. . . The Job references make clear that the breath of God has the
very broadcast associations as the life-giving and energizing Power behind
human existence and human accomplishments; there is nothing fixed or narrow in
the notion of the Spirit as quickening Agent, and nothing specifically verbal
or phonetic in the idea of the “breath” of God, though a clear focus is
maintained on the thought of God’s wise instruction (cf. Job 33:14ff.). Job 32:7-8
reads as follows in the Hebrew text:
אָ֭מַרְתִּי יָמִ֣ים יְדַבֵּ֑רוּ וְרֹ֥ב שָׁ֜נִ֗ים יֹדִ֥יעוּ חָכְמָֽה
אָ֭כֵן רֽוּחַ־הִ֣יא בֶאֱנ֑וֹשׁ וְנִשְׁמַ֖ת שַׁדַּ֣י תְּבִינֵֽם׃
Job 33:4 reads:
רֽוּחַ־אֵ֥ל עָשָׂ֑תְנִי וְנִשְׁמַ֖ת שַׁדַּ֣י תְּחַיֵּֽנִי׃
while the LXX has Πνευμα θειον το ποιησαν μη, πνοη δε παντοκρατορος η
διδασκουσα με.
(Douglas Farrow, The Word of Truth and
Disputes About Words [Winona Lake, Ind.: Carpenter Books, 1987], 93-94 n.
26)
