The Nugget:
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
My Comment:
Another important Bible term often misunderstood by some Bible scholars, some study Bible editors, false cults (like the Jehovah Witnesses) is the word spirit. For example, using The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society distributed by the Jehovah Witnesses, you would likely never learn that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person (Genesis 1:2):
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
My explanatory note for the word “moved” from The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury:
moved. or, was brooding. *S# H7363: Deut 32:11 h (fluttereth); Jer 23:9 h (shake). J. B. Rotherham remarks “The beautiful word ’brooding’—an exact rendering of the Hebrew—is most suggestive; since it vividly describes the cherishing of incipient life, as a preparation for its outburst. The partial form of such a word clearly denotes a process, more or less lengthened, rather than an instantaneous act. Standing where it does, it crowns the description of the condition of things on which the first creative mandate of six days took effect” (Emphasized Bible, note i on Gen 1:2).
Since only a person can brood, this is evidence that the Holy Spirit is a person. Compare “grieve,” as used in the New Testament at Eph 4:30 note, which likewise linguistically determines that the Holy Spirit must be a person.
A non-person cannot brood, nor can it brood, grieve, or be grieved by an act of delegation. One cannot grieve an influence or an active force. Neither is it possible to commit an unforgivable sin against an influence or an active force (Mat 12:31). Such a notion would be absurd, as is the notion of the non-personhood or non-personality of the Holy Spirit of God expressed by some who deny the doctrine of the Trinity.
In the Bible the act of Creation is ascribed to the work of all three persons of the Trinity in cooperation: (1) God the Father, Gen 1:1; (2) the Son, Joh 1:2, 3; (3) the Holy Spirit, Gen 1:2. Deut 32:11, Isa 31:5, Luk 1:35, *Joh 3:3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Rom 8:5; Rom 8:9; Rom 8:14, Gal 4:29, 2Co 5:17, 18.
In developing my notes for The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and its greatly expanded digital edition, The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury, I found it very difficult to correct the mistaken categories found in the Companion Bible edited by E. W. Bullinger, for he was a materialist in his theology similar in some ways to the Jehovah’s Witnesses of today. The founder of the parent group of present day Jehovah’s Witnesses, Charles Russell, a group called Christian Bible Students, still exists. I attended their meetings and purchased their literature. I noticed many of them carrying the Companion Bible to their services and conferences.
Cross references and notes for Genesis 6:3 from the Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury:
Genesis 6:3
A.M. 810, B.C. 3194.
My. Num 11:17, *Neh 9:30, +*Psa 51:11, Isa 1:5; *Isa 5:4; +*Isa 63:10, *Jer 11:7; *Jer 11:11, Luk 19:42, Joh 16:8, Act 7:51, **Gal 5:16; **Gal 5:17, +*Eph 4:30, *1Th 5:19, 2Th 2:6, 7, 1Pe 3:18, 19, 20, 2Pe 3:9, Jud 1:14, 15.
spirit. Heb. ruach. Here ruach has reference to the invisible psychological part of man given to him by God at man’s formation at birth, and returning to God at his death. +S# H7307. Num 16:22; **Num 27:16 note. Job 27:3; Job 34:14, Psa 31:5; Psa 104:30, *Ecc 3:21; *Ecc 3:21; Ecc 8:8; Ecc 8:8; Ecc 11:5; *Ecc 12:7, Isa 42:5, Eze 37:9 (wind). Zec 12:1 note.
The word ruach, spirit, is used of
(1) God, Isa 40:13.
(2) The Holy Spirit, +Isa 48:16.
(3) The operations of the Holy Spirit in (a) creation, Gen 1:2; (b) giving life, Eze 37:14; (c) executing judgment, +Exo 15:8.
(4) Invisible power from on high in giving spiritual gifts, +Gen 41:38.
(5) Psychological uses. 1) The invisible part of man, rendered “breath,” +Gen 6:17; “spirit,” +Gen 6:3, See Gen 2:7 note on the interchangeable uses of “soul,” Heb. nephesh, and “spirit,” Heb. ruach. 2) The invisible characteristics of man, rendered “mind,” +Gen 26:35; “breath,” Isa 33:11; “courage,” Jos 2:11; “anger,” Jdg 8:3; “blast,” Isa 25:4; “spirit,” +*Gen 41:8.
(6) By Synecdoche, spirit, an integral part of man individually, is put for the whole person, +Psa 106:33.
(7) Invisible spirit beings, angels and cherubim, +Psa 104:4.
(8) Neutral spirit beings, Job 4:15, Isa 31:3.
(9) Evil angels, +Jdg 9:23.
(10) Wind, +Gen 3:8.
For the corresponding Greek word, pneuma, see Mat 8:16 note.
shall not. +*Exo 4:21, 2Ki 13:23, *Psa 81:12, Pro 1:28, Jer 44:22, Dan 4:29, +*Mat 16:4, Heb 1:1.
always. Heb. olam, +S# H5769. 1Ch 16:15, Job 7:16, +*Psa 119:112, Jer 20:17.
strive. T347-1, T349, +*Job 36:9, Psa 81:11, 12, 13, 14, 15; Psa 103:9, *Isa 55:6, *Hos 5:6; Hos 9:12, Rom 1:24, 25, 26, 27, 28.
flesh. Job 34:15, Psa 56:4; *Psa 78:37, 38, 39, Isa 40:6, 7, 8, Jer 17:5, *Joh 3:6, *Rom 8:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 1Co 1:29; 1Co 15:39, Gal 5:16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 1Pe 1:24.
yet. 1Pe 3:20.
his days. Gen 47:9, *Psa 39:5, *Jas 4:14.
shall be. Gen 15:13, 14, 15, 16, Isa 38:5, Jer 25:12, Dan 9:2; Dan 9:23, 24, 25, 26, 27, Joh 21:18, 19; Joh 21:21, 22, 23, Act 1:6, 1Th 5:1, 2, 3, 4.