Nephesh ( ''nép̄eš'') is a Biblical Hebrew word which occurs in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" '' sentience, and human beings and other animals are both described as being nephesh. Plants, as an example of live organisms, are not referred in the Bible as being nephesh. The term is literally "soul", although it is commonly rendered as "life", "living being" and "creature" in English translations. One view is that nephesh relates to ''sentient being'' without the idea of life and that, rather than having a nephesh, a sentient creation of God ''is'' a nephesh. In the text is not that Adam was given a nephesh but that Adam "became a living nephesh." Nephesh when put with another word can detail aspects related to the concept of nephesh; with rûach ("spirit") it describes a part of mankind that is immaterial, like one's mind, emotions, will, intellect, personality, and conscience, as in .
Biblical use
The word nephesh occurs 754 times in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" '' 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". ''Chayyah'' alone is often translated living thing or animal.
Often nephesh is used as ''saving your life'', nephesh then is referring to complete person's life as in Joshua 2:13; Isaiah 44:20; 1 Samuel 19:11; Psalm 6:5; 49:15; 72:13.
In Greek, the word ψυχή (''
psyche
Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή).
Psyche may also refer to:
Psychology
* Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious
* ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
'') is the closest equivalent to the Hebrew ''nephesh''.Compare Psalm 16:10 and Acts 2:27; Also, SDA Bible Commentary (Review and Herald; Washington DC, 1960), Vol.8, Bible Dictionary, p.1037 notes "The usage of the Greek word psuche in the NT is similar to that of nephesh in the OT." In its turn, the Latin word for ψυχή is ''anima'', etymon of the word ''animal''.
Immortality
Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality.
Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...
Pikuach nefesh
''Pikuach nefesh'' ( he, פקוח נפש, lit=watching over a soul) is the principle in Halakha (Jewish law) that the preservation of human life overrides virtually any other religious rule of Judaism. In the event that a person is in critical dang ...
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Soul in the Bible The concept of an immaterial and immortal soul - distinct from the body - did not appear in Judaism before the Babylonian exile,Tabor, JamesWhat the Bible says about Death, Afterlife, and the Future."The ancient Hebrews had no idea of an immortal ...