- the spirit of God:
- Ruach Elohim, rather, "a spirit of God;" which is a usual Hebraism, signifying "an excellent spirit;" or, as we should now say, "a distinguished genius for the work he had to perform." No man, by course of reading or study, ever acquired a genius of any kind. We call it natural, and say it was born with the man: Moses teaches us to consider it divine. The prophet Isaiah ("Doth the plowmanª° plowª° all¹ dayª to sow?ª° doth he openª° and break the clodsª° of his ground?ª ... This¹ also¹ cometh forthª° from¹¹ the LORDª of hosts,ª [which] is wonderfulª° in counsel,ª [and] excellentª° in working.ª" {Isa 28:24-29}), pointedly refers to this sort of teaching as coming from God, even in the most common and less difficult arts of life. Dark as the heathens were, yet they acknowledged that all talents and the seeds of all arts came from God.
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