The answer is this: once one has first demanded proof that the passage was accurately transmitted from the prophet concerned and that its rendering into Arabic is sound, the words become evidence against the Christians, not for them. They do not show that the Messiah is the Creator of the heavens and the earth; rather, they convey exactly what the Qur’an affirms—that the Messiah, peace be upon him, was strengthened by the Holy Spirit. The text itself states: “The Holy Spirit shall rest upon him—the Spirit of God, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of God.” Nowhere does it say that “the life of God will dwell in him,” much less that “God dwelt in him” or “was united with him.” Instead, it equates the Holy Spirit with the Spirit of God, which is likewise described as the spirit of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, and the spirit of counsel and power.

Similarly, their own Torah relates that “those who worked in the Tabernacle had the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, and the spirit of knowledge descend upon them.”