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Sixth,
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is often used of a man’s mind-set, disposition, or “temper”: “Blessed is
the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile”
(Ps. 32:2). In Ezek. 13:3 the word is med of one’s mind or thinking: “Woe unto the
foolish prophets, that follow their own spirits, and have seen nothing” (cf. Prov. 29:11).
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can represent particular dispositions, as it does in Josh. 2:11: “And as soon as we
had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in
any man, because of you …” (cf. Josh. 5:1; Job 15:13). Another disposition represented
by this word is “temper”: “If the spirit [temper] of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not
thy place …” (Eccl. 10:4). David prayed that God would “restore unto me the joy of thy
salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit” (Ps. 51:12). In this verse “joy of salvation”
and “free Spirit” are parallel and, therefore, synonymous terms. Therefore, “spirit” refers
to one’s inner disposition, just as “joy” refers to an inner emotion.
Seventh, the Bible often speaks of God’s “Spirit,” the third person of the Trinity. This
is the use of the word in its first biblical occurrence: “And the earth was without form,
and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). Isa. 63:10-11 and Ps. 51:12 specifically speak of the
“holy or free Spirit.”
Eighth, the non-material beings (angels) in heaven are sometimes called “spirits”:
“And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him”
(1 Kings 22:21; cf. 1 Sam. 16:14).
Ninth, the “spirit” may also be used of that which enables a man to do a particular job
or that which represents the essence of a quality of man: “And Joshua the son of Nun was
full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him …” (Deut. 34:9).
Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of his “spirit” (2 Kings 2:9) and received it.
SPIRIT (OF THE DEAD), NECROMANCER
(
, 178), “spirit (of the dead); necromancer; pit.” This word has cognates in
Sumerian, Akkadian, and Ugaritic, where the meanings “pit” and “spirit of one who has
died” occur. In its earliest appearances (Sumerian),
refers to a pit out of which a
departed spirit may be summoned. Later Assyrian texts use this word to denote simply a
pit in the ground. Akkadian texts describe a deity that is the personification of the pit, to
whom a particular exorcism ritual was addressed. Biblical Hebrew attests this word 16
times.
The word usually represents the troubled spirit (or spirits) of the dead. This meaning
appears unquestionably in Isa. 29:4: “… Thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar
spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.”
Its second meaning, “necromancer,” refers to a professional who claims to summon
forth such spirits when requested (or hired) to do so: “Regard not them that have familiar
spirits, neither seek after wizards” (Lev. 19:31—first occurrence). These mediums
summoned their “guides” from a hole in the ground. Saul asked the medium (witch) of
Endor, “Divine for me from the hole [ ] (1 Sam. 28:8, author’s translation).
God forbade Israel to seek information by this means, which was so common among
the pagans (Lev. 19:31; Deut. 18:11). Perhaps the pagan belief in manipulating one’s
basic relationship to a god (or gods) explains the relative silence of the Old Testament
regarding life after death. Yet God’s people believed in life after death, from early times