Nephesh (Biblical Hebrew: נֶ֫פֶשׁ, romanized: nép̄eš), also spelled nefesh, occurs in the Hebrew Bible to refer to the aspects of sentience, and human beings and other animals are both described as being nephesh.[1][2] Not all living organisms are referred to as nefesh; arthropods ("bugs") and plants, for example, are not described in the Bible as nephesh. The English corresponding term to nephesh is the Christian term 'soul', which has very similar connotations, and is customarily used to translate it. [3]
According to the Genesis creation narrative, Yahweh did not make a body and put a soul into it like a letter into an envelope of dust; rather he formed man's body from the dust, then, by breathing divine breath into it, he made the body of dust live, i.e. the dust did not embody a soul, but it became a soul – a whole creature.[4]
Nephesh when put with another word can detail aspects related to the concept of nephesh; with רוּחַ rūḥ “breath”, “wind,” or "spirit", it describes a part of mankind that is immaterial, like one's mind, emotions, will, intellect, personality, and conscience, as in Job 7:11.[5][6]
Biblical use
The word nephesh occurs 754 times in the Hebrew Bible. The first four times nephesh is used in the Bible, it is used exclusively to describe animals: Gen 1:20 (sea life), Gen 1:21 (great sea life), Gen 1:24 (land creatures), Gen 1:30 (birds and land creatures). At Gen 2:7 nephesh is used as description of man.
Job 12:7–10 parallels the words רוח (ruah) and נפׁש (nephesh): “In His hand is the life (nephesh) of every living thing and the spirit (ruah) of every human being.”
The Hebrew term nephesh chayyah is often translated "living soul".[7]Chayyah alone is often translated living thing or animal.[8]
Often nephesh is used in the context of saving your life, nephesh then is referring to an entire person's life as in Joshua 2:13; Isaiah 44:20; 1 Samuel 19:11; Psalm 6:5; 49:15; 72:13.
(psūchê), using the Greek word for "soul". The New Testament also uses the word ψυχή. In its turn, the Latin word for ψυχή is anima, etymon of the word animal.
Number of times Nephesh and Psūchê are translated into certain English words.[9]
Translated as
Nephesh
Psūchê
NIV
KJV
NIV
KJV
Soul
110
475
25
58
Life
165
117
37
40
Person
25
29
Spirit
5
Mind
3
15
3
3
Heart
21
15
4
1
Yourselves
19
6
Himself
18
8
Any
11
3
Creature
10
9
Themselves
10
3
Number of miscellaneous words & phrases appearing >10 to 1 times
301
53
25
1
Not Translated
47
0
8
2
TOTALS
754
753
102
105
Number of times Hebrew and Greek words are translated into certain English words.[9]
Translated as:
ruah
neshama
leb
Kilyah
’ob
elohim
pneuma
autos
sympsych
NIV
KJV
NIV
KJV
NIV
KJV
NIV
KJV
NIV
KJV
NIV
KJV
NIV
KJV
NIV
KJV
NIV
KJV
Spirit
182
232
2
2
1
1
1
1
325
317
1
1
Spirits (angels, evil spirits)
4
16
34
42
Soul
1
Breath
31
27
18
17
3
Wind
94
92
2
Mind
6
5
28
12
4
1
Heart
4
384
517
6
1
Number of miscellaneous words & phrases appearing >4 to 1 times
69
22
22
4
187
64
20
31
15
17
2601 God
2606
13
21
5592 pronouns
5785
Immortality
The concept of an immaterial soul separate from and surviving the body is common today but was not found in ancient Hebrew beliefs[10].
^Robert Alter, Genesis, W. W. Norton & CO, 1996 PP.XXIX-XXX
^Berry, Wendell (1997). "Christianity and the Survival of Creation". In Wolfe, Gregory (ed.). The New Religious Humanists. The Free press. p. 253. ISBN9780684832548. The crucial test is probably Genesis 2:7, which gives the process by which Adam was created: 'The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul.' My mind, like most people's, has been deeply influenced by dualism, and I can see how dualistic minds deal with this verse. They conclude that the formula for man-making is man equals body plus soul. But that conclusion cannot be derived, except by violence, from Genesis 2:7, which is not dualistic. The formula given in Genesis 2:7 is not man equals body plus soul; the formula there is soul equals dust plus breath. According to this verse, God did not make a body and put a soul into it, like a letter into an envelope. He formed man of dust; then, by breathing His breath into it, He made the dust live. The dust, formed as man and made to live, did not embody a soul, it became a soul-that is, a whole creature. Humanity is thus presented to us, in Adam, not as a creature of two discrete parts temporarily glued together but as a single mystery.
^ abNumbers come from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and Zondervan’s Exhaustive NIV Concordance.
^Tabor, James, What the Bible says about Death, Afterlife, and the Future,, access date: September 25, 2009. "The ancient Hebrews had no idea of an immortal soul living a full and vital life beyond death, nor of any resurrection or return from death. Human beings, like the beasts of the field, are made of "dust of the earth," and at death they return to that dust (Gen. 2:7; 3:19). The Hebrew word nephesh, traditionally translated "living soul" but more properly understood as "living creature," is the same word used for all breathing creatures and refers to nothing immortal.
Bibliography
Horst Balz (ed.), Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (3 Volume Set), 1993
A.B. Davidson, The Theology of the Old Testament, Edinburgh: T.& T. Clark, 1904/25, p.200-201
