Grafted Biblical Concept · Concept

Soul / Nephesh

נֶפֶשׁ · Nephesh · H5315ψυχή · Psychē · G5590

776 Scripture references2 lexical sources0 supporting resources

Primary Study

Grafted Bible Dictionary

Definition

Nephesh is a broad Hebrew term that can mean:
• living being
• life
• person
• self
• throat
• appetite
It should not automatically be defined as an immortal, immaterial entity living inside the earth, life, humanity, and ordered world into existence.">creation rather than as an inherently evil prison for the soul.">body.

Genesis

Genesis 2:7 says that after God formed the human and breathed life into him:
"the man became a living creature."
The Hebrew phrase is nephesh chayyah.
The same terminology is also used for animals.

Usage

A nephesh can:
• hunger
• thirst
• die
• be rescued
• desire
• refer to an entire person
Context determines the best English translation.
Greek Psychē
The Septuagint frequently translates nephesh with psychē.
The New Testament term therefore carries substantial Hebrew-scriptural background.

Death

Scripture can speak of a nephesh dying.
See:
• Ezekiel 18:4
• Ezekiel 18:20
This is important when evaluating later philosophical concepts of the naturally immortal soul.

Interpretive Significance

Biblical anthropology is often more holistic than later earth, life, humanity, and ordered world into existence.">creation rather than as an inherently evil prison for the soul.">body-versus-soul dualism.
The ultimate biblical hope centers on resurrection.

Hebrew and Greek Word Study

Hebrew Word Study

נֶפֶשׁ

nephesh · H5315

Original Word: נֶפֶשׁ
Transliteration: nephesh
Strong’s: H5315
Pronunciation: neh'-fesh
Meaning: any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, [idiom] dead(-ly), desire, [idiom] (dis-) contented, [idiom] fish, ghost, [phrase] greedy, he, heart(-y), (hath, [idiom] jeopardy of) life ([idiom] in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, [phrase] slay, soul, [phrase] tablet, they, thing, ([idiom] she) will, [idiom] would have it.

Unified Lexical Definition

properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)

Lexical Sources

STRONG'SStrong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)

View original lexicon entry

{
    "strongs": "H5315",
    "language": "hebrew",
    "lemma": "נֶפֶשׁ",
    "transliteration": "nephesh",
    "pronunciation": "neh'-fesh",
    "part_of_speech": "",
    "glosses": [
        "any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, [idiom] dead(-ly), desire, [idiom] (dis-) contented, [idiom] fish, ghost, [phrase] greedy, he, heart(-y), (hath, [idiom] jeopardy of) life ([idiom] in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, [phrase] slay, soul, [phrase] tablet, they, thing, ([idiom] she) will, [idiom] would have it."
    ],
    "definitions": [
        "properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality",
        "used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)"
    ],
    "administrator_commentary": "",
    "source": {
        "dataset": "Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon",
        "provider": "Open Scriptures",
        "url": "https://github.com/openscriptures/strongs",
        "license": "CC BY-SA"
    },
    "version": 1,
    "updated_at": "2026-08-05T10:41:40-05:00",
    "strong": "H5315"
}

Hebrew Bible Usage

754 occurrences

View All Hebrew Occurrences

Greek Word Study

ψυχή

psychḗ · G5590

Original Word: ψυχή
Transliteration: psychḗ
Strong’s: G5590
Meaning: heart (+ -ily), life, mind, soul, + us, + you

Hebrew Source

נֶפֶשׁ · nephesh · H5315

Unified Lexical Definition

breath, i.e. (by implication) spirit, abstractly or concretely (the animal sentient principle only thus distinguished on the one hand from G4151 (πνεῦμα), which is the rational and immortal soul and on the other from G2222 (ζωή), which is mere vitality, even of plants: these terms thus exactly correspond respectively to the Hebrew H05315, H07307 and H02416)

Lexical Sources

STRONG'SStrong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

View original lexicon entry

{
    "strongs": "G5590",
    "language": "greek",
    "lemma": "ψυχή",
    "transliteration": "psychḗ",
    "pronunciation": "",
    "part_of_speech": "",
    "glosses": [
        "heart (+ -ily), life, mind, soul, + us, + you"
    ],
    "definitions": [
        "breath, i.e. (by implication) spirit, abstractly or concretely (the animal sentient principle only",
        "thus distinguished on the one hand from G4151 (πνεῦμα), which is the rational and immortal soul",
        "and on the other from G2222 (ζωή), which is mere vitality, even of plants: these terms thus exactly correspond respectively to the Hebrew H05315, H07307 and H02416)"
    ],
    "administrator_commentary": "",
    "source": {
        "dataset": "Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon",
        "provider": "Open Scriptures",
        "url": "https://github.com/openscriptures/strongs",
        "license": "CC BY-SA"
    },
    "version": 1,
    "updated_at": "2026-08-05T10:41:58-05:00",
    "strong": "G5590"
}

New Testament Usage

103 occurrences

View All Greek Occurrences

Biblical Usage

Concordance and Scripture Usage

776Exact Lemma

Torah · 177

Prophets / Historical Books · 111

Writings / Wisdom · 242

Prophets · 153

Gospels · 39

Acts · 15

Acts 2:27Exact Lemma Acts 2:41Exact Lemma Acts 2:43Exact Lemma Acts 3:23Exact Lemma Acts 4:32Exact Lemma Acts 7:14Exact Lemma Acts 14:2Exact Lemma Acts 14:22Exact Lemma Acts 15:24Exact Lemma Acts 15:26Exact Lemma Acts 20:10Exact Lemma Acts 20:24Exact Lemma Acts 27:10Exact Lemma Acts 27:22Exact Lemma Acts 27:37Exact Lemma

Epistles · 32

Revelation · 7

Revelation 6:9Exact Lemma Revelation 8:9Exact Lemma Revelation 12:11Exact Lemma Revelation 16:3Exact Lemma Revelation 18:13Exact Lemma Revelation 18:14Exact Lemma Revelation 20:4Exact Lemma

Definition

Genesis

Usage

Death

Interpretive Significance

Hebrew and Greek Word Study

Unified Lexical Definition

Lexical Sources

Hebrew Bible Usage

Hebrew Source

Unified Lexical Definition

Lexical Sources

New Testament Usage

Spirit / Ruach

Body

Death

Resurrection

Immortality

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