What Is ‘the Breath of Our Nostrils’? Ruach and Neshamah in John Donne’s 1622 Gunpowder Day Sermon

Abstract As King James I moved to censor Puritan opponents, he called upon John Donne defend his policies from the pulpit. text‚ then‚ for a sermon at St Paul’s, chose Lamentations 4:20, notorious crux. The Geneva Bible glosses ‘the anointed’ in this verse as good king, Josiah; Calvin Institutes bad Zedekiah. phrase breath of our nostrils’, an allusion Genesis 2:7, introduces further complications. Is ‘breath’ here neshamah , nepesh or ruach ? pnoē psychē pneuma Drawing on fine distinctions between ‘breath,’ ‘soul’, and ‘spirit’ languages Scripture, crafts defence James’s ‘ Directions concerning Preachers ’ that is erudite, ingenious, equivocal, disconcerting: argument against such arguments ‘things indifferent’ ( adiaphora ).