Ghost

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. nephesh , 'animal life, soul.'  Job 11:20;  Jeremiah 15:9 .

2. πνεῦμα, 'spirit'   Matthew 27:50;  John 19:30 . The word 'ghost' is used in the A.V. only in reference to the Holy Spirit (see Holy Ghost ) and to death, by the 'ghost' being given up, or the spirit or life being breathed out.

3. gava , 'to expire, die.'  Genesis 25:8,17;  Genesis 35:29;  Genesis 49:33;  Job 3:11;  Job 10:18;  Job 13:19;  Job 14:10;  Lamentations 1:19 .

4. εκπνέω, 'to breathe out, expire.'  Mark 15:37,39;  Luke 23:46 .

5. ἐκψύχω, 'to breathe out, expire.'  Acts 5:5,10;  Acts 12:23 .

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Ghost . A ghost = Germ. Geist (the h has crept into the word through what Earle calls an Italian affectation of spelling) is a spirit. The word is also used in Old English of the breath, the soul or spirit of a living person, and even a dead body. In AV [Note: Authorized Version.] it occurs only in the phrase ‘give up or yield up the ghost’ and in the name ‘the Holy Ghost.’ Wherever in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] hagion ‘holy’ occurs with pneuma ‘spirit,’ the tr. [Note: translate or translation.] is ‘Holy Ghost’; but when pneuma occurs alone, it is always rendered ‘Spirit’ or ‘spirit,’ according as it is supposed to refer to God or to man. See Holy Spirit and Spirit.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 25:8 Genesis 35:29 Matthew 27:50 Acts 5:5 Acts 12:23

Modern translations use ghost (rather than spirit as the KJV) for the disembodied spirits of the dead. Jesus' disciples mistook Him for a ghost when He walked on water ( Matthew 14:26;  Mark 6:49 ) and when He appeared after the resurrection ( Luke 24:37 ,Luke 24:37, 24:39 ).

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Nephesh_ and the Greek _pneuma   Job 11:20 Jeremiah 15:9 Matthew 27:50 John 19:30 Lamentations 1:19 Genesis 25:17 35:29 49:33 Job 3:11

King James Dictionary

GHOST, n. See Ghastly.

1. Spirit the soul of man.

In this sense seldom used. But hence,

2. The soul of a deceased person the soul or spirit separate from the body an apparition.

The mighty ghosts of our great Harrys rose.

To give up the ghost, is to die to yield up the breath or spirit to expire.

The Holy Ghost, is the third person in the adorable Trinity.

GHOST, To die to expire.

GHOST, To haunt with an apparition.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The spirit, or principle of life in man. To "give up the ghost," is to die, to yield the soul to God who gave it,  Genesis 25:8   Luke 23:46 . See Spirit .

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

See Holy Spirit.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

an old English word of Saxon origin (Germ. geist), equivalent to soul or spirit, occurs as the translation of the Heb. נֶפֶשׁ , Ne'Phesh, and the Greek Πνεῦμα , both signifying Breath, Life, Spirit, or Living Principle, by which and similar terms they are elsewhere rendered ( Job 11:20;  Jeremiah 15:9;  Matthew 27:50;  John 19:30). It frequently occurs in the N.T. in the sacred name "Holy Ghost." (See Spirit). Other phrases in which it occurs are those rendered to "give up the ghost," etc., all simply signifying to Die, e.g. גָּיִ , to Expire ( Lamentations 1:19;  Genesis 25:17;  Genesis 35:29;  Genesis 49:33;  Job 3:11;  Job 10:18;  Job 13:19;  Job 14:10) Έκπνέω to Breathe Out, etc., one's life ( Mark 15:37;  Mark 15:39;  Luke 23:46); Ἐκψύχω , to Breathe Out one's last ( Acts 5:5;  Acts 5:10;  Acts 12:23). Many commentators suppose, from the original terms used in the Gospels ( Άφῆκε Τὸ Πνεῦμα ,  Matthew 27:50; Παρέδωκε Τὸ Πνεῦμα ,  John 19:30), something preternatural in Christ's death, as being the effect of his volition. But there is, nothing in the words of Scripture to countenance such an opinion, though our Saviors volition must be supposed to accompany his offering himself for the sins of the world. The Greek words rendered yielded up, and gave up, are no other than such as is frequently used, both in the Septuagint ( Genesis 35:18; comp.  Psalms 31:5;  Ecclesiastes 12:7) and the classical writers, of expiration, either with the spirit or the soul (Josephus, Ant. 5:2, 8; 7:13, 3; Alian, H. An. 2:1; Herod. 4:190. (See Spectre).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

gōst ( נפשׁ , nephesh  ; πνεῦμα , pneúma ) : "Ghost," the middle-English word for "breath," "spirit," appears in the King James Version as the translation of nephesh ("breath," "the breath of life," animal soul or spirit, the vital principle, hence, "life"), in two places of the Old Testament, namely,   Job 11:20 , "the giving up of the ghost" (so the Revised Version (British and American)), and  Jeremiah 15:9 , "She hath given up the ghost"; gawa‛ , "to gasp out," "expire" (die), is also several times so translated ( Genesis 25:8 ,  Genesis 25:17;  Genesis 35:29;  Genesis 49:33;  Job 3:11;  Job 10:18;  Job 13:19;  Job 14:10;  Lamentations 1:19 ). In Apocrypha (Tobit 14:11) psuchḗ is translated in the same way as nephesh in the Old Testament, and in 2 Macc 3:31, en eschátē pnoḗ is rendered "give up the ghost," the Revised Version (British and American) "quite at the last gasp."

In the New Testament "to give up the ghost" is the translation of ekpnéō , "to breathe out" (  Mark 15:37 ,  Mark 15:39;  Luke 23:46; so the Revised Version (British and American)); of ekpsúchō , "to breathe out," "expire" ( Acts 5:5 ,  Acts 5:10;  Acts 12:23 ); in  Matthew 27:50 , aphḗken tō̇ pneúma , and in  John 19:30 , parédōken tō̇ pneúma , are rendered respectively, "yielded" and "gave up the ghost," the Revised Version (British and American) "yielded up his spirit," "gave up his spirit."

"The Holy Ghost" is also frequent in the King James Version; in the American Standard Revised Version it is invariably changed to "Holy Spirit," in the English Revised Version sometimes only, chiefly in the Gospels. See Holy Spirit; Spirit .