Pensiero Ebraico su II Samuele 23:2

The author concludes that nefesh, soul at birth—though superior as a life motivating force to all other living creatures, just as the human body is superior to all other living creatures—is something quite primitive. Through the life experience it develops into the kind of force that matures. "Free will" is part of the force that helps this "life force" mature and become the kind of disembodied spirit that survives the flesh at the time the body dies. "Nefesh-Ruach-Neshamah” are the way stations in the progress of this "life motivating force" of man towards the formation of the disembodied immortal personality. "Ruach hakodesh,” holy spirit, is not yet the level at which "nevu-ah," prophetic insights can be achieved. That stage is reached only by the "neshamah" stage in a person's development. If actual nevua-ah is denied such people, it is only because their contemporaries do not deserve to be the beneficiaries of such prophetic insights (Sukkah 21).

The answer: The prophet does not exercise any choice in his prophecy, neither in its content nor in its words. He is simply a receptacle for it, comparable in this regard to a mirror that will reflect only in proportion to the sun's action upon it. The spirit of the Blessed One comes to the prophet with ordered, limited words; he does not supply the words for what he has perceived. This is what David intended in (II Samuel 23:2): "The spirit of the L-rd spoke in me, and His word upon my tongue." That is, that revelation came to him by the spirit of the Blessed One — and not just the idea, for which he had to frame the words; but the words, too, were placed by the L-rd upon his tongue. He exercised no choice in them at all, but simply served as a vessel through which the light of prophecy was seen and through which the words of godly speech were heard.

Another signification of this word is “the divine inspiration of the prophets whereby they prophesy”—as we shall explain, when speaking on prophecy, as far as it is opportune to discuss this subject in a treatise like this.—Comp. “And I will take of the spirit (ruaḥ) which is upon thee, and will put it upon them” (Num. 11:17); “And it came to pass, when the spirit (ruaḥ) rested upon them” (ib. 25); “The spirit (ruaḥ) of the Lord spake by me” (2 Sam. 23:2). The term is frequently used in this sense.