Moved, or as another version has it, brooded, which is better in keeping with the character of the Holy Ghost as the 'giver of life.' I need only mention the other translation of Spiritus Dei as a mighty wind is a translation as old as St Ephrem and Theodoret; and one which St Thomas was not unwilling to take account of; as he presently says (Chap. XXIII): "Although some wish to understand this, not of the Holy Ghost, but of the air, which has its natural place near the water: hence, to signify its manifold transformations, it is said that it was borne over the waters." Nor can I deal with the vexed question as to what notion the human authors of the Old Testament had of the triple personality of God.

Of God and His Creatures: 4.20