Holy Spirit
Question
In Hebrew, is the root of “Holy Spirit” female? I’ve researched with the limited Hebrew resources I have and I can’t verify this. I heard a woman make this assertion. I’m not certain she was saying the Holy Spirit is a female or laying a foundation for that assertion with Hebrew root words. Help. Thank you.
Answers
I assume that you are referring to the Hebrew word Shechinah, which is indeed a feminine word.
The Shechinah is the presence of God as manifested and perceived in this world. It is feminine in that it is influenced by the actions of the human being. We can either increase or decrease Shechinah in this world as a result of our actions. Therefore, it is feminine. As in human biology, the male is active and the female acted upon, so too is the analogy to the Shechinah.
The root of Shechinah is the Hebrew “shachan” which simply means “dwell”. Therefore the Shechinah is that aspect of God’s presence that “dwells” among us, meaning that can be perceived by us. The term is actually not used in the Bible. The closest word is found in Exodus 25:8 where God says to the Jewish people “they shall build me a Tabernacle and I will dwell (shachanti) among them”. Also in Exodus 29:45, “I will dwell among the children of Israel” It is used on numerous occasions in the prophets in the same sense.
Hebrew only has male and female which means that every word is going to belong to one or the other category.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team