What is Meant by "Ghost" in a King James Bible?

Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people, Genesis 25:8.

The next time we see Abraham in the scripture is in the Book of Luke.

Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Luke 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

Luke 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

Luke 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Luke 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:

Luke 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

Luke 16:29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

Luke 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

Luke 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

We can learn a few things from that passage. It seems odd, but the rich man in hell was able to recognize Abraham who he had never before seen. He was able to speak with Abraham from across the gulf. Abraham understood the rich man's lack of faith by his failure to obey Deuteronomy 15:7,8. Abraham understood the importance of the law in converting the soul.

We see in the passage that Abraham had his full mental faculties, he had spiritual discernment, and he had the ability to speak. We see that when his body had yielded up the ghost, the ghost went to a special gathering place visible from hell.

We see that Lazarus did not just open his eyes and find himself in Abraham's bosom. Upon his death he was carried there by angels. He was enjoying cool water. He had fingers that functioned. He was enjoying the comforts that the rich man had had in life,

What part of Abraham and of Lazarus was able to do all of those things? The ghost of each of those men left their bodies; retained their identity even to the point of being recognizable by sight, and lived despite their bodies being in the grave. Jesus Christ made it very plain that Abraham was alive even during the days of the gospel. I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, Matthew 22:32.

We can see that Jesus Christ himself gave up the ghost. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost, Luke 23:46. What made the giving up of the ghost of Jesus Christ different from anyone else who had ever given up the ghost is that we know that his soul and his spirit were cut in twain. Hebrews 4:12, Colossians 2:11.

You will notice that Luke 23:46 speaks of Jesus Christ commending his spirit to the Father, whereas in Psalm 31:5, he commits his spirit to the Father. He does both. First, he commends his spirit to the Father. As a priest would examine a man for leprosy, the Father can look at the spirit of Jesus Christ and see it as pure, holy, undefiled, and incapable of sin (1st John 3:9).

Secondly, the sword of the spirit which is the word of God circumcised the spirit of Jesus Christ apart from his soul. His spirit was then committed to the Father and his soul became an offering for sin. After that, his spirit and soul were reunited in the lower parts of the earth. That is the gist of Psalm 18:13-19.

Psalm 18:13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

( This shows two members of the Godhead, the spirit of Jesus Christ and the Father.)

Psalm 18:14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

Psalm 18:15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

(they descend into the heart of the earth)

Psalm 18:16 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

Psalm 18:17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

(The soul and the spirit of Jesus Christ have now been reunited.)

Psalm 18:18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

Psalm 18:19 He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

(Jesus Christ as a spirit and soul together are brought across that gulf that no man can cross and he spends the rest of the three days and nights awaiting his resurrection.)

I think it is safe to say that a ghost in a King James Bible is the spirit and soul of a person together. It resides in the body of a person until death. It retains all of the characteristics of that person but is incapable of interaction with the living world without divine intervention. 1st Samuel 28 appears to be the work of a witch in bringing up Samuel, but it is the completion of a prophecy (1st Samuel 15:35) and could never have happened without divine intervention.

With that in mind, it is important to understand that the Holy Ghost is more than just the Spirit of God. He is the soul and the Spirit of God together. He is a person, not just the spirit of a person. The new versions in their triteness call him the Holy Spirit. Calling the third person in the Godhead the Holy Ghost demonstrates the strength of the English Language in manifesting the word of God.

Most languages use the same wording for the actual person of the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of the Holy Ghost. As a result, it takes far more discernment to distinguish between the person himself and the actions of that person's Spirit. Germanic languages have solved that problem by giving the person himself the name Holy Ghost, and his actions through his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God.