Resources Q&A State of the Dead Explain the usage of nephesh and rauch in the Bible
This Hebrew word, nephesh, occurs more than 700 times in the Old Testament and have been variously translated 'soul' (Genesis 1:21, 2:7; 12:5; etc.). 'Creature' (Genesis 1:21,24; 2:19; Leviticus 11:46; etc.), 'person' (Genesis 14:21; Joshua 20:9; Jeremiah 43:6; etc.), 'life' (Genesis 9:4; Exodus 4:19; Joshua 2:14; etc.), 'dead' (Leviticus 19:28; Numbers 9:6, 7, 10; etc.), 'self' (Leviticus 11:43; 1 Kings 19:4; Isaiah 46:2; etc.), and a number of other ways. Of all the various renderings, the translation 'life' would probably be the most suitable in the text you asked about (1 Kings 17:21-22). The translation 'soul' is misleading and conveys to many the idea of an immortal entity, capable of a conscious existence separate from the body. This idea is not resident in the word nephesh.
In all of the more than 700 occurrences of the word, never once is such an idea attached to it or even implied. Not once is a nephesh called immortal. To translate nephesh 'life' is in harmony with what the translators of our Bible have done in the 110 instances. A notable example is 1Kings 19:4, in which Elijah declared: 'O Lord, take away my life [Heb. nephesh].' Here the translators have correctly employed the word 'life.'
In Ecclesiastes 12:7 another Hebrew word is used: ruach. Ruach is translated 'breath' of the body 33 times, as in Ezekiel 37:5; 'wind' 117 times, as in Genesis 8:1; 'spirit' 76 times, in the sense of vitality (Judges 15:19), 'courage' (Joshua 2:11), temper, or 'anger' (Judges 8:3), and in reference to the disposition (Isaiah 54:6). Ruach is also used to describe the living principle in men and animals 25 times, as in Psalms 146:4; the seat of emotions 3 times, as in 1 Samuel 1:15; the 'mind' 9 times, as in Ezekiel 11:5; 'heart' (2 Chronicles 29:13) 3 times; moral character 16 times, as in Ezekiel 11:19; and of the Spirit of God 94 times, as in Isaiah 63:10. In not one of the 379 instances of its use throughout the Old Testament does ruach denote an intelligent entity capable of existence apart from a physical body, so as a man is concerned, and it must therefore be clear that such a concept is without basis so far as the teachings of the Scriptures themselves are concerned. That which here in this verse returns to God is simply the life principle imparted by God to both man and beast. You can see this in clearly in Ecclesiastes 3:19-21, where ruach is translated 'breath.'
Additional related content on our website:
- Spirit vs. Soul
- Could you explain to me what Paul meant by 'Absent from the Lord' and 'Present with the Lord'?
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Mary knew better than this, and this is what she said when she heard she would be the mother of Jesus ~
Luk 1:46 And Mary said, "My SOUL magnifies the Lord,
Luk 1:47 and my SPIRIT rejoices in God my Savior."
Strong's:
H5315 nephesh from H5314;
properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very
widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental):--any,
appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, X dead(-ly), desire, X (dis-)contented,
X fish, GHOST, + greedy, he, heart(-y), (hath, X jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), GHOST,
lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-,
thy-)self, them (your)-selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, X.
Even YAHWEH has a SOUL (Nephesh) ~
Lev 26:11 I will make my dwelling among you, and MY SOUL shall not abhor you.
Lev 26:12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
We know that YAHWEH's SOUL is an "immortal entity", which exists apart from a breathing physical body.
We know that man is made in the image of God, who is manifested in three entities which are unified as the one, yet plural, God.
The SOUL could go down into Sheol after the death of the BODY ~
Job 33:28 'He has redeemed MY SOUL from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.'
The SOUL and the BODY are SEPATATE ENTITIES ~
Psa 31:9 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; MY SOUL and MY BODY ALSO.
A BODY cannot BOAST ~
Psa 34:2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.
The SOUL can be redeemed, in the present, BEFORE physical death; this means it is something other than the physical body (which includes LIPS) ~
Psa 71:23 MY LIPS will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; MY SOUL ALSO, which you have REDEEMED.
The soul is far more than simply a breathing physical body. Yahweh has a SOUL which exists in eternity, apart from a physical body; and that is how He made man also.
Man is tri-partite, like God ~
1Th 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may YOUR WHOLE SPIRIT & SOUL BODY be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus denounces this false doctrine which denies the soul and the spirit ~
Mat 22:29 But Jesus answered them, "YOU ARE WRONG, BECAUSE YOU KNOW NEITHER THE SCRIPTURES NOR THE POWER OF GOD ...
Mat 22:32 'I AM the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? HE IS NOT GOD OF THE DEAD, BUT OF THE LIVING."
There is a BODY, inside which there is the INNER MAN, with a MIND, a SPIRIT, a WILL, a MEMORY, a CONSCIENCE, etc etc; all moral qualities which are far more than physical characteristics.
If God, and all the heavenly beings, can exist in spiritual form, thinking, planning, rejoicing, grieving, speaking, seeing, moving, hearing - then man can also.
This SDA heresy is repudiated by this verse ~
Ecc 11:5 As you do not know the way THE SPIRIT COMES TO THE BONES in the womb of a woman with child, SO YOU DO NOT KNOW THE WORK OF GOD WHO MAKES EVERYTHING.