Chapter 18.--By "Breath" Is Signified Sometimes the Holy Spirit.
How, again, does he know whether the repetition of the idea in the sentence, "who giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk over it," may not be understood of only one thing under two expressions, and may not mean, not the life or spirit whereby human nature lives, but the Holy Spirit? For if by the "breath" the Holy Ghost could not be signified, the Lord would not, when He "breathed upon" His disciples after His resurrection, have said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." [2355] Nor would it have been thus written in the Acts of the Apostles, "Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as if a mighty breath were borne in upon them; and there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." [2356] Suppose, now, that it was this which the prophet foretold in the words, "who giveth breath unto the people upon it;" and then, as an exposition of what he had designated "breath," he went on to say, "and spirit to them that walk over it." Surely this prediction was most manifestly fulfilled when they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. If, however, the term "people" is not yet applicable to the one hundred and twenty persons who were then assembled together in one place, at all events, when the number of believers amounted to four or five thousand, who when they were baptized received the Holy Ghost, [2357] can any doubt that the recipients of the Holy Ghost were then "the people," even "the men walking in the earth"? For that spirit which is given to man as appertaining to his nature, whether it be given by propagation or be inbreathed as something new to individuals (and I do not determine which of these two modes ought to be affirmed, at least until one of the two can be clearly ascertained beyond a doubt), is not given to men when they "walk over the earth," but whilst they are still shut up in their mother's womb. "He gave breath, therefore, to the people upon the earth, and spirit to them that walk over it," when many became believers together, and were together filled with the Holy Ghost. And He gives Him to His people, although not to all at the same time, but to every one in His own time, until, by departing from this life, and by coming into it, the entire number of His people be fulfilled. In this passage of Holy Scripture, therefore, breath is not one thing, and spirit another thing; but there is a repetition of one and the same idea. Just as "He that sitteth in the heavens" is not one, and "the Lord" is not another; nor, again, is it one thing "to laugh," and another thing "to hold in derision;" but there is only a repetition of the same meaning in the passage where we read, "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision." [2358] So, in precisely the same manner, in the passage, "I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession," [2359] it is certainly not meant that "inheritance" is one thing, and "possession" another thing; nor that "the heathen" means one thing, and "the uttermost parts of the earth" another; there is only a repetition of the self-same thing. He will, indeed, discover innumerable expressions of this sort in the sacred writings, if he will only attentively consider what he reads. [2360]
[2355] John xx. 22.
[2356] Acts ii. 2.
[2357] Acts iv. 31.
[2358] Ps. ii. 4.
[2359] Ps. ii. 8.
[2360] [It is the parallelism of Hebrew poetry to which Augustin here appeals: and that soundly, although the interpretation of "spirit" in the passage in hand, which is suggested in the chapter, is untenable.--W.]
Chapter 19.--The Meaning of "Breath" In Scripture.
The term, however, that is used in the Greek version, pnoe, is variously rendered in Latin: sometimes by flatus, breath; sometimes by spiritus, spirit; sometimes by inspiratio, inspiration. This term occurs in the Greek editions of the passage which we are now reviewing, "Who giveth breath to the people upon it," the word for breath being pnoe. [2361] The same word is used in the narrative where man was endued with life: "And God breathed upon his face the breath of life." [2362] Again, in the psalm the same term occurs: "Let every thing that hath spirit praise the Lord." [2363] It is the same word also in the Book of Job: "The inspiration of the Almighty is that which teaches." [2364] The translator refused the word flatus, breath, for adspiratio, inspiration, although he had before him the very term pnoe, which occurs in the text of the prophet which we are considering. We can hardly doubt, I think, that in this passage of Job the Holy Ghost is signified. The question discussed was concerning wisdom, whence it comes to men: "It cometh not from number of years; but the Spirit is in mortals, and the inspiration of the Almighty is that which teaches." [2365] By this repetition of terms it may be quite understood that he did not speak of man's own spirit in the clause, "The Spirit is in mortals." He wanted to show whence men have wisdom,--that it is not from their own selves; so by using a duplicate expression he explains his idea; "The inspiration of the Almighty is that which teaches." Similarly, in another passage of the same book, he says, "The understanding of my lips shall meditate purity. The divine Spirit is that which formed me, and the breath of the Almighty is that which teacheth me." [2366] Here, likewise, what he calls adspiratio, or "inspiration," is in Greek pnoe, the same word which is translated flatus, "breath," in the passage quoted from the prophet. Therefore, although it is rash to deny that the passage, "Who giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk over it," has reference to the soul or spirit of man,--although the Holy Ghost may with greater credibility be understood as referred to in the passage: yet I ask on what ground anybody can boldly determine that the prophet meant in these words to intimate that the soul or spirit whereby our nature possesses vitality [is not given to us by God through the process of propagation?] [2367] Of course if the prophet had very plainly said, "Who giveth soul to the people upon earth," it still would remain to be asked whether God Himself gives it from an origin in the preceding generation, just as He gives the body out of such prior material, and that not only to men or cattle, but also to the seed of corn, or to any other body whatever, just as it pleases Him; or whether He bestows it by inbreathing as a new gift to each individual, as the first man received it from Him?
[2361] The passage stands in the LXX.: Kai didous pnoen to lao to ep' autes.
[2362] The LXX. text of Gen. ii. 7 is, Kai enephusesen eis to proso pon autou pnoen zoes.
[2363] Ps. cl. 6: Pasa pnoe ainesato ton Kurion.
[2364] According to the LXX., Pnoe de pantokratoros estin he didaskousa.
[2365] Job xxxii. 7, 8.
[2366] Job xxx. 3, 4, according to the LXX., of which the text is, Sunesis de cheileon mou kathara noesei. Pneuma theion to poiesan me, pnoe de pantokratoros estin he didaskousa.
[2367] The words here given in brackets are suggested by the Benedictine editor. [The Latin as it stands may be translated simply: "that the prophet meant to signify in these words the soul or spirit whereby our nature lives?" and is not this better than the conjecture?--W.]