“The Spirit of God is the vital power which belongs to the Divine Being, and is seen to be operative in the world and in men. It is the Divine Energy which is the origin of all created life, especially of human existence and the faculties of human nature. […] The Spirit of God is represented as the cosmic force which operated upon the primaeval chaos. […] The Divine Energy, of which the Old Testament spoke as the Spirit of God.”
—Henry Barclay Swete, The Holy Spirit in the New Testament, Macmillan & Co. 1909, pp. 2, 26, 359.
“There is apparent a development in the direction of hypostatization of the Spirit, not in the sense that it is conceived as a person but as a substantial source of force and activity. It is the creative force of Yahweh (Gn. 1:2; Jb 33:5).”
—John L. Mckenzie, Dictionary of the Bible, Simon and Schuster 1995/11965), p. 841.“The Spirit brooding over the primeval waters (Gn. 1:2) and creating man (Gn. 2:7), the Spirit who garnishes the heavens (Jb 26:13), sustains animal life and renews the face of the earth (Ps. 54:30), is the ruah (‘breath,’ ‘wind’) of God, the outgoing divine energy and power.”
—James Dixon Douglas, The New Bible Dictionary, Inter-varsity Fellowship 1962, p. 531.“The phrase describes not chaos but the creative power of God in action. Wind, a symbol of power, is used theologically in the Old Testament to refer to the dynamic activity and presence of God in the world—his Spirit.”
—Robert Davidson, The Cambridge Bible Commentary: Genesis 1-11, Cambridge University Press 1973, p. 16.“Characteristically, OT thought can on the one hand observe the wind in its real physical manifestations, but on the other hand it can relate it, to a greater or lesser degree, to Yahweh. The mysterious power at work in the wind and its unknown origin are particularly suggestive of God's activity in it and its effects.”
—Ernst Jenni & Claus Westerman, Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, Hendrickson Publishers 2004, vol. 3, p. 1205.
“God's Wind. a Survey: The wind is often viewed as an instrument of God's action; only once (Am. 4:13) is it stated expressly that Yahweh “creates the wind.” The creation texts themselves never mention the creation of the wind. According to Gen. 1:2, the rûaḥ of creation is preexistent (either as an element of chaos or, more likely, as God's creative energy). In the other texts, the wind is always taken into Yahweh's service. […] In the vast majority of instances, therefore, rûaḥ in the sense of “wind” is associated directly with God’s active intervention. […] In Gen. 1:2 a translation such a “mighty wind” might be possible, but would represent a departure from all other instances.”
—G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren & Heinz-Josef Fabry, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing 1974, vol. 13, pp. 381, 382.
The Holy Bible: Old Testament,
Athens: Christos Giovanis Publ. 1993, vol. 1.
Genesis 1:1-14.
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