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Word

נֶפֶשׁ

nephesh · H5315 · Hebrew · 754 occurrences

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Meanings

  1. throat, neck, gullet

    The part of the body connecting the head to the rest of the body and containing the passageways for blood, air, and food; associated with breathing, appetite, and life and often used metonymically to refer to the entire body and the personality inhabiting it

    Examples

    Numbers 11:6 but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna!”

    Psalm 69:1 Save me, God, For the waters have threatened my life.

  2. breath

    Literally: throat, but with focus on the air flowing through it; hence: process by which air flows in and out of the body, which shows that a person or animal is alive

    Examples

    Job 11:20 “But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And there will be no escape for them; And their hope is to breathe their last.”

    Job 41:21 “His breath sets coals aglow, And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

  3. life, life principle, soul, self, greed, craving

    Literally: throat, as the part of the body that contains the passageways for blood, air, and food; hence: the life principle that animates both humans and animals, turns them into breathing living beings, and functions as the center of their personality, mind, physical and non-physical desires, courage, emotions, and affections; it is believed to reside in the blood

    Examples

    Genesis 1:30 and to every animal of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so.

    Genesis 9:4 “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

  4. living creature, living soul

    A living creature, including both humans and animals, as defined by the life principle that animates it

    Examples

    Genesis 1:20 Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”

    Genesis 1:21 And God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.

  5. "a soul", a person, someone

    A human being, as defined by the life principle that animates him/her

    Examples

    Genesis 12:5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the people which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; so they came to the land of Canaan.

    Genesis 14:21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me and take the possessions for yourself.”

  6. dead body

    The dead body of a human being, as defined by the life principle that used to animate it; contact with it causes ritual uncleanness

    Examples

    Leviticus 19:28 ‘You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.

    Leviticus 21:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people,

  7. Conjectured meaning: some kind of airy substance, a scent of some sort (perfume (?))

    Examples

    Isaiah 3:20 headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets,

How it’s used In 10 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

560 occurrences in 47 groups

Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles

89 occurrences in 41 groups

Named alongside itApposition

13 occurrences in 12 groups

What it doesIt is the subject

172 occurrences in 85 groups

What is done to itIt is the object

238 occurrences in 86 groups

Second object ofSecond object

1 occurrences in 1 groups

What it is said to bePredicate

40 occurrences in 27 groups

What is said to be itIt is the predicate

8 occurrences in 6 groups

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

166 occurrences in 11 groups

In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive

73 occurrences in 44 groups

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Near synonyms 1 word
רוּחַ rûwach · H7307 · spirit
נֶפֶשׁ (breath, life-principle) emphasizes the vital breath as seat of the living being or soul; רוּחַ (breath, spirit) emphasizes breath as moving air or animating spirit-force.
In the other Testament 1 word
ψυχή psychḗ · G5590 · inner self, mind, thoughts
Greek ψυχή is the standard translation equivalent for Hebrew נֶפֶשׁ, both denoting the animating life-principle, soul, or living being.
Semantic domains 4 entries
Air001002005001
The word's core sense of breath ties it to the air drawn in and expelled in the act of breathing, a use foundational to its broader meanings of life and self.
Self003001016
The word is very frequently used reflexively for one's own person, life, or self, as when a person's soul or self is the subject of desire, distress, or address, tying the word to personal identity and inner being.
People001001003
The word is also used broadly for a living creature or living being, human and animal alike, as the waters teem with living creatures and every kind of animal has life in it (Genesis 1:20-21, 1:30, 2:7), tying the word to any breathing, living entity.
Spices001002005014
The word can also refer to a physical appetite or craving, extended in rare use to a desire for particular tastes or fragrances, a specialized sense broader than its core breath/life senses.
Word family 2 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

נָפַשׁ nâphash · H5314 · to refresh oneself, to rest · 3×נֶפֶשׁnephesh · H5315
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H5315. nephesh נֶ֫פֶשׁ756 noun feminineGen 49:6 (so even Gen 2:19; Num 31:28; 1Ki 19:2…
H5315. nephesh
נֶ֫פֶשׁ756 noun feminineGen 49:6 (so even Gen 2:19; Num 31:28; 1Ki 19:2 see AlbrZAW xvi (1896), 42 SS) soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, appetite, emotion, and passion (Ecclus 3:18; 4:1 (twice in verse); Ecc 4:2(twice in verse); Ecclesiasticus 13:12; Ecclesiasticus 14:11); — ׳נ Gen 1:20 +; נָ֑פֶשׁ Gen 37:21 +; suffix נַפְשִׁי Gen 12:13 +; plural נְפָשׁוֺת Eze 13:18 Eze 13:13t.; נְפָשֹׁת Exo 12:4; Lev 27:2; construct נַפְשׁוֺת Gen 36:6 Gen 36:4t.; נַפְשֹׁת Lev 21:11; נְפָשִׁים Eze 13:20 (but read חָפְשִׁים, see Co Berthol Toy); suffix נַפְשׁוֺתָם 2Sa 23:17 +; נַפְשֹׁתָם Num 17:3 +: —
1 = that which breathes, the breathing substance or being = ψυχή, anima, the soul, the inner being of man:
a. distinguished from בָּשָׂר וְעַד מִנֶּפֶשׁ ׃בָּשָׂר Isa 10:18; הַבָּשָׂר עִם הַנֶּפֶשׁ Deu 12:23; from שְׁאֵר Pro 11:17; from בֶּטֶן body Psa 31:10.
b. both the inner נפשׁ and the outer בשׂר are conceived as resting on a common substratum: תֶּאֱבָֽל׃ עָלָיו וְנַפְשׁוֺ יִכְאָ֑ב עָלָיו בְּשָׂרוֺ אַךְ Job 14:22 only his flesh upon him is in pain, and his soul upon him mourneth; compare Psa 42:5; Psa 42:7; Psa 131:2; Job 30:16; Lam 3:20 [see עַל
1d], all poetical (compare 6c).
c. ׳נ departs at death and returns with life: מֵתָה כִּי נַפְשָׁהּ בְּצֵאת וַיְתִי Gen 35:18 (E) and it came to pass when her soul was going forth (for she died); נַפְשָׁהּ נָָֽפְחָה Jer 15:9 she breathed out her soul, compare 1Ki 17:21-22, Job 11:20; Job 31:39.
d. often desired that the נפשׁ may be delivered: from Sh®°ôl Psa 16:10; Psa 30:4; Psa 49:16; Psa 86:13; Psa 89:49; Pro 23:14; from שַׁחַת, the pit of Sh®°ôl, Isa 38:17; Job 33:18, Job 33:22, Job 33:28, Job 33:30.
2 The נפשׁ becomes a living being: by God's breathing חיים נשׁמת into the nostrils of its בשׂר; of man Gen 2:7 (J); by implication of animals also Gen 2:19 (J); so Psa 104:29; Psa 104:30; compare Psa 66:9; man is חַיָּה נֶפֶשׁ, a living, breathing being Gen 2:7 (J); elsewhere חיּה נפשׁ always of animals Gen 1:20, Gen 1:24, Gen 1:30; Gen 9:12, Gen 9:15, Gen 9:16 (all P), Eze 47:9; so החיּה נפשׁ Gen 1:21; Gen 9:10 (both P), Lev 11:10, Lev 11:46 (H); השׁרצת נפשׁ Lev 11:46 (H); חי כל נפשׁ Job 12:10. נפשׁ is frequently used with the verb ׃חיה נפשׁ וחיתה Gen 12:13; Gen 19:20 (both J), 1Ki 20:32 (E), Psa 119:175; Jer 38:17, Jer 38:20; נַפְשְׁךָ חֵי 1Sa 1:26; 1Sa 17:55; 1Sa 20:3; 1Sa 25:26; 2Sa 11:11; 2Sa 14:9; 2Ki 2:2, 2Ki 2:4, 2Ki 2:6; 2Ki 4:30 (all J E); compare נ ׳יְחַיֶּה 1Ki 20:31 (E), Eze 18:27; Psa 22:30; also Gen 19:19; Isa 55:3; Pro 3:22.
3 The נפשׁ (without חיה noun or verb) is specified:
a. a living being whose life resides in the blood [so in Arabic WeSkizzen iii. 217 G. JacobArab. Dicht. iv. 9 f.] (hence sacrificial use of blood, and its prohib. in other uses; first in D), Deu 12:23-24, only be sure that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is the living being (הַנֶּפֶשׁ הוּא הַדָּם); and thou shalt not eat the living being with the flesh (הַבָּשָׂר עִם הַנֶּפֶשׁ); thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water; this is enlarged in H, Lev 17:10-11, Lev 17:12, Lev 17:14 and in P Gen 9:4-5, compare Jer 2:34.
b. a serious attack upon the life is an attack upon this inner living being 2Sa 1:9; Jer 4:10; Jon 2:6; Psa 69:2; Psa 124:4; Psa 124:5; Job 27:3.
c. נפשׁ is used for life itself 171 t., of animals Pro 12:10, and of man Gen 44:30 (J); נפשׁ תחת נפשׁ life for life Exo 21:23 (E), Lev 24:18 (H), 1Ki 20:39, 1Ki 20:42; 2Ki 10:24; תחתיכם נפשׁנו Jos 2:14 (J); בנפשׁ נפשׁ Deu 19:21; בנפשׁ for the life of 2Sa 14:7; Jon 1:14; בכף נפשׁ שׂם put life in one's own hand Jdg 12:3; 1Sa 19:5; 1Sa 28:21; Job 13:14; למות נפשׁו חרף Jdg 5:18 risked his life to die; בנפשׁ at the risk of life Num 17:3 (P), 2Sa 23:17 = 1Ch 11:19 (twice in verse), 1Ki 2:23; Pro 7:23; Lam 5:9; נפשׁ בקּשׁ Exo 4:19 (J), 1Sa 20:21; 1Sa 22:23 (twice in verse); 1Sa 23:15; 1Sa 25:29; 2Sa 4:8; 2Sa 16:11; 1Ki 19:10, 1Ki 19:14; Jer 4:30; Jer 11:21; Jer 19:7, Jer 19:9; Jer 21:7; Jer 22:25; Jer 34:20-21, Jer 38:16; Jer 44:30 (twice in verse); Jer 46:26; Jer 49:37; Psa 35:4; Psa 38:13; Psa 40:15; Psa 54:5; Psa 63:10; Psa 70:3; Psa 86:14; Pro 29:10; נ ׳שׁאל 1Ki 3:11 2Ch 1:11; 1Ki 19:4 = Jon 4:8; נפשׁ הִכָּה smite mortally Gen 37:21 (J), Deu 19:6, Deu 19:11; Jer 40:14-15, נ ׳לקח 1Ki 19:4; Jon 4:3; Psa 31:14; Pro 1:19; מִמָּוֶת נֶפֶשׁ הִצִּיל deliver life from death Jos 2:13; Psa 33:19; Psalm 56:14; נפשׁ מלּט1Sa 19:11; 2Sa 19:6 (4 t. in verse); 1Ki 1:12 (twice in verse); Jer 48:6; Jer 51:6, Jer 51:45; Eze 33:5; Amo 2:14-15, Psa 89:49; Psa 116:4; ׳נ פדה 2Sa 4:9; 1Ki 1:29; Psalm 34:23; Psa 49:16; Psa 55:19; Psa 71:23; נ ׳שׁמר Psa 25:20; Psa 97:10; Job 2:6; Pro 13:3; Pro 16:17; Pro 19:16; Pro 22:5.
4 The נפשׁ as the essential of man stands for the man himself:
a. paraphrase for personal pronoun especially in poetry and ornate discourse, 70 t.; (1) נַפְשִׁי = me: נפשׁי תבא אל Gen 49:6 let me not enter (poem in J); נ ׳תָּמֹת ישׁרים מות Num 23:10 let me die, etc. (poem); נַפְשְׁי תָּמוֺת Jdg 16:30 (J); נפשׁי אמרה Lam 3:24 I say. (2) נַפְשְׁךָ = thee: נַפְשֶׁ֑ךָ תַּחַת לְאֻמִּים Isa 43:4 peoples instead of thee; לְנַפְשֵׁךְ אָֽמְרוּ Isa 51:23. (3) נַפְשׁוֺ = he: תלין בטוב נפשׁו Psalms he will not dwell in good circumstances. (4) נַפְשֵׁנוּ = we: יוֺקְשִׁים מִמַּח נִמְלְטָה כְּצִמּוֺר נַפְשֵׁנוּ Psa 124:7. (5) נַפְשָׁם = they, them: הָלָ֑כָה בַּשְּׁבִי נַפְשָׁם Isa 46:2 they are gone into captivity; לנפשׁם אוי Isa 3:9.
b. = reflexive, self, 53 t.: נפשׁ על אסר bind oneself Num 30:3; Num 30:5 (twice in verse); Num 30:6; Num 30:7; Num 30:8; Num 30:9; Num 30:10; Num 30:11; Num 30:12; נ ׳לְעַנֹּת Num 30:14 to afflict oneself . (1) נַפְשִׁי = myself: נפשׁי אדע לא Job 9:21 I know not myself. (2) נַפְשְׁךָ = thyself: נ ׳שׁמר Deu 4:9 keep thyself. (3) נַפְשׁוֺ = himself: כנ ׳אהב 1Sa 18:1, 1Sa 18:3; 1Sa 20:17 loved as himself. (4) נַפְשָׁהּ = herself: נ ׳צדּקה Jer 3:11 justified herself. (5) נַפְשָׁם = themselves: נ ׳הציל deliver themselves Isa 47:14; Eze 14:14, Eze 14:20. (6) נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם נַפְשְׁכֶם, = yourselves: נ ׳אַלתַּֿשִּׁאוּ Jer 37:9 deceive not yourselves, also Jer 42:20; Jer 44:7; נ ׳ענּה Lev 16:29, Lev 16:31; Lev 23:27, Lev 23:32; Num 29:7 (P); לנ ׳נשׁמרתם Deu 4:15; Jos 23:11 (D). (7) נַפְשׁוֺתֵינוּ = ourselves: נ ׳על Jer 26:19 against ourselves.
c. = person of man, individual, 144 t., first in D2; especially in H, P, and kindred writers: (1) with אָדָם: ׳נ אדם Lev 24:17 opposed to ׳נ בהמה Lev 24:18 (both H), and so ׳נ אדם human persons Num 31:35, Num 31:40, Num 31:46 (P) 1Ch 5:21; Eze 27:13. Elsewhere without אדם: ׳נ ברכה Pro 11:25 one who blesses; ׳נ רְמִיָּה Pro 19:15 idle person; ׳נ נ ׳תחת person in place of person, Job 16:4; נ ׳על כמּר Exo 30:15-16, Num 15:28; Num 31:50 (all P) Lev 17:11 (H). (2) נפשׁ = person, any one: Deu 24:7; Deu 27:25; Pro 28:17; Eze 18:4 (3 t. in verse); Eze 33:6; elsewhere only H P: Lev 2:1; Lev 4:2, Lev 4:27; Lev 5:1-2, Lev 5:4, Lev 5:15, Lev 5:17; Leviticus 5:21; Lev 7:18, Lev 7:20, Lev 7:21, Lev 7:25, Lev 7:27; Lev 23:29-30, (twice in verse); Num 5:6; Num 15:27, Num 15:30; Num 19:22; Num 31:19, Num 31:28; Num 35:11, Num 35:15, Num 35:30 (twice in verse); Jos 20:3, Jos 20:9 (all P), Lev 17:10, Lev 17:12, Lev 17:15; Lev 20:6 (twice in verse); Lev 22:6, Lev 22:11 (all H); מן הַהִוא הנ ׳נכרתה that person shall be cut off from: only in Gen 17:14; Exo 12:15, Exo 12:19; Exo 31:14; Lev 7:20-21, Lev 7:27; Num 9:13; Num 15:30-31, Num 19:13, Num 19:20 (all P), Lev 19:8; Lev 22:3 (both H). (3) נפשׁ collective for persons, in enumerations: Deu 10:22; Jos 10:28, Jos 10:30, Jos 10:32, Jos 10:35, Jos 10:37 (twice in verse); Jos 10:39; Jos 11:11 (all D2) Jer 43:6; Jer 52:29-30, (twice in verse); Eze 22:25; elsewhere only Gen 12:5; Gen 46:15, Gen 46:18, Gen 46:22, Gen 46:25, Gen 46:26 (twice in verse); Gen 46:27 (twice in verse); Exo 1:5 (twice in verse); Exo 12:16; Num 31:35, Num 31:40 (all P). (4) נְפָשׁוֺת persons Gen 36:6; Exo 12:4; Exo 16:16; Num 19:18 (all P), Lev 18:29; Lev 20:25; Lev 27:2 (all H), 2Ki 12:5; Pro 11:30; Pro 14:25; Eze 13:18 (3 t. in verse); Eze 13:19 (twice in verse); Eze 13:20 (twice in verse); Eze 17:17; Eze 18:4; Eze 22:27 (נפשׁים Eze 13:20 see above). (5) נפשׁ = deceased person, sometimes with מֵת נֶפֶשׁ מֵת, Num 6:6 (P), מֵת נַפְשֹׁת (נֶפֶשׁ ᵑ6 ᵐ5) Lev 21:11 (H); usually without (ה)אדם נפשׁ מֵת, Num 9:6-7, Num 19:11, Num 19:13 (P); or simply נפשׁ, Lev 19:28; Lev 21:1; Lev 22:4 (all H) Num 5:2; Num 6:11; Num 9:10 (all P); elsewhere only Hag 2:13.
5 נפשׁ = seat of the appetites, in all periods (46 t.) —
a. hunger: ׳נ רְעֵבָה hungry soul Psa 107:9; Pro 27:7; with noun or verb of שׂבע satisfy Isa 56:11; Isa 58:10; Jer 50:19; Eze 7:19; Psa 63:6; Psa 107:9; Pro 13:25; Pro 27:7; לנ ׳מתוק Pro 16:24 sweet to the taste.
b. thirst: ׳נ עֲיֵפָה weary soul Pro 25:25; Jer 31:25; ׳נ עיפה כארץ Psa 143:6; נ ׳צמאה Psa 42:3; Psa 63:2.
c. appetite in General: בנ ׳אֹיְבַי עָלָיו יַקִּיפוּ Psa 17:9 my enemies compass me about with greed; פִיהָ וּפָֽעֲרָה נַפְשָׁהּ שְׁאוֺל הִרְחִיבָה Isa 5:14 Sh®°ôl enlarged her appetite, etc., compare Hab 2:5; Pro 23:2 נֶפֶשׁ בַּעַל; Ecclesiastes uses נפשׁ only in the sense of a, b, c; the נפשׁ craves, lacks, and is filled with good things: Ecc 2:24; Ecc 4:8; Ecc 6:2-3, Ecc 6:7, Ecc 6:9; Ecc 7:28.
6 = ׳נ seat of emotions and passions (151 t.) —
a. desire: נ ׳אִוְּתָה soul desires Deu 12:20; Deu 14:26; 1Sa 2:16; 2Sa 3:21; 1Ki 11:37; Job 23:13; Pro 13:4; Pro 21:10; Mic 7:1; נ ׳תַּאֲוַת Psa 10:3; Isa 26:8; נ ׳אַוַּת Deu 12:15, Deu 12:20, Deu 12:21; Deu 18:6; 1Sa 23:20; Jer 2:24; so also לנפשׁ according to one's desire Deu 21:14; Psa 78:18; Jer 34:16; כנפשׁ Deu 23:25; נפשׁנו האח ah, our desire Psa 35:25; בנפשׁ at one's desire Psa 105:22; Eze 16:27; בְדַבְּרוֺ ׳נ י

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Topical studies with this word 4 entries
People119 occurrencesAir2 occurrencesSpices1 occurrenceSelf584 occurrences

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0

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