The Biblical Meanings of "Soul"

[Guest]

THE BIBLICAL MEANING OF “SOUL”

In both New and Old Testaments, I find that there are basically four meanings of the word translated as "soul" (that is, the Greek word "psuchos" and the Hebrew word "nephesh.") Here are a few examples:

New Testament

LIFE

Mark 8:35
For whoever would save his soul will lose it; and whoever loses his soul for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

BEING

Matt 20:27,28
and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his soul as a means of liberation in place of many

Matt 26:38
Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." ."

SELF

Matt 6:25
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your soul, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Luke 12:19
And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’

Matt 12:18
(Quoting Isaiah)
"Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

Luke 14:26
"If any one comes to me and does not discount his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own soul, he cannot be my disciple.

Sometimes there is a fine line, or perhaps even no line, between the meaning "being" and the meaning "self."

PERSON

Acts 3:23
[Quoting Moses]:
And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.


Acts 2:41
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Old Testament

BEING

Gen 2:7
then the Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

LIFE
Gen 1:20
swarms of creatures that have soul.

Leviticus 17:11 ‘For the soul of the flesh is in the blood …

SELF

Genesis 27:4 and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die."

Leviticus 19:28 You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the soul or tattoo any marks upon you: I am Yahweh.

PERSON

Leviticus 21:1 Yahweh said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: No one shall defile himself for a dead soul among his relatives.

[Guest]

Paidion,

from the scriptures you have quoted, it would appear that the word soul is indeed synonymous with "being" or "person" or "self" or "life"

many people have the conception (i might be one of them- i'm not sure) that the soul is an actual "thing," i.e. that it is not merely a synonym for other abstract ideas like mind, self, life, and person.

for e.g., many people would say that when a person dies, their soul leaves their body. obviously, if the soul only is a synonym for person, being or self, then this wouldnt be the case because those terms are not "things."

i was just interested to know whether you think a "soul" is a "thing" vs. merely an expression of an abstract idea. my question may not be clear; if so i will try to clarify if you need me to.

thx,

TK

[Guest]

Hi TK,

I believe that the way we tend to use the word "soul" is quite different from the way the Hebrews used it (and thus the way the scripture writers used it). We tend to think of "soul" as a seperate component - the "ghost in the machine" as it were. The Hebrew view (which would include Paul) seems to have been more simple and holistic: that man is one complete entity, part of which is seen (body/outer man) and part of which is unseen (spirit/inner man). As Paidion pointed out, the word "soul" is often applied in scripture to the whole person, not just the unseen part.

Whereas the Hebrew view seemed to be that the body and spirit are two expressions of the same thing (a person) from different perspectives (outer and inner) with "soul" being an overall description, the Greek view tended to see the body and soul/spirit as distinct from one another. This dualistic view is very common in Western thought, including among Christians. It finds an expression, for example, in Calvinism.

This dualistic, Greek view of man is referred to as dichotomy, whereas the Hebraic view was more of a unity.

Dennis Bratcher contrasts Greek dichotomy against the Hebraic view this way:

"The Hebraic view that dominates Scripture does not conceptualize human beings this way. There is only a whole person animated (alive) by the breath of God. They are either alive, and have breath (same word translated as "spirit"), or they are dead and do not have breath. The biblical writers could certainly distinguish between different aspects of humanity, such as the difference between thought and hunger, or between pain and love, but never developed dualistic notions of a person being made up of divisible parts. The person was the whole. Anything less than the whole, was not a person. This extended even to how they conceptualized death. For us, it is a biological fact. For them, anything that diminished life was a form of death.

All this says, from the biblical view there cannot be a person without a body. That’s why the biblical conception of afterlife requires a bodily resurrection that has a physical dimension, including scars!

Souce: http://www.crivoice.org/bodysoul.html

There is another teaching among Western Christians known as Tripartism or Trichotomy, which says that man is made up of three components: Body, Soul and Spirit. This teaching is very common in Charismatic circles and is based on a misinterpretation of 1 Thess 5:23 and Heb 4:12. Proponents of this view tend to teach that the body and soul are corrupt, while the spirit is dead until brought to life in Christ. It approaches Gnosticism in it's contempt for the material (worldly - body/soul) and exhaltation of the spiritual.

This Trichotomic view is one of the reasons for the rampant anti-intellectualism among Fundamentalists/Charismatics who subscribe to it. Development and rigorous use of the intellect, such as in serious theological and doctrinal study, is considered "soulish" and thus tainted compared to "spiritual" pursuits like prayer, worship, prophetic expression, etc.

Oops. Did I go off on a tangent?

[Guest]

Mort, thanks so much for that article, it's excellent - a real thought-provoker! Can I ask, do you also agree with the doctrine of "soul sleep"?

[Guest]

MC-- i didnt detect any tangents. I appreciate your response.

so, if there is no "soul" per se, the alleged scientific studies that says a human body weighs "a little bit less" right after death cannot be attributable to the soul departing, nor could near death experiences (where a person allegedly sees themselves on the operating table, or is able to identify items on the roof of the hospital) cannot be explained because the soul is leaving the body behind. of course if there is no separate "soul" then no one can be in heaven until the resurrection-- right?

TK

[Guest]

In Revelation 20:4 we read about John seeing the souls of those beheaded for the gospel. The souls in Revelation are also said to be crying out for justice. Are we to understand that John saw dead bodies? Do you take this in a spiritual sense, MC?

Jesus told his discples not to fear the one who can kill the body only, but not the soul. I suppose you could squeeze this into MC's view but it wouldn't appear a very natural fit. It seems as though Jesus was making a distinction between the body and the soul, with the soul being the more valuable.

[Guest]

good point JC-- also, what "part" of jesus was in Hades while his physical body wa sin the tomb?

TK

[Guest]

I think my point may have been misconstrued. I was primarily dealing with the way we use the word "soul" vs. the way the Hebrews used it (per Paidion's post). I’m not arguing that the spirit/soul cannot be separated from the body, but that the Hebrew view of spirit and soul was much less “dichotomized” than our Greek-influenced view. The separation of spirit from body; what we call death; breaks a unity. In that regard, it is not “natural” (by which I mean it is contrary to our nature as created by God). Dichotomy or Trichotomy, on the other hand, sees the division between body and spirit (or body, soul and spirit) as already existing in a living person according to God’s design.

I think this is one reason why so little is said in scripture about existence in Heaven (where body and spirit are separated), whereas a great deal more is said about the resurrection (where body and spirit are reunited).
In Old Testament writings there is little, if any, reference to an afterlife. The references are to Sheol - the grave. It is not until the writings of the Inter-Testamental period that you begin to see references to an afterlife (Abraham's Bosom) and resurrection. In the Maccabean revolt, for example, as Jews are being tortured and dismembered to death by Antiochus Epiphanes, they speak of a resurrection, saying essentially, "You can destroy my body, but God will raise it back up and vindicate me!"

As far as what part of Jesus was in Hades, I don’t believe that any part of Jesus was in Hades, if by Hades you mean Hell. If by Hades you mean “the grave” than it was Jesus body that was in the grave.

As to Revelation 20:4, I think we have to be careful about using statements in Revelation as doctrinal proof-texts. I would, of course, humbly defer to Mr. Gregg on matters regarding Revelation, but it appears to me that John is using the word psuche (soul) to refer to the person in general terms, as evidenced by a few sentences later when he writes “They [the souls] came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years… This is the first resurrection.”

Matt. 10:28, where Jesus says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell”, seems to bring up a whole new set of problems. It appears to imply annihilationism. Does God destroy souls? Most orthodox Christians would say no. It seems then that Jesus’ point is that man can kill the body, but this has no permanent effect on our ultimate, eternal existence. Only God can affect that.

Ely, I don’t subscribe to the doctrine of “soul sleep”, per se. The problem with our use of terms like “soul” is that they carry so much baggage. When we think of “soul”, we automatically default to thinking of the non-corporeal, immortal part of a person. As Paidion’s initial post pointed out however, “soul” more often simply means “life” or “person” in general.

So maybe the question is, “What happens to the non-corporeal part of a person when their physical body dies?” Scripture is clear that to die is to be present with Christ (at least for believers). Does being present with Christ imply consciousness? I think so. Does the passage of time when one is in this state occur in the same way that it does when one is physically alive? I wonder about that. If God, "I AM", created time, then I conjecture that He exists outside of time. Could this mean that to “shuffle off this mortal coil” and be with Christ is to step out of time in the same way that one steps off a merry-go-round? Could it be that the existence apart from the physical body (in other words, prior to the resurrection) is outside of time? Might then our existence in a non-corporeal state appear to last very briefly or even not at all before we are reunited with our body at the resurrection, even though thousands of years may have passed on Earth?

[Guest]

Hey Mort, thanks for your coments, you had a lot of questions to deal with! Concerning Revelation 20:4, I don't think that's really a preoblem. The word "psuche" (souls) is not a problem here because John often uses this word in Revelation to simply denote beings (e.g. 16:3 and 18:13). In the following article, Tim Warner shows how the meaning of the text is not really brought out well in English translations. As he puts it, John was "describing the aftermath of the resurrection, and what became of the souls he had previously seen under the altar, not the resurrection itself." Check it out: http://www.geocities.com/~lasttrumpet/rev20.html

Interestingly, he identifies the souls here with those seen under the altar, presumably in heaven in Revelation 6:9:

9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

What do you make of this passage Mort (and/or Paidion)? I read an interesting explanation of this on the Biblelight (SDA) website: http://biblelight.net/Souls-under-altar.htm (just mind the promotion of the "Investigative Judgment" doctrine near the end).

Ely

[Guest]

I'm seriously re-evaluating the proof texts of the "immortality soul" doctrine.

One such text is in 1 Samuel 28 where (allegedly) Samuel's "spirit" apparently visits Saul. I've read several SDA articles which go to great lengths to argue that this was actually a demon. But this seems far too elaborate. After all, the text three times calls him Samuel without any explanations that it was really not Samuel. I reckon that this being was actually Samuel! Not a disembodied spirit of Samuel, but actually a re-animated (i.e resurrected) Samuel.

According to the NASB, when the witch saw Samuel, she called him a "divine being." According to the NKJV, she calls him "a spirit." The Hebrew word is actually "elohim." But this does not necessarily indicate that he was a non-physical being. Physical men are referred to as "elohim" Psalm 82:1,6 where meaning seems to be judges. Seeing as Samuel was a judge, perhaps the woman recognised him as a judge (perhaps byhis robe?) and used the term elohim with this same meaning. Or perhaps his apprearance was particularly resplendant and this caused her to think he was indeed a spirit being.

In any case, the fact that she was shocked when she saw him (v.12) suggests that he wasn't just another spirit being. As a necromancer, she would have been used to conjuring up spirit beings, but to see a living man would not have been the norm!

Samuel said to Saul "tomorrow you and your sons will be with me" (v.19). With him where, exactly? Taking the rest of the biblical data into consideration (especially the biblical data from that era) it seems certain that Samuel was referring to the place of the dead, i.e. sheol/ the grave/ the dust etc. He was saying that Saul would die and join Samuel in the place where "the dead do not know anything" (Ecclesiastes 9:5).

So, I think that God raised up Samuel for the special purpose of proclaiming Saul's impending demise. It might seem strange that a person be raised up only to die again, but this happens plenty of times in the Scriptures (e.g Lazarus). As in all these cases, the breath of life was once again taken from Samuel and he returned to the grave to await the final, better resurrection at the last day, the one we're waiting for.