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What is the soul according to the Bible?

The only Hebrew word traditionally translated "soul" (nephesh) in English-language Bibles refers to a living, breathing conscious body, rather than to an immortal soul.

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The concept of an immaterial and immortal soul - distinct from the body - did not appear in Judaism before the Babylonian exile,[1] but developed as a result of interaction with Persian and Hellenistic philosophies.[2] Accordingly, the Hebrew word נֶ֫פֶשׁ‎, nephesh, although translated as "soul" in some older English-language Bibles, actually has a meaning closer to "living being". Nephesh was translated into Greek in the Septuagint as ψυχή (psūchê), using the Greek word for "soul". The New Testament also uses the word ψυχή, but with the Hebrew meaning and not the Greek.[3][need quotation to verify] The textual evidence indicates a multiplicity of perspectives on souls, including probable changes during the centuries in which the biblical corpus developed.[4]

Relation to Greek "psyche" [ edit ]

The only Hebrew word traditionally translated "soul" (nephesh) in English-language Bibles refers to a living, breathing conscious body, rather than to an immortal soul.[5] In the New Testament, the Greek word traditionally translated "soul" (ψυχή) "psyche", has substantially the same meaning as the Hebrew, without reference to an immortal soul. In the Greek Septuagent psyche is used to translate each instance of nephesh.[6] Number of times Nephesh and Psūchê are translated into certain English words.[7] 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.[7] Translated as: ruah neshama leb Kilyah ’ob elohim pneuma autos sympsychos 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

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God 2606 13 21 5592

pronouns 5785

Genesis 2:7 [ edit ]

According to Genesis 2:7 God 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.[8] Rabbinic understanding of Genesis 2:7 as found in the Targum [ edit ]

Man as nephesh [ edit ]

The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath[neshemah] of life; and man became a living[chay] soul.[nephesh] (Genesis 2:7 with notes added)[citation needed] Here and “all through Scripture” a “living soul” denotes a “living person”.[11] This is because, as Brevard Childs writes, in the biblical view, a person “does not have a soul, but is a soul”.[12]

Animals as nephesh [ edit ]

In 1 Corinthians 15:45 (KJV), soul [psūchê] is defined based on an interpretation of Old Testament text. "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul[psūchê]; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." (1 Corinthians 15:45)

New Testament [ edit ]

The New Testament counterpart to the Old Testament word for soul, nephesh, is psyche. The two words carry a similar range of meanings.[2] Both can designate the person or the person’s life as a whole.[13] For all uses and meanings of psyche/ψυχἠ, see Joseph Henry Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.[14]

Death of the soul [ edit ]

According to some writers, nephesh and psūchê are not naturally immortal.[2][15][16][17][18] They die[19][20] and are uncomprehending[21] during the time between death and Judgment Day resurrection,[22][23][24][25][26] also known as the intermediate state. John Goldingay writes, "The life of a human being came more directly from God, and it is also evident that when someone dies, the breath (rûaḥ, e.g., Ps 104:29) or the life (nepeš, e.g., Gen 35:18) disappears and returns to the God who is rûaḥ."[27]

Immortality [ edit ]

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The concept of an immaterial soul separate from and surviving the body is common today but according to modern scholars, it was not found in ancient Hebrew beliefs.[28] The word nephesh never means an immortal soul[29] or an incorporeal part of the human being[30] that can survive death of the body as the spirit of dead,[31]

Traditional Christianity [ edit ]

In Patristic thought, towards the end of the 2nd century, psūchê had begun to be understood in a more Greek than a Hebrew way, contrasted with the body. By the 3rd century, with the influence of Origen, the traditions of the inherent immortality of the soul and its divine nature were established.[32] As the new Encyclopædia Britannica points out: “The early Christian philosophers adopted the Greek concept of the soul’s immortality and thought of the soul as being created by God and infused into the body at conception.”[33] Inherent immortality of the soul was accepted among western and eastern theologians throughout the Middle Ages, and after the Reformation, as evidenced by the Westminster Confession.[34][citation needed]

Modern scholarship [ edit ]

The modern scholarly consensus holds that the canonical teaching of the Old Testament made no reference to an immortal soul independent of the body.[35][36][37][38] A wide range of scholarly reference works consistently represent this view.[39][40][41][42][43] In recent times, a minority of scholars have partially dissented from this view.[4][44][45] Many modern theologians reject the view that the Bible teaches the doctrine of the immortal soul,[46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] and Hebblethwaite claims the doctrine is "not popular amongst Christian theologians or among Christian philosophers today".[55]

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