Nephesh

Hebrew word for aspects of sentience

Nephesh (נֶ֫פֶשׁ‎ nép̄eš) is a Biblical Hebrew word which occurs in the Hebrew Bible. The word refers to the aspects of sentience, and human beings and other animals are both described as being nephesh.^[1]^[2] Bugs and plants, as examples of live organisms, are not referred in the Bible as being nephesh. The primary meaning of the term נפש‎ is 'the breath of life' instinct in the nostrils of all living beings, and by extension 'life', 'person' or 'very self'. There is no term in English corresponding to nephesh, and the (Christian) 'soul', which has quite different connotations is nonetheless customarily used to translate it. ^[3] 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 Genesis 2:7, 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 רוּחַ‎ rûach (“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.^[4]^[5]

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".^[6] Chayyah alone is often translated living thing or animal.^[7]

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.

In Greek, the word ψυχή (psyche) is the closest equivalent to the Hebrew nephesh.^[8] 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

References

^ biblehub.com, Nephesh
^ ecclesia.org, Nephesh
^ Robert Alter, Genesis, W. W. Norton & CO, 1996 PP.XXIX-XXX
^ studylight.org, nephesh
^ blueletterbible.org, Lexicon: Strong's H5315 - nephesh
^ biblehub.com, Living Creature
^ biblehub.com Strong's Lexicon #2421b
^ 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."
^ ^a ^b Numbers come from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and Zondervan’s Exhaustive NIV Concordance.

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