Word

נְשָׁמָה

nᵉshâmâh · H5397 · Hebrew · 24 occurrences

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Meanings

breath

The air that is taken in and expelled through the lungs by humans and animals, which makes them live, and which distinguishes them from inanimate objects like idols; regarded as coming from God; sometimes God is depicted as a breathing being as well

Examples
Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person.
Genesis 7:22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.
2 Samuel 22:16 “Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were exposed By the rebuke of the LORD, From the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
living creature, living soul

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

Examples
Deuteronomy 20:16 “Only in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave anything that breathes alive.
Joshua 10:40 So Joshua struck all the land, the hill country and the Negev and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings. He left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.
Joshua 11:11 They struck every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire.

How it’s used In 5 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

13 occurrences in 10 groups

רוּחַspirit, wind 3
Other words · 9 groups that occur once or twice (10) 10

What it doesIt is the subject

8 occurrences in 7 groups

יָתַרto remain 2
בָּעַרto burn, to purge 1
הָלַלto praise 1
חָיָהto be alive, to become alive, to live 1
יָצָאto go out 1
שָׁאַרto remain 1

What is done to itIt is the object

7 occurrences in 6 groups

שָׁאַרto remain 2
חָיָהto be alive, to become alive, to live 1
חָרַםto devote to destruction, to utterly destroy 1
נָפַחto blow 1
נָתַןto give, to put, to set 1
אָסַףto gather, to assemble 1

What it is said to bePredicate

4 occurrences in 3 groups

אַףanger, nose 2
נִירlamp 1
נִיme 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

4 occurrences in 1 groups

מִןfrom 7

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: Both terms denote breath, wind, or spirit phenomena, overlapping within the semantic field of air and breath — "breath," "blast," "spirit."

In the other Testament 2 words

πνοή pnoḗ · G4157 · wind, blowing, to blow: Greek πνοή (breath, breeze) serves as the standard LXX rendering for Hebrew נְשָׁמָה in its concrete sense of breath/breathing, representing the physical manifestation of life-force, whereas נְשָׁמָה's semantic range extends further to include abstract spiritual dimensions (soul, spirit) that πνοή does not encompass.
נִשְׁמָא nishmâʼ · H5396 · breath: נִשְׁמָא (nishmâʼ, H5396) (Aramaic נִשְׁמָא) is the direct cognate reflex of נְשָׁמָה (nᵉshâmâh, H5397) (Hebrew נְשָׁמָה), both derived from the same Semitic root denoting 'breath' — the Aramaic form appears in Daniel's bilingual context as the linguistic equivalent of the Hebrew term's core sense.

Semantic domains 1 entry

Blow002002001002: The word names breath or the vital breath of life, as the LORD breathes into man's nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7's parallel imagery) and every breathing thing that had the breath of life dies in the flood (Genesis 7:22), tying the word to this life-giving act of breathing.

Word family 4 words

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

נָשַׁם nâsham · H5395 · to pant, to gasp · 1×נְשָׁמָהnᵉshâmâh · H5397תַּנְשֶׁמֶת tanshemeth · H8580 · barn owl, chameleon · 3×נִשְׁמָא nishmâʼ · H5396 · breath · 1×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H5397. neshamah נְשָׁמָה noun feminine breath; — ׳נ Deu 20:16 Deu 20:9t.; construct…

H5397. neshamah
נְשָׁמָה noun feminine breath; — ׳נ Deu 20:16 Deu 20:9t.; construct נִשְׁמַת (compare LagBN 82) Gen 2:7 Gen 2:10t.; suffix נִשְׁמָתִי Job 27:3; נִשְׁמָתוֺ Job 34:14; plural נְשָׁמוֺת Isa 57:16; —
1 breath of God as hot wind kindling a flame Isa 30:33; as destroying wind 2Sa 22:16 = Psa 18:16; Job 4:9; as cold wind producing ice Job 32:8; Job 33:4.
2 breath of man 1Ki 17:17; Isa 42:5; Job 27:3; Dan 10:7; breath of life חיים נשׁמת Gen 2:7 (J); compare חַיִּים רוּחַ נִשְׁמַת Gen 7:22 (J); as breathed in by God it is God's breath in man Job 34:14; Job 36:4; and is characteristic of man באפו נשׁמה אשׁר אדם Isa 2:22 man in whose nostrils is but a breath (late gloss).
3 synonym נְשָׁמָה כָּל נפשׁ every breathing thing Deu 20:16; Jos 11:11, Jos 11:14; 1Ki 15:29; כָּלהַֿנְּשָׁמָה Jos 10:14; Psa 150:6; נְשָׁמוֺת Isa 57:16.
4 spirit of man, || י ׳נֵר ׳נ אָדָם רוּחַ, Pro 20:27 the spirit of man is a lamp of ׳י.

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

Topical studies with this word 1 entry

Blow18 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