Questions regarding the word "Nephesh"

[WJL]

I have a couple of questions regarding a Hebrew word commonly translated as “soul” in the Bible, “nephesh.”

1.) Wikipedia’s article on “Nephesh”, defines it as “a being with a physical body, the breath of life, and has feelings” based on information given in the Bible. It continues, “Not only are humans such beings but the Bible considers animals to also be living beings.”

Genesis 2:7

• The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being [nephesh]. NIV

• And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul [nephesh]. KJV

Nephesh recipe:

1. Take one physical body
2. Insert the breath of life into the body
3. Results: A living, breathing, nephesh

This word usually designates the person as a whole or its physical life.

However, what I’m confused about is that the word “nephesh” is also applied to God in Leviticus 26:11; 26:30; Psalm 24:4; Isaiah 42:1; Proverbs 6:16; and Amos 6:8. This would seem to imply, based on the above definition, that God has a physical body (like corporealists and Mormons believe). Could someone clarify this issue?

2.) I’ve always understood the Catholic teaching regarding the human soul as that it is immortal. The Wikipedia article on “Nephesh” claims that:

“The concept of an immaterial soul separate from and surviving the body is common today but was not found in ancient Hebrew beliefs. The word never means an immortal soul or an incorporeal part of the human being that can survive death of the body as the spirit of dead … In Patristic thought, towards the end of the 2nd century, psyche [Greek equivalent of “nephesh”] was 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, there was the establishing of the Roman Catholic tradition of the inherent immortality of the soul and its divine nature.”

And then cites James Tabor (author of “The Jesus Dynasty”) as saying,

“The ancient Hebrews had no idea of an immortal soul living a full and vital life beyond death, nor of any resurrection or return from death. Human beings, like the beasts of the field, are made of “dust of the earth,” and at death they return to that dust (Gen. 2:7; 3:19). The Hebrew word nephesh, traditionally translated “living soul” but more properly understood as “living creature,” is the same word used for all breathing creatures and refers to nothing immortal. What the Bible says about Death, Afterlife, and the Future, James Tabor”

It also cites 1 Timothy 6:15-16, which says that God alone is immortal, implying that the Catholic Church doesn’t adhere to a Biblical view of the soul.

3.) Further, the article claims that “soul-sleep” is Biblical:

• Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun (Ecclesiastes 9:4-6).

• The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence. But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD (Psalms 115:17).

There is no consciousness after death.

The conclusion of the Wikipedia article is that:

• Nephesh / psyche have a physical body and the breath of life.
  • We are nephesh / psyche when we are living beings.
  • Nephesh / psyche die.
  • There is no such thing as an immortal nephesh / psyche.
  • Nephesh / psyche cease to exist at death.
  • Nephesh / psyche is not conscious and knows nothing after death.

Thus the Biblical use of the English word soul (nephesh / psyche) is a living breathing person who is a sinner, subject to mortality unless God’s gift of eternal life has been accepted. The Biblical soul is not immortal, and ceases to exist and is not conscious after the time of death. This Biblical understanding of soul is in contrast to the way soul is commonly used in the English language.

Could anyone shed some light on this?

 

[WJL]

4.) From what I’ve been able to find on the subject, “Nephesh” appears to be a difficult word to translate into English:

KJV (753) - any, 3; appetite, 2; body, 8; creature, 9; dead, 5; desire, 4; heart, 15; himself, 8; life, 117; man, 3; mind, 15; misc, 47; person, 29; soul, 475; themselves, 3; will, 4; yourselves, 6;

NAS (458) - Himself, 4; Myself, 3; any, 1; anyone, 1; appetite, 7; being, 1; beings, 3; body, 1; breath, 1; corpse, 2; creature, 6; creatures, 3; dead, 1; dead person, 2; deadly, 1; death, 1; defenseless, 1; desire, 2; discontented, 1; endure, 1; feelings, 1; fierce, 2; greedy, 1; heart, 5; heart’s, 2; herself, 12; himself, 19; human, 1; human being, 1; hunger, 1; life, 1; lifeblood, 2; lives, 34; living creature, 1; longing, 1; man, 4; man’s, 1; men, 2; mind, 2; myself, 2; number, 1; ones, 1; others, 1; ourselves, 3; own, 1; passion, 1; people, 1; perfume, 1; person, 1; persons, 19; slave, 1; some, 1; soul, 238; soul’s, 1; souls, 12; strength, 1; themselves, 6; thirst, 1; throat, 2; will, 1; wish, 1; wishes, 1; yourself, 11; yourselves, 13;

searchgodsword.org/lex/heb/view.cgi?number=05315

Could anyone please recommend some good resources that could help clarify the meaning of “nephesh”?

I remember reading that there are three Hebrew words translated into English as “soul” or “spirit”: “ruach,” “nephesh,” and “neshamah”. How do these words relate to our (Catholic) understanding of the soul / spirit (is there a difference between the soul and the spirit, by the way)?

Thanks in advance.

 

[WJL]

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