Examining 2 Timothy 4:22 and the Prayer for Your Spirit

Growing up in the Roman Catholic Church, I was very familiar with the response "and also with you" to the priest's statement, "peace be with you." Since I've been gone they have changed the response to "and with your spirit." I am assuming this is to line up with 2 Timothy 4:22.

The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

-2 Tim 4:22 (Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition)


The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

-2 Tim 4:22 (KJV)

Whereas I would generally be pleased that anything seeks to move toward an accurate reflection of the Word of God, there are limits. First, of course, is context. Secondly how it is being applied. As we are well familiar from the Lord's own temptation, Satan can quote scripture for his own purposes.

Be that as it may, we don't think there can be much to fault here. But allow me to suggest an issue with the use of the phrase in their rituals as well as in most Bible translations (including those based on the Textus Receptus such as the KJV above).

We have examined the word "spirit" before. It is a word that has a greater breadth and depth than we usually assign to it. Angels are "ministering spirits" (Hebrews 1:14) to believing Israel. In terms of our own "spirit" we look to the Lord who "gave up the spirit" on the cross and then died. This phrase is also used of the wicked. Ananias "gave up the spirit" (Acts 5:5) after lying to God (5:4) and Herod "gave up the spirit" (Acts 12:23) after the people cried out that he spoke like a god. 

Your spirit is your breath of life from God.

In Genesis 2:7, we read, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." This is the wording used in almost every English translation. The Hebrew word here is "neshamah" and means "breath [that is] life." 

Brown-Driver-Briggs' Definition

1. breath, spirit/breath (of God)
2. breath (of man)
3. every breathing thing
4. spirit (of man)

The idea is God-breathed life. Adam was formed of the dust, At that point he was a "soul," but it was not until God breathed life into him that he became a "living being" (KJV) or a "living soul" (Wtycliff) or a "living creature" (Young's Literal). The word translated "soul" in most translations is the Hebrew word "nephesh" which does speak of an individual or a creature (as it were). 

The Lord Jesus Christ is not a triune being on his own. The Lord was crucified, gave up his "spirit/life," bowed his head in death. His "body" was in the tomb ("heart of the earth" Matt 12:40) for three days and nights as his "soul" was in Hades, the state of the believing dead awaiting resurrection (1 Cor 15). 

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 

-Matthew 12:40


Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 

-Acts 2:30-32

Whereas Adam was a soul before he had spirit (life), the Lord was a soul after he gave up the spirit and died on the cross. Deceased believers today are said to be in Hades (state of the believing dead) awaiting their resurrection bodies.  This is the crux and final argument of Paul's chapter on the hope of resurrection for believers (1 Cor 15). There is no immortality or incorruption (lack of decay) until we experience resurrection. Paul's only use of Hades (sadly rendered "hell" in some translations) in his epistles is here and the context is believers. 

Adam BECAME a "living soul," the Lord was a "soul" who died.

So what was Paul saying in 2 Timothy 4:22? I think we get the best rendering in the Cotemporary English Version.

Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia send you their greetings, and so do the rest of the Lord's followers. I pray that the Lord will bless your life and will be kind to you.

-2 Tim 4:21-22 (CEV)

Paul is praying that the Lord, in an evident way, be with these believers in their daily lives as He was in Paul's life. There is nothing mystical or religious here. As a side note, the "Linus" in verse 21 is most likely an elder in Rome that is presumed to be Peter's successor. That would be highly unlikely for multiple reasons, but simply in basic context, Paul is superior to Linus in authority. But that's another matter for another time perhaps.

If the Catholic liturgical use is from 2 Timothy 4:22, while not a horrible use, it does not fully capture the breadth of the term or the understanding of the verse rightly divided (interpreted). If one says "peace be with you" it is not wrong to respond, "and with your spirit/life," but the greater sense of the verse is that we are praying the Lord will be a tangible blessing (presence) in the life of the believer. We must take the mysticism out of our interpretations.