Ruach
Breath. Wind. Spirit.
Teaching and Understanding the Paleo-Hebrew
Document 10 of 11
Genesis 1:2. Ve ruach Elohim merachefet al pnei hamayim. And the Ruach of Elohim was hovering over the face of the waters.
The Ruach of Elohim is present in the second verse of the Torah. Before the light is called. Before anything is spoken into existence. Before the first word of creation. In the darkness, in the choshech, over the face of the deep. The Ruach is already there. Hovering. Present. Before the beginning of anything we recognize as created.
Ruach is one of the most significant words in the entire covenant text. It is translated variously as spirit, breath, and wind — the same word carrying all three meanings depending on context. The Ruach of Elohim in Genesis 1:2. The neshamah, the breath of life, breathed into Adam in Genesis 2:7. The Ruach that moved the prophets. The Ruach poured out on all flesh in the covenant completion. One word. Three dimensions. Three pictures in the Paleo-Hebrew.
The Three Pictures
ר Resh — Head of a Man — First, Highest, The Rosh
The first picture of Ruach is the head, the rosh, the first, the highest, the one at the top. The same Resh in Bereshit, the head in the house in the second letter of the first word. The same Resh in bara, the head in the act of creation. The same Resh in ha’aretz, the head in the name of the earth. The Ruach begins with the head. The breath, wind, and spirit of YHWH, the Ruach, declared first through the picture of the one who is first and highest. The Rosh. Present in the Ruach before anything else in the word.
ו Vav — Nail or Tent Peg — Connect, Fasten, Hold Together
The second picture of Ruach is the nail, the Vav, the connector, the fastener, the one who holds both sides. The same Vav that is the third letter of the divine name YHWH, behold the nail, the identity declaration Moshe drew in the wilderness. The same Vav at the center of the Torah. The same Vav in the name of David connecting the two doors. The Ruach, the breath, wind, spirit of Elohim hovering over the face of the waters before anything is created, carries the nail in its second picture. The head and the nail. Before the light is called. In the Ruach.
ח Chet — Fence or Wall — Separation, Outside, Boundary
The third picture of Ruach is the fence, the Chet, the boundary, the separation, the wall. The same Chet that is the first picture of choshech, the darkness of Genesis 1:2 and the chashekah of Genesis 15. The boundary. What is outside. The separation. The Ruach, carrying the head and the nail, and then the fence. The boundary that defines what is within and what is without. The Ruach present at the boundary between the darkness and what will become the light. Hovering at the separation.
The Head and the Nail in the Ruach
Resh. Vav. Chet.
The head. The nail. The boundary.
The head and the nail in the Ruach of Elohim. Before anything is created. Before the light is called. Before the first word of creation is spoken. The two pictures that are the identity of YHWH, the rosh, the Vav, are present in the word for the breath of YHWH hovering over the waters in the second verse of the Torah.
This is not accidental placement. The Resh and the Vav are present in Ruach because the Ruach is the breath of the one whose identity the Resh and the Vav declare. The head of all things, the rosh, the first, the highest, and the nail, the connector, the one who holds both sides, are in the breath of the one who is the head and the nail. The Ruach carries the identity of the one whose breath it is. In the pictures of the letters. Before anything else.
And then the Chet, the fence, the boundary, the separation. The Ruach hovering at the boundary. The same root as choshech, the darkness carrying the Chet as its first picture, the condition of separation. The Ruach of Elohim, carrying the head and the nail, hovering over the face of the condition that the Chet names. The breath of the one whose identity is the head and the nail, present at the boundary of the darkness, over the face of the deep, before the speaking begins.
The head and the nail are in the Ruach. The same two pictures that declare the identity of YHWH are in the breath of YHWH hovering over the waters in the second verse of the Torah. Before the light is called. Before anything is created. The identity is already present in the breath.
Ruach and YHWH
The Same Pictures
The name YHWH in Paleo-Hebrew declares, Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh. The hand, the behold, the nail, the behold. The Vav, the nail, is the third letter of the divine name. The identity of YHWH contains the nail.
The word Ruach in Paleo-Hebrew declares, Resh, Vav, Chet. The head, the nail, the boundary. The Vav, the same nail, is the second letter of the Ruach. The breath of YHWH contains the nail.
The nail that is in the name of YHWH is in the breath of YHWH. The connector who holds both sides, present in the identity of the one who breathes and present in the breath itself. The Ruach is not separate from YHWH in the Paleo-Hebrew pictures. The Ruach carries the identity of the one whose Ruach it is. The head and the nail in the breath, declaring the same identity the four pictures of the divine name declare, hovering over the face of the waters before the first word is spoken.
Paul in Romans 8:11, the Ruach of the one who raised Yeshua from the dead dwells in you. The Ruach carrying the identity of the one whose Ruach it is. The head, the rosh of all things, the firstborn from the dead, and the nail, the Vav, the connector who holds both sides, the one who was lifted up between heaven and earth drawing all flesh to himself, present in the Ruach that dwells. The same pictures. In the breath. In the name. In the indwelling. One identity. Declared in the Ruach before creation began.
The Vav, the nail, is in the name YHWH and in the word Ruach. The identity of YHWH and the breath of YHWH carry the same picture. The Ruach is not separate from the one whose Ruach it is. The same nail. In both.
Merachefet
The Hovering
The Ruach of Elohim merachefet, hovering, brooding, moving gently over, al pnei hamayim, over the face of the waters. The word merachefet appears only twice in the entire Torah. Here in Genesis 1:2. And in Deuteronomy 32:11, as an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young.
Deuteronomy 32 is the Song of Moshe, one of the most concentrated covenant declarations in the entire Torah. And in that song YHWH is described as an eagle that hovers, merachefet, over its young. The same word. The same hovering. The Ruach hovering over the face of the waters in Genesis 1:2 and YHWH hovering over the covenant people as an eagle hovers over its young in Deuteronomy 32:11.
The hovering is protective. Attentive. Present without yet acting. The eagle does not abandon the nest, it hovers above it, present, watching, ready. The Ruach of Elohim hovering over the face of the waters before the creation begins is the same protective attentive presence, the head and the nail in the breath of the one who is about to speak everything into existence. Not absent. Not distant. Hovering. Present. Over the face of the deep. In the darkness. Before the first word.
The same Ruach that hovered over the waters before the creation is the Ruach poured out on all flesh in the covenant completion. The same head and nail. The same hovering, now over all flesh, all who slept, all who were in the condition of the choshech, the separation under the consuming. The Ruach that was present in the darkness before the light was called is the Ruach that enters the condition of the darkness to bring the ones in it into the light. The same pictures. The same hovering. A different side of the same act.
Ruach, the head, the nail, the boundary. The identity of YHWH in the breath of YHWH, hovering over the face of the waters before the light was called. The head and the nail present before the first word of creation. Before anything was made.
ר ו ח
Resh: The head. The rosh. The first.
Vav: The nail. The connector. The one who holds both sides.
Chet: The boundary. The separation. Hovering at the edge.
The nail of YHWH’s name is in the breath of YHWH.
The Ruach carries the identity of the one whose Ruach it is.
Before the light was called.
The head and the nail.
Already hovering.
Over the face of the deep.
The Gospel Revolution • Mike Williams Ministries
William Ethan Massengill • Michael Lilborn Williams • Daniel Thomas Rouse
Published by Audrey Williams