Breathed Out By God

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16 ESV)

Notice the phrase breathed out? Some translations render it given by inspiration. These phrases come from the Greek word theopneustos, which is the combination of theos, meaning God, and pneuma, coming from the root pneu, which describes a dynamic movement of air.

(^Wow that was a long sentence!)

There are instances where it can be translated to breathe or emit a fragrance as well. So in this simple phrase, breathed out, there is a depth we don’t often perceive.

This word theopneustos then is really the picture of God breathing or emitting his own substance into something.

Read how Rick Renner described this word:

“Let me give you this very simple example of the word theopneustos. If I hold a deflated balloon that is without form to my lips and breathe into it, the balloon will inflate. The blowing of my breath into that deflated little piece of rubber causes it to fill up so that its true form becomes visible.

When the balloon is fully inflated, I tie a knot at the base to trap the air within. Now the air that filled up the balloon and caused it to take form is the same substance that empowers it to sustain its form. It was my breath that created its form, and it is my breath that now sustains it. And if the molecules inside the balloon were analyzed, it would be found that a part of me is held inside in the form of the air I breathed into it.”

Today, the same essence, energy, and power that breathed out God’s Word still reside in it.

God himself breathed upon men who wrote as he moved in and upon them, and the Scriptures took form. Just as Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us, or took form, so God’s life took form in Scripture and will do the same in us.

How is God’s Word moving and sustaining you today?