is not, however, free from inaccuracies: it is by no means true, for instance, that Gregory of Tours 'expressly declared' that the Holy Spirit is the 'God of the intellect more than of the heart'. This sixth-century writer does not seem to have said more than that the pillar of fire which guided the Israelites was a type of the Holy Ghost.
We are then concerned less with the Hebrew original than with the use which the Christian Church has made of it. There was already a slight improvement in the Septuagint rendering of 'the fear of Yahwè' by εὐσέβεια, or 'reverence'.[1] In the translation back to English of the Greek version we have:
'A spirit of God, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and of reverence.'[2]
Because of the last word[3] this rendering is perhaps the best, and we will use it here.
Latin is a heavy language compared with Greek and English; and the Vulgate does not help us much, but Latin is a good tongue for strength and common sense. The Vulgate runs: 'Spiritus
- ↑ The Septuagint version is : πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ, πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ συνέσεως, πνεῦμα βουλῆς καὶ ἰσχύος, πνεῦμα γνώσως καὶ εὐσεβείας.
- ↑ R. R. Ottley, The Book of Isaiah according to the Septuagint, Cambridge, 1904.
- ↑ See p. 46.
