How the Bible Defines Soul and Spirit
by Stephen Bohr
DISCLAIMER: The publications and articles on this website we believe to be biblically sound as pertains to the subject addressed, however, we do not necessarily endorse the author in other areas of Christian Doctrine.
The following Study Guide is to be used along with the audio presentation.
#7 – Rachel’s Departing Soul
Genesis 35:18:
“And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died) that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.”
The Creation of Man
Genesis 2:7:
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [neshamah]; and man became a living being [nephesh].
- Man was not given a soul
- Man does not have a soul
- Man is a soul
- The soul is composed to two elements: Dust and the breath of life
- Man could die (Genesis 2:16, 17). Life could only be sustained or recharged at the treeof life. This means that man was conditionally immortal. When man sinned he wasbarred from the battery charger and died (Genesis 3:22-24).
The Dust of the Ground
The physical organism of man is composed of dust or clay.
Isaiah 64:8:
“But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand.”
What is the spirit?
Two practically synonymous Hebrew words: Ruach and neshamah. Never once are they used to describe something immortal, conscious or able to function independently of the body.
Explain that Hebrew poetry is based on the principle of parallelism. There are three types: Synonymous, antithetical and synthetic. The ruach and neshamah are the vital force, the energizing force, the electrical current which leads the heart to pump, the lungs to breathe, the nervous system to function, etc.
Job 33:4:
“The Spirit [ruach] of God has made me, and the breath [neshamah] of the Almighty gives me life.”
Job 27:3:
“As long as my breath [neshamah] is in me, and the breath [ruach] of God in my nostrils.”
Isaiah 42:5:
“Thus says God the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath [neshamah] to the people on it, and spirit [ruach] to those who walk on it.”
Ecclesiastes 3:19-21: Animals and men
“For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath [neshamah]; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows the spirit [ruach] of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit [ruach] of the animal, which goes down to the earth?”
Am I saying that man is on the same level as animals? In terms of what keeps them alive, yes! Allow me to illustrate what I mean. Does a refrigerator use the same energy source as a computer? Of course it does. Does this mean that the computer and the refrigerator are identical? As far as their energy source is concerned, the answer is yes. But with regards to the function for which they were created they are very different. One was created to fulfill the function of a refrigerator and the other was built to fulfill the function of a computer. Obviously, with regards to function, the computer is far more sophisticated than the fridge. The energy source merely makes it possible for the computer and the refrigerator to fulfill the function for which they were created. Yet neither one can function without being connected to the power source! They are dead [even today we say that the phone line went dead!] without being connected.
Let’s take a look at a few New Testament texts that use the word “spirit”. The word pneuma is the exact equivalent of ruach and neshamah:
James 2:26:
“For as the body without the spirit [pneuma] is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
Revelation 11:7, 11: Regarding the two witnesses
7 “Now when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. 11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath [pneuma] of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.”
Ezekiel 37: This is similar to the valley of the dry bones. There the body parts come together and then the spirit comes into them and they stand up and live.
John 19:30:
“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit [pneuma].”
He stopped breathing
What is the soul?
The word “soul” is a “life”, a “living being”, a “person”
Genesis 2:7:
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [neshamah] of life; and man became a living being [nephesh].”
Genesis 14:21: King of Sodom. You take the booty but give me the persons
“Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons [nephesh], and take the goods for yourself."”
Why does the KJV sometimes translate “person” and at other times “soul”? There is no explanation other than bias.
Genesis 12:5: Left Haran for Canaan
“Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people [nephesh; “souls” in the KJV] whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.”
Leviticus 17:11: The word can also be translated “life”
“For the life [nephesh] of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls [“you” nephesh]; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul [“the person” nephesh].”
The blood carries the life giving oxygen to all parts of the body. When the vital force leaves the body, the blood does not flow to the body any longer and the result is death.
Psalm 22:20: The personal pronoun “me” in the NKJV
“Deliver Me [nephesh; my soul in the KJV] from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.”
Ezekiel 18:4:
"Behold, all souls [nephesh] are Mine; the soul [nephesh] of the father as well as the soul [nephesh] of the son is Mine; the soul [nephesh] who sins shall die.”
Psalm 30:3:
“O LORD, You brought my soul [nephesh] up from the grave [I thought the soul went up when a person died]; you have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.”
Psalm 49:15:
“But God will redeem my soul [nephesh] from the power of the grave [notice that the soul is delivered from the grave and therefore it must go there after death], for He shall receive me.”
Let’s take a look at some New Testament texts which use the word “soul”
1 Corinthians 15:45: Nephesh equivalent to psyche
“And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being [psyche].” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
Acts 2:41: Three thousand souls in KJV
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls [psyche] were added to them.”
Acts 27:37: Seventy-six persons in KJV
“And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons [psyche] on the ship.”
Romans 13:1: Persons subject to governing authorities
“Let every soul [psyche: persons in NKJV] be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.”
Acts 27:22: No life lost on the ship at Clauda
“And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life [psyche] among you, but only of the ship.”
Matthew 2:19, 20: All who sought the life of Jesus were dead
“But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life [psyche] are dead."
Matthew 20:28: There are other words available such as bios and zoe
“. . . just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life [psyche] a ransom for many."
John 10:11:
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life [psyche] for the sheep.”
Acts 15:26:
“. . . Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives [psyche] for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Matthew 16:26:
“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul [psyche]? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul [psyche]?”
Luke 9:25:
“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”
Acts 12:23: King Herod was eaten by worms gave up his psyche. A medical term that means to breathe ones last, to die (Arndt and Gingrich Lexicon)
“Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died [exepsychen] literally: ‘gave up his life’].”
Acts 5:10: The death of Sapphira
“And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last [exepsychen: KJV, “yieded up the ghost”], and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.”
In the New International Version the word “soul” is translated with a personal pronoun or the like:
- Acts 2:27, 31: “Not leave my soul [me] in hell”
- Acts 2:43: “Fear came upon every soul [everyone]”
- Romans 2:9: Human being “tribulation and anguish upon every soul [human being]who does evil”
- Romans 13:1: Everyone “Let every soul [everyone] be subject to the higher powers”
- Hebrews 10:38: I “If one draw back my soul [I] has no pleasure in him”
- Hebrews 10:39: “Saving of the soul” [those who are saved]
- James 5:20: “He who converts a sinner saves a soul [him] from death”
- Luke 21:19: “In your patience possess ye your souls [yourselves]”
- Acts 2:41: Not even translated in the NIV: Two thousand were added”
- Hebrews 13:7: “Submit to those who rule because they watch out for your souls [you]”
- Matthew 12:18: I “Behold my servant with whom my soul [I] is well pleased”
Luke 12:19, 20: The rich fool who built bigger barns
“And I will say to my soul [psyche], “Soul [psyche], you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ’Fool! This night your soul [psyche] will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Luke 12:19, 20, NIV: Rich fool
“And I’ll say to myself [my soul], ‘You [soul] have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life [soul] will be demanded from you.’”
We use this type of figurative language in our speech today when we say:
- “Not a soul showed up for the meeting”
- “One hundred souls were baptized”
- “I feel sorry for that poor soul.”
James 5:19, 20: Saving a soul from death
“Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul [psyche] from death [so the soul can die if it can be saved from death] and cover a multitude of sins.”
Problem Texts
Acts 20:10: Paul and Eutyches
“But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life [psyche; same as KJV] is in him."
Does the text say that his soul or life was intangible, immortal or conscious? No.
I Kings 17:17, 21, 22: The widow of Zarepath
“Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath [neshamah] left in him. 21 And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, I pray, let this child’s [immortal from heaven?] soul [nephesh]come back to him.” 22 Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul [nephesh] of the child came back to him, and he revived [this word means “to live again”.
Matthew 10:28: Killing the body but not the soul
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul [psyche]. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul [psyche] and body in hell.”
The contrast here is between the present life and the future life. What it is saying is this: “Don’t fear those who are able to take away your present physical life but cannot take away your eternal life. Rather fear the one who can do both!
The key is in verse 39:
“He who finds his [present] life [psyche] will lose it, and he who loses his [present] life [psyche] for My sake will find it [eternal life].”
The sense is even clearer in the parallel passage of Luke 12:4, 5:
"And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”
Let’s go back to our original text and examine it once again:
Genesis 35:18: Does it say here that her soul was immortal or conscious or went up to heaven? No! All of these are simple assumptions
“And so it was, as her “[immortal?] soul was departing [to heaven?] (for she died) that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.”
Psalm 146:4: Thoughts perish
“His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans [thoughts: KJV] perish.”
Psalm 104:29, 30: Death and creation
“You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. 30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth.”
Genesis 3:19: The word “return” is key
“In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return."
Ecclesiastes 12:7: Spirit returns to God. There is more than meets the eye here “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”
Romans 6:23: Only two options are available: Life and death. We must not attempt to redefine death to mean “everlasting life in misery.”
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