Luke 8:55

Spirit. Gr. pneuma, “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit,” from pneo, “to blow,” or “to breathe.” Any extension of the word to designate beings possessed of intelligence is a figure of speech known as synechdoche, by which a thing is referred to by naming one of its parts, usually that part which is most characteristic of it. There is nothing inherent in the word pneuma by which it may be taken to mean some supposed conscious entity of man capable of existing apart from the body, nor does the usage of the word with respect to man in the NT in any way imply such a concept. This concept is based exclusively on the preconceived opinions of those who, a priori, believe that a conscious entity survives the body at death, and who read this preconceived opinion into such words as “spirit” and “soul.” For the OT equivalent of pneuma, the Heb. ruach, see on Num. 5:14.