Is the Holy Spirit a He She or an It?

26: Likewise the Spirit also helps our weaknesses for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit herself[1] makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered [with articulate speech] 27: And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit because she makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God

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[1] Ruwach H7307 The Holy Spirit is not an “it.” The Holy Spirit is God. In the Hebrew, the Holy Spirit is called Ruwach. Ruwach, H7307, is a feminine noun. The Holy Spirit is portrayed as a mother hen in Genesis 1:2. Jesus confirmed this in Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34. The scriptures say that, God is not a man ^{Numbers 23:19}. Neither is he a woman. But he portrays himself as both mother and father. Jesus himself is the Father of Eternity. The angel Gabriel, called the Holy Spirit the father of the Christ child (conceived by the Holy Spirit) ^{Luke 1:35}. We cannot divide God. We can only take him at his Word. The Holy Spirit is God. In the Hebrew**, the Holy Spirit is feminine. In the Greek, the word used for Holy Spirit is a neuter noun, which translators choose to render as “it” or “he.” However, this commentator maintains that “it” is not an option, and because of the Hebrew testimony (and the neutrality of the Greek), the Holy Spirit is accurately addressed as “She.”

**English-Translation-Theology is always a danger, and presents difficulties—to readers and translators alike—that other languages do not, as English is such a diverse language, with so many options (more words than any other language) for translators to choose from. For example, the Hebrew language has a limited vocabulary (only about 3000 words) as compared with the koine Greek (everyday language spoken by Jesus and his contemporaries). So, we must appreciate that most every Hebrew word has a variety of applications (some a very wide variety) and must be translated according to context. Other applications of ruwach include: spirit; wind; breath; mind; vain; air; anger; cool; courage. James Strong lists 5,624 koine Greek words in his original concordance. This would not represent every koine Greek word in the koine Greek vocabulary—only those which were used in the New Testament of the Received Text. By comparison, the English language has about 200,000 commonly used words, not counting scientific words, which approximate another 200,000.