Spirit – Spring

Spirit

spir'-it (ruach; pneuma; Latin, spiritus):

1. Primary and Figurative Senses

(1) As Wind, Breath

(2) As Anger or Fury

(3) As Mental and Moral Qualities in Man

2. Shades of Meaning

(1) As Life-Principle

(2) As Surviving Death

(3) Spiritual Manifestations

3. Human and Divine Spirit

(1) The Human as Related with the Divine

(2) Operations of the Divine Spirit as Third Person of the Trinity

4. Old Testament Applications

5. Various Interpretations

1. Primary and Figurative Senses:

(1) As Wind, Breath:

Used primarily in the Old Testament and New Testament of the wind, as in Genesis 8:1; Numbers 11:31; Amos 4:13 ("createth the wind"); Hebrews 1:7 (angels, "spirits" or "winds" in margin); often used of the breath, as in Job 12:10; Job 15:30, and in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 (wicked consumed by "the breath of his mouth").

(2) As Anger or Fury:

In a figurative sense it was used as indicating anger or fury, and as such applied even to God, who destroys by the "breath of his nostrils" (Job 4:9; Exodus 15:8; 2 Samuel 22:16; see 2 Thessalonians 2:8).

(3) As Mental and Moral Qualities in Man:

Hence, applied to man--as being the seat of emotion in desire or trouble, and thus gradually of mental and moral qualities in general (Exodus 28:3, "the spirit of wisdom"; Ezekiel 11:19, "a new spirit" etc.). Where man is deeply stirred by the Divine Spirit, as among the prophets, we have a somewhat similar use of the word, in such expressions as: "The Spirit of the Lord came .... upon him" (1 Samuel 10:10).

2. Shades of Meaning:

(1) As Life-Principle:

The spirit as life-principle in man has various applications: sometimes to denote an apparition (Matthew 14:26, the King James Version "saying, It is a spirit"; Luke 24:37, the King James Version "had seen a spirit"); sometimes to denote angels, both fallen and unfallen (Hebrews 1:14, "ministering spirits"; Matthew 10:1, "unclean spirits"; compare also Matthew 12:43; Mark 1:23,Mark 1:26,Mark 1:27; and in Revelation 1:4, "the seven Spirits .... before his throne").

(2) As Surviving Death:

The spirit is thus in man the principle of life--but of man as distinguished from the brute--so that in death this spirit is yielded to the Lord (Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59; 1 Corinthians 5:5, "that the spirit may be saved"). Hence, God is called the "Father of spirits" (Hebrews 12:9).

(3) Spiritual Manifestations:

Thus generally for all the manifestations of the spiritual part in man, as that which thinks, feels, wills; and also to denote certain qualities which characterize the man, e.g. "poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3); "spirit of gentleness" (Galatians 6:1); "of bondage" (Romans 8:15); "of jealousy" (Numbers 5:14); "of fear" (2 Timothy 1:7 the King James Version); "of slumber" (Romans 11:8 the King James Version). Hence, we are called upon to "rule over our own spirit" (Proverbs 16:32; Proverbs 25:28), and are warned against being overmastered by a wrong spirit (Luke 9:55 the King James Version, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of"). So man may submit to the "spirit of error," and turn away from the "spirit of truth" (1 John 4:6). Thus we read of the "spirit of counsel" (Isaiah 11:2); "of wisdom" (Ephesians 1:17).

3. Human and Divine Spirit:

(1) The Human as Related with the Divine:

We go a step higher when we find the human spirit brought into relationship with the Divine Spirit. For man is but a creature to whom life has been imparted by God's spirit--life being but a resultant of God's breath. Thus life and death are realistically described as an imparting or a withdrawing of God's breath, as in Job 27:3; Job 33:4; Job 34:14, "spirit and breath" going together. The spirit may thus be "revived" (Genesis 45:27), or "overwhelmed" (Psalms 143:4), or "broken" (Proverbs 15:13). And where sin has been keenly felt, it is "a broken spirit" which is "a sacrifice to God" (Psalms 51:17); and when man submits to the power of sin, a new direction is given to his mind: he comes under a "spirit of whoredom" (Hosea 4:12); he becomes "proud in spirit" (Ecclesiastes 7:8), instead of being "patient in spirit"; he is a fool because he is "hasty in spirit" and gives way to "anger" (Ecclesiastes 7:9). The "faithful in spirit" are the men who resist talebearing and backbiting in the world (Proverbs 11:13). In such instances as these the difference between "soul" and "spirit" appears.

See SOUL; PSYCHOLOGY.

(2) Operations of the Divine Spirit as Third Person of the Trinity:

On this higher plane, too, we find the Divine Spirit at work. The terminology is very varied here: In the New Testament we read of the "Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19; Matthew 1:18,Matthew 1:20; 1 Thessalonians 1:5,1 Thessalonians 1:6); the "Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10 1 Corinthians 3:16; Romans 8:9,Romans 8:11; Ephesians 3:16, etc.); the "Spirit of Christ" (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 4:6); or simply of "Spirit," with distinct reference to God (1 Corinthians 2:10; Romans 8:16,Romans 8:23, etc.). God Himself is Spirit (John 4:24). Hence, God's power is manifested in human life and character (Luke 4:14; Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 2:4; especially Luke 24:49). The Book of Ac may be termed the Book of the Holy Spirit, working with power in man. This Spirit is placed on a level with Father and Son in the Apostolic Benediction (2 Corinthians 13:14) and in the parting message of the Saviour to His disciples (Matthew 28:19). As the agent in redemption and sanctification His work is glorified by lives "renewed" in the very "spirit of the mind"--a collocation of terms which has puzzled many interpreters (Ephesians 4:23,Ephesians 4:24), where pneuma and nous appear together, to indicate a renewal which is all-embracing, `renewed in the spirit of your mind, so that the new man is put on, created in righteousness and true holiness' (see also John 14:17,John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 12:11, etc.).

4. Old Testament Applications:

In the Old Testament this spirit of God appears in varied functions, as brooding over chaos (Genesis 1:2; Job 26:13); as descending upon men, on heroes like Othniel, Gideon, etc. (Judges 3:10; Revelation 7:3), on prophets (Ezekiel 37:1), on "cunning workmen," like Bezalel and Aholiab (Exodus 31:2,Exodus 31:3,Exodus 31:4, "filled with the Spirit of God"), and specially in such passages as Psalms 51:11, where the very presence of God is indicated by an abiding influence of the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit of Yahweh is Yahweh himself."

5. Various Interpretations:

May we not reach a still higher stage? Wendt in his interesting monograph (Die Begriffe Fleisch und Geist), of which extracts are given in Dickson's Paul's Use of the Terms Flesh and Spirit, draws attention to the transcendental influence of the Divine ruach in the Old Testament as expressed in such phrases as `to put on' (Judges 6:34), `to fall upon' (14:6,19), `to settle' (Numbers 11:25 f). May we not then rightly assume that more is meant than a mere influence emanating from a personal God? Are we not right in maintaining with Davidson that "there are indeed a considerable number of passages in the Old Testament which might very well express the idea that the Spirit is a distinct hypostasis or person."? (see SUBSTANCE). Rejecting the well-known passage in Genesis: "Let us make man after our own image," which some have interpreted in a trinitarian sense, we may point to such texts as Zechariah 4:6, "by my Spirit"; Isaiah 63:10,Isaiah 63:11, "They rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit"; "Where is he that put his holy Spirit in the midst of them?" This is borne out by the New Testament, with its warnings against "grieving the Holy Spirit," "lying against the Holy Spirit," and kindred expressions (Ephesians 4:30; Acts 5:3). It is this Spirit which "beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16)--the spirit which, as Auberlen has put it (PRE1, article "Geist des Menschen"), "appears in a double relationship to us, as the principle of natural life, which is ours by birth, and that of spiritual life, which we receive through the new birth (Wiedergeburt)." Hence, Paul speaks of God whom he serves "with his spirit" (Romans 1:9); and in 2 Timothy 1:3 he speaks of serving God "in a pure conscience."

See CONSCIENCE; FLESH; HOLY SPIRIT; PSYCHOLOGY; SOUL.

J. I. Marais

Spirit Of Divination

See DIVINATION.

Spirit, Evil

See SATAN; DEMON, DEMONIAC.

Spirit, Familiar

See FAMILIAR; DIVINATION; PYTHON.

Spirit, Holy

See HOLY SPIRIT.

Spirit, Unclean (Or Evil)

See DEMON, DEMONIAC.

Spirits In Prison

See PRISON, SPIRITS IN.

Spirits, Discernings Of

See DISCERNINGS OF SPIRITS; SPIRITUAL GIFTS.

Spiritual

spir'-it-u-al (pneumatikos, "spiritual," from pneuma, "spirit"): Endowed with the attributes of spirit. Any being made in the image of God who is a Spirit (Acts 3:1–26.), and thus having the nature of spirit, is a spiritual being.

(1) Spiritual hosts of wickedness (Ephesians 6:12), in distinction from beings clothed in "flesh and blood"--the devil and his angels. This use of the word has reference to nature, essence, and not to character or moral quality. God, angels, man, devil, demons are in essence spiritual. The groundwork and faculties of their rational and moral being are the same. This limited use of the word in the New Testament has its adverb equivalent in Revelation 11:8, "which (the great and wicked city) spiritually is called Sodom." As the comprehensive term moral includes immoral, so spiritual includes unspiritual and all that pertains to spirit.

(2) With the above exception, "spiritual" in the New Testament signifies moral, not physical antithesis: an essence springing from the Spirit of God and imparted to the spirit of man. Hence, spiritual in this sense always presupposes the infusion of the Holy Spirit to quicken, and inform. It is opposed

(a) to sarkikos, "fleshly" (1 Corinthians 3:1), men of the flesh and not of the spirit;

(b) to psuchikos, "natural," man in whom the pneuma, "spirit," is over-ridden, because of the Fall, by psuche, the principle of the animal life, "soul"; hence, the unrenewed man, unspiritual, alienated from the life of God (1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:10). See MAN, NATURAL;

(c) to natural, meaning physical, ".... sown a natural body; .... raised a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:44).

(3) In the New Testament and general use "spiritual" thus indicates man regenerated, indwelt, enlightened, endued, empowered, guided by the Holy Spirit; conformed to the will of God, having the mind of Christ, living in and led by the Spirit. The spiritual man is a new creation born from above (Romans 8:6; 1 Corinthians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 3:1; 1 Corinthians 14:37; Colossians 1:9; 1 Peter 2:5).

(4) Ecclesiastically used of things sacred or religious, as spiritual authority, spiritual assembly, spiritual office.

See SPIRIT.

Dwight M. Pratt

Spiritual Blessing

(eulogia pneumatike): Any blessing administered in the realm of the spiritual life; specifically the blessing of the Spirit in introducing the believer into "the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3); a term expressing the fullness of blessing in God's gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Body

(soma pneumatikon, "body spiritual"): The resurrection-body, a body fitted to the capacities and wants of the spirit in the celestial world; an organism conformed to the spiritual life at the resurrection (see 1 Corinthians 15:44).

See BODY, SPIRITUAL.

Spiritual Drink

(pneumatikon poma): Having a spiritual significance, as referring to the water that flowed miraculously from the smitten rock (1 Corinthians 10:4; Numbers 20:11). Symbolic also of nourishment for the thirsty soul in the sacramental cup and the outpoured blood (life) of Christ.

See ROCK, 2, (1); SPIRITUAL ROCK.

Spiritual Gifts

(charismata):

1. Gifts Connected with the Ministry of the Word

(1) Apostleship

(2) Prophecy

(3) Discernings of spirits

(4) Teaching

(5) The Word of Knowledge

(6) The Word of Wisdom

(7) Kinds of Tongues

(8) Interpretation of Tongues

2. Gifts Connected with the Ministry of Practical Service

(1) Workings of Miracles

(2) Gifts of Healings

(3) Ruling, Governments

(4) Helps

LITERATURE

The word charisma, with a single exception (1 Peter 4:10), occurs in the New Testament only in the Pauline Epistles, and in the plural form is employed in a technical sense to denote extraordinary gifts of the Spirit bestowed upon Christians to equip them for the service of the church. Various lists of the charismata are given (Romans 12:6–8; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11,1 Corinthians 12:28–30; compare Ephesians 4:7–12), none of which, it is evident, are exhaustive. Some of the gifts enumerated cannot be said to belong in any peculiar sense to the distinctive category. "Faith" (1 Corinthians 12:9), for example, is the essential condition of all Christian life; though there were, no doubt, those who were endowed with faith beyond their fellows. "Giving" and "mercy" (Romans 12:8) are among the ordinary graces of the Christian character; though some would possess them more than others. "Ministry" (Romans 12:7), again, i.e. service, was the function to which every Christian was called and the purpose to which every one of the special gifts was to be devoted (Ephesians 4:12). The term is applied to any spiritual benefit, as the confirmation of Christians in the faith by Paul (Romans 1:11). And as the general function of ministry appears from the first in two great forms as a ministry of word and deed (Acts 6:1–4; 1 Corinthians 1:17), so the peculiar charismatic gifts which Paul mentions fall into two great classes--those which qualify their possessors for a ministry of the word, and those which prepare them to render services of a practical nature.

1. Gifts Connected with the Ministry of the Word:

(1) Apostleship

(1 Corinthians 12:28 f; compare Ephesians 4:11).--The name "apostle" is used in the New Testament in a narrower and a wider sense. It was the peculiar title and privilege of the Twelve (Matthew 10:2; Luke 6:13; Acts 1:25 f), but was claimed by Paul on special grounds (Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 9:1, etc.); it was probably conceded to James the Lord's brother (1 Corinthians 15:7; Galatians 1:19), and in a freer use of the term is applied to Barnabas (Acts 14:4,Acts 14:14; compare 1 Corinthians 9:5,1 Corinthians 9:6), Andronicus and Junias (Romans 16:7). From the Didache (xi.4 ff) we learn that the ministry of apostles was continued in the church into the sub-apostolic age (see LITERATURE, SUB-APOSTOLIC). The special gift and function of apostleship, taken in the widest sense, was to proclaim the word of the gospel (Acts 6:2; 1 Corinthians 1:17, etc.), and in particular to proclaim it to the world outside of the church, whether Jewish or Gentile (Galatians 2:7,Galatians 2:8).

See APOSTLE.

(2) Prophecy

(Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10,1 Corinthians 12:28,1 Corinthians 12:29), under which may be included exhortation (Romans 12:8; compare 1 Corinthians 14:3). The gift of prophecy was bestowed at Pentecost upon the church as a whole (Acts 2:16), but in particular measure upon certain individuals who were distinctively known as prophets. Only a few of the Christian prophets are directly referred to--Judas and Silas (Acts 15:32), the prophets at Antioch (Acts 13:1), Agabus and the prophets from Jerusalem (Acts 11:27 f), the four daughters of Philip the evangelist (Acts 11:9). But 1 Corinthians shows that there were several of them in the Corinthian church; and probably they were to be found in every Christian community. Some of them moved about from church to church (Acts 11:27 Acts 21:10); and in the Didache we find that even at the celebration of the Eucharist the itinerant prophet still takes precedence of the local ministry of bishops and deacons (Didache x.7).

It is evident that the functions of the prophet must sometimes have crossed those of the apostle, and so we find Paul himself described as a prophet long after he had been called to the apostleship (Acts 13:1). And yet there was a fundamental distinction. While the apostle, as we have seen, was one "sent forth" to the unbelieving world, the prophet was a minister to the believing church (1 Corinthians 14:4,1 Corinthians 14:22). Ordinarily his message was one of "edification, and exhortation, and consolation" (1 Corinthians 14:3). Occasionally he was empowered to make an authoritative announcement of the divine will in a particular case (Acts 13:1). In rare instances we find him uttering a prediction of a future event (Acts 11:28; Acts 21:10 f).

(3) Discernings of Spirits

With prophecy must be associated the discernings of spirits (1 Corinthians 12:10; 1 Corinthians 14:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:20 f; compare 1 John 4:1). The one was a gift for the speaker, the other for those who listened to his words. The prophet claimed to be the medium of divine revelations (1 Corinthians 14:30); and by the spiritual discernment of his hearers the truth of his claim was to be judged (1 Corinthians 14:29). There were false prophets as well as genuine prophets, spirits of error as well as spirits of truth (1 John 4:1–6; compare 2 Thessalonians 2:2; Didache xi). And while prophesyings were never to be despised, the utterances of the prophets were to be "proved" (1 Thessalonians 5:20 f), and that in them which came from the Spirit of God spiritually judged (1 Corinthians 2:14), and so discriminated from anything that might be inspired by evil spirits.

See DISCERNINGS OF SPIRITS.

(4) Teaching

(Romans 12:7; 1 Corinthians 12:28 f).--As distinguished from the prophet, who had the gift of uttering fresh truths that came to him by way of vision and revelation, the teacher was one who explained and applied established Christian doctrine--the rudiments and first principles of the oracles of God (Hebrews 5:12).

(5) The Word of Knowledge

Possibly the word of knowledge (gnosis).

(6) The Word of Wisdom

The word of wisdom (sophia) (1 Corinthians 12:8) are to be distinguished, the first as the utterance of a prophetic and ecstatic intuition, the second as the product of study and reflective thought; and so are to be related respectively to the functions of the prophet and the teacher.

See TEACHER, TEACHING.

(7) Kinds of Tongues

(1 Corinthians 12:10,1 Corinthians 12:28,1 Corinthians 12:30).--What Paul means by this he explains fully in 1 Corinthians 14. The gift was not a faculty of speaking in unknown foreign languages, for the tongues (glossai) are differentiated from the "voices" or languages (phonai) by which men of one nation are distinguished from those of another (14:10,11). And when the apostle says that the speaker in an unknown tongue addressed himself to God and not to men (14:2,14) and was not understood by those who heard him (14:2), that he edified himself (14:4) and yet lost the power of conscious thought while praying with the spirit (14:14 f), it would appear that the "tongues" must have been of the nature of devout ejaculations and broken and disjointed words, uttered almost unconsciously under the stress of high ecstatic feeling.

(8) Interpretation of Tongues

Parallel to this gift was that of the interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:10,1 Corinthians 12:30). If the gift of tongues had been a power of speaking unknown foreign languages, the interpretation of tongues would necessarily have meant the faculty of interpreting a language unknown to the interpreter; for translation from a familiar language could hardly be described as a charisma. But the principle of economy makes it improbable that the edification of the church was accomplished in this round-about way by means of a double miracle--a miracle of foreign speech followed by a miracle of interpretation. If, on the other hand, the gift of tongues was such as has been described, the gift of interpretation would consist in turning what seemed a meaningless utterance into words easy to be understood (1 Corinthians 12:9). The interpretation might be given by the speaker in tongues himself (1 Corinthians 12:5,1 Corinthians 12:13) after his mood of ecstasy was over, as he translated his exalted experiences and broken cries into plain intelligible language. Or, if he lacked the power of self-interpretation, the task might be undertaken by another possessed of this special gift (1 Corinthians 12:27,1 Corinthians 12:28). The ability of a critic gifted with sympathy and insight to interpret the meaning of a picture or a piece of music, as the genius who produced it might be quite unable to do (e.g. Ruskin and Turner), will help us to understand how the ecstatic half-conscious utterances of one who had the gift of tongues might be put into clear and edifying form by another who had the gift of interpretation.

See TONGUES, GIFT OF.

2. Gifts Connected with the Ministry of Practical Service:

(1) Workings of Miracles

(1 Corinthians 12:10,1 Corinthians 12:28,1 Corinthians 12:29).--The word used for miracles in this chapter (dunameis, literally, "powers") is employed in Ac (8:7,13; 19:11,12) so as to cover those cases of exorcism and the cure of disease which in Paul's list are placed under the separate category of "gifts of healing." As distinguished from the ordinary healing gift, which might be possessed by persons not otherwise remarkable, the "powers" point to a higher faculty more properly to be described as miraculous, and bestowed only upon certain leading men in the church. In 2 Corinthians 12:12 Paul speaks of the "powers" he wrought in Corinth as among "the signs of an apostle." In Hebrews 2:4 the writer mentions the "manifold powers" of the apostolic circle as part of the divine confirmation of their testimony. In Romans 15:18 ff Paul refers to his miraculous gifts as an instrument which Christ used for the furtherance of the gospel and the bringing of the Gentiles to obedience. The working of "powers," accordingly, was a gift which linked itself to the ministry of the word in respect of its bearing upon the truth of the gospel and the mission of the apostle to declare it. And yet, like the wider and lower gift of healing, it must be regarded primarily as a gift of practical beneficence, and only secondarily as a means of confirming the truth and authenticating its messenger by way of a sign. The Book of Ac gives several examples of "powers" that are different from ordinary healings. The raising of Dorcas (9:36 ff) and of Eutychus (20:9 ff) clearly belong to this higher class, and also, perhaps, such remarkable cures as those of the life-long cripple at the Temple gate (3:1 ff) and Aeneas of Lydda (9:32 ff).

(2) Gifts of Healings

(1 Corinthians 12:9,1 Corinthians 12:28,1 Corinthians 12:30).

See HEALING, GIFTS OF.

(3) Ruling, Governments

(Romans 12:8, 1 Corinthians 12:28).--These were gifts of wise counsel and direction in the practical affairs of the church, such as by and by came to be formally entrusted to presbyters or bishops. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, the ministry of office had not yet supplanted the ministry of inspiration, and Christian communities were guided and governed by those of their members whose wisdom in counsel proved that God through His Spirit had bestowed upon them the gift of ruling.

(4) Helps

(1 Corinthians 12:28).--This has sometimes been understood to denote the lowliest Christian function of all in Paul's list, the function of those who have no pronounced gifts of their own and can only employ themselves in services of a subordinate kind. But the usage of the Greek word (antilempsis) in the papyri as well as the Septuagint points to succor rendered to the weak by the strong; and this is confirmed for the New Testament when the same Greek word in its verbal form (antilambano) is used in Acts 20:35, when Paul exhorts the elders of the Ephesian church to follow his example in helping the weak. Thus, as the gift of government foreshadowed the official powers of the presbyter or bishop, the gift of helps appears to furnish the germ of the gracious office of the deacon--the "minister" paragraph excellence, as the name diakonos denotes--which we find in existence at a later date in Philippi and Ephesus (Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1–13), and which was probably created, on the analogy of the diakonia of the Seven in Jerusalem (Acts 6:1), as a ministry, in the first place, to the poor.

See, further, HELPS.

LITERATURE. Hort, Christian Ecclesia, Lect X; Neander, Hist of the Planting of the Christian Church, I, 131 ff; Weizsacker, Apostolic Age, II, 255-75; Lindsay, Church and Ministry, passim; EB, IV, article "Spiritual Gifts"; ERE, III, article "Charismata"; PRE, VI, article "Geistesgaben."

J. C. Lambert

Spiritual House

(oikos pneumatikos, "house spiritual"): A body of Christians (a church), as pervaded by the Spirit and power of God (1 Peter 2:5); a term applicable to God's house: "house of prayer," the temple (Matthew 21:13); to heaven: "my Father's house" (John 14:2); to the tabernacle: "Moses .... faithful in all his house" (Hebrews 3:2); to saints: as "the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19), and "the temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19); hence, any "habitation of God in the spirit" (Ephesians 2:22) in which His glory dwells and His power and grace are manifest.

Spiritual Man

(ho pneumatikos): In distinction from the natural, the unrenewed man (1 Corinthians 2:15); man in whom the Holy Spirit dwells and rules. This divine indwelling insures mental illumination: "He that is spiritual discerneth (AVm) (or interpreteth) all things"; moral renewal: "a new creature" (2 Corinthians 5:17); "a new man" (Ephesians 4:24); spiritual enduement: "Ye shall receive power" (Acts 1:8).

See SPIRITUAL, 2; SPIRITUALITY; MAN.

Spiritual Meat

(broma pneumatikon, "food spiritual"): Nourishment for the soul, referring specifically (1 Corinthians 10:3) to the manna by which the children of Israel were miraculously fed and which was made by Paul prophetically equivalent to the broken bread of the Christian sacrament symbolizing the body of Christ. Hence,

(1) Christ Himself as the food of the soul: "I am the bread of life" (John 6:48–58);

(2) anything that nourishes the spiritual life:

(a) obedience to the will of God: "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me" (John 4:32–34);

(b) the truths of God in the Scriptures: "Word of righteousness" = "strong meat" (Hebrews 5:12–14); "word of God" (Matthew 4:4);

(c) the things of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:1–2; compare 1 Corinthians 2:1–16).

Dwight M. Pratt

Spiritual Rock

(pneumatike petra): Having a spiritual significance: supernatural, manifesting the power of the Divine Spirit; allegorically applied to Christ as fulfilling the type in the smitten rock in the desert, from which water miraculously burst forth to nourish the Israelites. A tradition current among the Jews affirms that this rock followed the people in their journeyings and gave forth a living stream for their supply. Paul made this ever-flowing rock a beautiful and accurate symbol of Christ: "The rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4).

Without the characterizing word "spiritual," this figurative term, with the same significance, is common to the Scriptures; applied

(1) to Yahweh, God: "Rock of his salvation," "their rock is not as our Rock" (Deuteronomy 32:15,Deuteronomy 32:31); "Yahweh is my rock" (Psalms 18:2; compare Isaiah 26:4; Isaiah 32:2; 1 Samuel 2:2; 2 Samuel 22:2);

(2) to the foundation-stone of Christian confession and testimony (Matthew 16:18; compare Ephesians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 3:11; 1 Peter 2:6–8), and thus to Christ Himself;

(3) in Christian hymnology to Jesus crucified and spear-pierced: "Rock of ages, cleft for me."

Dwight M. Pratt

Spiritual Sacrifice

pneumatikai thusiai): A figure taken from the victim slain and offered on the altar, as e.g. the paschal lamb; thus signifying the complete and acceptable offering of the self-dedicated spirit. As the temple, priesthood and God Himself are spiritual, so is the sacrifice of the consecrated believer (1 Peter 2:5); compare "living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1); "sacrifice of praise" (Hebrews 13:15,Hebrews 13:16). Any self-dedicating act of the inner man; the devout, renewed, consecrated spirit, e.g. Christian benevolence (Philippians 4:18); "to do good and to communicate" (Hebrews 13:16); "mercy" and "knowledge of God," instead of material and outward sacrifice (Hosea 6:6). This is defined and beautifully illustrated in the classic verse on this theme, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit," etc. (Psalms 51:17).

Dwight M. Pratt

Spiritual Songs

(odai pneumatikai): ode, English "ode," is the general, and generic word for "song," of which "psalms and hymns" are specific varieties (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). It includes all lyric poetry, but is limited by the word "spiritual" to songs inspired by the Holy Spirit and employed in the joyful and devotional expression of the spiritual life. While songs, like psalms and hymns, were used in public worship and praise, they were more intended for, and suited to, personal and private and social use; as, e.g. in family worship, at meals, in the agapai ("love-feasts"), in meetings for prayer and religious intercourse from house to house. The passages above cited give apostolic authority for the use of other than the Old Testament psalms in public praise, and rebuke the narrowness and unbelief that would forever limit the operations of the Holy Spirit and the hymnology of the church to the narrow compass of the Davidic era and the Davidic school of poetry and song.

The "new song" of Revelation 5:9; Revelation 14:3, and "the song of Moses and of the Lamb" (15:3), indicate that spiritual songs are to be perpetuated in the eternal melodies of the redeemed.

Dwight M. Pratt

Spiritual Things

(ta pneumatika): Things proceeding from the Holy Spirit and pertaining to man's spiritual life, worship, service. Contrasted in 1 Corinthians 9:11 and in Romans 15:27 with ta sarkika, things fleshly, physical, which have to do with man's sensuous, corporeal nature, such as food, raiment, money. By "spiritual things" Paul signifies the benefits accompanying salvation, the gifts of the Spirit--faith, hope, love, justification, sanctification, peace--all the fruits and blessings and aids of the regenerate life.

Ecclesiastically:

Things pertaining to spiritual office, the ministry of the Word, or the service of the sanctuary.

Dwight M. Pratt

Spirituality

spir-it-u-al'-i-ti: The state of being spiritual in the higher use of the word. It is purely a religious term and signifies the state of a soul vitalized by the Divine Spirit and made alive unto God. It covers the entire range of man's faculties: intellect, feeling, will--all the attributes of personality.

1. Intellect:

The intellectual can be divorced from the spiritual, but the spiritual can never be divorced from the intellectual. If a man is spiritual, his intellect is touched with the divine life and comes under the power of the divine baptism. One word describes this mental quickening and illumination--"vision." "The pure in heart shall see God." Paul affirms (1 Corinthians 2:12,1 Corinthians 2:13) that the Spirit of God operates directly on the mental faculties, adjusting reason and intellect to the divine reason, and enabling man to think God's thoughts and discern His purposes, nature and will. The common use of the word "spirituality" limits it mistakenly to religious experience, narrowly interpreted, but as spirituality brings the intellect into harmony with the divine reason in every realm of mental action, it may be as manifest in science, art, philosophy, commerce and law as in religion.

2. Affections:

The feelings and emotions are fertile soil for the spiritual life. Love is the beginning and end of true religion. Spirituality in the realm of the affections is that state of soul in which the heart with its holiest love is centered on God as revealed in Christ. The specific and supreme work of the Holy Spirit is to shed abroad God's love in the heart (Romans 5:5). Spirituality sets the affections on things above and brings the entire emotional nature under the regulating and redeeming sway of the Holy Spirit.

3. Will:

A spiritually-minded man is one whose will is set on God as well as his intellect and affections. In every fiber of his moral being, and in all the activities of his soul, he is under the guidance and dominion of the Holy Spirit. The affections present motives, the intellect estimates their worthiness, the will decides upon the course of action. When this trinity of mental operation--necessary to normal manhood--is under the sway of the Divine Spirit, man possesses spirituality, a state in which all the faculties of the soul are voluntarily and joyfully under the dominion and guidance of Christ's indwelling Spirit. When intellect, heart and will focus their energies reverently and affectionately upon Him, love--a passionate, ever-present, everdominant love--is the result. This is the triune sphere of the Holy Spirit's indwelling and activity, and the character of such a God-centered and Spirit-filled life is described by the exalted word "spirituality."

Dwight M. Pratt

Spiritually

spir'-it-u-al-i (pneumatikos): As in 1 Corinthians 2:14, "spiritually judged," i.e. by means of the spirit renewed and enlightened by the spirit of God; having the mind of the Spirit is to be spiritually-minded (compare the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) Romans 8:6).

Allegorically used also (Revelation 11:8) to characterize, in a bad sense, the qualities of the spiritual (i.e. the spirit's) life: "which spiritually is called Sodom."

See SPIRITUAL.

Spit; Spittle

spit, spit'-l (yaraq, roq; (em)ptuo): Spitting in a person's face indicated gross contempt (Numbers 12:14; Deuteronomy 25:9; Job 30:10; Isaiah 50:6; Matthew 26:67; Matthew 27:30, etc.); when performed by an unclean person it produced defilement (Leviticus 15:8) which necessitated washing the clothes and a bath. When David allowed his spittle (rir) to run down over his beard, it was his purpose to behave like a lunatic (1 Samuel 21:13). "Till I swallow down my spittle" (Job 7:19) has the same import as the English "in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Corinthians 15:52). Spittle was used by our Lord in restoring sight and speech (Mark 7:33; John 9:6) as signifying His will to cure. It was a widespread belief that spittle, accompanied with magical formulas, possessed medicinal qualities. "Oil" possessed a similar virtue. (Mark 6:13; James 5:14).

T. Lewis

Spoil

spoil.

See BOOTY; WAR, 8.

Spoiler

spoil'-er (ha-shodhedh, "the spoiler"): A favorite expression of the prophet Jeremiah by which he describes generally the enemies that invade and devastate a country--with special reference to enemies that invade Judah (Jeremiah 12:12; Jeremiah 15:8); to enemies who devastate Moab (48:8,18); to enemies from the North who are to assail Babylon (51:48), and in one case (6:26) to Nebuchadrezzar making an irresistible advance upon Jerusalem. the American Standard Revised Version uniformly renders "destroyer."

Spoke

spok (1 Kings 7:33).

See SEA, THE MOLTEN.

Sponge

spunj (spoggos): The word "sponge," the King James Version "spunge," occurs only in the accounts of our Lord's crucifixion in Matthew 27:48; Mark 15:36; John 19:29. Sponges have been known from the earliest periods. They are mentioned by Homer, Aeschylus, Aristophanes and other ancient writers. The sponge fisheries of the Eastern Mediterranean are still among the most important in the world. Sponges are animals of a very simple organization, fixed to rocks or other objects in the sea or in fresh water. The marketable sponge consists of a mass of soft interlacing fibers which constituted the skeleton of the living animal. The sponge fishers of the Levant dive from boats, with or without diving apparatus, and tear the sponges from the rocks with their hands. The sponges are allowed to die and rot in the air and are then thoroughly washed until nothing but the skeleton remains. Sponges which have calcareous or silicious skeletons are unfit for use.

Alfred Ely Day

Spoon

spoon (kaph; Septuagint thuiske, except in Jeremiah 52:18, where it is kreagra, literally, "fork"): A hollow vessel, a censer; a small vessel in which incense was to be burnt, as is seen from the account given in Numbers 7:1–89 of the oblations of the princes of the tribes after the setting-up of the tabernacle. Beginning with 7:14, we meet at every succeeding 6th verse the statement, "one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense," till at 7:86 the summary statement is made, "the twelve golden spoons, full of incense."

Sports

sports.

See GAMES.

Spot; Spotted

spot, spot'-ed (mum; spilos): The Hebrew word is used to denote a blemish which mars the perfection of the face, as in Song of Songs 4:7; Job 11:15. It is translated "blemish" in Leviticus 24:19 f, where it means an injury the result of violence, and is rendered "blot" in Proverbs 9:7, where it signifies "shame" or "disgrace." The "spotted" cattle of Genesis 30:32–39 are animals of variegated color (Tala'; compare Ezekiel 16:16, "decked with divers colors"; Joshua 9:5, "patched"). For chabharburah in Jeremiah 13:23, see LEOPARD. Spilos is used in the figurative sense of a stain of sin in 2 Peter 3:14, and similarly along with rhutis ("a wrinkle") in Ephesians 5:27. The "garment spotted (verb, spiloomai) by the flesh" of Jude 1:23 is, as Calvin has para-phrased it, anything that in any way savors of sin or temptation. The "spots" of Jude 1:12 the King James Version are spilades, "hidden (sunken) rocks" which are betrayed by the surf beating over them (as in Homer Od. iii.298), and are so rendered in the Revised Version (British and American). "Spot" in Leviticus 13:1–59 is referred to under FRECKLED SPOT; LEPROSY; TETTER.

"Without spot" in Numbers 19:2, etc., is tamim, a usual word for "perfect" (so the Revised Version margin); aspilos (the negative form of spilos) occurs in 1 Timothy 6:14; 1 Peter 1:19; 2 Peter 3:14, with James 1:27 ("unspotted"). For the King James Version Hebrews 9:14 see BLEMISH.

Alex. Macalister

Spouse

spouz (kallah, "bride," "daughter-in-law"): the Revised Version (British and American) gives "bride" for the King James Version "spouse" in Song of Songs 4:8 ff, and "brides" for "spouses" in Hosea 4:13 f (margin "daughters-in-law").

See ESPOUSAL; MARRIAGE; RELATIONSHIPS, FAMILY.

Spread; Spreading

spred, spred'-ing: Alone, or in phrases like "spread abroad," "spread forth," etc., "spread" represents very many Hebrew terms, principally paras; in the New Testament the act of spreading is stronnumi, where in Matthew 21:8 b the King James Version has "strawed" (which see); compound in Luke 19:36. For "spread abroad" in Mark 1:28; 1 Thessalonians 1:8 (exerchomai), the Revised Version (British and American) has "went out" and "gone forth"; conversely, the Revised Version (British and American) has "spread abroad" for the King James Version "break forth" (Isaiah 54:3,), and "published" (diaphero, Acts 13:49), and for "commonly reported" (diaphemizo, Matthew 28:15).

Spring

See FOUNTAIN; WELL.