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Saturday, October 24 2009
When referring to people, the terms "giving up the ghost" or "yielding up the ghost" are found in the King James Version in describing physical death and burial. Numerous people throughout the Old and New Testaments, including Jesus Christ, are recorded as having "given up the ghost" before their bodies were placed in their graves e.g.
"25:8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. 25:9 And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre" (Genesis 25:8-9 KJV)
What Is Your "Ghost"?
In the Old Testament, the original Hebrew word translated as "ghost" in the term "giving up the ghost" is pronounced gaw-vah and means to breathe out, to exhale. As actually written in the Holy Scriptures, "giving up the ghost" means nothing more than a dying breath. "Giving up the ghost" is never used in any other way in the Holy Scriptures.
"35:29 And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him." (Genesis 35:29 KJV)
In the New Testament, one of the two original Greek words translated as "ghost" in the term "giving up the ghost" is pronounced ek-psoo-coe and means to breathe out, to exhale. As with the Hebrew word explained above, the Greek word, as actually written in the Holy Scriptures, "giving up the ghost" means nothing more than a last gasp, a dying breath, as in the example of Ananias.
"5:5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. 5:6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him." (Acts 5:5-6 KJV)
Two Greek words are used in the account of Jesus Christ - interchangeably. Mark and Luke use the Greek word pronounced ek-pneh-oh which means exactly the same as the Hebrew and Greek words described above - to breathe out, a dying gasp - a physical act of exhaling.
"15:37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost." (Mark 15:37 KJV)"23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost." (Luke 23:46 KJV)
The word "spirit" in Luke 23:46 above is a translation of the Greek word pronounced pnoo-mah - which also literally means breath (see Ghost and Spirit: What's The Difference?). That same word, which is translated as "spirit" in Luke 23:46 is translated as "ghost," as in "giving up the ghost." When referring to "giving up the ghost," the words all mean the same thing in the original Hebrew and Greek - breath.
Fact Finder: What happens when someone "gives up the ghost"? What do they then await?
See What Happens When You Die?
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This Day In History, October 24
439: The Vandals captured the North African city of Carthage from the Romans.
1273: Rudolf of Hapsburg, a Swiss count, was crowned king of Germany at Aachen, Charlemagne's old capital. Rudolf was the first Hapsburg to be "Holy Roman Emperor" (see The "Holy" Roman Empire).
1537: Jane Seymour, the third wife of England's King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI.
1601: Tycho Brahe died at age 54. The Danish astronomer made many important discoveries of the heavens during his career.
1648: The Thirty Years War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia between France and the "Holy Roman Emperor" at Munster. After 3 decades of war, Germany was left devastated by sword, fire and plague.
1795: Poland was partitioned between Prussia, Russia, and Austria.
1836: Friction matches were patented by A. Phillips.
1861: The first North American transcontinental telegraph line was inaugurated by Western Union.
1901: Anna Taylor became the first woman to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
1929: "Black Thursday" on the stock market, leading to the Great Depression.
1931: Prohibition-era gangster Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion and sent to prison.
1944: U.S. warplanes sank the Japanese battleship Musashi, one of the largest ever built, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf during World War 2. The U.S. aircraft carrier Princeton was also lost. More than 30 ships were sunk in the battle, most Japanese, including their last 4 aircraft carriers. After this battle, the depleted Japanese naval forces resorted increasingly to Kamikaze suicide attacks.
1945: The United Nations organization was founded to replace the League of Nations.
1962: Day 11 of the 15-day Cuban Missile Crisis. About 500 miles from the shores of Cuba, 2 Soviet transport ships, escorted by Soviet submarines, encountered U.S. Navy warships. The American vessels had orders to sink anything, ships or submarines, that attempted to break the blockade. The Soviet ships halted. U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk reported, "We're eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked."
