Volitional/spiritual yearning is also assigned to nepes, such as the desire for God ( Psalm 42:1-2 ), justice ( Isa 26:8-9 ), evil ( Prov 21:10 ), and political power ( 2 Sam 3:21 ). It can be used of excessive desires (gluttony Prov 23:2 ) and of unfulfilled desires (barrenness 1 Sam 1:15 ). Nepes is often used to express physical needs such as hunger ( Deut 12:20 1 Sam 2:16 ) and thirst ( Prov 25:25 ). Even while focusing on a single part of the body, by synecodoche the whole person is represented. Nepes also can mean the neck, and the vital function that takes place there, noting that it can be ensnared ( 1 Sam 28:9 Psalm 105:18 ), humbled and endangered ( Prov 18:7 ), and bowed to the ground ( Psalm 44:25 ). It can refer to the throat ( Isa 5:14 Hab 2:5 ), noting that it can be parched and dry ( Num 11:6 Jeremiah 31:12 Jeremiah 31:25 ), discerning ( Prov 16:23 ), hungry ( Num 21:5 ), and breathing ( Jer 2:24 ). Nepes is also used to designate parts of the body, primarily to stress their characteristics and functions. The Revised Standard Version reflects the above understanding of nepes by replacing the King James Version "soul" with such translations as "being, " "one, " "self, " "I/me." Admittedly this movement from the nominal to the pronominal is without an exact borderline. įrequently nepes takes the place of a personal or reflexive pronoun ( Psalm 54:4 Prov 18:7 ). Hebrew thought could not conceive of a disembodied nepes. Here nepes is detached from the concept of life and refers to the corpse. More significant here is that nepes can mean the corpse of an individual even without the qualification "dead" ( Num 5:2 6:11 ). Nepes qualified by "dead" means a dead individual, a corpse ( Num 6:6 ). In its plural form it indicates a number of individuals such as Abraham's party ( Gen 12:5 ), the remnant left behind in Judah ( Jer 43:6 ), and the offspring of Leah ( Gen 46:15 ). It is the breath of God that makes the lifeless dust a "living being" person.įrequently in the Old Testament nepes designates the individual ( Lev 17:10 23:30 ). Such is observable in Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, where the qualified (living) nepes refers to animals and is rendered "living creatures." The same Hebrew term is then applied to the creation of humankind in Genesis 2:7, where dust is vitalized by the breath of God and becomes a "living being." Thus, human being shares soul with the animals. Nepes in the Old Testament is never the "immortal soul" but simply the life principle or living being. Hebrew is inclined to use one and the same word for a variety of functions that are labeled with distinct words in English. It is the synchronic use of nepes that determines its meaning rather than the diachronic. The two most common renderings are "soul" (428 times) and "life" (117 times). The King James Version uses 42 different English terms to translate it. It appears 755 times in the Old Testament.
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