Does the Bible not teach that a soul is a living being and that it cannot

die? (Pt. 2).

Dear Reader:

        The word for soul in the Old Testament is nephesh. A clear study of this word nephesh shows that it refers to an organism or creature that has life; that is alive. It in no way refers to an entity that lives within the person or creature and that is independent of the body. 

        The different meanings of this Hebrew word are the following: “creature, being, i.e., an animal of any kind, as a living thing in creation (Gen. 1:20); heart, the inner self, i.e., the essence of life, including thinking, feeling, willing, desiring (Gen. 34:3).1”  In none of these meanings do we find “soul” or “nephesh” used to mean an entity that lives independent of the body. Let us, for example, look at the very first use of this word in the Bible. We turn to the book of Genesis, chapter 1:20. The text reads, “And God said, Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” (NASB). The word “living creatures” is the translation of the word “soul” or “nephesh.” Clearly, the word soul or nephesh refers to the living entity itself.

        Here is another example: in Genesis 1:21 we read: “And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” Here in this verse “every living creature” refers to all life forms, and these life forms God called nephesh (which translators translated as soul). The word “life” or “living” is the word nephesh, (again, translated by translators as soul). In other words, “soul” or “nephesh,” simply refers to the living creature. So animals are called nephesh, meaning living creatures. There is no indication that there is a separate entity living in these creatures. Again, here is another use of the word soul or nephesh, we look at Genesis 9:4. The text reads, “But flesh with its life, which is the blood, you shall not eat thereof.” 

        In other words, before the Israelites could cook meat for food, they had to drain out all the blood. This was in respect for the life of the animal. And since life was maintained by the blood, they were to abstain from eating blood. Verse 5 goes on to make this even clearer. The word “life” in this text is the same used for “soul” or “nephesh.” Again we see the word soul meaning life, living. Let us look at another text. We turn next to Genesis 12:5. In this text we read that when Abraham left Haran for the Land of Canaan, he took all “the souls he had gotten in Haran” and journeyed forth at the Lord’s command. The word “souls” here refers to the children born to him there in Haran. Again we see the interchangeable use of soul and individual.

        Again, here is another text with a different slant. In Exodus 23:9 we read: “And you shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt. (NASB). The word “feelings” (heart in Hebrew) is nephesh. Again we see how soul or nephesh is used to refer to the individual or to a quality of the individual and not to a separate, living entity within the body. This is the general interpretation of nephesh or soul through out the Bible. 

        Please bear in mind that the translators translated the word nephesh as soul simply because many of them had already succumbed to the paganistic philosophy of something living in the body, called a ‘spirit’ or ‘soul.’ The actual Hebrew word only means a living creature, and is sometimes referred to as our feeling or emotions.

        There are a few texts in the Bible that some individuals use to defend the idea that the soul in immortal; in my next article we will look at these texts. God is a loving God and when He does anything it is always for the best of humanity. In His mercy he made sinful man subject to death. Can you imagine a sick, suffering, individual living forever? Or can you imagine a violent criminal living forever? And of course if man lived forever he would have quickly over populated the earth. God is wise and prudent, let’s keep on trusting Him until He returns to earth for His people. God bless.

1Swanson, James, A Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament), (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1997.

    Pastor Ron is a retired Adventist pastor. Reach him at ron.hende@gmail.com. with your comments.