psychē · soul, life

What it means

psychē (ψυχή) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “soul, life”.

Soul: a person's life, the person himself.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. Literally "soul": one's being alive, which can be saved, lost or given.
2. A person's innermost self: what they feel and desire.
3. A human being counted one by one, as when saying how many there were.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

Soul: the life that animates a person, and the person himself, with his desires and feelings. Thayer also gives the sense of breath, the breath of life. Of the same family is ψυχικός, “natural”.

• Life: saving or losing one's life Matthew 16:25Mark 10:45
• The soul as against the body Matthew 10:281 Thessalonians 5:23
• The soul that loves, feels and praises Matthew 22:37Luke 1:46
• “Rest for your souls” Matthew 11:29
• Persons, in counts Acts 2:41Acts 27:37

How we translate it

“Life” 41 times, “soul” 32, “souls” 16, “lives” 5, “persons” 4, “person” 2. This edition's glossary sets ψυχή = “soul”, with the deviations “life” (when living or dying is at stake: Matthew 16:25-26) and “person” (in counts: Acts 2:41). It is the same rule as for נֶפֶשׁ (H5315), its Hebrew equivalent. In John 10:24 the Greek phrase, literally “how long do you lift up our soul?”, is translated “will you keep us in suspense”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• life ×41
• soul ×32
• souls ×16
• lives ×5
• persons ×4
• person ×2
• thing ×1
• will you keep us in suspense ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×16
• Mark×8
• Luke×14
• John×10
• Acts×15
• Romans×4
• 1 Corinthians×1
• 2 Corinthians×2
• Ephesians×1
• Philippians×2
• Colossians×1
• 1 Thessalonians×2
• Hebrews×6
• James×2
• 1 Peter×6
• 2 Peter×2
• 1 John×2
• 3 John×1
• Revelation×7

• Matthew 2:20

  saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life have died.”

• Matthew 6:25

  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

• Matthew 10:28

  And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

• Matthew 10:39

  The one who finds his life will lose it, and the one who loses his life for my sake will find it.

• Matthew 11:29

  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

• Matthew 12:18

  “Look, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased; I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

• Matthew 16:25

  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me will find it.

• Matthew 16:26

  For what will it profit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life?

• Matthew 20:28

  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

• Matthew 22:37

  And he said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

• Matthew 26:38

  Then he says to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with me.”

• Mark 3:4

  And he says to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” But they were silent.

• Mark 8:35

  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me and the good news will save it.

• Mark 8:36

  For what does it profit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?

• Mark 8:37

  For what can a person give in exchange for his life?

• Mark 10:45

  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

• Mark 12:30

  and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

• Mark 14:34

  And he says to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.”

• Luke 1:46

  And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,

• Luke 2:35

  —and a sword will pierce your own soul too —so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

• Luke 6:9

  And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?”

• Luke 9:24

  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me, that one will save it.

• Luke 10:27

  And he answered and said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

• Luke 12:19

  And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; rest, eat, drink, be merry.”’

• Luke 12:20

  But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night they demand your soul from you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

• Luke 12:22

  And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will wear.

• Luke 12:23

  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

• Luke 14:26

  “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even his own life as well, he cannot be my disciple.

• Luke 17:33

  Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will keep it alive.

• Luke 21:19

  By your endurance gain your lives.

• John 10:11

  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

• John 10:15

  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

• John 10:17

  For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.

• John 10:24

  So the Jews gathered around him and were saying to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

• John 12:25

  Whoever holds his life dear loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

• John 12:27

  Now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this reason I came to this hour.

• John 13:37

  Peter says to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

• John 13:38

  Jesus answers, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I tell you, the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.”

• John 15:13

  No one has greater love than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

• Acts 2:27

  because you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

And 62 more times.