(Sinclair Ferguson – Ligonier Ministries) Modern Bible translations are in the news these days, sometimes for controversial reasons. But one universal benefit of them is that the Holy Spirit is no longer referred to as “it.” Curiously a chief culprit here is the much-loved King James Version (for example, Romans 8:26: “the Spirit itself”).
In fact, pneuma (the Greek word for “spirit” or “wind”) is a neuter gender noun and therefore attracted a neuter pronoun, “it.” Still, John 14:26 and 15:26, which refer to the Spirit by the masculine pronoun “he” (ekeinos), left older Bible readers in no doubt about his personal nature: “he” not “it.” Whatever it means for human spirits, created as the image of God to be personal is rooted in the very being of their Creator….
God is a personal being in a unified, uncreated, eternal, tri-personal manner—we in a created mono-personal manner. We are the tiny reflection; He is the great and glorious original. But what does Scripture mean when it speaks of God as Father, Son, and Spirit?
The Old Testament word for spirit, ruach, is onomatopoetic. That is, its meaning is echoed in its sound: wind in motion, sometimes storm-wind.