Against Missionary II

 Ruwaḥ Älöhim

(Bereshit 1:3)

וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ וְחשֶׁךְ עַל פְּנֵי תְהוֹם וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם

JPS,    And the earth being unformed and void [astonishingly empty], and the darkness over the surface of the deep, and the wind from G-d sweeping over the water --

 

    Seems that some people are still confused about this one. Although it's not that hard to understand this part. But since most Christians would probably say that this verse is talking about "The Trinity" or "This is Holy Ghost.", etc. It's a simple grammar in Lashon HaKodesh. Ruwaḥ (רוח) doesn't only necessarily referring to "Spirit" but instead, it's it's also referring to "wind", "breath", and in other case it also can be referring to the "Shekhinah". How do we know these are facts? Let's us take a look at 3:8:

    וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶת־קֹול יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים מִתְהַלֵּךְ בַּגָּן לְרוּחַ הַיֹּום וַיִּתְחַבֵּא הָאָדָם וְאִשְׁתֹּו מִפְּנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים בְּתֹוךְ עֵץ הַגָּן׃

JPS,     And they heard the sound of the L-RD, G-d moving about in the garden at the breezy time of day; and the man and his wife hid from the L-RD, G-d among the trees in the garden.

    Would you translate this to "To spirit of day"? Obviously no, since it won't suit the context! The same case applied on 1:3, it doesn't necessarily means "Spirit" rather, it means "Wind." Here's a picture of Tafsir Rasag and Targum Onkelos on the verse:

 
 

 

    According to Targum Onkelos it's translated as "waRuwḥô' min qôðôm HASHÉM" which means "and the wind from before HASHÉM." Still not sure? Let's take a look on Tafsir Rasag, it's translated as "Riyāḥ ALLŌH (رياح ﷲ)" which means "ALLŌH's wind." Instead of using "Ruḥ" which means "Spirit/Soul" it's using "Riyāḥ" which means "Wind". I'll quote from Rashi's commentary on the verse:

 

ורוח אלהים מרחפת: כסא הכבוד עומד באויר ומרחף על פני המים ברוח פיו של הקב"ה ובמאמרו, כיונה המרחפת על הקן אקוביטי"ר בלע"ז [לכסות]

 

    and the wind from G-d sweeping: The Throne of Glory was suspended in the air and hovered over the face of the water with the breath of the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He and with His word, like a dove, which hovers over the nest, acoveter in Old French, to cover, hover over.

 

    So why do we understood the verse that way? And why do Onkelos wrote "from before HASHÉM"? Simple answer, to avoid portraying an anthropomorphic image of G-d. Here's a commentary that I got from a book, Onkelos on the Torah by Rabbi Israel Drazin (page 3).

So, in conclusion Bereshit 1:3 is not necessarily translated as "Spirit" but rather it's suppose to be translated as "Wind". So one wouldn't mistaken the verse that lead into foolishness that cause one to believe Christian's Theology telling that the verse is talking about "the Trinity" or "this is Holy Ghost".