Bible Lexicons

This is a notable ex. of those words, whose meaning has been so deepened and enriched through Christian influences, that we cannot expect our sources to throw much light on their use in the NT. One or two points may, however, be noted.

Thus for the more literal meaning of the word we may cite P Oxy VI. 904.7 (v/A.D.), where a certain Flavius petitions a praeses on the ground ὡς λοιπὸν εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ τῆς σωτηρίας πνεῦμα δυστυχῖν με, ";so that at last the very breath of my life is in danger"; (Edd.). In P Leid Wxxiii. 2 (ii/iii A.D.) (= II. p. 157) reference is made to a book which περιέχει γέννησιν πνεύματος, πυρὸς καὶ σκότο (= ου)ς, ";contains the creation of spirit, fire and darkness."; The same document xviii. 4 shows οὐ ἀντιτάξεταί μοι πᾶν πνεῦμα, οὐ δαιμόνιον, οὐ συνάτ (= άντ)ημα. Reminiscent of LXX Numbers 16:22; Numbers 27:16, is the Jewish ";prayer for vengeance"; from Rheneia, Syll 816 (= .3 1181).2, which opens—ἐπικαλοῦμαι καὶ ἀξιῶ τὸν θεὸν τὸν ὕψιστον, τὸν κύριον τῶν πνευμάτων καὶ πάσης σαρκός : see Deissmann’s commentary in LAE, p. 423 ff., and cf. Wünsch AF p. 15.7 (iii/A.D.) ὁρκίζω σε τὸν θεὸν τῶν ἀνέμων καὶ πνευμάτων Λαιλαμ (";god of the winds";).

The first words of an elaborate Christian charm of v/A.D. (?), P Oxy VIII. 1151, intended to ward off sickness and other evils, are Φεῦγε, π ̣ν ̣(εῦμ)α μεμισι (= η)μένον, Χ (ριστό)ς σε διώκει · προέλαβέν σε ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θ (εο)ῦ καὶ τὸ πν (εῦμ)α τὸ ἅγιον, ";Fly, hateful spirit! Christ pursues thee; the Son of God and the Holy Spirit have outstripped thee"; (Ed.) : cf. the Christian amulet P Iand 6.10 (v/vi A.D.) directed π ̣ρὸς π ̣α ̣ν ̣ἀ ̣κ ̣α ̣θαρτον πν (εῦμ)α, the familiar phrase of the Gospels.

To the injunction in the magic P Osl 1.160 f. (iv/A.D.) φυλακτή [ρι ]ον περιπόη (l. περιπόει), ";do you put round yourself an amulet,"; there are added the words ἀλλὰ κρατί (= εί)σθω τῷ πνεύμ ̣α ̣τι, ";but let her be in the power of the spirit,"; where the editor (p. 76) thinks that τὸ πνεῦμα ";seems here to have been used in a pregnant sense of the ‘evil demon’ in general."; See also the description of a means for procuring an oracular response in P Lond 46.384 (iv/A.D.) (= I. p. 77) γράψον τὸν λό (γον) εἰς χάρτ (ην) ἱερατικὸν καὶ εἰς φῦσαν χήνειαν. . . καὶ ἔνθες εἰς τὸ ζῴδ (ιον) ἐνπνευματώσεως εἵνεκεν (";in order to fill it with πνεῦμα,"; i.e. spirit and life).

The trichotomy with which Paul has familiarized us in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (cf. Milligan ad l.) meets us in the Christian P Oxy VIII. 1161.6 (iv/A.D.) containing a prayer to ";our gracious Saviour and to his beloved Son,"; ὅπως οὗτοι πάντες β [ο ]ηθήσωσιν ἡμῶν τῷ σώματι, τῇ ψυχῇ, τῷ π ̣ν ̣(εύματ)[[ι ̣]] πν (εύματι), ";that they all may succour our body, soul, and spirit."; For the frequency of the trichotomy in Egyptian ritual in the order ψυχή, σῶμα, πνεῦμα, see F. E. Brightman in JTS ii. p. 273 f.

Reference should be made to the classical discussion of πνεῦμα by Burton Galatians (in ICC), p. 486 ff.