''Spirits'' in the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament

It is essential for God, as spirit, to be immortal (''who alone has immorality'' - 1 Timothy 6:16). God, being spirit (John 4:24) cannot die but the Word himself (being God) can die, having become flesh [mortal] (John 1:14). Without a body of flesh, Jesus would not be able to taste death. Jesus died precisely because he was mortal, he had a mortal body, a corruptible body and a body of flesh and blood.

he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, Colossians 1:22

Jesus died (his lifeless body was there inside the tomb) and was alive again (meaning, he's now with his body again). The risen Jesus is now having a ''body of spirit'' (previously, he had the ''body of soul'') based on 1 Corinthians 15:44. A body of spirit refers to a Spirit's body whilst the body of soul refers to a Soul's body. It was recorded in the Bible that 8 souls have been saved during the great deluge. Human beings are souls with bodies. Genesis 2 spoke of God breathing the breath (Grk. pneuma, spirit) of life into the nostrils of the man (i.e. in his body) and the man became a soul (i.e. a living being). A Spirit's body refers to the resurrected bodies of the Spirits who formerly were Souls (people with living bodies). They are called ''bodies of the Spirits'' (singular: ''body of spirit'', as employed by Paul) because these Spirits were bodiless (without bodies) because of death and because of the resurrection, these Spirits were said to have bodies, specifically, resurrected bodies.

Isaiah 14:9-15 "Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come; It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth; It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones. "They will all respond and say to you, 'Even you have been made weak as we, You have become like us. 'Your pomp and the music of your harps Have been brought down to Sheol; ... I will make myself like the Most High.' "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.'' Isaiah 14:9-15

Luke 16:22:23 And it came to pass that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels into the bosom of Abraham. And the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, having lifted up his eyes, being in torment, he sees Abraham from afar, and Lazarus in his bosom.

The dead bodies of Jesus (and of God's people) will be the same body to be given immortality at the resurrection.

always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 1 Corinthians 4:10

The Hebrew word sheol is a versatile word. It can refer to the mere ground where the dead is placed (Psalm 146:4) or to the place of the dead under the earth ( every knee...will bow... under the earth....and every tongue will confess... Jesus is Lord, Philippians 2:10). So those under the earth (Grk. hades, Heb, sheol) can bend their knees and confess with their tongues, they can speak and acknowledge Jesus as Lord. The spirits of the dead in Sheol in Isaiah 14:9-15 were also able to speak.

Isaiah 14:9-15 "Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come; It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth; It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones. "They will all respond and say to you, 'Even you have been made weak as we, You have become like us. 'Your pomp and the music of your harps Have been brought down to Sheol; ... I will make myself like the Most High.' "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.'' Isaiah 14:9-15

The word spirit (Greek: pneuma) can refer to either the human spirit/spirit of man (which refers to the mind of man) (1 Corinthians 2:11) or breath (Genesis 2:7) or the wind (John 3:8). It's also a divine name in Matthew 28:19.

The spirit of man (1 Corinthians 2:11) is the ''inward man'' which is different from the body of man (''outward man''). The self without a body does continue existing because the body decays and dies and perishes but the spirit does not perish. It is renewed daily (2 Corinthians 4:16). 

''For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day'' (2 Corinthians 4:16).''

The spirit does not perish after death, but rather, it returns to God: ''the spirit return to God, who gave it'' (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Other texts speak of the spirits going down to Sheol with consciousness (Isaiah 14:9-15). The New Testament teaches that the spirit of man continues to exist even after the body of man perishes (2 Cor. 4:16, 5:1-8).

The human spirit (the spirit of man) does not cease to exist but remained conscious after death.  "When his spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts do perish'' (Psalm 146:4).The spirit of man is not the same thing as the thoughts of man. Thoughts are products of the mind, of the person (self) doing the act of thinking. That's the spirit (1 Corinthians 2:11). The verse itself says that the breath ''departs'' (not perished). Death is described to be like the state of being asleep in Scripture. When one sleeps, the thoughts perish too. But that does not mean the spirit or the mind cease to exist just because of sleeping.  

Death in the bible is described as ''sleep'', not ''cessation of existence''. When one sleeps, he does not cease to exist. Yahweh himself (who is immortal) is even described as sleeping in Psalm 44:23:

''Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Awake, do not cast us off forever!'' (Psalm 44:23 NRSV)

In 2 Corinthians 5:6, 8, Paul spoke of his desire to be at home with the Lord (who is in heaven) and away from his body. How could Paul be at home with the Lord ''without a body'' ? Paul already spoke of the inward man earlier in chapter 4 (v. 16). The outward man perish but not the inward man. The inward man is being changed daily. The inward man refers to the spirit in man (1 Corinthians 2:11).

''For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling— 3 if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:1-8 NRSV).

2 Cor 5:6, 8 was not talking about the living body. The context shows that to be absent from the body is tantanmount to saying the earthly tent (i.e. body) is destroyed (2 Cor 5:1) and the outward man (i.e. body) perish (2 Cor 4:16). Further evidence for this is 2 Corinthians 12:1-3 where Paul spoke of a man who went into the third heaven either out of the body or in the body, only God knows. The phrase "out of the body" is that same bodiless existence in heaven earlier in chapter 5:6, 8. God showed Paul a vision of real events. Paul wasn't talking allegorically here. The man here was a real man existing 14 years ago according to Paul.

In Revelation 17:3 says that "the angel carried me away in the Spirit" (this corresponds to the being "out of the body, not in the body" in 2 Corinthians 12:1-3. It basically answered Paul's question of the ambiguity whether the vision occurred in the body or out of the body. It did occur out of the body because it occurred in the spirit. The point is that the distinction between being in the body and being in the spirit (out of the body) is here, even if the text is not speaking of death but of visions. 1 Peter 3:18-19 supports this distinction even further and in the context of the afterlife: Jesus was "being made dead in body but made alive in the spirit" and "in that spirit" he went to the "spirits in prison" and preached to them. It was definitely referring to the afterlife here since the body was spoken of as dead and the spirit alive, going to other the place where other spirits also existed. This was a conscious experience after death since after Jesus died, being in the spirit, He went to the place of spirits (not bodies) preaching to them ( the other spirits: the spirits in prison). Jude 1:6 is parallel to 1 Peter 3:19, the spirits there were the angels who sinned. Still, it occurred after Jesus' death, in the spirit and in the place under the earth, specifically in Tartasus (the lower part of Sheol/Hades). Here cannot mean the angels were put into the grave.

Isaiah spoke of spirits conscious and talking in Sheol/Hades, so it wasn't surprising or strange or impossible that the spirits under the earth (Sheol/Hades) were also able to bend their knees and confess that Jesus is Lord in Philippians 2:10, 11.  Paul believed the spirits under the earth (in Sheol/Hades) were not allegorical. John 5 spoke of the dead in their tombs (obviously referring to the bodies of the dead, not their spirits in Sheol/Hades. The scripture speak of the spirits of the dead having abilities to hear and respond, so that when the dead heard the Son of God, they rise with their bodies from the tomb. This is the consistent N.T. interpretation.

When Jesus died, his human body was buried in the tomb but his human spirit did not cease to exist. According to the New Testament, his human spirit went to God the Father (Luke 23:46). Another text said that Jesus' spirit went to the spirits in prison (under the earth/sheol/hades) and he even preached there (cf. 1 Peter 3:19).

The apostles believed in spirits unlike the Sadducees 

Paul himself said he was a Pharisee (Philippians 3:5). It was the Sadducees who "denied the spirits, the angels amd the resurrection" (Acts 23:8). Paul certain believed in the spirit of man (1 Cor 2:11, 2 Cor 4:16). Peter too spoke of the spirits whom Jesus visited after he died and even preached to them (1 Peter 3:15).

The Sadducees also denied the existence of the angels (who are themselves also spirits, 1 Peter 3:19), the existence of the spirits (that is in man, 1 Cor 2:11, that does not perish , 2 Cor 4:16, that is alive after death of body, 1 Peter 3:18, 19 and the reality of the resurrection (the spirits of the dead united again to their bodies, but that have been made immortal bodies). The Sadducees denied all of them (Acts 23:8) but they were accepted by the apostles themselves.

The gospels (Luke 24:36-51, Mark 6:49-50) recorded the apostles got afraid for they thought Jesus was a ghost (Grk. Φάντασμά). The apostles thought they saw a ghost. That's what apparition meant in its basic sense. The Greek was phantasm (Φάντασμά). Yes it was an "apparition", a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, especially a ghost, as the dictionary definition says. It was an apparition of a spirit (πνευμα), as elaborated by the text (Jesus spoke of spirit as having no flesh or bones). The apostles therefore mistook Christ for an apparation, they thought that what they saw was a spirit of the dead (without flesh or bones) and were afraid. It was so logical in the gospels account of this that the apostles believed in the spirits, not as the Sadduccees.

The Meaning of ἐκένωσεν in Philippians 2:7

Jesus emptied himself by taking the form of a slave.

 Key ideas 

• Paul made a wordplay with ekenosen and kenodoxa in the text. Paul also used heauton (himself) as the direct object of ekenosen. This means that Paul alerts his readers to understand Christ's action of ekenosen in light of the moral qualities about selflessness he just described in vv 2-4. 

In Philippians 2:3, Paul told his readers to do nothing from: 

1. Kenodoxa (Lit. empty glory) - highlighting one's self (self-conceit)

 2. erithea (Lit. pay for hire) - doing things for one's selfish-ambition (self-serving). 

As the Lord God, Jesus deserves to be served. However, according to Mark, Jesus "came to serve not to be served". In Jesus' self-emptying, Paul was telling us that the Lord Jesus Christ "looked not only to his own interests but also looked to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:4). 

• Paul also has made a contrast between Jesus' equality with God (v. 6) and Jesus' new role as a slave in v. 7. A slave is one who serves a lord/master. In Jesus' previous life, he and God have everyone else serving them. Paul believed that they are the same Lord. In 1 Corinthians 8:6, Paul applies the Shema to Jesus, ascribing to him the divine title "one Lord" (εις κυριος) from the Shema's "the Lord is one" (κυριος εστιν εις) and also ascribing to him the role of being Creator ("through him are all things").

 
• Paul consistently used the active sense of harpagmos in his letters. In Philippians 2:6, harpagmon in the active sense befits the context: who, being in the form of God, did not consider it a robbery (to empty others of their own possessions by force) to be equal with God, but rather, he emptied himself, by taking the form of one who serves others. He served others by emptying himself of his own possessions (riches). The active sense befits the context that speaks of Christ's service using socio-economic metaphor (to empty one's self/ to robbery). This is consistent with Paul's socio-economic metaphor in 2 Corinthians 8:9 where it says that Jesus is rich but that he chooses to become poor so that he can make others rich by his poverty. 

The Meaning of the Anarthrous θεος in John 1:1

θεός is anarthrous (i.e. lacking the article "the") in John 1:1c. In Greek, to emphasise that the predicate noun θεός is qualitative, the anarthrous θεός is placed before the verb: θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. The English translation ''the Word was a god''  is not an accurate translation of the Greek because it lacks the emphasis on θεός as qualitative. 

In English, to express the predicate noun as qualitative the use of the indefinite article is required ('a man'', John 10:33). However, when the goal is to emphasise the predicate noun as qualitative, we don't use an article (either definite or indefinite).  For instance, to emphasise that the predicate noun 'god' is qualitative, we use the word "god" by itself (''the Word was god'', not ''a god'' or ''the god''), as in the case of κύριος in Mark 2:28 ''(the son of man is Lord, not a Lord'' or ''the lord''). Majority of English translations  accurately translated the anarthrous noun θεός in John 1:1c: ''the Word was God''.

The grammatical function of the anarthrous pre-verbal noun in Greek is to emphasise its substantive meaning upon the subject. The presence of the predicate noun before the verb puts emphasis on the predicate noun as qualitative. For instance, in John 1:14, the predicate noun also occurs before the subject. It puts emphasis on the nominative σαρχ as qualitative. The Word became neither ''a'' flesh nor ''the'' flesh but simply (as the grammar requires) became ''flesh''.

In English, the predicate occurs after the verb but in Greek, there are cases where the predicate occurs before the verb. The function of this Greek word order is to emphasise the predicate nominative (i.e. predicate noun) as qualitative. In English, to emphasise the noun as qualitative, we don't use articles (either indefinite or definite). The grammar requires that the noun alone be used in this case.

The anarthrous noun θεός is the predicate noun in John 1:1c. John put the predicate noun θεός before the subject to emphasise that θεός is qualitative, not to transform θεός into an adjective. θεός does not have the meaning of θειος (a person or thing "of divine quality"; "of god"; "god-like'). The noun θεος retains its substantive meaning (i.e. its meaning as a noun).

In English, to convey that the predicate noun ''god'' is qualitative, the indefinite article is used [1].  For instance, 

αὐτὸν εἶναι θεόν = he was a god. (Acts 28:6)  

The usage of the indefinite article merely conveys that the predicate noun 'god' is qualitative. In Greek, to emphasise that the predicate noun θεός is qualitative, the definite article is dropped and it is placed before the verb. θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος . Acts 28:6 gives no emphasis on the predicate noun θεός as qualitative. This is why ''god'' with the indefinite article isn't an accurate English translation of John 1:1c in Greek.

No article (either definite or indefinite)  should be used when translating the anarthrous pre-verbal predicate Greek noun into English. The noun by itself in English is enough to emphasise that the noun is being used qualitatively. 

The Word was God. (John 1:1c)

The Word became flesh. (John 1:14a)

The Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath (Mark 2:28).

The translation of theos into English as ''god'' with the indefinite article in John 1:1c fails to accurately translate the Greek into English by failing to emphasise the predicate noun θεος as qualitative in English. It made use of the indefinite pronoun "a" to merely describe what the Word is. 

David Bentley Hart accurately translated θεός this way in John 1:1c:

The Word was god. 

Alternatively, to emphasise even more that the predicate noun ''god'' is qualitative, we could add an appositive [2]: 

The Word was, by nature, god.  

Majority of English translation didn't only translate theos into English accurately as ''god'' (without any article) but also translated it  precisely as a proper noun ''God''.  This is because in the context, the Word was eternal, being the one through whom all things came into being (v. 3). Thus, the anarthrous θεος in John 1:1c should be treated as a proper noun ''God'' [3]. 

The Word was God.

To give an even more emphasis on the predicate noun ''God'' as qualitative, an appositive can be used:

The Word was, by nature, God.

 Alternatively, we can translate the noun θεος (''god'') as ''divine''  in a qualified sense [4]: 

The Word was divine. 

Conclusion

 θεος in John 1:1c should  be (i) translated as a proper noun ''God'' because it refers to a deity, and (ii) translated without any articles to emphasise its qualitativeness:  

Footnotes

[1] The indefinite article (a, an) is used before a noun that is general or when its identity is not known (http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/grammar/articles.html).

The noun θεός in John 1:1c is being used in its general sense. In English, to convey that the noun ‘god’ is being used in the general sense (i.e. the qualitative sense), we use the indefinite article ‘a’: ‘a god’. For instance, in Acts 28:6, people thought Paul was ‘a god’ (αὐτὸν εἶναι θεόν, ‘he was a god’….Acts 28:6). Paul was simply being described as a god in the general sense.

[2] An appositive is a noun or a noun phrase that sits next to another noun to rename it or to describe it in another way (https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/appositive_apposition.htm). 

The use of appositive in the predicate of John 1:1c is very useful since it can help express the meaning of the Greek when it emphasised the predicate noun θεός as qualitative. 

[3] When the word θεός refers to the true god, English bibles translate it as a proper noun wherein the first letter in the word ''god'' is capitalised: ''God''. 

[4] ''Such an option does not at all impugn the deity of Christ. Rather, it stresses that, although the person of Christ is not the person of the Father, their essence is identical. Possible translations are as follows: “What God was, the Word was” (NEB), or “the Word was divine” (a modified Moffatt). In this second translation, “divine” is acceptable only if it is a term that can be applied only to true deity. However, in modern English, we use it with reference to angels, theologians, even a meal! Thus “divine” could be misleading in an English translation. The idea of a qualitative θεός here is that the Word had all the attributes and qualities that “the God” (of 1:1b) had. In other words, he shared the essence of the Father, though they differed in person. The construction the evangelist chose to express this idea was the most concise way he could have stated that the Word was God and yet was distinct from the Father'' (Emphasis his. Wallace, Daniel. Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 1996. 269.). 

The Meaning of ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος in Philippians 2:7

Paul used the participle γενόμενος twice in the Christ poem (2:7, 2:8). Based on Greek Lexicons, i discovered that all of the definitions of γινομαι have a unifying sense of "coming from X to Y" that can be categorised into two types:

(1) coming into existence" ( in this sense the thing/person/event has come from non-existence to existence) e.g. to happen, to occur, to beget

(2) coming to a new state/kind of existence" (in this sense the thing/person/ event has a prior existence) e.g. to become, to transform, to be born

Since the context tells us that Jesus already existed ''in the form of God'' (ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ) (v.6), the Greek word γενόμενος (an aorist participle) should refer to Jesus ''coming to a new state of existence'' (i.e. to become). γενόμενος as an aorist participle: ''had become''

Paul used the phrase  ''in the likeness'' (ἐν ὁμοιώματι) twice in Romans (1:23, 8:3). The meaning of the phrase points to similarity only, not equality or being identical:

1. Romans 1:23: ἐν ὁμοιώματι εἰκόνος φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου (Literally, ''in the likeness of the image of mortal man''). The ''image of man'' (φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου) refers to the visible appearance of a man himself (i.e. bodily, in the flesh). The ''likeness of the image of man'' refers to the ''image that is like a man'' (i.e. not referring to the man's body itself, but to its likeness, engraved in a wood or stone). 
2. Romans 8:3: ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας (Literally, ''in the likeness of flesh of sin''). The ''flesh of sin'' (σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας) refers to the ''flesh'' (σαρκί) where ''nothing good lives'' (οὐκ οἰκεῖ...ἀγαθόν), the flesh that makes one ''cannot do what is good'' (τὸ καλὸν οὔ) even if ''one wanted'' (θέλειν παράκειταί μοι,) to: ''I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.'' (Romans 7:18 NET). Jesu Christ (God's ''own Son'' Grk. ἰδίου υἱοῦ, Romans 8:32) was not sent ''in the flesh of sin'', but rather, he was only sent ''in the likeness'' (ἐν ὁμοιώματι) of it. Jesus was sent like one who had a flesh of sin (one who had nothing good dwelling in his flesh and one who cannot do good even if he wanted to). Jesus resemble the flesh of those people who had a flesh of sin but it actually was different in the sense that it no qualities that a flesh of sin had. This means that Jesus had good dwelling in his flesh and he could do good as he willed. In terms of mortality, Jesus did have the same mortal body as others (Romans 5:6: "Christ died" Grk. Χριστὸς... ἀπέθανεν). 

Paul did not say ''became a man''. Paul did not say ''became in the likeness of a man''. Paul said ''became in the likeness of men'' (ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος). That is, became like the humans (ἀνθρώπων is plural, referring to humans in general). 

How did Jesus become like the humans? Jesus became like the humans by being born as a mortal. 

Jesus wanted to become like the humans. These humans experience both birth and death. 

• Jesus became like the humans by being born of a woman (Galatians 4:4). Paul used γενόμενον in Galatians 4:4 to refer to the 'birth' of Jesus: having come from a woman, which implies Jesus' birth. Paul used a similar idea in ὁ ἀνὴρ διὰ τῆς γυναικός (man came from the woman) (1 Corinthians 11:12)
• Jesus also become like the humans by experiencing death on a cross (Philippiansq 2:8). 

Jesus wanted to become like the humans in order to save them. And for humans to be saved, they must become like Jesus (cf.  Philippians 3:10, Romans 6:5, 8:29).

Notes

Only those with a mortal body can experience death. Immortals do not possess a mortal body. The bible tells us that an immortal can become mortal (Philippians 2:6-7) and that a mortal can become immortal. Jesus himself spoke of mortals who will ''never taste death'' (John 8:51-53). 

''51 Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” (John 8:51-53 NRSV)

It is by becoming in the likeness of men (i.e. by being born as a mortal) is how Jesus took the form of a slave. ''the form of a slave'' (μορφὴν δούλου) -- the likeness of one who serves others. Mark 10:45 tells us that Jesus ''came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many'' the latter which refers to his death on a cross. This is logical because without becoming mortal, he would not be able to give his life on the cross. When Christ is ''found as a man'' (εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος), that's the time he experienced ''death on a cross'' (θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ).