Words · Greek Words · Lesson 2, word 5 of 5
πνεῦμαpneuma
Wind, breath, spirit, above all, the Holy Spirit.
Why this word is here. The New Testament's Spirit word, translating Hebrew ruach; John 3:8 uses its double sense in a single verse on purpose.
What it means
Abbott-Smith: of air in motion, wind (John 3:8), breath ('the breath of life', Revelation 11:11). Of the vital principle, the human spirit, as distinct from body and soul. Of spirit as disposition or influence (a spirit of slavery, of gentleness). Of superhuman spirits, evil and good. And, pre-eminently in the New Testament, of the Holy Spirit, God's own Spirit, given at Pentecost and indwelling believers.
Like ruach, pneuma has no capital letters in the earliest manuscripts; 'spirit' or 'Spirit' is a judgment the reader makes from context, which the texts usually make clear.
Where you meet it
The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
John 3:8 (BSB)
Anchor verse 'The wind (pneuma) blows where it wishes... So it is with everyone born of the Spirit (pneuma).' Jesus builds the whole teaching on the word's double sense; Nicodemus hears both.
‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
Acts 2:17 (BSB)
Peter quotes Joel: 'I will pour out My Spirit (pneuma) on all people.' Pentecost as the ruach prophecy fulfilled.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
Romans 8:26 (BSB)
'The Spirit (pneuma) Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.' The Spirit as a person who prays.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:22 (BSB)
'The fruit of the Spirit (pneuma) is love, joy, peace...' The Spirit as the source of a whole character.
Why it matters
Pneuma is the vocabulary of the new birth, of Pentecost, of prayer and of the Christian's inner war and comfort. It also holds the doctrine of the Spirit's personhood together: the same pneuma who is 'poured out' like water also speaks, forbids, intercedes and can be grieved.
Watch out
The over-claim is that pneuma always means the Holy Spirit. It names wind, breath, human spirits, a disposition ('spirit of gentleness', Galatians 6:1 as an attitude in restorers), and unclean spirits. Capitalisation in English translations is editorial. The opposite over-claim, that 'spirit' language makes the Holy Spirit an impersonal force, collapses on Romans 8:26-27, where the pneuma has a mind and intercedes. Context, as ever, is the lexicon's senior partner.
In this lesson
- euangelion (εὐαγγέλιον): Good news, the gospel of the kingdom and of Christ.
- charis (χάρις): Grace: favour freely given, and the thanks it wakes.
- doxa (δόξα): Glory, honour, splendour, the translation of kavod.
- sarx (σάρξ): Flesh: the body, human nature, or life organised against God.
Sources
- Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (1889)
- STEP Bible lexicon data (Abbott-Smith)
- SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)
Review status: in-theological-review. Every Contend page passes a human theological review against the Statement of Faith before it is published as approved teaching. This section is in that queue.