In the canon of the old testament, every occurrence of the hebrew world for soul. The psuche in psychology and theology basil jackson, 1975. The term means literally, breath and by implication spirit. Learn about psuche original meaning in the bible using the new testament greek lexicon new american standard. A preliminary study on the biblical meaning of soul.
The kjv is in the public domain, thus you may distribute it freely. For whosoever will save his psuche life shall lose it. The number of times of each particular rendering is also listed. Inasmuch as the deity is pantheistically understood as the total. The following are twelve classifications of nephesh. Psychological allegorical interpretation of the bible john uebersax. The biblical idea of soul is consistent with the views of modern psychology and. A critical lexicon and concordance to the english and greek new testament. The different uses of those two words help us to obtain a better understanding of the biblical view of human nature. The soullife is mans natural life, the life which enables a person to exist, to be organic, and to live. Pneuma spirit, is the greek word corresponding with the hebrew ruach in the old testament.
Chapter ii the new testament as resource for the understanding of. Please note asterisk and the order in which the books are listed. The first fulfilment of prophecy in the new testament. New testament ministers library a companion volume to dictionary of jesus and the gospels and dictionary of paul and his. In his book, soul and psyche, wayne rollins offers a psychological biblical approach as one of the new approaches to scripture since the 1960s. Psuche exactly corresponds to the hebrew nepesh, as will be seen from the following passages. For a proper perspective of the information presented here, please read the explanation that i give to this page in the page entitled new testament greek grammars. Another and important stricture on the name suggested by hupfeld, is that it loses sight of the. The concept of the soul in plato and in early judeochristian thought. Interestingly, origins for both words can be found in the new testament. An interesting though not particularly decisive discussion is going on in the expository times in regard to the meaning and use of these words in the new testament. The books of the new testament are taken as they stand, and no question is. The usage of the corresponding new testament word psuche will be presented in a later appendix.
The law of divine interchange links the hebrew word nephesh and the greek psuche by numerous new testament quotes of old testament passages. Youngs concordance defines both nephesh and psuche as animal soul. We know there is a difference between the soul psyche and the spirit pneuma. Eerdmans or logos vincent says psuche denotes life in the distinctness of individual existence, the centre of the personal being, the i of each individual. Healing the broken heart and wounded spirit renewing the mind by removing demonic hooks through prayer dialogue with jesus in the new testament, the holy spirit, through paul, defines our existence and makeup as living beings consisting of a spiritman, soulman, and physicalman. All we have to work from are copies, and the copies di.
The hebrew term nephesh in the old testament and the greek psuche in the new testament are sometimes translated soul, but they both mean life, person. Psuche is etymologically related to psucho, to blow to cool and psuchos, cold, is on this view the vital force which resides in the members and which comes to expression especially in the breath. A preliminary study on the biblical meaning of soul in the old testament the word for soul is nephesh and in the new the word is psuche with both terms having the same meaning. In the new testament, the word psuche is employed in the same manner. It is the zoe life, the life and nature of god, which has been imparted into every born again believer. New testament vocabulary pharisees, essenes, and sadducees were three major sects or practices of judaism at the time of christ. Psychological perspectives in new testament literature moravian. The use of psuche in the new testament appendix to the. Since the bible has nephesh and psuche to denote both the soul as well as mans own life, we can readily see. There are two important greek words used for life in the new testament. It is basically the equivalent of the hebrew nephesh in the septuagint but it is used more in a spiritual sense in the new testament. Matthew mark mark luke luke john john acts acts rom. The use of the word psuche in scripture does not su.
To view this online interlinear you need acrobat reader. It is the life which gives man the power to live as a man. Lewis, fernseed and elephants, in his fernseed and elephants and other essays on christianity, london. The greek word psuche psookhay is translated soul in each of the following new testament passages. The words that i speak to you are spirit, and they are life. Christbased counseling pneumatology not psychology the. Some bible expositors teach that agapelove is gods love and. The definition of soul psuche in the new testament is based on the definition found in the old.
The use of the word psuche in scripture does not support the common theological interpretation of the soul as a nonphysical and separate metaphysical appendage to man. The pharisees and sadducees were the two more powerful and influential sects, the essenes were much smaller in number and less influential. The soul of man which is spirit consists of will, emotion and intellect. Strongs concordance defines nephesh as, a breathing creature, an animal. Bauer, a greekenglish lexicon of the new testament and other early christian literature, 3rd, chicago. Notes on the original greek text of the new testament. It would be greatly appreciated if i could find out what the new testament greek language might have been to define the two. To search this interlinear and more amazing features, download the isa bible software windows only for free. In the new testament word soul can mean, person, life, or spirit when translated from the greek. Pneuma spirit, is the greek word corresponding with the heb. June 2008 revised 232012 new testament study of the word mind this study is comprised of twenty different greek words and how they are translated.
In all these places, psuche in the new testament represents nepesh in the old. Zoe and psuche in the new testament internet archive. Vines complete expository dictionary of old and new. The traditional concept of an immaterial and immortal soul distinct from the body was not found. The difference between soul and spirit come reason. Given the fact that the ship between contemporary biblical scholarship bible is an.
Does it try to reduce the bibles meaning to secular, materialistic principles. There seems to be something very deep in the psyche that responds to ancient. He also shows that ruach is used in nine different ways in the old testament, while pneuma is used fourteen different ways in the new testament. The new testament, the church, and christianity, were all the creation of the calpurnius piso pronounced peso1 family, who were roman aristocrats. In peters first epistle, when he addressed the topic of the genesis flood he referred to the fact that few, that is eight. Zoe and psuche in the new testament is an article from the old and new testament student, volume 12. For aristotle the deity is incorporeal and unmoved as proton kinoun, but it is still a zoon, its zoe being eternal. The traditional view of the soul derived as it has been from pagan, hellenistic speculative thinking is not synonymous with the biblical concept. The new testament and all the characters in itjesus, all the josephs, all the maws, all the disciples, apostles, paul, and john the baptist.
The general statement having been laid down that zoe means the eternal life. The chart below illustrates the variety of ways this greek word was translated in the king james new testament. The new testament examples of the faithful new testament. Volume in a commentary series having separately titled volumes 8.
Notably, this word psuche is found in the following new testament verses. In every case psuche was used in both the new testament and the lxx. Psuche it likewise defines as the animal, sentient principle. Individuation symbolism in the old testament studies in jungian psychology no.
The new testament of the holy bible king james version. Explores biblical lore as a selfrevelation of the objective psyche and a rich compendium of archetypal images representing humanitys successive encounters. View more articles from the old and new testament student. The usage of the latter will be found in appendix 9, and should be compared with this appendix. The confusion we face concerning the nature of the soul is because of the introduction of the greek idea of. The greek of the new testament makes things a little more clear. Download theological dictionary of the new testament. Heres a funny example from the kjv, which is identical in some other versions and translations. Apologetics press intermediate christian evidences. In the new testament, because the greek language the word. As a further check on psuche of the new testament being similar to nephesh of the old testament, an examination was made of the five quotations in the new testament of an old testament text where nephesh occurred. In all these places, psuche in the new testament represents nephesh in the old.