Genesis 1:2
Genesis 1:22Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
JWs read "God's active force was moving over the surface of the waters" (NWT) — rendering ruach elohim as "active force" rather than "Spirit of God." The lowercase "active force" reinforces the Watchtower's teaching that the holy spirit is an impersonal energy directed by Jehovah, comparable to electricity or wind. The Spirit's presence at creation is treated as God deploying his power, not as a distinct divine person participating in the creative act.
records that "the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters." The Hebrew ruach elohim is rendered "Spirit of God" by virtually every major translation. The verb "hovering" (merachefet) implies purposeful, caring activity — the same verb describes an eagle hovering over its young in . The Spirit is present and active at creation alongside God who speaks ("Let there be light," v. 3) and the Word through whom all things were made (). adds "Let us make man in our image" — a plural that rules out as referring to a created helper, since Jehovah created "all by myself" and "alone." The "us" must be internal to God. credits the Spirit with making humanity: "The spirit of God made me." The NWT's rendering of ruach as "active force" in is part of a unidirectional pattern: across more than forty doctrinally significant passages, every NWT divergence from standard translations moves away from Christ's deity, the Spirit's personhood, or grace-based salvation.