People ask for the Hebrew name for the Holy Spirit more often than they expect to. The phrase turns up in a subtitle, a lecture, or a conversation about what a text actually says, and the question behind it is simple: what are the words, and what do they mean.
The short answer is ruach hakodesh. Written in Hebrew it is רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ, transliterated rúakh hakódesh. The first word means wind, breath, or spirit. The second means holy. Together the phrase is usually rendered in English as Holy Spirit.
One wrinkle is worth knowing up front. That exact two-word phrase does not appear in the Hebrew Bible. The Bible uses the same two words in a slightly different shape, with a possessive ending attached. This guide covers the words one at a time, the difference between the phrase and the biblical forms, how the Hebrew compares to the Greek and Latin words Christians read in the New Testament, and how to write and say the phrase correctly.
In this guide
- The short answer, spelled out
- What each Hebrew word means
- The phrase is not in the Hebrew Bible as written
- What ruach means across its range
- The Greek and Latin words Christians use
- Other names people search for
- How to write and say it
- Frequently asked questions
- What to take away
The short answer, spelled out
The Hebrew name for the Holy Spirit is רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ, read rúakh hakódesh.
Breaking the phrase into its two parts makes the meaning easier to hold onto. Wiktionary lists the noun רוּחַ (rúakh) with senses that run from wind and air to breath, spirit, and soul, and it lists the phrase רוח הקדש (rúakh hakódesh) in its derived terms. The adjective קָדוֹשׁ (kadósh) is glossed simply as holy.
| Element | Hebrew | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| The noun | רוּחַ | rúakh | wind, breath, spirit |
| The adjective | קָדוֹשׁ | kadósh | holy |
| The phrase | רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ | rúakh hakódesh | Holy Spirit |
One note on spelling. Many English sources, and many US congregations, drop the vowel marks and write ruach hakodesh or Ruach HaKodesh. That is the same name. Hebrew readers routinely see Hebrew written without pointing, in text messages and online, and the word still reads correctly. The pointed form is what a dictionary or a study Bible gives you.
What each Hebrew word means
The word that carries most of the weight is רוּחַ. It is one of the most widely used words in the language. Wiktionary’s entry for רוח gives its root as ר־ו־ח and traces it to a Proto-Semitic ancestor that is cognate with the Arabic word for spirit. The same entry lists the plural as רוּחוֹת, and the construct form, which is what you would use when the word comes right before another noun, as רוּחַ.
The senses shift depending on context. A ruach can be a wind. It can be the breath in a person’s mouth. It can be the animating spirit or soul of a person, or the inner personality and will. It can be the spirit of a thing, meaning its core or its purpose. It can also mean a ghost.
The word קָדוֹשׁ does much less work. It is an adjective meaning holy, and it has the same root as the noun קֹדֶשׁ, which Strong’s lists as holiness or sacredness. The adjective is not an unusual word in the language. It is ordinary vocabulary.
Put together, ruach hakodesh names a spirit that is holy. It does not, on its own, define how that spirit relates to anything else. Wiktionary glosses the phrase literally as spirit of holiness and tags it for both Judaism and Christianity, which tells you the phrase is shared vocabulary across two traditions rather than a private coinage of either one. What each tradition does with the term is a question of theology, and this guide does not take a position on it.
The phrase is not in the Hebrew Bible as written
Here is the detail that trips up most answers: if you search the Hebrew Bible for רוח הקדש as two separate words, you will not find the phrase. The Bible uses the same two words, but with a possessive suffix on the adjective, so the word “holy” is attached to a suffix meaning “your” or “his.”
The term appears three times in the Hebrew Bible, and in each case it carries that suffix. The Wikipedia article on the Holy Spirit in Judaism lays out the count, and this research confirmed each one against a vocalized Hebrew text.
The first is Psalm 51:13, which has וְרוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ, or ruach qodshecha, your holy spirit. The Mechon-Mamre vocalized text of Psalms 51 shows this verse, and it sits inside a set of three parallel requests. The verse before it asks for וְרוּחַ נָכוֹן, a steadfast spirit. The verse after asks for וְרוּחַ נְדִיבָה, a willing or generous spirit. Only the middle one says holy.
The other two are in Isaiah 63, verses 10 and 11, and both use אֶת־רוּחַ קָדְשׁוֹ, or ruach qodsho, his holy spirit. You can see both in the vocalized text of Isaiah 63.
So the summary for a reader who wants the naming straight is this. Ruach hakodesh is the standard Hebrew name for the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew Bible expresses the idea with a suffixed form instead, ruach qodsho or ruach qodshecha, which is why a concordance search for the plain two-word phrase can come up empty.
What ruach means across its range
Because the same word covers wind and spirit, the meaning shifts with the verse. These examples from the vocalized text show the range, and each is a case where the word carries more or less of the “spirit” sense.
Genesis 1:2 has וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים, ruach elohim, a spirit of God, hovering over the water. That is the earliest use in the Bible and the one most often quoted.
Ezekiel 37 pairs the word with the winds of the valley vision, where the prophet is told to prophesy to the wind, and it uses the same root for the breath-like life given to the dry bones.
Isaiah 63:14 closes a passage with רוּחַ יְהוָה תְּנִיחֶנּוּ, ruach Adonai t’nihennu, and the spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
Judges uses רוּחַ־יְהוָה, ruach-Adonai, of the spirit that comes upon a judge when God raises him to lead Israel.
Genesis 1:2 also shows why the word behaves the way it does in translation. The Hebrew treats “spirit” and “wind” as the same term in that line, and the choice between the two English words is made by the translator.
The Greek and Latin words Christians use
If the reader has read the New Testament in Greek or heard the word in worship, the term they know is probably not Hebrew. It is Greek. The New Testament uses πνεῦμα (pneúma) with ἅγιος (hágios), and Wiktionary’s entries for πνεῦμα and ἅγιος confirm both forms and their glosses. The Greek noun traces to the root of πνέω, to blow, which is the same physical picture the Hebrew word carries.
The Greek word for spirit has the same wide range as ruach. Wiktionary lists air, wind, breath, breathing, life, spirit, soul, and even divine inspiration under πνεῦμα.
A second Greek term shows up when the New Testament calls the Holy Spirit an advocate. That word is παράκλητος (paraklétos). Wiktionary glosses it as an advocate or legal assistant, an intercessor, and a comforter or helper, and notes that the word is built from a prefix meaning beside and a word meaning called or invited. So the picture is of someone summoned to stand at your side. Strong’s lists the English sense set as advocate, helper, comforter, and counselor.
Latin supplies the word behind several English forms. The noun spīritus comes from the verb spīrō, to breathe or blow, and Wiktionary’s entry for spiritus lists its first senses as air, breath, and breathing. English words like spirit, spiritual, andinspirited all descend from this root. Note that the Latin sense list begins at the literal meanings, and the theological sense developed later, so spīritus is best understood as the linguistic ancestor rather than as a defined religious term.
Other names people search for
Readers searching this phrase sometimes land on a neighboring Hebrew word and wonder if it is the right one. Two come up often, and both are worth distinguishing from ruach.
The first is רוח אלהים, ruach elohim, spirit of God. This is not a different name for the Holy Spirit. It is the phrase that appears at the start of Genesis and repeatedly in the prophets, and it is a broader term for the spirit of God in a given passage. Wikipedia’s article on the Holy Spirit notes that the Hebrew Bible contains that term rather than the two-word phrase being asked about here.
The second is נֶפֶשׁ (néfesh), the word Strong’s lists as soul, life, self, person, heart, creature, mind, and living being. Wiktionary’s entry for נפש gives the same range and traces the word to a Proto-Semitic root. This is the word for the human soul or life force, not the word for the Holy Spirit.
A related term you may encounter is שְׁכִינָה (shekhinah), meaning dwelling or presence. It is not a name for the Holy Spirit, and the Wikipedia Judaism article notes it does not appear in the Hebrew Bible in that sense. Some readers find it while researching this topic, so it is worth setting aside rather than leaving as a loose end.
How to write and say it
For anyone who needs to type it, spell it, or say it out loud, here is the practical version.
Write it three ways and you are covered. Ruach hakodesh is the easiest for English-language typing. Ruach HaKodesh matches the capitalization used in English books and older reference works, where each word starts with a capital. Rúakh hakódesh, with accent marks, matches scholarly transliteration as Wiktionary uses it.
Say “ROO-akh hah-KO-desh.” The stress falls on the first syllable of ruach and on the last syllable of kadosh, which is why the scholarly transliteration writes them rúakh hakódesh. If you are reading it aloud for a class or a service, saying “ruach hakodesh” slowly is understood by anyone who works with the term, whatever your pronunciation.
One caution about the transliteration. The spellings ruach, ruakh, ruwach, and ruaḥ all appear in print. They are the same word, written for readers with different technical backgrounds, and none of them is wrong. Wiktionary’s ruakh spelling reflects the guttural consonant that the plain h in ruach does not mark. For most purposes, ruach hakodesh is fine.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Holy Spirit a Hebrew word or a Greek word?
Both appear, in different books. The Hebrew Bible uses Hebrew, and the New Testament uses Greek. The phrase ruach hakodesh is a Jewish and Christian term for the holy spirit, while the New Testament expression is Greek. A reader who meets only the Greek is not missing the Hebrew, and one who knows only the Hebrew phrase will still meet the Greek in the New Testament.
What does ruach hakodesh literally mean?
Word for word, it means spirit of holiness. The first word is the spirit, breath, or wind word, and the second is holy. English renders it as Holy Spirit, which condenses the two Hebrew words into one.
Why does a Bible search for the phrase come up empty?
Because the Hebrew Bible does not use the bare two-word phrase. It attaches a possessive suffix to the adjective, giving ruach qodsho in Isaiah 63 and ruach qodshecha in Psalm 51. Searching for the two words separately, or searching for the suffixed forms, will find the occurrences.
Is ruach the same as nefesh?
No. They are different Hebrew words with overlapping English glosses. Ruach covers wind, breath, spirit, and the spirit of a person. Nefesh is the word for soul and life force, and it is the word used for the human person. The overlap between the English words spirit and soul is what causes the confusion.
How many times does the phrase appear in the Hebrew Bible?
The term appears three times, once in Psalm 51 and twice in Isaiah 63. Each of the three carries a possessive suffix. Afterward, the term becomes common in later rabbinic writing, and the Wikipedia Judaism article reports that it appears frequently in talmudic and midrashic literature.
Do the Hebrew and Greek words mean exactly the same thing?
No. Both cover a wide range that includes breath, wind, and spirit, so they overlap heavily. But the ranges are not identical in either language, and translation choices change which sense comes through. This is one reason translators sometimes choose wind or breath where the other language would allow spirit.
What grammatical gender does the phrase have?
Wiktionary records the phrase רוח הקדש as a proper noun and gives masculine gender, while the adjective קָדוֹשׁ has a feminine form, קְדוֹשָׁה, transliterated k’doshá. Strong’s lists the noun separately as a feminine noun. Grammatical gender in Hebrew does not map neatly onto English, so if you are studying the phrase this is the detail to check rather than assume.
Can I use the pointed Hebrew if I am not a scholar?
Yes, and it is more precise. Pointing, the system of dots and dashes under the letters, records the vowels and helps anyone read the word correctly. But modern Hebrew is routinely written without pointing, so the bare consonants of ruach hakodesh are understood. Use whichever form suits your reader.
What to take away
The Hebrew name for the Holy Spirit is ruach hakodesh, written רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ. Ruach means wind, breath, or spirit, and kadosh means holy, so the phrase means spirit of holiness and is rendered in English as Holy Spirit.
The detail worth carrying away is the second one. The bare two-word phrase is the standard modern name, but the Hebrew Bible expresses the idea with a possessive suffix attached, in Psalm 51:13 and in Isaiah 63:10 and 11. If you search the text for the plain phrase and find nothing, that is why. The word itself is not missing, it is just spelled with an ending the search did not account for.
For further reading, the Wiktionary entry for רוח הקדש is the shortest reliable place to see the phrase and its literal gloss, and the vocalized text of the Hebrew Bible is where the three biblical occurrences can be read directly.