II. Meaning of Nephesh in the Hebrew of the Old Testament

The word “soul” in the K. J.V. of the English Bible is translated from the Hebrew word nephesh in all but two cases. Since the word “soul” has more than one meaning in English, it is important to inquire what the word nephesh really means, if we are to understand the teaching of the Bible correctly.CFF1 146.2

1. “NEPHESH” HAS SEVERAL COMMON MEANINGS

The Hebrew word nephesh, like the English word “soul,” has more than one meaning, some being not synonymous with the English meanings of “soul.”CFF1 146.3

Koehler and Baumgartner in their lexicon give the following meanings for nephesh:CFF1 146.4

1. Throat.
2. Breath, the breathing substance, making man and animal living beings; the soul (strictly distinct from the Greek notion of soul), the seat of which is in the blood.
3. Living being.
4. Soul as equal to living being, individual, person.
5. Breath, soul, personality.
6. Breath as equal to life.
7. Breath as equal to soul as the seat of moods, emotions, and passions. ^{11) Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, eds, vol 2, pp 626, 627.}CFF1 146.5

Quite parallel with this is the general classification of the various usages of nephesh adopted by Bullinger in his lexicon:CFF1 147.1

(1) “CREATURE”.—“beast,” “thing.”
(2) “PERSON”—“man”’ “men,” “him,” “me,” yourselves,” “himself,”
“we;’ “he,” “myself,” “her,” “thee,” “herself,” “thyself,” “themselves,”
“dead,” “body,” “one;” “any;’ “they,” “own,” “fellow,” “deadly,” “mortally,” “soul.”
(3) “LIFE” and “LIVES”—“ghost,” “breath.”
(4) “DESIRE”—“mind,” “heart,” “lust,” “pleasure,” “discontented,”
“will,” “greedy,” “hearty,” “appetite.” ^{22) E.W. Bullinger, A Critical Lexicon and Concordance, art. “Soul,” p 721}CFF1 147.2

2. A GENERAL DEFINITION OF “NEPHESH.”

With this much before us, perhaps it is appropriate to attempt a definition of nephesh. As a start, at least, we can quote a modern book that is the combined work of many scholars “with a thorough knowledge of modern scholarship and theology,” to quote the jacket-flap description of the book. Here is the definition:CFF1 147.3

“SOUL (nephesh) means the living being. We might render it ‘person’ or ‘personality,’ so long as we remember that in Hebrews though even an animal is a nephesh. In passages of dignified or poetic diction the word is used instead of the personal pronoun (my soul—I or me); or to give a reflexive sense (his soul—himself, etc.). Roughly speaking, it means mind as distinct from matter (to quote the terminology of a once familiar dualism), but always includes more than mind in the limited sense of the reasoning faculty. It includes feelings, interest, and inclination; cf. Jeremiah 15:1.” ^{33) A Theological Word Book of the Bible, Alan Richardson, ed., art. “Mind, Heart,” p. 144.}CFF1 147.4

3. BASIC IDEA THAT OF INDIVIDUAL HIMSELF

Nephesh comes from the root naphash, a verb used three times in the Old Testament (Exodus 23:12; Exodus 31:17; 2 Samuel 16:14), in each case with the meaning “to revive oneself” or “to refresh oneself.” The verb seems to go back to the basic meaning of breathing, and in the three times it is used the ordinary English reader might be tempted to translate it colloquially as “catch one’s breath” or “take a breather,” as after some extreme physical exertion.CFF1 147.5

Nephesh as meaning the individual himself, is best illustrated by the portrayal of man’s creation. As translated from the Hebrew in the R.S.V., it reads: “The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). Since each person is a distinct unit of life, the uniqueness of individuality seems to be the idea emphasized in the Hebrew word nephesh. And since the obvious evidence of life is breath and breathing, it is easy to understand how nephesh is used of man as a living being. Thus the R.S.V. translation is an accurate rendering of the Hebrew word.CFF1 147.6

Nephesh is also used of animals, and is appropriately rendered “creature” in both the K.J.V. and R.S.V. Since animals breathe as evidence of life, the Hebrew use of the word here seems appropriate. As a matter of fact, animals are called nephesh chayah (“living creatures,” K.J.V.) in Genesis 1.CFF1 148.1

The basic idea that nephesh is the individual himself, rather than merely a constituent part of the individual, seems to underlie the various usages of nephesh. From this basic idea springs the idiomatic use of nephesh for the personal pronoun—“my soul” for “I” and “me”; “thy soul” for “you,” et cetera, to use the common English translations in the Bible.CFF1 148.2

The majority of the occurrences of nephesh may be properly translated by “person,” “individual,” “life,” or by the appropriate personal pronoun.CFF1 148.3

There are also a substantial number of places in the Bible where nephesh applies to the inner being, if by this term we will understand nephesh as the seat of mind, heart, emotions, will, et cetera.CFF1 148.4

Nephesh in different other Lexicons:CFF1 148.5

The Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old TestamentCFF1 148.6

Theological Wordbook of the Old TestamentCFF1 148.7

The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old TestamentCFF1 148.8

Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English LexiconCFF1 148.9

The Abrigged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English LexiconCFF1 148.10

Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament)CFF1 148.11

Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old TestamentCFF1 148.12

A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old TestamentCFF1 148.13