Inspiration

Detail of Michaelangelo's 'The Creation of Adam' in the Sistine Chapel

For some reason the word 'inspire' has been on my mind for a few days this week. I felt prompted to investigate it further, particularly with regards to my faith and understanding of Scripture. As a creative person, inspiration is important to me. I hope, also, that I am able to inspire others at times.

The somewhat onomatopoeic word 'inspire' has a lovely breathy quality about it. All I know about the derivative of the word is that it is something to do with 'breath', based on the Latin. Now, I'm definitely no hardcore intellectual or theological scholar (and total kudos to those who are!) I do, however, have a love of words which extends to the joy of word-play. I also love learning about the original meanings of words (etymology), especially in relation to Bible texts, so I can build up a fuller picture of what is intended. I was fortunate (?!) to have studied Latin until I was 15, before dropping it at the first opportunity for History! While I disliked it intently at the time and couldn't see the point in being taught a 'dead language', it proved to be a useful tool when understanding word definitions in other areas - such as language and musical terms.

I decided to start with looking at the dictionary definition of 'inspire.'

Our English word 'inspire' comes from the Latin verb 'inspirare' – from 'spirare' (to breathe) – 'in' (in) and 'spiro' (breathe). Definitions of the verb include:

inspire [ɪnˈspaɪə]
1. to exert a stimulating or beneficial effect upon (a person); animate or invigorate
2. (tr; foll by with or to; may take an infinitive) to arouse (with a particular emotion or to a particular action); stir
3. (tr) to prompt or instigate; give rise to her beauty inspired his love
4. (Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) (tr; often passive) to guide or arouse by divine influence or inspiration
5. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Physiology) to take or draw (air, gas, etc.) into the lungs; inhale
6. (tr) Archaic
a.  to breathe into or upon
b.  to breathe life into
[C14 (in the sense: to breathe upon, blow into): from Latin inspīrāre, from spīrāre to breathe]

I then decided to also look up the word 'inspire' in the Bible and came across two different contexts.

A good use of the word as defined above is in the creation of Adam: dust or clay shaped by the Great Potter (yasar) lay as a lifeless body until the Giver of Life “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living breathing being” (Genesis 2:7). So Adam arrived 'by inspiration of God.' Beautiful.

Let's have a look at it:

"And the Lord God formed a man's body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person."

The Hebrew word for 'breathed' is 'naphach' (meaning to breathe, blow or be blown, sniff at, seethe, give up or lose, to cause to breathe out, express a harsher snorting sound). The Hebrew word for 'breath' is 'neshamah' (meaning, breath of God and man, the Spirit of God imparting life and wisdom to the spirit of man).

As a slight aside, there is something else I find of interest. Before they were given their new names by God, Sarah and Abraham were Sarai and Abram. At the time Sarai was barren and getting on a bit, and had exhausted her faith and Abram weakened also, causing them to devise their own scheme 'according to the flesh' (Galatians 4:23). In the Bible, name changes correspond to either character change or a major call from God. Abram's name is changed from 'Exalted Father' to Abraham 'Father of a Multitude'. Sarai's name is changed from 'Princess' to Sarah meaning 'The Princess' or 'Queen' linking her in co-rulership with her husband and including her in God's covenant promise. Why am I telling you this? Both names were expanded with the Hebrew letter H or 'Hey'. According to Jewish mystics, 'Hey' represents the breath of God and His creative power. Therefore, it can be said that God gave them new names and breathed life into their circumstances - and Sarah gave birth to Isaac despite her being 90 and Abraham being 101! I'll try and find out more about this.

'Inspire' is also used in the translation of the following verse (2 Timothy 3:16):

"All scripture is inspired and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."

Here, the word 'inspired' comes from the Greek word 'theopneustos' that is, 'God-breathed' or 'breathed out by God.' The word is made up of two others - 'theo' meaning God, and 'pneustos' meaning to breathe or inspire and relates directly to God's Spirit (Gk pneuma) which can also be translated 'breath.' This word is only used once in the Greek New Testament, in the verse seen above and therefore the exact meaning is not known.

There seems to be some misunderstanding as to the interpreted meaning of the use of 'inspire' in this verse. While 'inspire' can have the meaning as shown in the Latin term that means 'to breathe into', this is not what Paul is talking about here. He is not saying that the Scriptures are human words into which God has 'breathed' something special, something beyond the norm. Neither is he saying that God did something special to the writers of Scripture, though this is a common usage of the term today as well. While the authors were of course 'inspired by God to write' (holy men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Spirit, 2 Pet. 1:21), this is not the meaning of the term here. By using theopneustos in this context, Paul tells us that the very Scriptures themselves are the creation of God, reflecting His very breath, His very speaking.

So, what have I learned from looking into this? A couple of things really. I've learned more about the contexts of the original words and there meanings, which makes the Scriptures come alive to me. I've been reminded of how awesome our God is - that He chose to create man 'in His image' and breathe life into him...as well as giving us the living Scriptures as a guide to help us draw closer to him while we are on earth.

Amazing and powerful stuff - just from one word! I truly am inspired!