The Hebrew ru´ach (spirit) is believed to come from a root having the same meaning as the Greek pneu´ma (spirit) which comes from pne´o, meaning “breathe or blow". Genesis argues against any notion that the material world is any less important to God than the spiritual world. What is the difference in the meaning ruah in genesis chapter 1 and 2 in the Bible? Ruah is the wind that parted the waters and created dry land, it is the very breath that God breathed into humans in our creation, it was this spirit that parted the seas and allowed the people to escape from slavery in Egypt, it is the same sprit that Jesus claims and empowers the early church in Acts.This ruah is active throughout our sacred stories. Analysis. This serves to introduce the rest of the chapter, which describes a process of forming and filling. Jesus uses the same word for Holy Spirit that is used in Genesis 2:7 when God forms humankind out of the dust of the ground, and breathes into human nostrils the breath of life. 1 decade ago . Lv 7. Or putting it more precisely, in Genesis there is no sharp distinction between the material and the spiritual. Answer Save. 2 Answers. These different meanings for the word ruah raise a problem for the translation of Genesis 1:2, a passage that Averbeck discusses in detail in his essay. The ruah of God in Genesis 1:2 is simultaneously “breath,” “wind,” and “spirit” (see footnote b in the NRSV or compare NRSV, NASB, NIV, and KJV). Elijah. Relevance. [1] We turn to the contributing authors of the JBC for insight into the Hebrew understanding of Ruah. Plants, as an example of live organisms, are not referred in the Bible as having nephesh. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Humanity's first recorded encounter with God's Ruah is found in the first of the Five Books of Moses at Genesis 2:7, "the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life (Ruah), and so man became a living being." Nephesh (נֶ֫פֶשׁ nép̄eš) is a Biblical Hebrew word which occurs in the Hebrew Bible.The word refers to the aspects of sentience, and human beings and other animals are both described as having nephesh. Favorite Answer. Genesis 1:2 presents an initial condition of creation - namely, that it is tohu wa-bohu, formless and void. Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. #1.1 Scriptures for רוּח 'ruach' meaning 'Spirit' Strong's 7307 Genesis to Esther.