would therefore seem wholly appropri~tethat we should look to
Hellenistic Judaism for the elucidation of the N.T. concept of n v e i w .
converts who had been former members of the Qumran sect? MiUar Burrows
also looks to wholly Palestinian sources for the background to John's Gospel.
'The scrolls show that we do not need to look outside Palestinian Judaism for
the soil on which the Johamine Theology grew.'I0 Furthermore in Pauline
studies there has been a major tendency no longer to new the apostle against
his Diaspora background," but to see him in the light of rabbinic thought.''
In spite of this change of emphasis in N.T. scholarship it would be difficult to
maintain that Hellenistic Judaism has no bearing on some parts of the N.T.,
however. Since the authors of the N.T. used the Greek version of the O.T., this
is one important area of direct literary dependence upon Hellenistic Judaism
which cannot be disputed; neither should it be underestimated, since the LXX
had considerable influence upon the formation of Christian concepts.
However, apart from those occasions when N.T. writers quote directly from
the WI, it is extremely difficult to prove the literary dependence of any
N.T. book upon the writings of Dispersion Judaism. Perhaps the most worthy
attempt was made by C. Spicq, who tried to demonstrate that the author of
the Epistle to the Hebrews, prior to his conversion to Christianity, had been a
disciple of Philo and had actually sat at the Alexandrian's feet.13 R.William~on,'~
however, has questioned Spicq's evidence of literary dependence. He asserts
that there are no irrefutable signs of direct borrowing,15 and that the existence
of common themes and ideas merely demonstrate that the respective authors
moved within a similar intellectual ~ r b i t . ' ~
9 Y. Yadin, 'The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Epistle to the Hebrews', Scripfa Hierosolymi-
t o m IV (1958), pp. 36-55. Contra seeA.1.B. Higgins, 'ThePriestly Messiah', NTS 13
(1966-1961), pp. 211-239, F.F. Bruce, "To the Hebrews" or T o the Essenes"?',
NTS 9 (19631, pp. 211-232, and J. Coppens, 'Les AffinitCs qumraniennes dc l'ipitpltre
aux Hareux', Novelle Revue ntPologiue 84 (1962), pp, 270f.
10 M. Burrows,MoreLight on the DeadSea Scrolls (London, 1958), pp. 339f. Cf. also
W.F. Albright, 'Recent Discoveries in Palestine and the Gospel of St. John', in The
Bockground of theNew Testament and its Eschatology, ed. W.D. Davies and D. Dauhe
(Essays in Honour of C.H. Dodd, Cambridge, 19541, pp. 153-111 and especially p.169.
11 W.C. van Unnik, Tarsus or Jerusalem? (London, 1962) argues that Paul may have been
born in Tarsus but he was hroupbt . up . in Jerusalem and to all intents and rrumoses
. .
should br regarded a i a Pdlsslinian.
I2 Sdr W.D. D . ~ v i ~ s , P o ~ l o n d R o b b Judofsm
t,~ic (2nd rd. London, 19551.
13 C . S ~ i wL.' E ~ E r c o u xHGbreu (Pari,. 1952). Vol. 1. 00.39-91. Ascarlv ss 1750
J.B.tar&ou,.~ocroe exercifotio& in S. ~ o u l episrok% k ad Hebroeos e i ~ h i l o a e
Alexandrine (Hetmstadii) had attempted to collect parallels from Philo for almost
ever" verse of Hebrews.
14 R . WiUimson, Philo ottd rhe Epistle fro the Hebrews (I.eidrn, 1910).
15 R. W~Ul;lrnson,op. cil., pp. 11 -136.
I6 R . Wtlliamson. op. <it.. pp. 137 495.
68 - The Concept of Spirit
in Christianity almost from the beginning'.26 What is true of Hebrews and John
in this respect also applies to the rest of the N.T., i.e. that there is insufficient
evidence to warrant claims of any direct borrowing from any of the works of
Dispersion Judaism, with the notable exception of the LXX.
Having discussed some of the similarities between Philo and Paul, H. Chadwick
does not attempt to claim more than that they reflect a common milieuz7
However, he does regard the study of that milieu of Hellenistic Judaism as
instructive for the student of the N.T.
I believe that th$ theology of the Hellenistic synagogue, as recorded in the
long printed and familar texts of Greek-speaking Judaism, still throws more
light on the world of St. Paul, St. John and the Epistle to the Hebrews,
than any other single non-Christian source.28
The value of these same sources has also been acknowledged by Samuel
Sandmel- an eminent Jewish scholar.
In mv. .iudeement, if we distinauish
- between the Gosoels.. . which are Greek
duiuments, and the Judean ,iene thdr they dep~ct,more light is thrown
on the Gospels by ilellenlstlc Judaisni than h y Rabbinic sources.29
It is no part of the purpose of this study, however, to enter into the debate as
to which of Christiimity's sources was the most influential. The strands which
contributed to early Christian thought were many; in concentrating on one
we are not intending to make exclusive claims for the influence of Hellenistic
Judaism. We are maintaining, however, that there is sufficient kinship between
the linguistic and cultural milieu of the Diaspora and that of the writers of the
N.T. to warrant a comparative study of their respective literatures. Judgements
as t o the exact nature and extent of that kinship must be left open to emerge
as we look at the evidence.
8
llNETM.4 AND ANTHROPOLOGY
k 6 p . a as a designation of man
Undoubtedly there are instances in the N.T. where nueipa is used in place of
the personal pronoun, 'himself or 'myself. To the Romans Paul writes, 'God
16 Lk 6:20.
17 E.g. F.F. Filson,A Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (BNTC
London, 1960), p. 77, A.H. McNeile, The Gospel According t o StMatthew (London,
1915). p. 50, T.W. Manson, The w i n g s of Jesus (London, 1949), p. 47.
18 So P.A. Micltlem. St. Matthew (WC London. 1917). D. 37. W.C. Allen The G o s ~ e l
According t o St. ~ a t r h e w( 1 ~ 6 3 r ded. ~d&urgh;'i912); p. 39, ~ . ~ . ' ~ o b i n s o i ,
The Gospel ofMatthew (MNTC London, 1928), p. 28.
72 - The Concept of Spirit
expressing the humility of those who need God. Contrition was a favourite
theme of O.T. writers and the LXX translators of Ps 33:18 (MT 34:18) express
this as ~anewodsT@ n v ~ d p a ~ c Furthermore,
.'~ in the Psalms of SolomonZo the
term 'the poor' designates 'those who are pious':
And the ~ i o u shall
s -
give thanks to the assemblv
of the people:
And on the poor shall God have mercy in the gladness
of ~srael?'
Matthew seems to reflect a similar idea and his use of w e i p a t o indicate a
disposition would accord with what we know of Septuagintal usage.
There is also evidence of nut-ipa being used for the seat of the emotions, i.e.
in the sense of Bup6s. Mark mentions Jesus's spirit (weipa) being deeply
movedz2 and John similarly mentions his wecpa being disturbed at the news
of the death of ~ a z a r u s . 2Paul's
~ exasperation at the idolatry practised in
Athens is described by Luke in terms of his spirit being vexed.''
There are also instances in the N.T. where w e i p a is used of the breath or life
principle upon which man's existence depends. This is aptly illustrated by the
author of the Epistle of Janies when he uses the simile of a corpse t o describe -
faith apart from works: & m e p y& ~d owpa xwpis avedpa~wve~piw~ U T W ,
oii~wsKoi ~ L U T LxS u p k ZPYWV UEKPQ & ~ T W Here
. ~ ~ w e i p a i s employed for the
Lebensgeist;= that by which man is animated. Hence death is depicted as the
departure of this breath or life force. Cf. Mt 27:50, b 6& 'Iqaois n a i w ~ p a w
&~qj p e y a g ~ H K~b EmV~ e i p a . 2Life,
~ on the other hand, is signified by the
~ ' LXX translators could also use w e i p in
presence of ~ e i p a - The ~ this sense,29
although they preferred the more usual Greek word $qq."'
40 For the idea of the power of God's word see Jn 6:63;Isa 55:ll;Ps 32:9 (MT 33:9);
Jer 23:29. See 0.Michel, DerBrief on dieHebriier (GGttingen, 1960), p. 117, 'Die
Attribute fGu und Bwpy7js sind typische Gottessagen'.
41 Fortheimage of the swordseeRev 1:16; 19:15;Eph6:17;Judg 3:16;Prov 5:4;
Isa49:2;Sap Sol 18:15-17.
74 - The Concept of Spirit
piercing as far as the place where life ($vxqj and spirit ( I r s e i ~ a jjoints
, and
marrow divide.'" The language here is reminiscent of that used by Philo, as even
Williamson has to c o n ~ e d e although
,~ he concludes that Philo and Hebrews
represent 'different strands in the intricate pattern of JewishChristian logos
speculation.'" In Philo the hoyar ropeti is discnssed in Heres. 130-148 andis
described as that which divides the soul into rational and irrati~nal?~ He cites
Heraclitus as the author of the theory of a principle which divides things into
opposites and equals,46 although Philo asserts that it is 'God alone who is exact
in judgement and alone able to divide in the middle.'47 The question we have
to ask is whether the author of Hebrews here intends any Philonic distinction
between meipa8 - the rational part of the soul - and $uxfi, which represents
the lower nature of man. From the context it would seem unlikely that any
such distinction was intended by the author of Hebrews. He appears to be
employing metaphorical language upon which it would be dangerous to build
any theory of a systematic anthropology. Far from indicating a distinction
between me6fla and the author is stressing their closeness. Hence he
employs a rhetorical parallelism, using both terms to signify the same life prin-
ciple present in man.
To return to Paul is to fmd that he has a more developed concept of man's inner
nature. See for example his use of the phrase b <om h9pwlrm in Rom 7:22
and 2 Cor 4: 16P9 Furthermore he uses nveipa more often than $wrj as a
designation of that inner nature.50 As W.D.Stacey has expressed it, 'IIvei,pa
is central and $ux$ has a lesser function . . .Spirit has made a dramatic advance
and soul a dramatic retreat'." We have seen that Hellenistic Judaism sometimes
equated this inner nature ( m e i p a j with vo~k.~'
Does Paul also identify the
highest part of man with reason? Stacey has claimed that he does not.53
However Paul is not averse to quoting Isa 40:13" from the LXX,where the
42 Heb 4:12
43 R. Williamson,Philo and theEpistle to the Hebrews (Leiden, 1970), pp. 390-394
44 Williamson, op. cit., p. 430.
45 Heres. 132. Cf. Cher. 28,30 where the sword is the symbol of reason (khos).
.- Heres
dh ....... 214.
..
47 Heres 143.
48 See Leg. Alleg. I, 3 1-41 where the dominant part of man is rruecfia rather than Jly(6.
49 Cf. also E p h 3: 16, 'that He may grant you strength and power through His spirit in
your inward being P v w &8pwrros).' Here the spirit of God and the inner man, although
closely related, are not identified. Cf. I Pet 3:4 b tqumhr 7% uap6rhr iivepwnm.
50 In contrast to the O.T. where nephesh is used more aften thanruach.
51 W.D. Stacey, ThePauline View ofMan (London, 19561, p. 126.
52 See pp. 38-41.
53 W.D. Stacey, op. cit., p. 204.
54 lCor2:16;Rom 11:34.
The Concept of Spirit - 75
translators have already made the equation by using vois t o translate ruach.5s
Furthermore Paul's assertion in Ram 2: 14-16 that Gentiles possess knowledge
of God's law 'by the light of nature'56 to which conscience (ouue81701s) bears
witness,57 is very close to the idea of reason as man's guide.
However, in Pauline thought there is less emphasis upon mcipa as man's
rational aspect than we find in Philo and 4Maccabees. This may be because
the apostle was not plimarily concemed to employ nueipa as a t e r n which
would open up the possibilities of dialogue with the pagan world. Jews such
as Philo sometimes equated n v e i w with vois in order to assert the reasonable-
ness of Judaism and in an attempt to find common ground with Hellenistic
thought. In addressing the Corinthian church Paul is also concemed that their
worship should not give rise to ridicule among any pagans who witnessed it.
Hence in discussing the phenomenon of glossolalia58he insists that it should
always be controlled by reason, taking the form of an interpretation for the
benefit of the congregation. The ecstatic condition of the man who speaks in
tongues'is described in typical Hellenistic terms of divine possession and the
eviction of reason. 'If I use such language in my prayer, the spirit (nvcipa) in
me prays, but my intellect (vois) lies fallow.'59 In asserting that the divine
spirit which inspires glossolalia should be under the control of the human U O ~ S ,
the apostle is speaking t o a particular situation in which the ecstatic element
was in danger of disrupting the life of the Christian community. He is not
claiming the superiority of human reason over divine inspiration.
So far it is evident that Paul uses majpa as an anthropological term. Is it also
true that he postulates an anthropological dualism, in which man is portrayed
as consisting of antithetical elements? In his writings we can certainly find
language which could suggest such dualism. In 1 Car 5:3 he speaks of being
absent in the body ( o i ~ p abut
) present in spirit (nueipa). A similar mode of
expression occurs in Col2:5 where the apostle is absent in the flesh
but present in the spirit ( I I Y E Discussing
~ ~ ~ ) . the remedial purposes of punish-
ment for sin Paul writes of the destruction of the flesh (gap£)so that the
55 In Eph 4:23 (probably DeuteroPauline) rrvetiua mri u& LuGv could be a genitive of
apposition, in which case nuetiua and uo@ would be synonymous. J.M.OTonnor,
Truth: Paul and Qumran3,RB72 (1965), pp.29-76, citesexamplesofasimilar useof
synonymous terms in the Dead Sea Scrolls, where they are employed for the purposes
of emphasis
56 Rom 2:14.
57 Rom 2:15. Conscience is also connected with rrveCw in Rom 8:16 where it is the
divine spirit which attests the Christian's sonship. In Rom 9: 1 mve&qos bears witness
kv nued,~a,~b+ to the truth of what the apostle says.
58 1 Ccr 14. 59 1 Cor 1 4 1 4 .
6 0 In this sense there is no distinction between o G r a and o&.
76 - The Concept of Spirit
The injunction to walk by the spirit and not to fulfd the lusts of the flesh in
Gal 5 :16 is a theological rather than an anthropological statement. Here Paul
is not so much contrasting man's rrveupa with his o ( L P ~ as describing the anti-
thesis between the divine and human spheres. Similarly living ~ a r ua a p ~ a
whichPaul says in Rom 8:13 leads to death is the opposite of living m r a
n u e i by
~ ~which 'the base pursuits of the body ( ~ w p a ) 'are
~ put to death.'"
nveipa and u&( are used to categorize two spheres of existence rather than
to describe two different constituents of man's nature. As F.J. Leenhardt has
said of this use of the m r a udpm/rrveC~~ contrast, 'These formulae do not
denote, as will be understood, a physiological locus of being, but a certain
mode of living according to contrary realities to which are assigned a deter-
ministic function for man's acts and thoughts.'" It certainly cannot be used
as evidence of an anthropological dualism inPaul's thought, for where the
apostle contrasts nveupa with o&pa/uap(, as in Hellenistic Jewish writings, it
is to emphasize the gulf between God and the world or to express the moral
conflict which is part of being human.
We have seen that Paul sometimes uses nueipa and $qi) co-terminously. Yet
what of the occasions when he contrasts ? I V E U ~ ~and T U$( ~&I K &Do? they
reflect some kind of anthropological dualism? Writing to the Corinthians he
says: 'Kzlycj, i6eh$Oi,OOK ~ S ~ eAaAqua~l 7 ~ bpw G s nueupar~~oir ikA'b s
uaptzbm, b s mnim'&vXpiu~&.'~'The context of this statement is the pres-
ence of a group who were claiming superior knowledge and a greater share of
the divine n u ~ i p uFar
. ~ from being nv~uparu(oithe apostle says that they are
merely uapwwui or $ q ~ o i Clearly
. ~ Paul is referring to the gift of the divine
nveipa which is for the Christian alone. This is therefore not a statement about
man in general but about the eschatological endowment of the divine spirit
which is given to the elect. The same can be said of 1 Cor 15:44-46, where
Paul is discussing the resurrection, not of humanity in general, but of man
incorporated in Christ. The o h p a Jluxlxw is ~aisedas o G w ~ ~ E U J U T L IKt ~is.
unlikely that Paul means a body made of heavenly as opposed to earthly nvefipa.
Such an interpretation of w e i p a as substantial would accord with Stoic beliefs,
but not with what we know of Hellenistic Judaism's insistence upon the
immaterial nature of nve@a. Rather, in keeping with his general usage, the
apostle is emphasizing the life-giving element of the divine nvevpa. Hence he
characterizes the existence of the fint Adam as $uxwds, but that of Christ,
the last Adam, as w e ~ i m r o c 6 s : ~ ~
o i i ~ w nai
s y&ypanrar,'Ey4vero b npwros iivspwnos 'Asap ell; $uxqu
r ~ j u a u ? b~Zuxa~os'A6w eir n v e i , ~wmorow?*
~
Philo had also drawn the distinction between the nuoil given to man in Gen 2:7
and the nvci,pu of creation in Gen 1: 2 . In accordance with Platonic theory he
interpreted the latter as the creation of the heavenly man who had the f d l
Iife-force of nveUw, as opposed to the earthly Inan who had moil, a weakened
form of its3 Although the Pauline antithesis is between $ q q and nvevpa, the
apostle may have been aware of a tradition, also to be found in Philo, which
interpreted the variant accounts of creation in Genesis in Platonic terms. This
would account for Paul emphasizing that it is not the fint but the second
which is nuevparrxds, i.e. he denies the usual Platonic order of the archetype
being the highest.84 It is not the first creation which had the full divine n u ~ i p a ,
but the second creation, located in Christ. If this exegesis is correct then this
passage reflects Paul's views on the supremacy of Christ and his followers, over
against the claims made by Judaism. It cannot, therefore, be used as evidence
of his views on the nature of man apart from Christ.
unique revelation, whereas for Paul it is the Christian community. But in both
Paul and Philo, weupa, even when referring to the spirit of man, is never free
from its divine sipification. In this respect, we can see a theologjcal orienta-
tion even in their anthropologies, since both writers are faithful to their Jewish
heritage, according to which man is made in the image of God.
82 - The Concept of Spirit
9
IUiETM.4 AND ESCHATOMGY
1 The onlv eschatoloeical context in which lrvsfiw occurs in the literature of Hellenistic
~ ~~
2 See also Sap Sol 11:20 for the crushing might of God's nvecpa.
3 Isa44:3. 4 Ezekll:19.
5 See also Ezek 36:26. 6 Ezek 37.
7 Isa 32x15. 8 Zech 12:lO.
9 Just as true prophecy is attributed to the activity of the spirit of God, so false prophecy
can be described in terms of an evil spirit. So Zech 13:2 can look forward to the time
when the unclean spirit, i.e. false prophecy,wiU be finally driven out
10 Isa61:I.
84 - The Concept of Spirit
16 1QH IV 30-32.
17 10M XIII. 10. Cf. CD. V.. 18:VII.
. . 19.
18 IQM XVII,6-8.
19 1QS I, 18,23.
20 1QS 111, 18 - IV, 26.
21 Here there are obvious affinitieswith the Later rabbinic doctrine of the two yeserim.
22 The description of the evil spirit as an angel (e.g. IQS 11 1 , 2 0 t) is perhaps another
way of asserting the ultimate sovereignty of God - even over eviL
23 M. Burrows,More Light on theDendSea Scrolls (London, 19-58). p. 281.
86 - The Concept of Spirit
not to be dmnk with wine but to be filled with the spirit.44 The theme of sober
intoxication is also present in the Pentecost story of Acts 2, where Luke states
that the spirit-fded disciples were at first thought by the crowd to be drunk?5
I I X q p h is a favourite verb used by the author of Luke-Acts to point to the
spirit possession of the early church.* In Luke's Gospel such possession gives
rise to prophecy?7 Indeed it is largely in terms of the prophetic spirit that
Luke views w ~ i p aHe . ~appears to equate the coming of the spirit with the
prophetic power promised by Joel 2:28-32. In fact Luke explicitly states that
the Pentecost experience was the f u l f h e n t of this prophecy?9
'For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far away,
everyone whom the Lord our God may call.'50 UnlikeIsrael's major prophets,
however, Luke stands f i d y within the tradition which regards prophecy as
essentially an ecstatic condition. Hence the use of nAqp6w. Luke's understand-
ing of the spirit is not only of its invasive nature, but also of its power. It is the
G~vafilsof the holy spirit with which Jesus himself was a n ~ i n t e d , ~
which
' is
promised by him to his disciples.52 The various miracles and mighty works
performed by the apostles in the Book of Acts, although not explicitly attri-
buted to the spirit, are obviously portrayed as the outcome of their reception
of pneumatic power. Thus Simon coveted the &ovuh of the spirit.53 The
violence of any such spirit possession is indicated in Acts 8:39, where, just as
Elijah was bodily removed from one place to another,54 so the spirit snatches
Philip away ."
44 Cf. Philo's use of the oxymoron, behind which may lie a refutation of Dionysiac rites.
45 Acts 2:13, 15.
46 Acts 2:4;4:8;4:31; 13:9. See also Luke4:l where nAqp6w is substituted for Mk 1:12
k@hnw.
47 E.g. Lk 1:41,67. 48 Cf.Lk 1:80;2:25,26,27,Acts 11:28;13:2;21:11;28:25.
49 It is interesting to note that in the Pentecost story the reception of the spirit is associated
with prayer. It was whilst they were praying that the spirit tilled the room. Cf. Lk 11:13
where, according to Luke, it is we8wa &rov which will be granted in answer to prayer.
The Matthean version (Mt 7:11) has b7aBb instead. T.W. Manson, The Sayings of Jesus
(London, 1949), p. 82, regards the Lucan version as probably more original.
50 Acts 2:39.
51 In the account of the sermon at Nazareth (Lk 4:16-30) Luke implies that Jesus was
anointed with the spirit at least from the outset of his ministry. Hence, Jesus applies
the prophecy of Isa 6 1: If to himself, T h e Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
has anointed me'. Cf. Acts 10:38. This accords with the synoptic tradition about
Christ's baptim. However, Acts 2 2 3 states that the spirit was given at his exaltation
52 Acts 1:8. 53 Acts 8:19.
54 Cf 2 Kgs 2:16-18.
55 Revelation also has this ecstaticview of prophecy. Cf. Rev 1:10;4:2; 21:lO; 17:3.
The Concept of Spirit - 89
The impersonal nature of such descriptions of the spirit in Acts has often been
commented upon.56 However, this is by no means the whole picture; Luke
also uses very personal language of the spirit. It can be lied to, 57 fought against5'
or put t o the test.59 As the medium through which the risen Christ instructs his
the spirit is represented as personally directing the missionary strategy
of the church. It directs Philip and Peter:' instigates the mission of Paul and
Bamabas" and, throughout Paul's subsequent journeys, determines their route?
What is more, the momentous decision of the Council of Jerusalem to admit
Gentiles to full membership of the church is attributed to the spirit.64 In fact
this approval is seen as merely confmatory, for the gift of the spirit had been
granted to the Gentiles prior to any decision of the Jerusalem church and this
already constituted God's approval. The personal guidance of the holy spirit is
not confined to the apostles, neither does it end with the establishment of the
Gentile mission. Church leaders are still under its sway and receive their anth-
ority from the spirit!'
Primarily in Acts the miraculous power of the holy spirit is the power of
preaching. This, rather than healing miracles, dominates the book, especially
fromthe moment that Paul and Bamabas set out on their mission to the Gentiles.
This particular understanding is not confmed t o the second half of Acts; it can
be found at the very outset. Peter's preaching immediately follows the recep-
tion of the holy spirit at P e n t e c o ~ t .It~is
~ because they were fiued with the
spirit that the disciples 'spoke the word of God with boldne~s',"~and it is to
Jesus that both they and the spirit witness!' Just as Acts opens with powerful
prophetic testimonies to Jesus as Messiah, so Luke's Gospel begins with a series
of prophecies which bear witness to the birth of C h r i ~ t . 6The ~ author sees this
re-emergence of prophecy as due t o the outpouring of the spirit?' It is above
all else as the power granted for the church's preaching that the gift is portrayed
in Lucan theblogy. Hence, the spirit is primarily the prophetic spirit which we
find so prominent in the writings of Hellenistic Judaism.
56 E.g. G.W.H. Lampe, 'The Holy Spirit in the Writings of St. Luke', Studies in the Gospels
(Essays in memory of R.H. Lightfoot), ed. D.E. Nineham (Oxford, 19551, p. 163, and
A.R.C. Leaney, The Gospel According to St. Luke (BNTC, 2nd ed., London, 19661, p.40.
57 Acts 5:3. 58 Acts 7 5 1
59 Acts 5:9. 60 Acts 1:2.
~ ' 8:29; 10:19; 11:2. In Acts 10:19 the spirit who speaks
61 Cf. 'EITEY 6P T ~ T V E ~ ~inI JActs
to Peter is not differentiated from the angel (l0:3) who directs Cornelius.
Acts 13:2,4.
Acts 1623; 19:21; 20:22f; 21:4. See also Lk 4:14 where Jesus is motivated by the
spirit to return to Galilee. For the spitit motivating a change of place in Lucan theology
see K.L. Schmidt, Der Rahmen der Gcschichte Jesus (Berlin, 1919), p. 37.
Acts 15:28. 65 Acts 20:28. Cf. 2 Tim 1:7.
Acts 2:14-39. 67 Acts 4:31.
Acts 5 ~ 3 2 . 69 Lk 1:47-55; 158-79; 2:29-32.
Lk 1:41; 1:67; 2:26f.
90 - The Concept of Spirit
Although, unlike Luke, Paul attributes a major place to the inner, ethical
workings of the spirit, he too occasionally associates its gift with the church's
mission t o preach the gospel. To the Thessalonians he writes that the gospel
which he proclaimed to them did not come merely in words but 'h,Gwapel
ev n u e d p a ~ ~ A similar contrast between mere words and the power of
Christian preaching is made in 1 Cor 2:4:
The word I spoke, the gospel I proclaimed, did not sway you with
subtle arguments; it carried conviction by spiritual power
(&ubno8Ei~e~nu~dpa~os ~ a ~i W L ~ ~ E U E W S ) . ~ ~
Also, in Rom 15:19 Paul describes bringing the gospel to the Gentiles 'by word
and deed, by the force of miraculous signsm and by the power of the holy
spirit" (&v Swapel qpeiwu K& ~ e p a r w u&V Gwapec nu~dpa~os)'.
However, unlike Luke, Paul seems very reluctant t o associate nveSpa with
prophecy. It is not that he finds no place for the Christian prophet. On the
contrary, he writes to the Thessalonians, 'Do not stifle inspiration and do not
despise prophetic utterance^."^ It is rather that, unlike Acts, the Pauline
Epistles display a certain wariness of any ecstatic phenomena. Far from
becoming possessed of any ecstasy, it is for the prophet himself to control his
own inspiration. In Ephesians (probably a Deutero-Pauline work) prophecy is
also nonecstatic in character. Prophets, along with aposrles, are now part of
the institutional leadership of the church and through them God has revealed
His will for the Gentiles t o be fellow heirs.* The sword which the spirit gives
is not that of ecstatic utterance, but the word of God?9
71 1Thes 1:s.
72 J. Hhring, l7zeFii-st Epistle of SaintPaul to the Corinthians (London, 19621, reads this
as a subjective genitive, i.e. proof coming from the spirit and power. A. Schlatter, Die
Korintherbriefe (Stuttgart, 1962), takes it to be an objective genitive, ie. proof
consistin8 in spirit and power. The NEB translation leaves the matter open Cf. 1Cor
4:20 T h e kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.'
73 Gal 3:s also connects the possession of the spirit with the working of miracles.
74 J.K.Parratt, Exp.T. 79 (1967-68), suggests that the subject of the sentence, the one
who supplies the spirit, is not God but the gifted individual (possibly Paul himsel0.
It is true that Paul ~egardedthe power t o work miracles as a mark of true apostleship
(2 Cor 12:13), and in Rom 1:11 wants to bring some ~ @ r o w arrveuwandv to make the
community strong. Yet here the more natural meaning is that it is God who is the
bestower of the spirit.
75 This reading is attested by A C D F G. Cf. Ram 15: 13. P46 D G add a k i 6 . P46N L P
" Chrvs.
Orie. ,~ ~~.
add OeoB. Balone has rrveduaras without addition.
76 1 ' I h e i 5: 19 rB nw+o uil o p 6 ~ u w en. p w r r i a r p i PtouOcurirr. Cf. I Cor 14:37 where
npmirrrll IS synunym~uswith nvcwortuds.
77 1 Cur 14:3? xui narfi+orn np-rrjv npwrjrarr 'mlndoocro~
78- -r--
l:nh -3:s.-
79 Eph 6:17 rhu & r i ~ u p a uroc nue6wm@, b' k o ~ w Z p a Beau. Cf. Has 6:6 (MT 6:s);
Isa49:Z;ZCor 6:7.
The Concept of Spirit - 91
For Paul, the church is composed of those who have received the gift of the
spirit. 'For all who are moved by the spirit of God are the sons of God.'"
Just as the possession of the spirit was regarded by Israel as the authentication
of her claims to revelation, so the church's possession of the spirit constitutes
her claim to be the true Israel. 'We are the circumcision who wonhip by the
spirit of God."' The Christian community is now the true and only heir to
God's revelation.
In Acts the church and the spirit are inextricably connected by the link made
by the author between the bestowal of the spirit and initiation into the escha-
tological community?' Acts is not consistent as to the exact moment of the
spirit's bestowal. Sometimes, as in the case of the Gentiles at Antioch, the gift
of the spirit precedes any initiation rite?3 More usually it is depicted as follow-
ing repentance and baptism.84 However, on other occasions it is associated with
the laying on of hands?' We are told that the former disciples of John had been
baptized but had not received the spirit on the occasion of their baptism. They
did so only after hands had been laid upon them.% Thus it is not baptism as
such which is shown to be the characteristic of the Christian community. 'John,
as you know, baptized with water.'" I t is baptism with the spirit which consti-
tutes the eschatological community. J.D.G. Dunn8' has shown that @arrri{e~u
was used as a metaphor for entry into union with Christ, i.e. for conver~ion.8~
It is sometimes used as a metaphor for the coming of the spirit.
J X . Parratt has shown that in the Pauline Epistles as well as in Acts, baptism
itself is not necessarily regarded as the medium or occasion of the bestowal of
the spirit. The coming of the spirit is associated with the whole process of
initiation.'' It is in terms of faith9' rather than any rite that Paul primarily
80 Rom 8:14.Ct 1Cox 3:l. 81 Phil 3:3. Cf. Jn 4:21-24.
82 See also baptism sir 76 ? v o w 706 narp6s rai 706 "to6 mi 706 b7Lbu mtdlla~ain
Mt 28:19. Even if the trinitadan formula is comparatively late the association of the
spirit with baptism is clearly n o t
83 Acts 10:45,47. 84 Acts 2:38.
85 Acts 8:15, 17, 18. 86 Acts 19:2.
87 Actc I:S,cf. Acts 11:16.
88 J.U.C. Dunn. Xoptism in rhe//ol,v Spirit tlandun, i970)posrim.
89 In Hrb 6:4 ,uch convcrsi~nis dcscribsd i n terms of enl~rht~nment. of ta~rinethe elf[<
of heaven, of sharing the holy spirit and of experiencingspiritual energies afihe ;odd
to come. Since $wr&w is used of baptism in later ecclesiastical writers, H.Montefiore,
The Epistle to rhe Hebrews (BNTC London, 19641, p. 109 thinks that here it may be
a reference to baptism. However, as A. Naime, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Cambridge,
1922), p.67,pointedout, Hebmay have influenced later writers to use $w.ricw of
baptism. J. HLring, L'Epitre aux Hgbreux (Neuchi3el. 19541, p.59, also thinks that in
Heh it does not refer to baptism and is merely an extension of a common metaphor,
light (cfJn8:12;Mt 5:15; 2Cor4:6;Eph 1:18;3:9).
90 J.K. Parratt, 'The Holy Spirit and Baptism: Part 11 the Pauline Evidence', Exp.T.82
(1971), pp. 266-271.
91 Acts also stresses the importance of faith and obedience for the reception of the spirit.
See Acts 5:32;6:5; 7 5 5 ; 9:17; 10:44; 11:24; 1352.
92 - The Concept of Spirit
describes the possession of the spirit. The reception of the spirit through faith
rather than by the works of the Jewish law is one of the major themes of
Galatians. 'Did you receive the spirit by the keeping of the law or by believing
the gospel message? (kg gp;~ywv v ~ p o u~d s v e 5 W
~ ~E fi kT
t k hE
Xs i l i u ~ e ~ s ) . ' ~
To have faith is to live and walk by the spirit rather than by the law,93 for it
is that spirit working through faith which achieves the Christian's righteous-
u e ~ s Paul
. ~ ~can speak of faith as the necessary prerequisite for the reception
of the spirit?' On the other hand he can also describe the possession of the
spirit as a necessary prerequisite for faith. 'No one can say, "Jesus is Lord"
except under the influence of the holy spirit.'96 Obviously, for Paul to say that
a Christian is one who has received the spirit, is the same as saying that he has
faith and vice versa.
Above all, for both Luke and Paul, the place of faith and the home of the spirit
is the church. As G.S. Duncan has said, 'In the New Testament the sphere of
the spirit's working is thought primarily as the Christian fellowship and not the
Christian indind~al.'~'E. Best has pointed out the same corporate emphasis
in the Pauline use of kv X p i a ~'The~ . formula describes the relationship of
Christ t o the believer.' It is 'not individualistic but social in its implications'?'
It was A. Deissmann who originally stressed the importance of kv Xpiorw in
Pauline theology. He went so far as to say that it was the characteristic expres-
sion of Paul's Chri~tianity?~ Furthermore, Deissmann saw a close connection
between C X p i a ~ pand ku nue~jpa~i, pointing out their parallel uses.100 The
formula 'in the spirit' occurs in Paul's writings only 19 times compared with
164 instances of 'in Christ'. However, as Deissmann has seen, in all these places
it is connected with the same specifically Pauline ideas which elsewhere are
associated with the formula 'in Christ'.'"
92 Gal 3:2 bn* nioiews, i s . a hearing which leads to faith. Cf. Acts l:4;Eph 2:14-18;
Gal 45.
93 Gal 5:25. 94 Gal 5:s.
95 Gal 3:14 &a riiv kna77eAtb roc nverilraros khpwpeu 8th its nioiews. E. Burton,
TheEpistle to the Galorions (ICC Edinburgh, 1921), takes nveli)laror. . . 6 s niorews
as a metonymic phrase - 'the promised spirit'. However it could he a genitive of
characteristic, i.e. characterized by faith, as in 2 Cor 4:13. Cf.Gal 6:l 'spirit of
meekness'.
96 Cor 1 2 3
- 1~.
97 GS.Dunirn. T ~ L7ptrllroJPaul
P t o rhe Galori?!~IMSIC London. 1934).p.178.
98 E. Bcir. One Body in Chri~r11.undon.1955).p. 3 .
99 A 1)c~srrn~nn. Poul: o Stud, it, Soci?l and Hcli,ious flieror) (2nd ed. Ncv York. 19271,
p.140.
100 See A. Deissmann, op. c i t , pp. 139-140, where these are Listed.
101 Deissmann, op. cir., p. 138.
The Concept of Spirit - 93
A similar parallel can be drawn between Paul's references to the spirit and to
Christ in the believer. On some occasions he mentions Christ who is in the
Christian;'oz on others it is the spirit in the Cl~ristian.''~There does not appear
t o be any appreciable difference in meaning. Ip 1 Cor 6:17 being joined to the
Lord is being joined to the one spirit. To follow Best in regarding h, x p i o r p
as a formula of incorporation into the Christian community1w makes these
parallels even more illuminating.
Thus the image of the church as the temple in whom the spirit dwells is only
another example of the corporate nature of Pauline pneumatology. Writing to
the Corinthians Paul says, 'Surely you know that you are God's temple where
the spirit of God dwells?"" To the Romans he can also speak of the church as
the dwelling place of God's spirit.'06 Ephesians uses another corporate image,
that of the church as the body of Christ, with which to associate the spirit.
'There is one body and one spirit."07 The author appeals to the spirit as the
principle of unity (q &6ws 701)I I V ~ ! ~ T O which
S) ought to be at work in the
church.108
One of the most explicit statements of the church's claim to possess the holy
spirit is t o be found in the Johannine writings. The author of the Fourth Gospel
boldly asserts that it is not the Jerusalem temple but the church which is the
sphere of true worship.'w It is not to the manna of Moses that one must look
for true ~ustenance,"~but t o Christ the bread of life, mediated through the
church's sacraments."' These are life-giving because the spirit works through
them. 'T6 W E + ~ ~ O T W~ W ~ O L O Wfi ,ad& O~JK &@e)I~ioiJ8&."~* Unlike the
water of the Feast of Tabernacles it is the living waters of the spirit"3 which
are promised t o Jesus's disciples after his gl~rification."~These images are
designed to show the su~eriorityof the Christian cult over that of Judaism.
Eph 4:4. Cf. 1 Cor 12:13 'For indeed we were all brought into one body by baptism,
in the one spirit.'
Eph 4:3. Cf. 1Cor 12:4, 11. In 2 Cor 12:18 to walk by the same spirit means being
of the same mind; having a united course. Cf. Phil 2 5 .
J n 4:23f. 110 J n 6:31f.
Jn6:48-58. 112 J n 6:63.
For living water as a symbol of the holy spirit in late Judaism see Strack-Billerbeck,
Vol. 11, pp. 434f.
Jn 7:39.
94 - The Concept o f Spirit
Like Paul, the author of the Fourth Gospel characterizes the latter by a&&.
Only the worship of the Christian community possesses w e i p a .
Similarly it is only Jesus's followers who are given the holy spirit. 'Kai roirro
eiri)v k v ~ $ t j ~ a Kai
e v X ~ Y E LahroLii, A&ETE rvcipa a y ~ o v . The
' ~ ~spilit-paraclete
~
will be sent to the disciples, for they alone will be able to receive him since 'the
world neither sees nor knows him.'Il6 Unlike w e i p a in Judaism which has been
transient and partial, the spirit promised to the new Israel is to be a permanent
possession. John's frequent use of the verb p b w conveys this permanent, abiding
nature of the spirit. Sometimes pkvw is used with reference to the mutual
indwelling of God and Christ;"' at others it describes the mutual indwelling of
the believer with Christ"' or God.119 In Jn 14:17 it is the paraclete who will
remain forever with the church.120 In the spirit the church claims to possess a
constant guide to all
In Johannine thought the nature of that truth is quite specific; it is located in
the person of Jesus. The spirit-paraclete acts as a constant reminder of and
witness to Christ. '0 66 lIap&Xqrar, rd w e i p a rd Zyrov .. . k~eiVosbpiw.
6 6 2 ~ n1h r a ~ a i b n o ~ b& ae~ n h r a ii ~Zrwi ~ p w&yOj.'122 One of the main
functions of the paraclete is to bear witness to Jesus. He will convince the world
of Christ's ultimate vindication by God.'* Just as the paraclete's function is to
witness to Jesus, so it is the disciples' task also to bear witness to him. 'And
you also are my witnesses, because you have been with me from the
Because of this stress upon the witnessing function of the paraclete in John's
Gospel, C.K. Barrett connects rap&Xqros with nap&Xqou, i.e. the exhorta-
tion of Christian preaching."' 0. Betz, however, regards nap&Xqros as a
derivative of irapomAeiv in its passive sense of an advocate or witness called
to bear testimony in a court of law.Iz6 He also connects the roles of advocate
115 Jn 20:22.
116 Jn 14:17.
117 Jn 14:lO.
118 Jn 8:56;15:4-7; 14:17; 1 Jn 2:6, 24, 27.
119 1 Jn4:16.
120 Cf. 1 Jn 3:24; 4:13 where mutual indwelling is authenticated by the spirit.
121 Jn 16:13 76 rrueCpa+ bhr@e$s, b s h o e b~ ~ eka ~ ~+ bX$esuw
v nioav as in A B pc.
The variant >v mj bhneeia n i r q 'in the whole sphere of truth' (in N D W 33) is
accepted by Barrett, John, p. 407.
122 Jn 14:26.
123 Jn 16:lO.
124 Jn 15:27.
125 C.K. Barrett, 'The Holy Spirit in the Fourth Gospel', JTS 1 (19501, pp. 1-15.
126 0. Betz, DerParaklef (Leiden, 1963). especially pp. 36-55 which examines the
forensic use of the term in Israelite law courts, and pp. 56-72 which looks at
nap&~Aqros in the light of the Qumran literature.
The Concept of Spirit - 95
and interces~or,'~~ pointing out that in God's law court any spokesman also
acts as an intercessor.'" It would seem that in concentrating upon its forensic
use Betz has unduly limited the meaning of nap&kq~oseven in the sense of
intercessor. When Philo uses the word it is by no means confmed to angelic
mediators. God's forgiving nature, the holiness of the patriarchs and penitence
are three nap&Xq~or.'~~ When John speaks of the paraclete it is hardly in
terms of an intercessor before the throne of God. The paraclete acts as an
advocate of Jesus and witnesses t o him. Furthermore, its advocacy is not before
God but to the disciples. In its role as advocate and witness the paraclete has
Jesus as its zubject and not, as one would expect if it were used in the sense of
an angelic mediator, the disciples or the world. Certainly, as we have seen,
witness is an important part of the paraclete's function, but it is only one of
a number of functions or facets.13' Probably it is therefore best to translate
the word nap&Xvm as 'helpe~','~' since the others which have been suggested
(advocate, intercessor, comforter) are too limiting.
In 1 John the christological content of the spirit's witness is even more empha-
sized than in the Fourth Gospel. Only those who acknowledge the Incarnation
can be said to have the spirit.I3' In 1 Jn 5:6,8 nu~ipo.is described as a fellow
witness with blood and water. That verse 6 is a reference to events in the past,
i.e. Jesus's baptism and death, is clear from the use of [email protected] the
author wished to emphasize that Christ's passion, as much as his baptism, was
a witness to his Messianic identity. To both central events in the incarnate life
of Christ the spirit bore testimony.'" However, the difficulty arises in verse 8
with the statement that the witness of the water and the blood is united with
127 'Intercessor' would be the correct translation of rrap&*ros if it were derived from
r r a p a ~ ~ x e iin
u its active sense. Thus S. Mowinckel, 'Die VorstellungdesSp2tjuden-
turns vom heiligen Geist als Fiirsprecher und der johanneische Paraklet', ZNTW 32
(1933) pp.97-130, and N. Iohansson, Pamkletoi (Lund, 19401, view the Johannine
Paraclete against the background of inter-testamental beliefs about angelic interces
sors. The other active meaning of rrapauzhsiv, to comfort, bas been upheld by J.G.
Davies, T h e Primary Meaning of rrap&KAq70s3,JTS 4 (19531, pp.35-38, following
E.C. Hoskyns and F.N. Davey, The Fourth Gospel (London, 19401, Val. 11, p.550.
128 0. Betr, op. cit., pp. 73-116.
129 Philo, Praem. 166f. Cf. Spec. Leg. 1,235-238 where conscience is the nap&KAnros
of the penitent.
130 See R.E. Brown, TheParaclete in the Fourth Gospel', NTS 13 (19671, p. 118.
131 R. Bultrnann, The Gospel of John: A Commentcry (Oxford, 1971), pp.566-572, has
seen the origin of the paradete in the ProtoMandean figure of Yawar, the Helper. In
adopting the term 'helper' above, no acceptance of Bultmann's identification is
intended. For a criticism of Bultmann's thesis see 1. Behm, TWNTE V, pp.800-814,
N. Jahanssan,Parokletoi, p.285, W. Michaelis, 'Zur Herkunft des johanneischen
PaaWet-Titels,' Comectanw Neofestamentien XI (1947, Friedricksen Festschrift),
pp. 147-162.
132 1in4:2f;5:6.
133 So A.E. Brooke, The J~hnnnineE~istles (ICC Edinburgh, 1912), p.133.
96 - The Concept of Spirit
Just as we have seen that the writers of Hellenistic Judaism used of the spirit
terms which were normally associated with and confined to God, so we can
see the same process in the Pauline letters. LTios was one of the most distinctive
attributes of God within Judaism, and Paul can sometimes use 's~iritof God'
134 J.D.G. Dunn, Baptism in the Holy Spirit (London, 1970), pp.200-204.
135 E.g. C.H. Dodd, The JohannineEpisrles (MNTC London, 19461, pp. 130f.
136 See C.K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John (London, 1955), pp. 45f and
idem, 'The Holy Spirit in the Fourth Gospel', ITS 1 (1950), pp. 1-15.
137 1Cor. 2:12. 14: 3:16: 7:40: 12:3: 2 Cor 3:3:Rom 8:9.. 11.. 14:Phil3:3: . . . Eoh4:30.
138 see also ~~- n 2h: k - 2 2 - where the h a e e of thk Christian ccmmunitv as a building is
~ ~ ~ ~~~~ ~
7 ~~
~~~~~ ~ ~ ~~
Jevcloprd. 'You ar* burl, open thc fuundollnn srons hrd by rhc a p ~ s t l e ssnd proph:ls.
and Christ Jcrur h ~ ~ ~ ~ th* ~ e foundi~tlon
liis ~ I U tcf.
~ C I U 28.16) In horn ih: whole
bulldlng 8s b o ~ n d r dtogrfhur :grid ~ ~ O Wlnlu I h.>ly icmpl,. (cis v o B ii?covJ IT) the
I t ~ r dIn
. h ~ mydu 1 . x >re bcmg but11 u,ilh all the icrt inicl 3 ~pinlualduelling tcir
.ura~x77r4ploui o l j Oeolj &u nu6rrull).'Cvr,lrof h n NElI ~rdnshllun,T K. Abbult,
7'he Ep,rllrp to rhe Ephesu,zsa,d rhr Colossiunr (ICC Edinburzh. 1897). who
t r ~ n ~ l a t e s Ri uY C U I I ( I ~3s ~n inrlrumcntal d > r w ~'by
, rhc spirlt', and rccs hrri' $.
reference t o the agency of the holy spirit.
139 Cf. Rom 8:9 where this phrase recurs.
The Concept of Spirit - 97
Paul uses it denies the very basis of Stoicism - that nuefipnhas its locus in the
world - and stresses that it has its origin in God. 'EKTOG Be06 would seem to
be a genitive of relationship or origin. Therefore, Paul is not asserting any
dualism between a worldly versus a divine spirit, but affirming that it is God
rather than the wodd who is the origin of the spirit. In other words he refutes
Stoic pantheism.
For Paul, it is precisely because nu~upnis a signification of the divine, which
is wholly 'other' and not to be confused with the material wodd, that natural
man ($UXU(&) cannot receive ra rou nuefipnros 706 0 ~ 0 6 . Furthermore,
'~~ Paul
contrasts a&$ and sveGpn in such a way as to emphasize this distinction
between the human and the divine. Such a contrast has already been made by
Isa 31 :3, 'The Egyptians are men not gods, their horses are flesh not spirit'.
Here 'flesh' represents all that is mortal and powerless over against 'spirit' which
is immortal and omnipotent. In the light of this distinction between the human
and the divine, Paul contrasts the divine life imparted by the spirit to Christians
with the merely mortal existence of those who remain outside the sphere of
the spirit's activities. 'But you are not in the flesh (iu u a p ~ ibut
) in the spirit
(iu nuedpnri) if God's spirit dwells within you.'1" A similar point is made in
Rom 8:4f where being controlled by the lower nature is contrasted with being
directed by the spirit.'"
The nveGpu/o&g contrast in Gal 3:3, where Paul is discussing the question of
circumcision, symbolizes the respective Christian and Jewish dispensations.
Once again a&: represents that which is weak and powerless, as opposed to
the superior life and strength of nwipa. A similar point is made in Gal 4:29
where the apostle discusses the merits of the sons of Abraham. He claims that
the son of Hagar is merely ~ a r o&m
a because he is the child of a slave.
Whereas the son of Sarah is ~ a r nuevpn,
a since Isaac is freeborn. This same
passage, Gen 21, was also used by P h i l ~ . 'Paul's
~ ~ Alexandrian contemporary
allegorizes the story to make Hagar the type of secular learning; the preliminary
studies whose offspring is sophistry. Hagar, however, is later abandoned in
favour of Sarah, the type of true wisdom, from which alone can come true
revelation. It is possible that both Paul and Philo reflect a common haggadic
tradition which lies behind their allegorizing of the Hagar and Sarah story.
However, they refer to the story for different purposes; Philo uses it to show
147 1 Cor 2:14.
148 Rom 8:9, interpreting hv as Locative, i e . 'in the sphere of. Blass, Debrunner, op. cit.
ff.219 (41 states that this passage exhibits fluctuation between the local and the
instrumental meaning of hu.
149 See also Rom 8:6 @ p 6 w M ar?p ooapd opposed to @pdvnpa706 nue5paror. Here
$ p 6 w w would seem to mean 'outlook formed by'. For the rrurfipalo&€ contrast in
the moral sphere cf. Gal 5:16f.
150 Cher. 4-9.
The Concept of Spirit - 99
the superiority of revelation over reason, whereas Paul uses it to show the
superiority of Christianity over Judaism.
Of course, the nveipa/oci& contrast can be used without this sense of opposi-
tion or antagonism. For example in Rom 1:4 Jesus is referred to as Son of
David KUTU o a p ~ and
a Son of God ~ a r rvefipa.
a Here Paul seems to be stressing
the aspectual differences rather than suggesting a contrast between Christ's
human and divine natures. Looked at from a human point of view Jesus was
the Son of David; from the divine viewpoint he was God's Son."' In spite of
such exceptions Paul normally uses nueipa in contrast to oh& to demonstrate
the qualitative difference between God and the world, the creator and his
creation.
The same can be said of nuefipa in the Fourth Gospel. There it is used of the
divine rather than the earthly sphere. As R. Schnackenburghas said, 'In John,
nueipa means all that belongs to God and the heavenly world, in contrast to
I all that is earthly and human."52 Thus the author of the Gospel can write,
'WE~ILU b AS a defmition of the divine this could easily have been
accepted by the Stoics. However, John has a very different concept of m e i p a
from that held by the Stoa. His ideas of spirit are firmly entrenched in the
Jewish tradition, and hence for the evangelist m i p a is immaterial and Be&
transcendent. Therefore, the divine w e i p a cannot be contained even in the
Jerusalem te~nple."~It cannot be identified with a place, but must be seen as
a sphere of worship - 6v nve6part ~ a~ iA ~ O E L @ This
. ' ~is~no 'spiritualizing' of
the idea of worship, nor even is it primarily intended to stress its inward
nature.'" Rather is it a contrast between the cultic worship of the temple,
which the author is claiming to be merely human, and the eschatological worship
of the Endzeit which has its origin in God. When we come to consider the part
played by nvefipa in the christology of the N.T. we shall see that, both in
151 Cf. a DeuteroPauline work 1Tim 3:16, where Jesus is spoken of as being manifested
in the flesh (Bu ooprO and justified in the spirit (ku rruelilran).This particular verse is
capable of several interpretations: a) Christ was vindicated by the spirit (presumably
at his resurrection), b) He was kept sinless through the action of the spirit, or c) Jesus
was justified in his claims t o be the Christ by virtue of his possession of the spirit.
Whichever, a contrast between the divine and human elements is not intended.
152 R. Schnackenburg, The Gospel According to St. John (London and New York, 19681,
Vol. 1, p.439.
153 Jn 4:24.
154 Jn4:24. Cf. 3 Kgdms 8:27.
155 Cf. Ps 144 (hlT 145): 18 'The Lord is near to those who call upon Him Bv Mq8eip'.
156 Such 'spiritualizing' of worship had been undertaken by Philo. Plant. 108, 'God delights
in altars, beset by a choir of Virtues, albeit no fxe bum on them'. Cf. V.Mos.11, 108;
Spec. Leg. 1, 271f.
100 - The Concept ofSpirit
157 Cf. R. Bultmam, The Gospel of John: A Commentary (Oxford, 1971), p. 190, n.4,
E. Schweizer, The Spirit o f God, p.91, C.K. Barrett. Ihe Gospel According to St.John
(London, 19551, p. 47.
158 Jn 3:s. 159 Jn 3:6.
160 Jn 3:3. Cf. 1Jn 4:13 where the possession of we8pa is a sign of mutual indwelling;
1 Jn 3:21 the spirit is the sign of the indwelling of God.
161 See also 1 Jn 3:9 where the 'divine seed' is mentioned.
162 Jn 6 5 3 . Cf. Gen 2 7 . For the lifegivingrole of nveipaseealsoRev 11:11 about thenew
life which eventually will be afforded the martyrs. A special life-giving power is also
attributed to the words of Jesus (Jn 5:24) because it is the spirit which enables him
to speak the words of God (Jn 3:34).
163 C.K. Barrett, John, p. 176. 164 e.g. Mk 7:30.
The Concept of Spirit - 101
place in the period.165 If demonology can be properly said to have had a hey-
day then the epoch immediately prior t o and contemporary with the beginnings
of Christianity was certainly it!'66 Pagan Hellenistic literature produced its
stories of exorcism^,'^^ but by the time of Josephus the ability t o cast out
demons was held in such esteem by Jews also that he attributes these powers
to S ~ l o m o n . ' ~ ~
What is particularly significant about Mark's portrayal of Jesus as an exorcist is
not that he is shown to have possessed the ability, but that the evangelist claims
that his power is a sign of the new age. Jesus's exorcisms are shown to be part
of his eschatological, Messianic activity. The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
provides evidence of a belief in the coming Messiah's ability to cast out demons:69
that evil will shun the good. 'If ye do well even the unclean spirit will flee from
you."70 'Every spirit of Beliar shall flee from you."71 How far the Testament
of the Twelve may be taken as an indication of pre-Christian thought is disputed,
however. R.H. Charles recognized that in its present Greek version the Testa-
ment of the Twelve contains Christian interpolations.ln M. de Jonge has gone
further and suggested that the Testament of the Twelve, in the form in which
we have it, is a second centuly A.D. Christian work, the authors of which may
have utilized an earlier Jewish Testament.'" Caves I and IV at Qumran have
provided us with proof of the existence of the Testaments of Levi andihmphthnli,
prior to the Christian era.'74 The former is inAramaic17' and thelatter in Hebrew.
However, although fragmentary, both are longer than the Greek version, and
165 Cf. Strack-Bierbeck, op. cit., Vol. IV, pp. 501-535, J. Bonsirven, op. cit., pp.
239-246, D.S. Russell, TheMethodondMessoge of Jewish Apocalyptic (London,
1964). pp. ?35-262.
166 For a gene& analysis of demonology in the O.T. see E. Langton, Essentials of Demon-
ology (London, 1949). J. Kallas, The Significance of the Synoptic Miracles (London,
1961), stresses the centrality of demonology to N.T.eschatology, and G.B. Caird,
Principalities nnd Powers '(Oxford, 1956), has shown its importance in Pauline theology.
Cf. also T. Ling, The Signifieonceof Satan (London, 19611, who detects in the N.T. a
process of centralizing the many evil powers into the one Satan.
167 See for example Philostratus's Life ofAppolonius of Tynna, and the Magic Papyri.
For an outline of the main features of Hellenistic Magic see J.M. Hull, Hellenistic
M@c ond the Synoptic Tradition (London, 19741, pp. 20-45.
168 Ant. VIII, 45-49.
169 Test. Lev. 18:llf;Reub. 6:lO-12;Jud. 25:3;Zeb. 9:8.
170 Test. Ben. 5:2. 171 Test. I s s 7:7.
172 R.H. Charles, op. cit., Vol. 11, p. 291.
173 M. de Jonge, The Testaments of the TwelvePatriarchs. A Study of their Text, Compo-
sition and Origin (Assen, 1953), pp. 118 11.16 121-125, 130-131.
174 See J.T. Milik, Ten Years ofDiscovery in the Wilderness of Judea (London, 19591,
pp. 34-35, andF.M. C~oss,It., TheAncienf Library of Qummn (New York, 1961).
p. 44, and A.M. Denis,,Introduction, pp.59-69.
175 See J.T. Milik, 'Le Testament de Levi en Aramden, RB (19551, pp. 398-406.
102 - The Concept of Spirit
the exact relationship between these semitic Testaments and the Greek Testa-
ment of the Twelve has yet to be established. Therefore we cannot use Test.
Lev. 18:11f as evidence of a Palestinian, prechristian belief in the Messiah's
role as exorcist. We can only suggest the possibility. Such a belief would cer-
tainly provide a meaningful background for the presentation of Jesus as
possessing&$wuhover unclean spirits, so that they are forced to submit.'"
In fact Mark presents the entire ministry of Jesus as a battle between the holy
spirit and the unclean spirits. In this conflict Jesus's holy spirit is recognized
for what it is by the unholy spirits. The unforgivable sin is the refusal to recog-
nize the nature of Jesus's &$wain,for that is to sin against the holy spirit.'77
The Marcan account of the healing of the Gerasene demoniac'" reflects current
beliefs in tombs as the abode of demons.'" But some parts of the O.T. also
associate such demon possession of certain sites with idolatrous practices
carried on in those places. In Isa 65: 1-4 the wastes laid bare by the judgement
of God have previously been the sites of idolatry. Ps 67:6 @IT 6816)mentions
tombs as the abode of the rebellious.
Mark's use of the concept of unclean spirits not only reflects popular demono-
logical beliefs, but also has a strong eschatological orientation and conveys a
particular christological claim.
In contrast, Matthew's Gospel rarely refers to nveipa as hx&aprov. Of 19
usages of the term n ~ f i ponly
a 4 are so described. In keeping with his tendency
to cut or abbreviate Mark's exorcisms Matthew omits Marcan references to
unclean s p i ~ i t s . 'The
~ nveipa &&aprou of Mark 5:2,8,13 becomes 660
6 a ~ p u i C 6 ~ vinwMt 8:28 and ik&ov~sin Mt 8 ~ 3 0The. nvecpa hxhKhSaprov of
Mk 7:25 is replaced by ~ U L ~ O V C ~ EinT Mt
~ L 15:22.'" It is true that Mt 10:l
follows Mk 6:7 and retains n u ~ i w hx&ap~a,although Mt 10:8 reverts to the
author's preferred &bovta. It is therefore evident that Matthew prefers Gu&wv
and cognates to mteipa. He only uses kiiBapmv nvcipa if it is in his sources.'"
This is also borne out by Matthew's use of Q . Mt 12:43-45 in common with
Ik 11:24-26lS3 retains &&ap~ovmtefipn and nvefipa nov~po~bpa.
However,
along with the LXX translators,'* Matthew seems to prefer to use Gabwv
rather than w e i w when he wishes t o describe something evil.
A similar tendency can be detected in the Lucan writings. Out of a total of
36 references t o nueipn in Luke's Gospel, 12 refer to evil or unclean spirits.
This is a higher incidence than in Matthew, but even so we can see that the
author tends to substitute or even add Gapdvwv in place of the Marcan w ~ i w
hx&aprov. For example the unclean spirit in Mk 1 :23 becomes &i(wv n v e i w
Gayloviou ~ Q r ~ v in' Lk ~ 4:33
' and made plural - &&3apra nvehpara -
in Lk 4:36. Lk 6.18 retains the Marcan w e i w hxo8aprou of Mk 3:11, as does
Lk 8:29 (=Mk 5:2,8,13).'" However the n v e l i w ~ aof Mk 6:7 become
Gapbra in Lk 9 : l . The dumb spirit ( w e i p a CAaAov) of Mk 9:17,20,25
becomes the n u ~ i w who seizes the boy in Lk 9:39, but a few verses later
(Lk 9:42) Luke reverts to Gapduwu as a synonym for 1.6 nveQm r b hx&aprw.
The Marcan pericope of the Syro-Phoenician woman who had nveupahx&aprw
is not recorded by Luke at all.
In Luke's version of the visit of John the Baptist's disciples (Lk 7: 18-23 =
Mt 11 :24-26) Lk 7.21 adds the statement that Jesus there and then cured
those who had diseases and n v d w r a nowpa. T.W.M a n ~ o n 'is~ probably
~ right
in regarding this as an editorial insertion intended to provide the messengers
with first hand evidence with which to answer their own question, 'Are you
the one who is to come, or are we to expect some other?'
In the material peculiar to Luke there are references to unclean spirits. In
Lk 8:2 we are told that, apart from the twelve, Jesus was accompanied by a
number of women who had been set free knd nveuphrwv nowp&v Kai boeeve~v?"
One of these was Mary of Magdala from whom he bad cast out seven devils
(Gap6vra). When the seventy return from their mission'89 i t is with the news
that ~a m e 6 w r a had submitted t o them. However, once again Luke seems to
intend t o make i t perfectly clear what sort of nvehwm they are. Hence, in
verse 17 of the same chapter he describes them as Sayl6vm.
Unlike Mark, Luke seems to use the term hx&9ap~ovn x i w of disease in
general and not simply of demon possession. This is in spite of the fact that
the battle against disease waged by Jesus and his disciples is portrayed in the
184 There are some references to n u e c a trovtlpdu in the LXX,e.g. 1 Kgdms 16:16;Judg 9:23.
185 Cf. Lk 4 3 5 6aphvrau.
186 Yet N.B. Lk 8:26, 30,33 where irveC#a becomes Sujldvta.
187 T.W.Manson, The Sayings ofJesus (London, 1949), p. 61.
188 See also Lk 1 3 : l l where it is meCrra boervelLs which has crippled the woman for
eighteen years. 189 Lk 10:17-30.
104 - The Concept of Spirit
when they refer either to false gods197or false prophets.'98 Following Septua-
@tal usage most N.T. writers -with the notable exception of Mark - do
l&ewise. In this they are in accord with the writers of Hellenistic Judaism, who,
in the interests of retaining nveipa as a designation of the divine, and in an
attempt to refute any suggestion of evil or impurity in God's nature, eschew
the term altogether of anything unholy or demonic. The N.T. does not quite
go this far, but an examination of Matthew and Luke and their modifications
of Mark and Q indicates a tendency to prefer Ga~i~wu rather than nueupa in
this context.
What is all the more striking is that the same tendency can be seen in the
Pauline Letters and John's Gospel. Both of these bodies of work are concerned
with the conflict between good and evil and both see this struggle in terms of
Jewish eschatological thinking. And yet for both Paul and John nueipa is only
associated with one side of the struggle, that of God. It is never used of the
opposing forces of evil.
In Gal 5: 17 this conflict is posed in terms of nveupa versus oa&:
That nature (i.e. sets its desires against the spirit
( m r a mi ?rvedparar)while the spirit ( n w i p a ) fights against it
( m T a T ~ uS ~ @ K &They
) . are in conflict with one another so
that what you will to do you cannot do.
Man is the helpless battlefield. As in Rom 7 Paul depicts the conflict going on
within man himself. This may well reflect a belief in the two yeserim of
rabbinic Judaism, but what is worthy of note is that gap€ rather than nveipa
M a p r o v is the term chosen.
Most commentators have interpreted r6 nvefipa (100 ~Kopouin 1 Cor 2:12 as a
reference to Satan.'99 The apostle has been contrasting human wisdom with
God's wisdom, the powers of the age (oi iip~ouresroc aibvou ~ o ~ r o u ) with~"
the power of God. Those who see in verse 12 a demonic reference do so in the
light of a similar contrast, this time between the satanic spirit and the divine
spirit. If such an interpretation is correct, however, it is the only occasion upon
which Paul uses m e i p a as a reference t o an evil power. We have already seen
that, in keeping with its previous uses in Hellenistic Judaism, the apostle retains
?rut-ipafor that of the divine, and it is possible to maintain that this particular
passage is no exception. Kbapos need not be seen as a pejorative term, but
could be being used by the apostle to emphasize that the world, like the flesh,
is a sphere of what is mortal and weak rather than demonic. We have already
suggested that the genitive here is one of relationship or origin,'@' and is used
within the context of Paul's argument to stress that God rather than the world
is the origin of nw6pa. In the preceding verses he has made a similar claim for
oo$h, which he asserts does not have its source in br apxoures roc aibvw
roirrou but in God. Just as God rather than the powers is the author of wisdom,
so God rather than some satanic anima mundi is the source of nvt-ipa which is
&K roc O E O ~rather than TOG ~oopo6.
It is ~ossibleto see in the Johamine nvcvpa ~ q as~ q t J e & ~an implied dualism
between it and the spirit of evil or falsehood. As another paraclete;0.5 the
spirit comes from the Father at Jesus's request eternally to abide with the
disciples. It will bear witness t o Jesus and be a guide into all truth. Is this the
same good spirit, the spirit of truth to which there are referenceszo6in the
Qumran literature? There it is seen in opposition t o the spirit of falsehood
which will be conquered only in the final judgement, when men will be refined,
purged and purified.w7 The Test. XI1 also has a simiiar idea of the twoyeserim
in man?0g Test. Jud. says that man possesses a spirit of truth and a spirit of
deceit?09 The spirit of truth is also portrayed as acting as man's accuser, just
as the Johamine paraclete is shown to function as the convincer or convictor
of sin.210
0. Betzz" has seen in the 'spirit of truth' the influence of Iranian dualism. He
believes that this influence is t o he detected in the Dead Sea ScroNs, where the
spirit of truth is linked with angels in general and the archangel Michael in
particular, waging war against the spirits of evil. Betz argues that John has
equated the angelic advocate Michael with this spirit of truth?'' Furthennore
he has identified the paraclete with Michael;" and, Betz claims, it is precisely
because the Johannine paraclete is the product of these two strands - 'the
spirit of truth' and the archangel Michael - that it displays both personal and
impersonal characteristics. In Betz's view behind the concept of the 'spirit of
truth' lies an essential dualism. This he contrasts with the monotheistic tradi-
tion which is at the heart of the idea of 'the holy spirit'.
However, there are a number of points which can be raised against Betz. It is
by no means certain that 'the spirit of truth' in the Dead Sea Scrolls owes its
origins to Persia. Coppensz14has argued that it is t o the figure of wisdom in
the O.T. that we must look for parallels to the role played by the spirit in the
204 Jn 14:17; 15:26; 16:13. Cf. IJn 5:6 r i , n u e i ~ bk o r r v i l bhilOeur and Jn 14:6 where
Jesus himself is i bhileeur.
205 Jn~-14:16.Cf.Jn
-~ .- 15:2h.
- - -.
206 E.g. lQS l l l , 6 f ; lQS 111,13-IV, 26.
207 M. Black, The Scrollsnnd Christinn Origins (London, 1961), p.134, has seen affinities
between this and the purging function of the paraclete in John's GospeL
208 Test. Ash. 15. 209 Test. Jud. 20:l-5.
210 Jn 16:8 where k h q ~ L is , used.
211 0. Betz,DerParuklet (Leiden, 1963), pp. 165-169.
212 0. Betz, op. eit., p. 156.
213 Cf. Rev 12:7. G. Johnston, The Spirit-Parocfetein the Gospel of John (Cambridge,
1970). DD. 119-126. althoueh aereeine with Beb that in late Judaism the s ~ i r iof t
truthwas identified with ~ i i h a e ?disagrees
, as to John's purpose in combin& the
spirit of truth with Michael in the paraclete. It was not to emphasize a similarity of
role between Jesus and Michael, but to rebut such tendencies which were docetic in
tone and a threat to orthodoxy.
214 3. Coppens, op. cit., p. 220.
108 - The Concept of Spirit
215 C.K. Barrett, The Holy Spirit in the Fourth Gospel', NTS 1 (1950), p. 8.
216 Sap Sol 10:lO. Cf. Sap Sol 10:17.
217 VMos. 11, 265.
218 Jn 12:31.
219 For a full discussion of this passagc see E.G. Selwyn, The First Epistle of St. Peter
(2nd ed. London, 1947). pp. 314-362.
220 E.g. C. Bigg, The Epistles o f St. Peter and St. Jicde (1CC Edinburgh, 2nd ed. 1909).
F.W. Beare, The First Epistle ofPeter (Oxford, 2nd cd. 19581, and C.E.B.C~anfield,
1 and ZPeter, Jude (TBC London, 1960). See also E. Suhweizei, The Spirit o f God
(London, 1960), pp. 101f.
221 Josephus, B.J. VII, 62.
The Concept of Spirit - 109
to say that n v ~ l i w r ndo not have flesh and bones, i.e. they are disembodied
beings. Heb 12:23 describes the righteous who have died as 'the spirits of good
men made perfect ( ~ a i n v ~ l j f l aGw&v
oi T E T E ~ € L ~ ~ ~ & u u )However,
'?~~ wueip
is rarely used of a disembodied being. The more usual term is $ u ~ r i as , can be
seen for example in Sap Sol 3: 1 where it is the G ~ M ' U+uxcu'which
U are in the
hands of God, and Rom 6:9ff where the martyrs are +uxai.
A more likely interpretation of the nveljwra of 1 Pet 3:19 is to see here a
reference to the disobedient angels of Gen 6 whose sinfulness was thought to
have caused the flood?* These are mentioned in 2 Pet 2:4 as having sinned
and been consigned t o hell.2x The contrast a&p$/wueiflais taken up again in
1 Pet 4:6.In 1 Pet 3.18 it is applied to Christ rather than to Christians who
have died, but i t seems to stress the same point; that although in the physical
sphere Christ died, in the spiritual spherezz5he lives. The &vw of the next
phrase would then mean 'in which sphere of the spiritzZ6he went and made
proclamation to the imprisoned spirits'.
Rendel Harris put forward the suggestion that b 6 m i i s a misreading of the
original EVWX.~" It is quite possible that the idea of the risen Christ preaching
to the dead could have been patterned on the Enoch tradition. However,Harris's
conjecture of an original reference to Enoch has no textual evidence t o substan-
tiate it?28
If in fact the nvfljwra of 1 Pet 3:19 are the fallen angels then we have here
the C?zristus Victor theme of Christ entering heaven 'after receiving the sub-
mission of angelic authorities and power^'?'^ In which case, like Mark, the
222 E.G. Selwyn, op. cit., W.J. Dalton, Christ'sProclamotion to the Spirits (Rome, 1965)
and E. Best, I Peter (London, 1971), take 1 Pet 4:6 as a reference to Christians who
have died; who mrir huspbrrour o n p 4 i.e. in the estimation of man, are dead, but
who wir RE& m e 6 p a ~ tie.
, in the divine sphere, continue to live. I . HC~ing,L'Epit?e
nuxHPbreux (Neuchstel, 1954), identifies them in Heb 12:23 with Christian martyrs.
However against such an interpretation Heb 12:4 states that the community have not
yet had to suffer physical
223 So E.G. Selwyn, I Peter, J.N.D. Kelly, TheEpistles ofPeter and of Jude (BNTC
London. 1969). E. Best. I Peter. and B. Reicke. TheEuistles ofJomes. Peter and
Jude ( N ~ W
~ o r k 1964):
.
224 SeeEn. 6;Juh. 5 ; ~ n i0:11-14.
. Cf. Jud6.
225 A.R.C. Leanev. .
,, The Letters ofPeter and Jude (Cambridze.
~ u . 1967). .
.. o. 51
22h So W.J. Dalton on. cit.. on. 137-143. J.N.D. Kellv. on. cit.. no. 152-1 57:contm
'and so'.
227 R. Harris, Expos. VI, 4, pp. 364ff and 5, pp. 317f.
228 Although this conjecture was accepted by J. Moffatt, The GeneralEpistles (MNTC
London, 1928), pp. 141f.
229 1 Pet 3:22.
110 - The Concept of Spirit
author of 1 Peter has associated rrveljpn not only with the holy spirit of God
at work in Christ, but with the cosmic forces of evil - in this case represented
by the fallen angels - against whom God's Messiah is ultimately victorious.
nvedpam is used in the N.T. of angelic beings.'= This is not surprising since
the inter-testamental period was one in which there was a remarkable develop-
ment in Jewish thinking about the whole spirit world - good as well as bad.
We know that the existence of angels was one of the points at issue between
the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The author of Acts 23:8f tells us,'ZaSSou~aG,~
y& X ~ o u o pil
~ v eiuar auaomow pi/?€ iir/ehov pi/ue nveiw, @uptoaim Si
bpoXuyo~otuvi a p $ h ~ p a ' . ~If~ &@hepa
' here means 'botW2" then it could
he argued that iiyyei\os and ?iveljw are used here as synonyms, i.e. that the
Pharisees accept both the resurrection and the existence of angels/spirits. This
would accord with what we know of Palestinian usage of ruach, where some-
times angels are so designated?33 Similarly, in Hellenistic Judaism n u e c w ~ a
can be a term for angels,w4 although this is rare.
Some have seen in the seven spiritsof Revelation235asimilar reference to angels.
R.H. Charles regards the seven spirits as angelic beings,236whose activities in
the Apocalypse have their counterpart in the Jewish angelology of the inter-
testamental period?37 They are therefore seven in number, as were the arch-
angels of 1Enoch and the Test. Lev.23a Rev 1:4 describes them as throne
angels239and in Rev 4:s they are equated with seven flaming torches, reminis-
cent of holy beings of flame and fire before the throne of God in 2 Bar. 21 :6.
230 We have already noted that the LXX may be ultimately responsible for this use of
rruriwa. See Part I, p.14.
231 Cf. losephus, B.J.11, 164ff, where the Sadducees do not believe in the survival of the
$"A, and A n t XVIII, 16 they think that the gux6 perishes along with the &pa.
232 Rather than 'all'as in Acts 19:16. 'Both' would seem to be borne out bv Acts 23:9
where angel m d spirit are clearly synonymous.
233 E.g.Jub.:l:25; 15:31f; 1En. 61:12;2Esdr6:41.
234 Cf. Phila, Qu.Gen. 1, 92; Abr. 113; Josephus, Ant. IV, 108; 2 En. 12:l (B); 16:7.
235 Rev 1:4;3:1;4:5;5:6.
236 R.H. Charles, TheRevelntion of S t John (ICC Edinburgh, 1920). Vol. 1, p. 78. So
also T. Hole, Die Chrisfologieder Apokalypse des Johonnes (Berlin, 1962),
OD. 138-140.
237 For angels in late Judaism see G.F. Moore, ap. cit., Vol. 1,'pp. 401-413, and
1. Bonsirven, Le Ju&.isme Polesfinien ou temps 3.&us-Christ (Paris, 1934-35), Vol. 1,
on. 222-219~
r r ---
~
238 1 En. 90:21;Test Lev. 8:2. Cf. 1En. 20:l-8.
239 Although R.H. Charles, op. cit. Vol. 1, ~0.11-13 regards xai b d ~ L nbmb,
rrueuw&wu as an interpolation into thetext, introduced for trinitarian motives In
spite of the lack of textual evidence to support his contention, Charles believes that
angels could not possibly have ranked along with God and Christ in the original, since
the author has a polemic against angel worship. See 2 En. 12:1(B) for a description
of nvehara as chariot angels.
The Concept of Spirit - 111
The spirits of Rev are also equated with starszw and behind such an image
~ousset*' sees the astral deities of Babylonia, adopted by Judaism and, in
the interests of monotheism, converted into angels. Astrological speculations
certainly played some part in Judaism. Philo was not afraid to see an astral
significance in the seven branched candelabra,242 which he allegorized into
the seven planets. However, one need not look beyond the O.T., either to
Babylonia or to PWo to find the seven branched candelabra of the author of
Revelation. Zech 4:2 had already equated the candelabra with Israel and it is
to Zechariah that the seer is indebted for his imagery.243
However, although the language employed owes much to the picture of throne
angels in Judaism, from the close identification of the seven spirits with the
risen Christzw it would seem unlikely that in Rev they are meant to represent
angels. As Caird has pointed in Rev 3: 1 the spirit addresses the angels
of the churches and therefore cannot be identified with an angelic being. He
takes the number seven to be a symbol of completeness246 and the seven spirits
to signify 'the spirit of God in the fullness of his activity and In
which case the seven spirits of Rev represent the one, holy spirit of God in its
various aspectsz4' rather than angelic beings who serve Him.
The Epistle to the Hebrews, unlike the Apocalypse, undoubtedly has references
to m ~ d p a in
~ athe sense of angels. Neb 1:7 seems to depend upon the double
meaning of riuedpa~aas angels as well as winds. So it quotes the LXX of
Ps 103:4 (MT 104:4), 'He who makes his angels and his ministers a fiery flame'
(b nor& TOGS lum6Xous &TOG n v e d w ~ a~, aTO& i X E L T O U ~ ~aOh ~o Sl j nup&
Heb substitutes nup& +Aha for the nup +A&yovof the LXX. Prob-
ably this change has been made by the author in the interests of achieving a
perfect parallelism with n u e d p a ~ a The
. ~ ~passage
~ may intend to call t o mind
240 Rev 3:l.Cf. 2En. 30:14 which possibly refers to the four stars as ministering angels
appointed to wait upon Adam.
241 W. Bausset, Die OffenbarungJohanne (Gijttingen, 1906), pp.186, 248.
242 Heres. 221f;V.Mos.II, 102f; Qu.Ex.11, 75f. Cf. Josephus, Ant.III,6f.
243 Cf. Zech 4:6 'by my spirit'.
244 E.g. Rev 3:1, where the spirits are held in the hand of Christ (cf. Rev 1.6) and
Rev 5:6, where the spirits are the seven eyes of tho lamh.
245 G.B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John the Divine (BNTC London. 1966). p.48.
246 G.B. Caird, op. cit., p.14.
247 G.B. Caird, op. cit., p.15. However, H.B. Swete, TheHoiy Spirit in theNew Testament
(London, 1909), p.274, thinks they are sevenbecause theie are seven churches addiessed.
248 Thus H.B. Swete, op. cit., p.274, E.B. AUo, Saint Jean 1.ilpocnlypse (4th ed. Paris,
1933). and F.F. Bruce, T h e Spirit in the Apocslypse', Chris1 and Spwit ix theN.T.
ed. B. Lindars and S. Smalley (Cambridge, 1973). p. 336.
249 The MT reads 'who makest the winds thy messengers and the flanles ilf fire thy
sewant'. Thus the LXX has made a significant alteration, making winds and flamer
of God's angels rather than vice versn.
250 So K.J.Thomas, T h e O.T. Citations in Hebrews', NTS 11 (L965), p. 304.
112 - The Concept of Spirit
the appearance of the angel to Moses in the burving bushZ5' or the fire from
which God spoke in giving the law at'Sinai.ZSZ
These angels are contrasted with the eternal son253in the light of whom they
are 'insubstantial and mutable as wind and fire'.254 SOunstable is their nature
that God can reduce them to the elemental forces of wind and fire.25s Further-
more,in contrast to the sovereign Christ, they are merely ~ E L T O U P ~ L K ~ ~ V E ~ I . U
This subordinate nature of angels was one of the themes of inter-testamental
literature. Unlike the angel of the presence or the angel of the Lord,Z57they are
no longer merely a periphrastic way of referring to J a l ~ w e h ,but
~ ~are
~ subordi-
nate beings. Their task is t o serve GodZs9 and to intercede for men?60
For the author of Hebrews the status of angels is below that of Christ. He is 'as
far above angels, as the title he has inherited is superior to theirs. For Godnever
said to any angel, "Thou art my son" '261 A. B a k k e thinks
~ ~ ~ ~that Hebrews'
stress upon the inferiority of angels represents an attempt to assert the humanit
of Christ. Opposing any docetic tendencies the author was claiming that Jesus
was oapE rather than nveipa. A similar point is made in Tertullian's De Came
Christi 6 . Spi~q:63 on the other hand, sees no particular polemical motive in
this passage on angels. They are mentioned, not because anyone in the Christian
church was claiming that they were superior, nor because of the presence of
docetic tendencies which needed to be combatted, but because mediation is the
central theme of the work and angels were thought to have been mediators of
the old dispensation.
This would certainly seem the most likely interpretation, especially in new of
the beginning of Web 2 which stresses the superior nature of the revelation
granted through Christ to that mediated through angels (i.e. the law). Their
mediatorial, ministering role would then be seen largely in the light of their revela-
tionof the law. Precisely in that they are inferior to Christ - the new Torah.
10
llNETM.4 AND CHRISTOLOGY
8 Rom 15:30, i.e. love created by the spirit, rather than love directed towards the spirit.
9 2 Cor 13:14 'The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and fellowship
in the holy spirit be with you all'.
10 Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29;3:6, 13, 22.
11 Rev 2:1.
12 Cf Zech 4:10 where seven eyes represent wisdom.
13 Rev 22:16f.
14 See pp. 100ff.
15 Mk 1:X 'Ey& i p i i i n o a b r a ii6a7'. ah& 6 1 paniioer b~6.9 nuedfiarr
16 Mt3:11;Lk3:16.
The Concept of Spirit - 115
baptism by fire was what was predicted." J.C. Fenton, on the other hand,
maintains that the Marcan pericope is more original and that ~ a i n u p i i the
s
later addition."
It can be argued, however, that the Q version of the pericope is probably more
original, and thar both n u ~ i p uand nip were part of the saying.19 In that case
the baptism foretold is not that of the gift of the spirit as an effusion of divine
grace, but a baptism of judgement and cleansing. In lsa 4:4 (LXX) nveipa had
aiready been associated with washing as well as burning-'6v?rue~>purl ~pioews
m i n v e ~ p u~~ari r o e w s ' ~and
~ - this may well have helped b ~ i n gabout the birth
of a new metaphor - baptism in the spirit. The Dead Sea Scrolls may also throw
some light on this pericope. 1 QS IV, 21 speaks of 'cleansing by the holy spirit'.
A.R.C. Leaneyz' and M. Blackz2 take this as a reference to the purifying fire
of Ma1 3:2f.
if, in its original form, this saying was a prophecy of impending jud,vement
rather than a promise of divine power, then it would fit in with what we know
of Messianic beliefs in the inter-testamental period. We have noted the few
references to the Messiah as possessor of the spirit.23 Even fewer, however, are
the hints that the Messiah was to be the bestower of the spirit. One such is to
be found in Test. Lev. 17:11, 'And he shall give to the saints to eat from the
tree of life, and the spirit of holiness shall be on them.'z4 If the Q version of
this particular pericope in the Synoptics is the more original, then Jesus is
depicted in it as the agent of God's judgement, and as such it is he rather than
John who is the one who is to come.
Jesus's baptism is portrayed as a Messianic anointing with the spirit. Bultmann
regards it as a 'baptismal legend' which has its origins in Hellenism. l n its pres-
ent form, he claims, it arose from the combination of two beliefs: a) that the
Messiah was consecrated by ru~C#u,and b) that baptism bestows n ~ e f i p a . ~ ~
As evidence of its non-Palestinian origin Bultmann relies upon Dalman's state-
ment that 'spirit' is never used without a qualifying adjective to mean God or
the divine. 'In Jewish literature it is so unheard of to speak of "the spirit" whe
the Spirit of God is meant, that the s i d e word "spirit" would much rather be
taken t o mean a demon or wind.'26 Dalman can no longer go unchallenged,
however. He came t o his conclusions from a study of ruach in the Targums. It
is not true of much in the Dead Sea Scrolls nor of much in inter-testamental
literature. Cf. 2 Bar 21 :4, 'He ha& made firm the height of heaven by the
spirit', and En. 91 :1, 'For the word of God calls me and the spilit it is poured
out upon me'. Furthermore it is not true of mecpn, as the literature of
Hellenistic Judaism confirms. Pre-Christian Hellenistic Jewish usage could have
influenced Palestinian Judaism even before the birth of the church. Therefore,
one cannot base any judgement of the baptism pericope in the Synoptic Gospe'
upon Dalman's assertion concerning the use of 'spirit' in the Targums.
The event, as described by the Synoptists, carried with it implicit Messianic
overtones. Jesus is anointed with the spirit at the outset of his ministry.
Mk 1: l o , '~airi, lrv~Cpn&s ncpioreplu, ~ a r @ a v o veh 03~3.~' Probably this
originally referred t o the dove-like descent of the spirit," which later, as
reflectedin the Lucan o w p a ~ w d scame
, ~ ~ to be interpreted adjectivally. Various
theories have been put forward as to the origin of the dove symbolism. Some
scholars have seen it as a reflection of O.T. and rabbinic beliefs. Thus M-J.
Lagrange" and G.W.H. Lampe3' regard it as an echo of Noah's dove - the
symbol of reconciliation and peace and the harbinger of another covenant.
J.C. F e n t ~ n ?H.B.
~ S ~ e t ande ~V.~ Taylor" point to rabbinic commentators
on Gen 1:2 who interpret the spirit hovering on the face of the waters as
brooding like a bird. Strack and Billerbeck cite instances of the bath qol being
likened to the chirping of a bird.35 The Targurn on Cant. 11, 12 compares the
voice of the turtle dove to 'the voice of the Holy Spirit of salvation', but
Strack and Billerbeck have pointed out that this is of late date.36
Tile LXX translators who chose to use ?iapBCosfor almah in Isa 7:14 had
paved the way for such an interpretation. Certainly if the LXX had not intro-
duced the idea of virginity into the text, Matthew would not have been able
to use it as a proof t e ~ t . 6Furthermore,
~ the LXX had also introduced the
concept of virginity into Jer 3:4, where God is '?iaripa ~ a &x.rlydv
i ~s
~ap0evchs:This passage is quoted by Philo, who interprets it in terms of God
being the husband of wisdom. It is interesting to note that Philo reads huqp
in place of the LXX &ppX?r/&.64He does not hesitate t o use sexual imagery t o
convey the idea of God as father and source. Hence he can speak of virtue in
man as the divinely implanted seed?' Elsewhere be alludes to God as father,
and wisdom (oo@kzor i.iiio~qpq)as mothe1.6~Such passages illustrate the
daring with which Philo can adopt essentially pagan images, using them as
vehicles of Jewish theology. However, they do not throw direct light upon the
conceptions of divine paternity and viran birth as they occur in the New Testa-
ment. Philo's sexual imagery is employed in the context of allegory, whereas
the birth narratives in the Gospels are of a wholly different genre.
Leisegang has attempted to connect these Philonic allegorizings with the birth
narrative in L ~ k e . 6Behind
~ the Gospel he claims to detect ideas of the union
of the soul with God, which confers supernatural power. In pagan Hellenism
this was the prime understanding of prophecy, and Leisegang asserts that Philo
had adopted this point of view from non-Jewish sources.68 Such mystical
experience gives rise t o religious enthusiasm in general and ecstatic speech in
particular. According to Leisegang, behind Luke's account of Christ's birth
lie ideas ofpmriz'as the fructifying power of God which comes upon the
prophet. He claims that into this Hellenistic myth of the divine paternity of
prophecy, the holy spirit has been introduced, since Jews would not tolerate
the suggestion of God Himself fructifying the ~ 0 ~ 1 . 6 ~
We have noted that in Lucan theology the spirit is predominantly the prophetic
spirit, and the outburst of prophecy which accompanies the birth of Jesus is
seen as evidence of the dawning of a new age. We have also observed that in
Luke-Acts, prophecy is portrayed as an ecstatic phenomenon. However, there
is no evidence of the mystical ideas which Leisegang claims to detect in the
Lucan birth narrative. Undoubtedly language of divine begetting, and an empha-
sis upon virginity, are pagan rather than Jewish in origin.However, these ideas
had already been moulded by the theologians of the Dispersion t o become
63 Mt 1:23. 64 Cher. 49. 65 Cher. 40-52.
66 Fug. 108f;Ebr. 30,33-34;Leg. Alleg. II,49-51.
67 H. Leisegang, Hagion Pneumn, p. 67.
68 See pp. 49-51 for a refutation of Leisegang's contention that Philo adopted an
ecstatic view of prophecy from pagan sources.
69 H . Leisegang, op. cit., pp. 14-19.
The Concept of Spirit - 121
vehicles of Jewish thought. Similarly the role played by the spirit in the birth
narratives lies wholly within a Jewish eschatological and Messianic milieu.70
Like the baptism, the events of Jesus's birth are primarily intended as a pro-
clamation of his endowment with the spirit. By associating this pneumatic
anointing, not merely with Jesus's baptism but with his birth, Mt and Lk are
pushing their Messianic claims for him as far back as his conception.
i t has been suggested by Schweizer7' that Luke has deliberately avoided any
impression of the spirit's supremacy over Jesus, since he wishes to portray him,
not so much as a man of the spirit, as Lord of the spirit. Certainly it is true
that in Luke's account the spirit is no mere transient inspiration. Jesus is 'filled'
with the spirit from the very beginning. J.H.E. has seen aparticular
significance in the substitution for the Marcan C & h X ~ i uof ' ~'nj\$pqs m e 6 ~ a ~ o s
byiov . . . ~ a ?jyf?o
i &V 76 7r!J~upa???~ Hull thinks that this is done with the
intention of asserting the lordship of Jesus over the spirit. A similar motive is
detected by J.D.G. Dunn" in the Lucan version of the pericope about the
eschatological significance of Jesus's power t o exorcize demons. In Luke 11:20
this reads: 'But if it is by the finger of God (eu'Ga~njXq,Beoii) that I drive out
devils, then be sure the kingdom of God has already come upon you'. On the
other hand in Mt 12:28 we have: 'el 66 &-v nveipurr Beoii CyL) 6 ~ f l . X?a ~
Gapbra'. Dunn believes that the Matthean version is more original76 and that
Luke has substituted Fa~njXosto avoid any suggestion of Jesus's subordination
to the spirit. The evidence would seem to favour the originality of nveiipa.
However, this does not necessarily mean that Luke had this particular motive.
if his main concern had been to assert Jesus's supremacy over the spirit, it is
difficult to account for his including Christ's pneumatic conception, which if
anything stresses his dependence upon the spirit for his very being. I t seems
more probable that Luke chose to use 'finger' to echo the Gaxnjhos of Ex
8:1977 by which God inflicted the plagues upon Egypt. It is the self-same
power at work in the new Moses - Jesus.
70 See E. Schweizer,Spirit of God, p. 36, 'AU statements about the nature of thc spirit
are there purely for their Christologicd importance.' Sa also C.K. Narrctt, Thc Holy
Spirit and the Gospel Tradition (2nd ed. London, 1966), p. 23.
71 E. Schweizer, op. cit., pp. 37-39. So also H. Conzelmann, The Throloiy o f l u k e , p. 179
72 J.H.E. Hun, TheHoly Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles (London, 1967), p. 37.
73 Mk 1:12. 74 Lk 4 : l .
75 J.D.G. Dunn, 'Spirit and Kingdom', Exp. T. 82 (Nov., 1970), pp. 36-40.
76 So also J.E. Yates, The Spirit and the Kingdom (London, 1963), p. 91, C.S. Rod&
'Spirit and Finger', Exp.T.72 (1961), pp. 157f. Confro C.K. Barrett, llze Holy Spirit
and the Gospel Tradition, p. 63, E. Schweizer, op. cit.. p. 26; A.H. McNeilc, Matthew,
p. 176, T.W. Manson, Sayings, p. 186.
77 Cf. also Deut 9:10 andPs 8:3.
122 - The Concept of Spirii
The claims of Schweizer, that Jesus is depicted as Lord of the spirit in Luke,
have their counterpart in H. Windisch's contentions about the Fourth Gospel.
Windisch asserts that for John, Jesus 'als Sohn Vaters hat er nicbt Geist . . . er
iiber den ~ e i s t ' . ~Hence,
' whilst in the baptism story the Synoptic writers
make Jesus subordinate to the spirit, in John ?iv~Cpais subordinate to Jesus.
During his earthly ministry he alone has the spirit. It is not until his glorifica-
tion that it is bequeathed to the disciples.79 Windisch believes that this assertio~
of Christ's Lordship over the spirit reflects a process of 'Christianizing', which
had already begun in the Synoptics and which John takes further. The primi-
tive tradition in which Jesus was known as Geisttriiger and Geisttiiufer has been
taken up into an assertion of Christ as Lord of the spirit?' Thus in the Fourth
Gospel Jesus's baptisms' does not confer sonship upon him. The Prologue has
made it clear that the pre-existent Logos was already Son of God." AS the
one sent from God, Jesus 'utters the words of God oi, yap &K pk~pouGiSwoiv
rd I I V E ~ ~ ' . ~ ~
Even after Jesus's death the spirit-paraclete is closely connected, if not identified,
with him. John uses similar language with which to describe the paraclete and
the earthly Jesus, and he also shows them performing parallel tasks. Both were
sent bys4 or proceeded froms5 the Father; both are visible only to the believers'
and are rejected by the world. Just as Jesus taught the sothe paraclete's
function will be to lead to all tmth." Both bear witnessp9 since they do not
speak on their own account.90 The ministry of both is to convict the world of
sin?' In relation to the disciples both Jesus and the spirit perform the role of
IIap&h1770~,i.e. helper. The spirit's task is to continue this same helping func-
tion as Jesus and it is therefore called a h o s ?iap&h17ros?~ It is possible with
B o r n k a ~ n mto~ describe
~ Jesus as the forerunner of the paraclete, if by 'fore-
runner' one does not imply any subordination, but wishes to stress the element
of continuity between Jesus and the spirit.
78 H. Windisch, 'Jesus und der Geist im Jahannesevangelium', Amicifioe Corolla: Essays
for Rendel Harris's 80th Birthday (London, 1933), p. 315.
79 Jn 7:39. The use of napa6rbwpr aboutJesus'sgivinguphisspiritat death may intention-
ally echo the 'handing over' of the spirit to his disciples in Jn 20:22.
80 H. Windisch, op. cit., pp. 317-318. 81 Jn 1:32. 82 Jn 1:l-14.
83 Jn 3:34. After 66woru D Q andsornemss. add6 BE&. CUT.adds b narilp. Sin. adds
. nvecpa is omitted by B and Sin. Syr. Cf.Jn 6:63 'rir bilpara 2 hii
BE& b i a ~ l j pT6
AeA&wxabpiv nueGp& borrv mi fwil korru'. This verse is omitted by Nand may be
an interpolation.
84 I n 14:16; 5:30; 8:16. Cf. Lk 11:13.
85 Jn 15:26; 8:42; 13:3. 86 Jn 14:17;1:10, 12;8:14, 19;17:8.
87 Jn 7:16f; 8:32,40-42. Cf. Lk 12:12. 88 Jn 14:26; 16:13.
89 Jn 8:14,18; 15:26. Cf. Acts 5:32. 90 Jn 16:13;7:16f; 12:49f; 14:24.
91 Jn 3:20;7:7; 15:26; 16:s. 92 Jn 14:17.
93 G. Barnkamm, 'Der Paraklet im Johannesevangelium', Festschrift Rudolf Bukmann
zum 65 Geburtstag iibereichf (Stuttgart, 19491, pp. 12-35. So also R.E. Brown,
'The Paracletc in the Fourth Gospel', NTS 13 (1967), p. 123.
The Concept of Spirit - 123
are only regarded as inspired in as far as they witness to Christ. Therefore, the
author introduces Ps 109(110): 1 and Ier 38(31):33f with 'wpmpei62 bniv
~ a ir6 ?iveCfla rd iiyrov'."' Of the regulation in Lev 16:16 which permits only
the,Hi& Priest to enter the Holy of Holies once a year,"' Heb 9:8 claims that
by this 'the holy spirit signifies ( T O ~ OS~XOGUTOS
TOG T ~ Y E V ~ ~ TTOG
O S hyiou) that
so long as the earlier tent stands, the way into the sanctuary remains unrevealet
Here the author of Hebrews isexercizinghis own 'prophetic' function in per-
ceiving the inner meaning of the O.T.
In this intention he has considerable affinity with Philo. Both authors regard
the Jewish scriptures as inspired by the spirit of God; both attempt to inter-
pret the O.T. in terms of their respective theologies. In the case of Philo this is,
where possible, to see in the scriptures the basic tenets of Hellenistic philosoph]
and especially Platonism. With the author of Hebrews i t is the attempt to sub-
stantiate the church's claim that in Jesus God's Messiah had come. Philo adopts
aUegory as his chief exegetical tool, i.e. he takes each term as a symbol of an
idea, whereas inHebrews we find the working out of a typological exegesis,
i.e. viewing the past as an anticipation of the present."3 The difference between
these two approaches is aptly illustrated by their respective treatments of the
figure of Melchizedek. Philo allegorizes him so that he becomes a symbol of
right reason."" However, in Hebrews Melchizedek is not de-historicized but
seen as a prefiguration of Christ."' Even Spicq,'16 who is usually more than
ready to point Lo similaritics between Philo and Hebrews, has to admit that
these two types of exegesis are far removed from one another.
In spite of these real exegetical differences, however, both Philo and the author
of Hebrews represent attempts to find some correspondence between their own
beliefs and those recorded in the Jewvish scriptures. Indeed typology would not
be possible unless some symmetry between the two dispensations were assumed.
Images of pilgrimage, promised inheritance and rest, the exodus under a new
leader, the tests which preceded the final entry into the promised land,"7 all
111 Heb 10:15. Cf. Jn 15:26 where the comforter witnesses to Christ.
112 Cf. Philo's account of the place of the High Priest in the Day of Atonement ceremonies
in Spec.Leg. 1,72; Ebr. 136. In Gig. 5 2 he allegorizes the High Pries1 to signify reason
( h k o s ) which can only approach the Holy of Holies once a year because man is mixed
in his nature, possessing passions as well as reason.
113 See S.G. Sowers, The Hermeneutics ofphilo and Hebrews (Ziirich, 1965), pp.89-126,
R. Williamson, Philo and the Epistle to the Hebrews (Leiden, 1970), pp. 519-38.
114 Leg. Alleg. 111, 79.
115 Heb 5:s-10.
116 C. Spicq, op. cit., pp. 63ff. S.G. Sowers, op.cit., pp. 137f,lhinksthat theauthor of
Hebrews was aware of the conclusions reached by the Alexandrian allegorist, although
he himself did not adopt allegory as a method of ixegesis.
117 Heb 3:l-4:9.
The Concept of Spin't - 127
presuppose a correspondence between the old and new covenants. The same
can be said of the working out of the ideas of Christ as superior guide and
priest.
Yet whereas for Philo it would be unthinkable for Greek philosophical specu-
lations to supersede biblical revelation, since for all his attempts to reconcile
the two he was in no doubt as to the supremacy of the latter, for the author
of Hebrews Christian beliefs are superior to the O.T. His whole typological
exegesis relies upon the argument a minori ad maius. 'I8 The tabe~nacle,"~
although not unlike the original, is still only a copy. 'O~TLVESi m d ~ i y f l a~ ~ ra i
OK@h a ~ p ~ i l o u uT ~~ )uV The Mosaic covenant was the mere
shadow, as opposed to Christ,'iis &uiLiiairyao!& ~ q S6tqs s ~ ax ai p a ~ r i l pT ~ S
imooriLo~~ air~otj'.'~~
~s Philo had already interpreted Ex 25:40 in terms of
Platonic Idealism, identifying the logos as the hpx6nmos of creation, the
immaterial plan in the mind of theMaker in accordance withwhich the material
world was created.1zz For Philo as well as for Plato the archetypal Idea is
superior to the form which it takes in creation. Hence, in claiming that Moses
alone had a vision of the immaterial pattern of the sanctuary,'23 Philo is once
more using pagan philosophy in the senrice of his Jewish theology. He claims
for Mosaic revelation an ultimacy denied to all others.
A similar apologetic motive can be detected in the hermeneutic of the author
of Hebrews. Like Philo he accepts the Mosaic dispensation, but unlike Philo,
he does not accept its supremacy. He, too, uses Platonic language of 'copy' and
'archetype', but unlike Philo he does not locate that archetype in the law of
Moses but in Christ. The O.T. is thus only of value in as far as it foretells or
reflects the Christ. Inasmuch as the scriptures witness to Jesus, they are valued
by Christian exegetes, but they are no longer regarded as the norm by which
events are to be judged. That norm has been resited; it now has its locus in
Christ. Whereas for Philo Hellenistic philosophy was the handmaid of theolo-
gical exposition, for Christian hermeneutics the scriptures are the handmaid of
christology. The prophetic spirit, believed to have inspired those scriptures, is
now located exclusively in the person of Jesus and in the disciples who bear
witness t o him.
It is evident that for the Jews of the Dispersion Moses had become not only a
cult figure, but the very epitome of their claims for Judaism.14' In the Dead
Sea Scrolls there is reference to an eschatological figure -the prophet - who
alongside the two Messiahs of Aaron and Israel will play a part in ushering in
the new age.'42 This may reflect a belief in the return of Moses, either as a
forerunner of the Messiah or as a Messianic figure himself. Certainly among
the biblical material found in Cave IV at Qumran is Deut 18:18f, a passage
which was interpreted in terms of a Messiah who would be 'a prophet like
Moses'. Josephus, in recording the uprisings of two Messianic pretenders, may
also reflect a belief in Moses redivivus. In Ant. XX, 97 he mentions the false
prophet Theudas, who claimed t o be able to divide the waters. 'The Egyptian'
pretender put down by Felix143 may also echo Mosaic claims. On the basis of
such little evidence it is difficult to be sure just how developed were any ideas
of a Moses-like Messiah. However, it would seem to be a natural outcome of
the work of Hellenistic Judaism, that the figure whom it did so much to extol
should have taken on an eschatological orientation once it was transferred to
a Palestinian milieu. In which case the representation of Christ as the second
Moses, which we find in the N.T., is considerably indebted to the work of the
Jewish apologists of the Diaspora.
This is evident in the Epistle to the Hebrews where Jesus is depicted in terms
of a second and better Moses, mediating an authentic covenant and exercizing
a priesthood which is truly efficacious:
Moses also was faithful in God's household; and Jesus, of whom I speak,
has been deemed worthy of a greater honour than Moses, as the founder
of a house enjoys more honour than his household. For every house has
its founder; and the founder of all is God. Moses, then, was faithful as a
servitor in God's whole household; his task was to bear witness to the words
that God would speak; but Christ is faithful as a son, set over his household?"
The covenant of Christ is thus presented as superior to that of Moses;'45 the new
law is the true image ( E ~ K ~ rather
v) than the mere copy or shadow (OK&) of the
good things to come.'q
Unlike that given on Sinai, which was mediated through angels,'47 this word of
God is spoken directly. As Spicq has expressed it, 'EEvangile est i la Loi, ce
que le Christ est aux anges'."'8 An unequivocal statement of a belief in the
angelic mediation of the law is only found in the N.T. Apart from Hebrews
141 For a discussion of the place of Moses in these non-rabbinic sources see W.A. Meeks,
the prophet-King (Leiden, 19671, pp. 100-163.
142 1 QS IX,8-11. 143 B.J. 11, 259-263.
144 Heb 3:3-6. 145 Heb 8:6.
146 Heb 10:l. 147 Heb 2:2 ' b 6r'b-/y6Awu kaAq%e&h d . 7 ~ ~ ' .
148 Spicq, op. cit., Vol. 11, p. 55.
130 - The Concept of Spirit
161 See H-J. Klaus, Worship in Israel (Oxford, 1966), pp. 58-61.
162 Decal. 35. Cf. alsoMidrnsh Tonhum 26c where this legend also occurs.
163 See 1. Dupont, 'Ascension du Christ et don de I'Esprit d'apr8s Actes 2:33', Christ and
Spirit, ed. B. Lindars and S. Smalley (Cambridge, 1973). pp. 219-228, who thinks
lhat in Acts 2:33 there is an intentional allusion to Ps 68: 19 - a psalm, which in
Jewish midrashic tradition, had been interpreted of the promulgation of the law at
Sinai. Dupont argues that Luke is hcre claiming that the gift of the law through
Moses at Sinai has now been ~eplacedby the gift of thc Spirit.
164 Acts 7:12-53. 165 Acts 7:17-43.
166 See T.F. Glasson,Moses in the Fourth Gospel (London, 19631,and W.A. Meeks,
m e Prophet-King (Leiden, 1967).
167 Jn 6:14. 168 Jn 1:17f.
132 - The Concept of Spirit
He is not merely the supreme lawgiver, whose words unlike those of Moses have
the life-giving property of spirit;'69 he is himself the new Torah:
'The truth is, not that Moses gave you bread from heaven, but that my
Father gives you the real bread from heaven. The bread that God gives
comes down from heaven and brings life to the world.' . . . Jesus said to
them, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me shall never be thirsty'.'"
Just as John has portrayed Jesus in his discourse with the Samaritan woman
as the new temple, the true sphere of so here he is described as the
better manna.In We know that in Jewish thinking the bread given by Moses
in the wilderness was identified with the law.li3 It was also part of the escha-
tological hope that the manna would once more be given in the Messianic Age:
And it shall come to pass at that self same time that the treasury of manna
shall again descend from on high, and they will eat of it in those years,
because these are they who have come to the consummation of time.'"
This corresponds t o the prophetic hope of a new covenant, which would be
written on men's hearts rather than on tablets of stone.I7' According to the
author of the Fourth Gospel this promise has been fulfilled in Jesus, himself
the new temple, the second Moses, the true manna and the eternal Torah.
Hence ascriptions such as life, light, bread and water, which were previously
applied to the Torah, are transferred to Jesus. But, as in Paul, only of the law
which is Jesus can it he said that it is weupa. The Mosaic dispensation, in the
last resort, can only be characterized as ~ a p p S . In
' ~ ~this way John transfers
?rvevpa - the imprimatur of unique revelation - from Judaism to Christianity.
Furthermore, it is not only as lawgiver that Jesus is portrayed as Moses's
successor. The intercessory function of the paraclete in John's Gospel also has
Mosaic overtones. N. J o h a n n ~ o n 'has
~ ~ pointed t o the idea of the intercessory
activity of the patliarchs in general, which came t o the fore in post-exilic
Judaism, as the origin of the figure of the paraclete in the Fourth Gospel. Philo
himself speaks of the holiness of the patriarchs as one of the three ?iap&kq~or
who plead before God.'"' But once more we see that it is the person of Moses
who is put forward by the Alexandrian as the intercessor par excellence. On
discovering the Israelites worshipping the golden calf, it is Moses who 'took the
part of mediator and reconciler . . . begging that their sins might be forgiven'.'79
180 The Assumption ofMoses is generally believed to be a Palestinla" work, dated some-
time between A.D. 6 and A.D. 30.
181 Ass. M0s. 11:17.
182 Jn 14:16.
183 Deut 34:9.
184 Jn 20:22.
185 G. Bornkamm, 'Der Paraklet im Johannesevangelium', in Festschrift Rudolph
Bultmnn zum 65 Gcburtstog iiberreicht (Stuttgart, 19491, pp. 12-35.
186 See Ex 34:27-35.
187 2 Cor 3:s.
134 - The Concept of Spirit
contrasted with the way of Moses, which only leads to death.'" This is the
main argument of Rom 8: 'In Christ Jesus the life-giving law of the spirit
(vdpos TO^ nvefipa~osnjs { w ~ s )has set you free from the law of sin and death
(vdpar nis &pap.rrhsnai~ouami)'.''~ Herein lies the key to understanding the
Pauline antithesis between nveipa and oap& The apostle characterizes Judaism
as of itself unable t o give life, powerless, inferior. Christianity, however,
is characterized by nuevpa, life-giving and radiating the very power and presence
of God. The Mosaic religion is the $p&qpa njs oapnb which inevitably leads
to death, whereas that of Christ is the $p&qpa TOG nueCpa~oswhich results in
life and peace.1g0 It is only when one is living nara nueipa as opposed to ~ a ~ a
o+aa that the fulfilment of God's commands is p~ssible.'~'Hence Paul goes
on to say, 'Td p2v oWpa wnpiv SLUkpap~iav,~d 62 nueipa {mj 6th
S~~arodvqv'.'~~
In expressing the antithesis between Christian and Jew, Paul not only juxta-
poses n w i p a and oap5 or owpa; he also contrasts nuevpa with ypcippa. In
2 Cor 3:6 the Mosaic law (TO ypcippa) written on tablets of stone, is portrayed
as inferior to the new covenant of the spirit (nveipa), inscribed on men'shearts,
promised in Jer 38(31):31-34 and Ezek 32:26 and fulfilled in Christ. This is
no reference to a literal over against a spiritual interpretation of the law,'93
but a claim for the superiority of Christianity over against Judaism. Paulasserts
that the church is Israel's successor, and therefore, the disciple of Christ is the
inheritor of the promises of God, since the true Jew 'is such inwardly and the
true circumcision is of the heart,'* directed not by written precepts (ypcippa)
but by the spirit (nv~ipa)'.'~~It is true that in Rom 7:14 Paul describes the
Torah as nueupa~r~$,'%i.e. that it had its origin in God. However, usually
Paul retains wecpa and its cognates for the Christian dispensation, against
which the ypiypa of the Mosaic law is no match.
188 For the Mosaic Law's inability to bestow life see also Rom 3:22. A similar emphasis
upon the life-giving nature of the spirit is to be found in Tit 3:3, where terms of
legeneratian ( n d . o r ( ~ ~ hand
~ ~renewal
) (ava~airwors)are used. Cf. Jn 3:3-8.
189 Rom 8:2. N6ua here can hardly refer to the Torah, since the new dispensation is
also described as vdvor. Therefore, with C.K. Barrett, F.J. Leenhardt, W. Sanday and
A.C. Headlam, and C.H. Dodd, it is better to interpret it in terms of a religious dis-
pensation, outlook or attitude.
190 Rom 8 : s f. 191 Rom 8:4.
192 Rom 8:10.
193 Cf. the metaphorical use in 2 Cor 3:3 where Paul describes his Corinthian converts
as letters. written not with ink hut nucdua.rr
~~ ~, Be06 ?Corm.
194 Cf. Deut 10:16, Jer 4:4. Circumcision of the heart is associated with the spirit in the
Odes ofSolomon 11:l-3.
195 Rorn 2:29. Cf. Rom 7:6 where kv wrhrjn nveliuoros is contrasted with rrahar6nl.i~
-rpivua~or.
196 Ram 7:14'b'vdua rrveuPar~Kdsko.rru'
The Concept of Spirit - 135
n v ~ i and
p the wisdom of God
It is generally acceptedLw that one of the sources of the logos christology of
the N.T. is the figure of wisdom, as developed in later Judaism. Over fifty years
ago Rendel Harris pointed out that everything that was said of hkos in the
Prologue of John's Gospel had previously been said of wisdom in earlier Jewish
Wisdom literature.19* Everything, that is, except the last verse, 'And the Word
became flesh'.
The figure of hokmah began to play an important role during the post-exilic
period. Job 28:23-28, Prov 1-9 (especially 8:l-31), Ecclus 24:3-22 - all
reflect this tendency, whereby wisdom is personified, not only as God's agent
in revelation, hut also with Him prior to and at the time of the creation of the
wodd. In Ecclus wisdom, the supreme revelation of God, is to be identified
with the sacred scriptures. The identification of wisdom with the pre-existent
Torah is quite explicit by the time we reach the rabbinic writings.199
But it is particularly to Hellenistic Judaism that we must look for the develop-
ment of the figure of wisdom (ow#&). We have already seen that bothin Sap
SolZmand in Philozo' o @ h is closely connected with hdyar. Frequently the
two are ~ynonymous.'~Hence, the hkos which in Philo is the agent of
creation203 is no different from the o@la of Sap Sol,ZMpresent beside the
throne of God when the world was made. Created before the world, the
PhiIonic X 6 y x is described as npwr6youos. npeo~dmros,apx+ and E ~ K W V , ~ ~ ~
whilst in Sap Sol 7:26 oo@iaisthe 'flawless mirror of the active power of God
and the image of His goodness'. The archetype of divine light can be X&os2"
or o@ia;Z07in Philo's mind there is such little distinction between the two.
He identifies the manna with the gift of heavenly oo@La,Z08 the true foodwhich
is the words of God.'09 This no doubt reflects the tradition which identifies
wisdom with the Torah.
So evident are the parallels between the descriptions of oo@ia/h6yosin Sap Sol
and Philo, and the X&os in the Fourth Gospel, that Sidehottom concludes that
Wisdom Literature was 'an actual source from which he (John) borrowed'.210
Of course, it is always difficult to substantiate any claim for direct borrowing.
What is clear is that John has drawn upon Jewish wisdom tradition in general
and that this has influenced his conception of the X6yos.
What is not usually recognized, however, is that Johannine pneumatology also
owes something to the figure of wisdom. It is true that in his study of John's
Prologue Rendel Harlis stated, 'The Holy Spirit came into Christian theology
through the bifurcation of the doctrine of Divine Wisdom, which on the one
side, became the Logos, and on the other the Holy Ghost'?" However, he did
not go on t o substantiate or develop this claim. It is evident that Harris was
right t o see the figure of wisdom behind both nveupa and X&os, although it is
an over-simplification to talk of a 'bifurcation'. Whatever was to take place in
later theology, no such development has taken place in the Fourth Gospel. We
have already seen2" that John keeps Jesus and the spirit-paraclete in the
closest possible relationship. In fact it could be argued that, far from reflecting
any division, John drew upon wisdom concepts precisely in order to emphasize
a continuity between the ministry of Jesus and that of the spirit.
We have already discussed certain similarities between the Johannine concept
of n v d w and that found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.213Notscher has concluded
from his studies of the respective texts that the holy spirit of Qumran is none
other than the spirit of w i ~ d o m ? ' ~Thus, it is not forwards to the rabbinic
yeser doctrine that we must look for an understanding of 'the spirit of truth',
but back to the figure of wisdom. Notscher believes that it is the role of
wisdom which offers the most parallels t o the part played by the holy spirit in
~ u m r a n ? " Equally we can claim a correspondence between the spirit-paraclete
of the Fourth Gospel and the figure of oo@has developed innellenistic Judaism
i n both traditions wisdom/spirit is personified. She is sent from God2I6 to the
elect2I7 in answer to prayer?'8 making men friends of God and turning them
into prophets?'9 Her supreme function is to initiate her followers into divine
knowledge?20 Therefore, the similarities between the pneumatology of John
and that of the Qumran comrnnnity may be due to the fact that both have
drawn independently upon Jewish wisdom traditions.
Elements of Jewish wisdom tradition are also discernible in Pauline christology.
Writing to the Corinthians, the apostle develops the theme of wisdom, contrast-
ing that which has its origin in man with that which comes from God."' 13e
claims that the crucified Christ is the power (6duaprs) and wisdom (oo@ia)of
God?22 It is Jesus '& iyeuqflq oo@iafipiu &rid 0 ~ 0 3A. similar
~ ~ identification
of Christ with wisdom can be seen in the first chapter of C o l o ~ s i a n s where
,~~~
Paul applies to Christ terms which have previously been used of the figure of
wisdom in Jewishsapiential literature. Thus Christ is described as the image
(eiK&v) of the invisible God;225the firstborn (~PUT&OKOS) of all
which came into being through him?27 As the pre-existent consort of God?28
it is he who continues to sustain the creation.
It is evident that in these passages Paul has drawn upon the figure of wisdom
for his christological model. However, the apostle normally uses o@lh of
divine revelation in general229and not simply as a christological title. Above
all it is the knowledge of man's relationship t o Cod - that of -
which is the possession of all Christians who are Pu nvehpa~r.That revelation
has, of course, been mediated through the person of Christ, and therefore, in
Pauline thought we are always brought back to christology. Uowever, unlike
the portrayal of the spirit-paraclete in the Fourth Gospel, the element of per-
sonification is not retained in Paul's use of the wisdom motif.
231 See also 1 Pet 1:11 where 16 Bv airroc3 nucGpa Xprorori could be a reference to Christ's
preexistence, if, with A.R.C. Leaney, The Letters ofPeter and Jude (Cambridge,
19671, p. 22, C.E.B. Cranfield, I ondZPeter (London, 19601, p. 43, and E. Best,
I Peter (London, 19671, p. 60 we take the subject to be the O.T. prophets who fore-
told the coming passion and glory of Christ. F.W. Beare, The First Epistle of Peter
(2nd ed. Oxford, 1958), pp. 65-66 interprets nue@a XPIOTOOas the preexistent
Christ who is himself the spirit. However, E.G. Selwyn, ap. cit., p. 249, translates it
as 'spirit who derived its mission to the church from Christ'. Should, as Selwyn also
believes (op. cit., pp. 135, 259-2611, the prophets be those of theChristian com-
munity who predict the sufferings which lie in store for their fellow believers, then
a doctrine of preexistence would not be implied in this passage.
232 A. Deissmann, Paul, p. 195. 233 See pp. 38-41.45.
234 Philo, Det. 115; Leg. AUeg. 11,86.
235 H. Conzelmann, Der erste Briefe an die Korinther (GGtlingen, 19691, p. 197.
236 Cf. Phil 1:19;Ga14:6.
The Concept of Spin'? - 139
237 F.J. Foakes Jackson and K. Lake, The Beginnings of Christianity (London, 19201,
Vol. I , p. 288.
238 E. Schweizer, Spirit of God, p. 33.
239 E.F. Scott, TheHoly Spirit in theNew Testament, p. 76.
240 H . Windisch, 'Jewsund der Geist oach synoptische Ubertieferung'.'inStudies in
Early Christianity, ed. S.J. Case (London and New York, 19281, pp. 209-2315,
241 H. Windisch, op. cit., p. 230.
242 E.g. at Jesus's bjrth and baptism.
140 - The Concept of Spirit
C.K. ~ a r r e t t unlike
, ~ ~ ~Windisch, sees no place for the concept of spirit in the
life of the historical Jesus. Where nvevpa does occur in the Gospels he sees
not only the church's christological motives at work, but also an attempt to
reorientate her eschatology. Barrett claims that the paucity of references to
n v a i ~ i as reflection of the fact that Jesus did not speak of himself in terms
of spirit; it was not a primary category in his Messianic thi11king.2~~Further-
more, as it is presented by Mark, Jesus's pneumatic endowment is part of the
Messianic ~ e c r e t . 2Like
~ ~ the kingdom, the spirit was present with Jesus, but,
as with the kingdom, it was not fully consummated in his earthly life?46
Barrett believes that Jesus did not foresee the existence of a spirit-fded com-
munity, and therefore could not have promised the outpouring of the spirit
on his disciples. Since, according to Barrett, Jesus did not envisage an internal
between his humiliation and final glorification, there was no role for the spirit
to play.247 It is only because as it happened there was a gap between the resur-
rection and the parousia that the need for Pentecost arose. Barrett believes
that the early church read back into their accounts of the life of Jesus references
to the spirit, which would provide for the church living between the 'now' and
the 'not yet'.
The major weakness of Barrett's thesis is that it assumes that the spirit had no
place in Jesus's thinking about the final consummation. Even if we accept that
Jesus did not envisage an interval between his humiliation and glorification,248
this does not mean that he could not have spoken of that consummation in
terms of an outpouring of the spirit. Joel 2:28ff certainly associates the spirit
with the eschaton. There is no a priori reason why Jesus could not have had a
similar hope. Undoubtedly the delay of the parousia led to the early church
modifying that promise, so that the spirit now becomes the iLppapi3v which
243 C.K. Barrett, The Holy Spint and the Gospel Tradition (2nd ed. London, 1965),
especially pp. 160-162 and idem, 'Important Hypotheses Reconsidered. V The Holy
Spirit and the Gospcl Tradition', Exp.T. 67 (1955-1956), pp. 142-145.
244 C.K. Barrett, Gospel Tradition, pp.113-121.
245 Cf. R.N. Flew, Jesus ondHis Church (2nd ed. London, 1943). pp. 70-71, who claims
that 'spirit', like the tit1e"Messiah' was repudiated by Jesus because of the dangers of
it being misunderstood.
246 C.K. Barrett, Gospel Tradition, pp. 157-159. Cf. J.D.G. Dunn 'Spirit andKingdom',
Exp.T. 8 2 (Nov. 19701, pp. 36-40, who argues that nustipa displays the same present1
future duality as p a o ~ h ~ l It
b . is therefore to be understood in the light of the tension
between 'realized' and 'future' eschatology. Dunn claims that it would have been
inappropriate to use iivetiua before Pentecost, since not until then does the kingdom
come for the disciples. Even then, like the kingdom, spirit is only the bppopbu.
247 Barrett, Gospel Tradition, pp. 135-139.
248 Contra G. Beasley Murray, Jesus ond the Future (London, 19541, pp. 183-199 who
claims that Jesus expected a gap behvecn his resurrection and parousia.
The Concept of Spirit - 141
anticipates and looks forward to the fiiai eschaton. But such a process of re- -
f=hioning does not necessarily imply that the promise of the spirit had no
in the teaching of the historical Jesus.
Hans L e i ~ e g a n ~was
' ~ ~also one who did not accept that the concept of spirit
played any part in the historical life of Jesus. He, however, unlike Barrett,
looked to paganism rather than to Judaism for the origin of nueripa\as it occurs
in the Synoptic Gospels. Leisegang put forward the thesis that all references to
nu~ripahave their origin, not in a Palestinian milieu,but in the church which
looked back upon the ministry of Jesus through the eyes of Greek mysticism?s0
Behind the birth narratives he detects Hellenistic myths of the union of the
soul with God, issuing in the birth of prophecy?5' Similarly, the story of Jesus's
reception of the spirit at his baptism reflects pagan ideas of the birth of his
pneumatic soul?s2 He conjectures that the logion of the sin against the holy
spirit in Mk 3:28-30 (and parallels) was originally a reference to blasphemy
against God Himself.zs3 In an attempt to support this he claims that the power
with which Jesus said that he cast out demons,z54 was that of the name of God.
Leisegang would therefore read &v &oparr 8 ~ o l j 'in ~ ~place of the Matthean b
?iueSpari Be06 or the Lucan &v Sannjhp OEOC. He concludes that the concept
of liv~Cpaoriginated in the mystical, ecstatic experience of the early church,
which had been influenced by pagan Hellenistic ideas both of mysticism and
ethics?" Therefore, 'Der Geist begriff und die Wirkungen des Geistes mit dem
Leben und Predigen Jesu urspriinglich nichts zu tun hatten'.2s7
In our study of aueljpa in Hellenistic Judaism we have criticized Leisegang for
overestimating the extent of pagan influence on Philo of Alexandria, and under-
estimating the influence of the Jewish concept of ruach upon Greek ideas of
?iveCpa. From our examination of the evidence it would seem that this criticism
could apply equally t o Leisegang's work on spirit in the Synoptic Gospels. He
has overestimated the extent of pagan notions of w e i p n , whilst underestimating
the 'Judaizing' of the concept by the authors of the Diaspora. Any pagan
Hellenistic ideas of spirit had been already sifted by Hellenistic Judaism before
they reached Christianity. Furthermore, only Greek notions which they believed
to accord with the O.T. had been retained. It is therefore t o the writers of the
Dispersion and especially to the LXX that we must look for the pre-Christian
history of the concept of irvetjpa, and it is our contention that a study of such
writings does not uphold Leisegang's thesis of extensive pagan borrowing.
We have seen that as it is used in the N.T. irvetjp~is predominantly an escha-
tological and christological term. Furthermore it is applied far more to the life
of the church and its beliefs about the risen Christ than t o the earthly ministry
of Jesus. This does not necessarily mean, however, that the concept of spirit
was the product of the early church or that Jesus never thought in such terms.
We have noted that 'spirit' as a referent of the divine did not play a dominant
part in contemporary thinking, be it Jewish or pagan. In popular belief spirit
was more usually associated with demonology than with theology, as can be
seen in the Marcan exorcisms. It is therefore quite probable that Jesus himself
spoke very little of the spirit of God.258 In which case the paucity of references
to the spirit in the Synoptic Gospels259may be a true reflection of the historical
situation. But because Jesus rarely spoke of his ministry in terms of 'spirit', it
does not necessarily follow that all such references are the product of the early
church. Each pericope has to be judged on its own merits, rather than its authen-
ticity being doubted as an axiom. There is little reason t o doubt that Jesus saw
himself in some prophetic role. In which case he could well have attributed his
calling and prophetic powers to the spirit of God. He could also have seen him-
self engaged in an eschatological conflict with the powers of evil and it may well
he that he expressed this in terns of the holy spirit of God versus the unclean
spirits of Satan.
Obviously the concept of spirit has undergone considerable adaptation within
the life of the early church. Here, as a category of thought it comes to the fore,
and is used t o express the church's beliefs about her own identity and that of
her Lord. The Sitz im Leben which brought this about was the church's need
for ammunition in its polemic against Judaism.
258 So E. Schweizer, Spirit of God, p. 35, 'Therefore it may be taken as a historical fact
that Jesus himself said hardly anything about the spirit'.
259 J.E. Yates, The Spirit and the Kingdom (London, 19631, p. 37, sees no more signif-
cance in the paucity of references to the spirit in the Synoptics than the fact that
they also rarely use the divine name itself. Yet this does not account for its abundant
use in other parts of the N.T.
The Concept of Spirit - 143
11
CONCLUSIONS
to signify evil spirits. With the notable exception of Mark, this tendency can
be observed in the N.T. and may be attributable to the influence of Hellenistic
Judaism.
2 S . Sandmel, The First Christian Century in Judoism and Christionity: Certainties and
Uncerrainries (Oxford, 1969), p. 81.
3 J.C. O'Neill, The Theology ofAcrs in its Historical Setting (2nd ed. London, 1970),
pp. 139-159.
The Concept of Spirit - 145
scriptures. Only in as far as the O.T. witnessed to Christ could it be said t o have
the inspiration of the spirit; the supreme task of the prophet within the church
pias to bear witness to Jesus, the Christ. The old dispensation which had asserted
that it was inspired by nveCpa is in fact, according t o Paul, mere y p b p a or
oripE; the true nveupa resides in Christ and his church. As Hellenistic Judaism
had claimed superior revelation for Moses and attributed him with a greater
portion of the divine nveipa, so N.T. writers make similar claims for Jesus.
Hence he is depicted as being endowed with an inspiration which is superior
to that of Moses and his revelation is seen as superseding the Mosaic Torah.
Thus the power and presence of God signified by nveifla, which had previously
been claimed for their faith by Hellenistic Jews in their polemic against Gentile
pretentions to revelation, have been taken up by N.T. writers in their debate
with'ludaism, and located exclusively in Christ and the Christian community.
The use of nvetjlrain the N.T., notably in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Luke-
Acts, John and especially the Pauline Epistles, may therefore be seen within
the context of the church's polemic against Jewish claims to supreme
re~elation.~
4 E.J. Epp, The Theological Tendency of Codex Bezae Canrabrigiensis in Acts (Cambridge,
1966), has noted anti-Judaic tendencies in Codex Bezae. A number of additional refer-
ences to iiue6p.a are to be found in this text (see Appendix E, p. 157). According to
Epp, op. cit., p. 118 these reflect a similar tendency, in which case they demonstrate
a development of the same anti-Jewish use of nvcGrra as we have in our text.
APPENDICES
The Concept of Spirit - 147
APPENDIX A
The Literature of Hellenistic Judaism
which has survived in whole or part
onwards and therefore cannot be used as evidence of the preChristian usage af nvecpo
2 By the late 3rd century A.D. the Theodotionic version ofDaniel had supplanted the
Alexandrian version.
148 - The Concept of Spirit
3 Authors i) to vi) are quoted from Polyhistor in Stram. I, 21 -23 and Praep IX,
17-39. See Miiller, FI.111, 207ff.
4 SeePraep.Ev.IX, 20, 24, 37;Strom. I, 21, 141.
5 See Pr8ep.E~.IX, 22.
6 SeePraep.Ev. IX, 28,19;Strom. 1, 23, 155.
7 See Praea.Ev. VII. 12:XIII.
. . 12:Hist Eccl. VII. 32. 17-18.
8 Most of k e s e works could alsobe classified asXpd~ogetic.
The Concept of Spirit - 149
VI - Apologetics
i) Philo 1st Century A.D.
See above (V).
Hypothetica (Armenian fragments of ~ ~ o l o g no
i alonger
~ extant)
ii) Josephus
Contra Apionem c. 100 A.D.
K Liturgy
i) Prayers embodied in 2nd Century A.D.
Const. Apost. VII, 33-38
APPENDIX B
A Classification of the various occurrences of WEUW
in the Literature of Hellenistic Judaism
(For the occurrence of 7iwUw in the LXX cf. E. Hatch and HA. Redpath,
A Concordance to the Septuagint and other Greek versions of the 0.T
Vol. I1,pp. 1151-1153)
I -llv~ip as ~wind
Sap Sol 5:23; 7:20; 13:2(?); 17:18;
Song of the Three Holy Children 26 (Dan 3 3 0 LXX); 42 (Dan 3:65 LXX);
Epistle of Jeremiah, 2 Enoch 21 :5 (extant only in Slavonic); Sib. Or. 111, 102;
Philo: Abr.43; 92; 160;Aet.ll; 139; Agr. 174;Cher. 13; 37f;Congr. 133;
Flacc. 155; Immut. 26; 60; 98; 175; Jos. 32; Leg. ad Gaium 177;
Leg. Alleg. III,53; 223; Migr. 148,217; Opif. 41; 58; 80;Post. C. 22;
Prob. 26(?);Prov. 2.45; Qu. Ex. I1,55; Som. II,13; 67; Som. I1,85; 86;
143; 166;Spec. Leg. I, 26; 92;301; Spec. Leg. II,71; 191;
Spec. Leg. IV, 27; V. Mos. 1,41; 179; V. Mos. TI, 104.
Josephus: Ant. 11,343; 349; VIII, 346; IX, 36; 210; X, 279; XII, 75; XIV, 28;
XVI, 17; 20; 62.
11 - IbeUju as air
(a) Used as synonymous with afip
Sap Sol 5:Il;Philo: Gig.lO;Praem. 41; Spec. Leg. 11,153;Virt. 135;
Josephus: B.J. IV, 477.
(b) One of the elements
Philo: Aet. 111; Cher. 111; Ebr. 106; Gig. 22; Leg. AUeg. I, 91; Opif. 29;
Sacr. 97.
(c) AS a cohesive force ( Z ~ L F )
Philo: Aet. 86; 125;Heres. 242;Immut. 35; Opif. 131;Praem. 48;Prob.26(?).
1 Cf. III(b). IIueCpa as breath, the principle upon which life depends.
152 - The Concept of Spirit
2 Cf. IV(a). In certain zespects there is no clear distinction between the spirit of man
and the Spirit of Gad.
The Concept of Spirit - 153
APPENI)D[ C
The Distribution of nveipn and Cognates in the N.T.
Matthew
Markl
Luke
John
~cts*
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
APPENDIX D
A Classification of the various occurrences of I I v ~ i w
in the New Testament
I - I D ~ i p as
a wind
John 3%.
I1 - l'iveipa as breath
(a) Respiration
Jas2:26;Rev 13:15;2 Thes2:8 (LXXPs32:6,MT33:6)
(b) Principle upon which life depends
Mt 27:50;Lk 8:55;23:46 (LXXPs 31:S);Jn 19:30;Acts7:59;Rev 11:ll.
V - Supernatural beings
(a) Demons, unclean spirits:
Mk 1:23,26,27;3:11,30; 5:2,8,13;6:7;7:25;9:17,20,25;Mt 8:16; 10:l;
12:43,45; Lk 4:33,36; 6:18; 7:21; 8:2,29; 9:39,42; (955) 10:20; 11:24,26;
13:11;Acts5:16;8:7; 16:16, 18; 19:12,13, 15, 16;Rev 16:13, 14; 18:2;
Eph2:2; 1 Tim 4:1(?).Cf.Eph6:12 ~a me6para rfis nnwqpiar.
(b) Disembodied spirits
Lk 24:37,39; Heb 12:9(?); Heb 12:23; 1 Pet 3:19(?).
(c) Angels
Acts 23:8,9(?); Heb 1.7, 14; Rev 1:4(?); 3:1(?); 4:5(?); 5:6(?).
The Concept of Spirit - 157
APPENDIX E
Additional references t o nveipa
in the Western Text (Codex Bezae) o f Acts
Acts 11:17 Into Peter's speech on his vision concerning Cornelius, D adds:
TOG pq 6&ar aiJroLi. riveipa aywv moreiioaow ka' airrp.
Acts 15:32 m e bearers of the apostolic letter, Judas and Silas, are:
?iXfipecsnuelipa~oshyyiouou.
Acts 20:3 The spirit is shown by D t o inspire the apostle's choice of route:
eiaev 62 76 n v e i ~ a h @ .
(Acts 26: 1 The Syriac Harklean margin adds a reference to Paul's consola-
tion by the spirit whilst he was before Agrippa: confidens et in
spiritu sancto consolationem accipiens.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Studies in Honour of
C.F.D. Moulc, Cambridge, 1973.
Ling, T., The Significance of Satan, London, 196 1.
Lock, W., The Pastoral Epistles, ICC, Edinburgh, 1924.
Lofthouse, W.F., 'The Holy Spirit in the Acts and in the Fourth Gospel', Exp.T. 52,
1941, pp. 334-336.
Lohmeyer, E., Die Brief on die Philipper, nn die Kolosser und an Philemon, Gottinge":
10<1
A,"A.
Sanders, J.N. and Mastin, B.A., The Gospel According t o St. John. BNTC, London, 1968.
Sandmel, S., The First Christian Century in Judoism and Chrisrinnity: Cerfaintiesnnd
Uneerfninties, Oxford, 1969.
Saunders, J.T., The N. T. Christological Hymns, Cambridge, 1971.
Schechter, S., Some Aspects o f Rabbinic Theology, London, 1909.
Schlatter, A., Die Korintherbriefe, Stuttgart, 1962.
Schlier,H.,DerBrief an die Epheser, 4th ed., Diisseldorf, 1963.
Schmidt, RL.,Der Rahmer der GeschichfeJesu. Berlin, 1919.
Schnackenburg, R.,&tism in the Thought of St. Pnul, Oxford, 1964.
Schnackenburg, R, T?ze Gospel According t o St. John, VoL I , London and New York,
1968.
Schnaekenburg, R, Die Johannesbriefe, 2nd ed., Freiburg, 1963.
Sehreckenberg, H., Bihliographie zu %ius Josephus, Leiden, 1968.
Schker, E., Geschichte des jiidisehen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi, 3 Vols., and Index,
Leipzig, 1911.
Schweitzer, A., The Mysticism ofPoul the Apostle, 2nd ed., London, 1953
Schweitzer, A.,PaulandHis Interpreters, London, 1912.
Schweizer, E, Spirit o f God, Bible Key Words from TWNTE ed. G. Kittell and G. Friedrich.
London, 1960.
Schweizer, E, The GoodNews AceordingtoMnrk, London, 1971.
Scott, EF., The Epistles of Paul t o the Colossians and to the Ephesians. MNTC, London,
1930.
Scott, E.F., The Spirit in theNew Testament, London, 1923.
Scott, E.F., Ihe Epistle to the Hebrews, its Doctrine and Significance, Edinburgh,
Scott, RB.Y., 'Wisdom in Creation', Vetus Testomenrum 10, 1960, pp. 213-223.
Smoggs, R, 'Paul: rO@OX and nNETMATIKOE', NTS, 14,1967, pp. 33-55.
Selwyn, E.G., The First Epistle of St. Peter, 2nd ed., London, 1947.
Sevenster, J.N.D.,DO You Know Greek?HowMuch Greek Could the First Jewish
Christinns Hove Known? Leiden, 1968.
Shoemaker, W . R , T h e Use oCRuach in the O.T. and of nveijrra in thc N.T.', JBL
1904, pp. 13-67.
Sidebottom, E.M., I h e Christ of the Fourth Gospel, London, 1961
Smallwwd, M.. Lezatio ad Gaium. Leiden. 1961.
Smith, N.H., 'The~eaningof the'~aracle&', Exp.T., 57, 1945, pp. 47-50.
Sowers, S.G., TheHermeneutics ofphilo andHebrews, Ziirich, 1965.
Spicq, C.,L'Epitre ow. Hihreux, EB, 2nd ed., 2 Vols., Paris, 1952-1953.
Stacey, W.D.,ThePuuline View ofMan, London, 1956.
Strachan, R.H., The SecondEpistle ofPaul t o the Corinthians, MNTC, London, 1934.
Strack, H.L. and Billerbeck, P., Kommentar rum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und
Midrasch, 4 Vols., Munich, 1922-1928.
Swete, H.B., The Gospel According t o St. Mork, London, 1898.
Swete, H.B., The O.T. in Greek According t o the LXX, 3 Vols., 4th ed., Cambridge, 1934.
Swete, H.B.,An Introduction to the O.T. in Greek (with an Appendix containing the
Letter of Aristeas edited by H. St.3. Thackeray), 2nd ed., Cambridge, 1902.
Swete, H.B., TheHoly Spirit in NzeNew Testament. London, 1909.
Tam, W., and Griffith, G.T.,Hellenistic Civilisation, 31d ed., London, 1952.
Tatum, W.B., 'The Epoch o f Israel: Luke 1-2 and the Theological Plan of Luke-Acts',
NTS, 13,1967, pp. 184-195.
Taylor, V., The Gospel According t o St. Mark, London, 1952.
Tcherikover, V . k , Fuks, A., and Stern, M., Corpus Papyronrm Juduicanrm, 3 Vols,
Jerusalem and Cambridge, Mass., 1957-1964.
Tcherikover, V.A., Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews, Philadelphia, 196 1.
Teeple, H.M., 'Qumran and the Origin of the Fourth Gospel', NT, 4, 1960, pp. 6-25.
a c k e r a y , HSt.J., me Relation of St. Paul t o Contemporary Thought, London, 1900.
Thackeray, H.St.J., Josephus, theMan and theHistorian, 2nd ed., New York, 1967.
Thackeray, H.St.J., Marcus, R, W ~ e nA., , and Feldman, L.H., Josephus, Loeb
Classical Lihiary, 9 Volr, London and Cambridge, Mass., 1926-1965.
Thackeray, H.St.J., and Marcus, R.,Lexicon to Josephus, Pts. I-IV, London and
Cambridge, Mass., 1930-1956.
Thackeray, HSt.J., T h e Letter of Aristeas', inlntroduction t o the O.T. in Greek,
H.B. Swete, 2nd ed., Cambridge, 1902, pp. 499-574.
Thackeray, H.St.J., The Septuagint and Jewish Worship, 2nd ed., London, 1923.
Thomas, KJ., 'The O.T. Citations in Hebrews', NTS, 11, 1965, pp. 303-325.
Torrey, C.C., The Apocryphal Literomre, Yale, 1945.
Torrey, C.C., The Apoenlypse of John, New Haven, 1958.
Unnik, W.C. van, 'leas the Christ', NTS,8, 1961, pp. 101-1 16.
Unnik, W.C. van, Tarsus or Jerusalem? London, 1962.
Verbeke, G., L'Evolution de kz dochine du h e u m a du Stoicisme 2 S. Augustine,
Lquvain, i945.
Vermes, G., The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, Hmondsworth, revised, 1968.
~ e r m kG.,, 'Essenes, Therapeutai, mmran', Durham University Journal, 52, 1960,
pp. 97-115.
Vincent, M.R., The Epistles to thePhilippionsond toPhilemon, ICC, Edinburgh, 1897.
V 6 k , W., Fortschrift und Vollendung bei Philo von Alexandrien: eine Studie zur
Geschichte der Friimmigkeir, Leipzig, 1938.
Volz, P.,Der Geist Gottes, Tiibingen, 1910.
Waldron, RA., Sense and Sense Development, London, 1967.
Wand, J.W.C., The General Epistles o f St. Peter and St. Jude, WC, London, 1899.
Webster, T.B.L., 'Communication of Thought in Ancient G~eece',in Studies in Communi-
cotion, ed. A.J. Ayer, London, 1955, pp. 125-146.
Westcott, B.F., The Epistle to the Hebrews, London, 1889.
Westcott, B.F.,St. Paul's Epistle t o the Ephesians, London, 1906.
Whiteley, D.E.H., The Theology o f St. Paul, Oxford, 1964.
Whybray, R.N., 'Proverbs 8:22-31 and its supposed prototypes', Vetus Testamenfum 15,
1965, pp. 504-514.
Wikenhauser, A.,Die Offenbnmng des Johannes, 3rd ed., Regensburg, 1959.
Wilcox, M., The Semirisms ofAcrs, Oxfoid, 1965.
Wilder, A.N., '1 John', The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 12, New York, 1957.
W~Uiams,C.S.C., 7heActs of the Apostles. BNTC, 2nd ed., London, 1964.
Williamson, R., Philo nnd the Epistle to the Hebrews, Leiden, 1970.
Wilson, R. Mc.L., 'Philo and the Fourth Gospcl', Exp.T. 65, 1953, pp. 47-49.
Wilson, R. Mc.L., 'The Fourth Gospel and Hellenistic Thought',NT, 1, 1956.pp.225-227
W~ndisch,H., 'Jesus und der Geist nach synoptisches Uberlieferung', in Studies in Early
Chrlstinniry, ed., S.J. Case, London and New York, 1928, pp. 209-228.
Wmdisch, H., Die Kntholischen Briefe, 31d ed., Tiibingen, 1951.
Windisch, H., 'Die 6 n f johanneischen Parakletspriiche', in Festg-abe f i r A. Julicher zum
70 Geburtstag, Tiibingen, 1927, pp. 110-137.
Windisch, H., 'Jesus und der Geist im Johanncsevangelium', in Amicitioe Corolla, Essays
presented to J. Rendel Harris on his 80th birthday, ed. H.G. Wood, London, 1933,
c r 303-318.
on. ~ ~- - - -
Wolfson, H.A.,Philo: Foundation of Religious Philosophy in Judaism, Christianity and
Islam, 2 Vols., Cambridge, Mass., 1947.
Wolfson, H.A., 'The Philonic God of Revelation and His Latter-Day Deniers', HTR, 53,
1 9.
. 6.0, n n .
1 n1-174~
.. . ...
Wiirthwein, E., The Text of the O.T.Oxford, 1957.
Yadin, Y., 'The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Epistle to the Hebrews', Scriptn
Hierosolymitona IV, 1958, pp. 36-66.
Yates, J.E., The Spirit and the Kingdom, London, 1963.
Zeller, E.,DiePhilosophie der Gn'eehen, 5th ed., 3 Vols., Leipzig, 1923.
Dupont, I.
Edwards, E.
Eliot, T.S. Jones, S.
Ellis, E.E. Jonge, M. de
Epp, E.J. Josephus
Euhemerus
Eupolemus
Euripides Kallas, J.
Eusebius Kcck, L.E.
Evans,E. Kelly, J.N.D.
Fenton, J.C. Kittel, G.
Festugiire, A.J. Klausner, J.
Filson, F.F. Klzinknecht, H.
Flew, R.N. Knox,W.L.
Flirster, W.
Frey, J.B. Kraus, H-1.
Friedliinder, M. Kracling, C.H.
Friedrich, G. Kiirnmel, W.G.
F"k$ A. Lagrange, M-I.
Fuller, R.H. Lake, K.
GGtner, B.E. Lampe, G.W.H
Gelin, A. Langton, E.
Glassan, T.F. Larcher, C.
Gnilka, J.
Goodenough, E Laurentin, A.
Gould, E.G.
Grimm, C.L.W. Leaney, A.R.C.
Hamilton, N.Q.
Harris, R. Leenhardt, F.J.
Headlam, A.C.
Leisegang, H.
Heinemann, 1.
Heinische, P.
Heinze, H.
Hengel, M. Lewy, H.
Heraclitus Liddell, G.H.
Hiring, J. Lieberm-. S.
Lielzmann, H.
Hill, D. Lightfoot, J.B.
W n s , A.J.B. Liig, T.
Hippocrates Manetho
Hipponax Manson, T.W.
Holtz, T.
Hoskyns, E.C.
Hull, J.H.E. Marcus, R.
Hull, J.M. Mayoi, J.B.
Ignatius Meeks, W.A.
Imshoot, P. van Menander
Jackson, Merlan, P.
F.J. Faakes Michaelis, W.
Jaeger, W.W. Michel, 0.
Jellicoe, S . Micklem, P.A.
Jewett, R. Milik, J.T.
Johansson, N. Moffatt, 1.
Wilson, R.McL. 68 n.24 Xenophanes 26
Windish, H. 122f, 139 Yadiq Y. 66
Wolfson, H.A. 22, 32,53 11.96, Yates, J.E. 121 n.76, 142 n.259
54f, 57 ZeUer, E. 52 n.81
WormeU,D.E.W. 15 n.35,50n.76 Zen0 15 n.30
Wiirthwein, E. 5 n.16
INDEX OF REFERENCES
Numbers
5.3 25 n.62
5.14 12
11.17 46 n.20,
47 n.37, 61
11.25 130
16.22 14
20.2-11 138
22. 47
23.6 12,48
27.16 14.29 n.86
27.18 47 n.44 2Samuel (2Kingdoms)
13.21 12
Deuteronomy (23.2 124 11.102
2.30 12
4.12 112 n.252 I Kings (3 Kingdoms)
9.10 121 n.77 6.13 25 n.62
10.16 134 n.194 8.27 99 n.154
Exodus 18.18f 129 8.29 25 n.60
3.2 32.17 105 n.197 10.5 12
17.17 I 1 n.6
3.14
ZO(MT21).4 12
2O(MT 211.5 37 n.22
Joshua 22.11 10 n.3
11 22.21 13.14
22.22f 105 n.198
Judges
3.16 73 11.41 2 Kings (4 Kingdoms) .
8.3 12 2.16ff 88 11.54
9.23 12. 13 n.22 2.16 117 11.143
I Chronicles
23.25 25 n.62
28.11f 23
Ruth 2 Chronicles
3.9 119 15.1 47 11.44
21.16 12
24.20 47 n.44
36.22 37 11.23
i (contd) Jeremiah (contd)
11 n.12.12 5.13 10 n.3,11n.4
31 n.108 23.24 23 n.49
23 n.44 23.29 73 n.40
23 11.44 28(MT51).1 10 n.3
38(MT 31).
31-34 132n.175,134
38(MT31).
331 126
Proverbs
1.23 11 n.3
5.4 73 11.41
8.1-31 135
/
8.22-31 52 n.86 Daniel
11.29 10 n.3 5.13f 46 n.20
14.29 11n.10,n: 5.23 I 1 n.6
15.13 12 n.15
16.lf 12 n.151
16.18 11 n.14 1 Hosea
12n.15
16.19 11 11.12
16.32 11 n.13
17.22 12 n.15
17.27 11n.12
12n.15
18.14 11 n.10
25.14 10 0.3
27.16 10 n.3
29.23 11 n.14
Zechariah
1.6 13
1.12 112 11.260
2.14 25 n.62
4.2 111
Zechariah (contd] Zecharinh (contd] Malachi
4.6 111 11.243 8.3 25 n.62 2.7 130n.151
4.10 114n.12 12.10 83 n.8 3.1 119 11.57
6.8 11 n.11 13.2 83 n.9, 3.2f I 15
7-12 13 11.20 105 n.198 4.5 119 n.57
7.29
Rest ofEsther 8.1
16.12 36 n.8 8.2
(LXX8.13) 8.3
Wisdom ofSolomon
l.lf 23 11.46
1.3 54 n.98
1.5 19 n.6,46
1.6 20, 21 n.32,
21 n.34
1.7 22, 29 11.89,
53 11.94
1.9, 11 22 n.35
1.12 23 n.46
1.15 23 n.52
2. 23 n.44
Ecclesiasticus
11 n.10
7.11 II
1 E$& of Jeremiah
36 n.9
Song of the Three
Holy Children
63 36
/ Jubilees
1.25
1.27
110 n.233
130
Sibyllixe Oracles
111.30 26 n.72
111.606-618 26 n.69
(LXX Dan 3.86)
4 Josc~husand Philo
Anriquirotes Judaicae (corrtd) Bellum Judaicum (contd] De Congressu Quoercndai,
1V.165 47 n.44 V11.62 108 n.221 Eruditionis Grario
IV.326 128 n.129 V11.82 33 n.119 15 26 n.68
V.285 47 n.44 611.185 33 34-38 40 11.64
V.345 37 11.23 37 40 n.62
VI.56, 76 50 n.70 71-80 45 n.17
V1.166 34, 48 33.47 170, 173f 132n.173.
VI.222C 50 n.69 136 n.209
VI.360 37 n.22 Phila De Decnlogo
V111.45-49 101 n.168 De Abrohomo 32-35 131
vlI.102, 35 48 n.49 53, 76-79 26 n.67
106 25 n.61 40 136 0.207 41 n.74
V111.114 25 52,54 42 n.82 41 n.60
V1IL295 47 n.44 113 55 11.106
VIII.356 37 n.22 Quod Deferius Poriori
V111.408 48 n.48 Insidion' Solet
17 46 n.29
23 41 n.71,n.73
24 41 n.74
29 39 0.41
80 35 0.4
36 n.12,0.16
56 n.119
83 37 n.20
87 41 n 7 1
115 138 n.234
146 41 n.72
161 21 11.26
30n.101
187 44 n.13
De Ebrietate
33f 120 n.66
106 44 n.8
136 126n.112
145 46 n.32,
50 n.72
170ff 40 11.58
De Migratione Abmhami
34f 48 n.49
89-93 27 11.78
125 40 n.64
Heres
6f 42 n.86
23 44 n.13
I De Somniis (conrd)
11.189 21 n.26,
~ u o Omnis
d ~rob;s
Liber Sir
26 43 n.6
43 21 n.26,
30 n.lO1
105 26 11.68
149 41 n.74 1 De Somniis
11.2 49 n.58
Quoestiones et Solutiones
in Exodum
14 47 n.34
5 Rabbinic Literature
l On.
Tarqum I
Conr
11.11 116 1
Matthew
1.18-20
1.23
3.11
3.16
4.1-12
Luke (contd)
13.11 103 n.188
20.42f 124 n.102
21.15 119 n.52
23.46 71 n.lO,
72 n.27,
7 3 n.32
24.37, 39 108
John
1.1-14 122 n.82
1.10, 12 12211.86
1.17f 131
1.32 122 n.81
Ephesians (conrd] 1 Peter (contd]
3.5 90 n.78 3.19 109
3.9 91 n.89 3.22 109 n.229
3.16 74 11.49 4.6 109 n.222
4.3 93 n.108
4.4 93
4.23 75 n.55 Titus
4.30 96 n.137,97 3.3
5.18 87
5.27 97 n.144 Philemon
6.12 106 25
6.17 73 11.41,
90 11.79 Hebrews
l.lf
Philippions 1.3
1.8 79 n.88 1.41
Jude
6 109 11.224
19 77 n.78
1 James
2.26
4.5
1 Peter
2 Thessalonians 1.2
2.13 87 11.38 1.11
2.2
1 Timothv 3.4
3.18-4.6
7 Jewish Christian Apocrypha
Gospel o f the Testament o f t h e Twelve Test Jud.
Hebrews 117 11.43 Patriarchs 20.
Test. Reub. 20.1-5
6.10ff 101 n.169 25.3
Similitudes ojEnock Test. Sim. Test. Iss.
(2 Enoch 37-71) 6.5-8 119 11.57 7.7
39.12 14 n.24 Test. Lev. Test. Zeb.
41.10 14 n.24 3.5 112 n.260 9.8
46.7 26 n.64 8.2 110 n.238 Test Ask
61.12 110 n.233 17.11 115 1.
18.11f 101 n.169, 1.5
102 Test. Ben.
5.2
8 Church Fathers
Clement of Alexandria: hnep. Eu. (contd)
Stromteis IX.19 39 n.50
I, 23, 154 128 11.125 IX, 23 39 n.51
1,23,155
Eusebius:
128 11.126 IX, 26
IX, 27
128 n.124
39 n.49,
128n.125.
' Philostorgius:
Ecclesiastical History
Pmeparation Evangelico 128 n.127' 8.10 16 n.41
VLI, 12 128 11.128 IX, 29 128 n.126
VIII, 12 39 n.48 XIlI, 1 2 39 11.48,
1X. 17-34 5 n.19. 128 n 17.R
--.
39 n.47 Ecclesiosticol History
I, 26-31 39 n.48
9 Classical Works
Aeschylus: Homer:
Pme Iliad
507 15 n.29 XXII, 417 11 n.7
Prometheus Vinctus Odyssey
1086 15 n.27 X, 2ff 60 n.6 Plutarch:
De Defect" Oroculorum
Aristotle: Menander: XIIL416E 16 n.39
Physico 482.3 IX.414E 104 11.193
VIII, 6,
259A, 8ff
Virgil:
Aeneid
I, 51ff 60 n.6
Zenn: