John 16:13 - Gender of the Holy Spirit

Westcott & Hort Interlinear, as found on the Bible Students Libary DVD.

Greek nouns are most often given some form of gender, and adjectives, verbs, etc., related to those nouns are also given gender according to gender attributed to the noun being used. The gender does not actually express whether the noun is either a male, female, it, etc. Usually, the Greek word transliterated as pnuema is neuter in gender, which means that adjectives, verbs, and pronouns related to pnuema would be neuter in gender, that is, "it". Many translators, however, based on the their belief that God's holy spirit is a person of God, have expressed God's Holy Spirit as "he", "him", "who", "whom" rather than "it" "that" or "which" in many verses throughout the New Testament, even though the Greek is neuter, not masculine.

The corresponding word for "spirit" in Hebrew, often transliterated as Ruach, is feminine in gender, and thus all words connected with its usage are also feminine in gender, that is, "she", "her", etc. The Biblical Hebrew has no neuter form; everything -- even if it is a non-living object -- is spoken of as either masculine or femine. In Latin, the corresponding word, "spiritus", is masculine gender, and therefore all words connected with its usage are also usually masculine in gender. One should notice that, unlike English, such usage of gender does not designate whether the spirit is either a male, female, or neither (an "it").

In John 16:13, pnuema is used as associated with another word, the word that is usually transliterated as "Parakletos" (John 16:7). Parakletos is not neuter in gender, but is masculine, and thus it would, in Koine Greek, be accompanied by the masculine forms of adjectives, pronouns and verbs. As the Parakletos (Comforter), then, in the Greek, the spirit of truth is accompanied with masculine forms of adjectives, verbs, etc.

Nevertheless, in 1 John 4:6, the spririt of truth is contrasted with the spirit of error. If we should think of the spirit of truth (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13) is a person, then, correspondingly, if we are consistent in our application, we should also reason that the "spirit of error" is also a person. In reality, "the spirit of truth", although personified, is not a person, just the same as "spirit of error" is not a person.

Thus, the words he, him, himself, used in referring to the spirit of truth as the parakletos, might with equal propriety be translated she, her, herself, or it, itself. Heautou, rendered "himself" in John 16:13, is rendered "itself" in Matthew 12:45; John 15:4; Romans 14:14; and Ephesians 4:16. Ekienos, rendered "he" in many translations in John 16:3, is much oftener rendered "that" in the KJV.

Although the spirit of truth is being personified in John 16, such usage does not designate the spirit of truth as being a person. And even if it did, it would not mean that God's Holy Spirit is a person of God, or that God's Holy Spirit is a member of triune God consisting of three person, all of whom are alleged to be the one true God. Actually, there is nothing in any of this that gives reason to imagine and assume that God's Holy Spirit is a person of God, as trinitarians have assumed. No such thought is ever presented in the Bible anywhere.

God willing, this post will eventually be moved to:

jesus.rlbible.com/?p=5249