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for who of men hath known the things of the man, except the spirit of the man that is in him? so also the things of God no one hath known, except the Spirit of God. (1 Cor. 2:11 YLT)
Who has known man except the spirit that is in him? It's my understanding that this is the same spirit or breath that God put into man, the breath of life. The words breath, wind, and spirit are all translated from the same Greek and Hebrew words. The Hebrew words are neshamah and ruach and the Greek words are pneuma and noe. The base definition of these words is wind. They're translated breath because that is essentially wind. When they're translated spirit it is a figurative usage of the words. I think it would be better if they didn't use the word spirit because when one thinks of the English word spirit they usually think of a disembodied living being. However, these Greek and Hebrew words have no such meaning. When they translate them as spirit they are essentially saying that the Bible is using a figure of speech. I think it would be much better for the reader if they would just translate the words with their definition and let the reader decide if it is a figure of speech or not. The problem is they don't and the reader has no idea that this may be a figure of speech and not a literal statement. Let's translate the passage with the word breath.
for who of men hath known the things of the man, except the breath of the man that is in him? so also the things of God no one hath known, except the breath of God.
What is the breath that is in man? It is the breath of life. That is something of God, not man. The passage talks about the thoughts of man. How does man think? What gives him this ability?
Surely a spirit is in man, And the breath of the Mighty One Doth cause them to understand. (Job 32:8 YLT)
In this passage we have the words spirit and breath. The word spirit is ruach in Hebrew and pneuma in Greek and the word breath is the Hebrew word neshamah and the Greek word noe. All four words mean wind or breath. So, this passage says, surely a breath is in man, And the breath of the Mighty One doth cause them to understand. We know there is a breath in man. It is the breath of life. And, it is the breath of the Mighty One because it comes out of God. It is this breath that gives man the ability to understand. Our ability to think and have thoughts comes from the breath of life from God. So, I see this passage as having the breath of God in us and that breath gives us the ability to think, have thoughts, and everything else that we do.
I understand Jesus' statement, let the dead bury their dead as a metaphor. I believe He is using dead as a metaphor for those who are lost. In the context of that passage the man wanted to go and bury his father before he followed Jesus. Those who follow Jesus have life, those who don't, don't.
Regarding Paul's statement, 'your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit', the word you is plural so he was addressing the whole group. I don't understand the passage to be saying each Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit, but rather I believe he was saying that the Church in Corinth, that body, was a temple of the Holy Spirit. I think it could be argued that the each church body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. I think the passage could be understood either way. However, I think the church body understanding is more likely.
