47. i. That by "spirit" is meant man's life, is evident from ordinary discourse, in which it is said that a man, when he dies, yields up his spirit, so that by "spirit" in this sense is meant the life of the respiration, and in fact the term "spirit" is derived from the respiration, and this is why, in the Hebrew language, there is one word for both "spirit" and "wind." There are in man two fountains of life, one is the motion of the heart, and the other is the respiration of the lungs. The life from the respiration of the lungs is what is properly meant by "spirit" and also by "soul." That this acts as one with the man's thought from the understanding, and that the life from the heart's motion acts as one with his will's love, will be seen in its own place. That man's life is meant in the Word by "spirit," is evident from these passages:
Thou gatherest in their breath [spiritum], they expire, and return into dust (Ps. 104:29).
He remembered that they were flesh, a wind [spiritus] that passeth away, and cometh not again (Ps. 78:39).
When his breath has gone forth, he will return into earth (Ps. 146:4).
Hezekiah lamented that the life of his spirit should go forth (Isa. 38:16).
The spirit of Jacob revived (Gen. 45:27).
A molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in it (Jer. 51:17).
The Lord Jehovih said to the dry bones, I will cause breath to enter into you, that ye may live. Come from the four winds O breath, and breathe upon these slain, and they shall live; and the breath came into them, and they revived (Ezek. 37:5-6, 9-10).
Jesus took the daughter [of Jairus] by the hand, and her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately (Luke 8:54, 55).