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SOUL Definition: In the Bible; soul; is translated from the Hebrew nephesh and the Greek psykhe. Bible usage shows the soul to be a person or an animal or the life that a person or an animal enjoys. What Does the Bible Say That Helps Us To Understand What The Soul Is? Genesis 2:Seven: "Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of the dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul." (Notice that this does not say that man was given a soul but that he became a soul, a living person.) (The part of the Hebrew word here rendered 'soul' is nephesh. KJ, AS and Dy agree with that rendering. RS, JB, NAB read 'being'. NE says 'creature.' Kx reads 'person'.) Genesis 9:5: "Besides that, your blood of your souls(or, 'lives'; Hebrew, from nephesh) shall I ask back." (Here the soul is said to have blood.) Joshua 11:11: "They went striking every soul(Hebrew, nephesh) that was in it with the edge of the sword." (The soul here is shown to be something that can be touched by the sword, so these souls could not have been spirits.) 1 Cor. 15:45: 'It is even so written: "The first man Adam became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (So the Christian Greek Scriptures agree with the Hebrew Scriptures as to what the soul is.) (The Greek word here translated 'soul' is the accusative case of psykhe. KJ, AS, Dy, JB, NAB and Kx also read 'soul'. RS, NE and TEV say 'being'.) 1Peter 3:20: "In Noah;s days....a few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water." (The Greek word here translated 'souls' is psykhai, the plural form of psykhe. KJ, AS, Dy and Kx also read 'soul'. JB and TEV say 'people'. RS, NE and NAB use 'persons'.) Where Does The Bible Say That animals Are Souls? Genesis 1:20, 21, 24 + 25: "God went on to say: 'Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls(nephesh)....'And God proceeded to create the great sea monsters and every living soul that moves about, which the waters swarmed forth according to their kinds, and every winged flying creature according to its kind.....And God went on to say: 'Let the earth put forth living souls according to their kinds....' And God proceeded to make the wild beast of the earth according to its kind and the domestic animal according to its kind and every moving animal of the ground according to its kind." Lev. 24:17 + 18: "In case a man strikes any soul(nephesh) of mankind fatally, he should be put to death without fail. And the fatal striker of the soul(nephesh) of a domestic animal should make compensation for it, soul for soul." (Notice that the same Hebrew word for soul is applied to both mankind and animals.) Rev. 16:3: "It became blood as of a dead man, and every living soul died, yes, the things in the sea." (Thus the Christian Greek Scriptures also show animals to be souls.) (In Greek the word here is psykhe. KJ, AS and Dy render it 'soul'. Some translators use the term 'creature' or 'thing'.) Do Scholars Acknowledge What The Bible Says The Soul Is? "There is no division of body and soul in the OT. The term nephesh, though translated by the word 'soul', never means soul as distinct form the body or the individual person...The term psykhe is the NT word corresponding with nephesh. It can mean the principle of life, life itself or the living being" New Catholic Encyclopedia(1967), Vol XIII, pp. 449 +450. "The Hebrew term for 'soul'(nephesh, that which breathes) was used by Moses.....,signifying an 'animated being' and applicable equally to nonhuman beings....NT usage of psykhe was comparable to nephesh". The New Encyclopedia Britannica(1976), Macropaedia, Vol. 15, p.152. "The belief that the soul continues its existence after the dissolution of the body is a matter of philosophical or theological speculation rather than of simple faith, and is accordingly nowhere expressly taught in Holy Scripture." The Jewish Encyclopoedia(1910), Vol. VI. p. 564. Can The Human Soul Die? Ezekiel 18:4: "Look! All the souls - to me they belong, As the soul of the father so likewise the soul of the - to me they belong. The soul that is sinning - it itself will die." (Hebrew reads "the nephesh." KJ, AS, RS, Ne and Dy render it 'the soul'. Some translations say 'the man' or 'the person'.) Matthew 10:28: "Do not become fearful of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul(or life); but rather be in fear of him that can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna". (The Greek has the accusative case of psykhe. KJ, AS, RS, NE, TEV, Dy, JB and NAB all render it 'soul'.) Acts 3:23: Indeed, any soul(psykhe) that does not listen to that Prophet will be completely destroyed from among the people." So, you can see from the Scriptures that what many people believe about the soul being a separated and immortal entity that survives after a person dies is not supported by the Bible teachings. I hope this aids understanding and helps clear up a common misconception. |
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Hi Meow, It isn't actually a matter of anyone 'believing me' but of what God in His Word tells us. That is why I took the time to show, by the Scriptures, what He tell us. Yours, Katidid.
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