7. Old Testament (LXX): Wisdom and the Seven Energies of the Spirit

 

7.1 Wisdom of Solomon 7:26 (LXX)

Wisdom 7:26 (LXX)
Greek (Rahlfs):
ἀτμίς γάρ ἐστι τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως
καὶ ἀπόρροια τῆς τοῦ Παντοκράτορος δόξης εἰλικρινής·
διό καὶ οὐδὲν μεμιαμμένον εἰς αὐτὴν παρεισδύει.

English:
“For she is a breath of the power of God
and a pure outflow of the glory of the Almighty;
therefore nothing defiled enters into her.”

• Wisdom is described as the pure outflow (ἀπόρροια) of God’s glory—a classic image for divine energies as the rays or outflow of God’s power.
  
  

7.2 Isaiah 11:2 (LXX) and Gregory the Theologian

Isaiah 11:2 (LXX)
Greek:
καὶ ἀναπαύσεται ἐπ’ αὐτὸν Πνεῦμα Θεοῦ,
πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ συνέσεως,
πνεῦμα βουλῆς καὶ ἰσχύος,
πνεῦμα γνώσεως καὶ εὐσεβείας·
(verse 3 continues with φόβου Θεοῦ)

English:
“And the Spirit of God shall rest upon him,
a Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
a Spirit of counsel and might,
a Spirit of knowledge and piety,
(and the fear of God…).”

• St Gregory the Theologian says Isaiah “loves to call the energies of the Spirit ‘spirits’,” i.e., these seven “spirits” are distinct energies (operations) of the one Holy Spirit.