nefesh · soul, living being, life

What it means

nefesh (נֶפֶשׁ) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “soul, living being, life”.

A breathing being, a living being. It is translated "living being" (people and animals), "life" (when living or dying is at stake), "person" (in counts and laws), "soul" (the person at the innermost: desires, joy, anguish) or "myself". In the Old Testament it names the whole living being, not only a part of it.

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. Something alive that breathes, person or animal.
2. Life, when it is at stake.
3. Someone as a whole; "my soul" can simply mean me.
4. A person's innermost self: what they feel and desire.
5. Hunger or craving; the throat.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

BDB defines it as a breathing creature, an animate being, and notes that it is used very widely. In the Old Testament it names the whole living being: its life, its person, its desires. It comes from the verb נָפַשׁ, “take breath”.

• A living being, person or animal Genesis 1:20Genesis 2:7
• Life, when living or dying is at stake Exodus 21:23Genesis 12:13Leviticus 17:11
• Person, in counts and laws Genesis 46:27
• The soul: the person within, with his desires and longing Psalms 42:1Deuteronomy 6:5Psalms 103:1
• Appetite, throat Proverbs 16:26Habakkuk 2:5

Historical and cultural background

Leviticus 17:11 joins life and blood: “the life of the flesh is in the blood”; that is why the law forbids eating blood (Leviticus 17:12).

How we translate it

“Soul” 427 times, “life” 108, “person” 70, “souls” 34, “persons” 27, “lives” 17. This edition's glossary sets “soul” and allows “life” (when living or dying is at stake), “person” (counts and laws), “I” or “myself” (reflexive use, as in Genesis 12:13) and “throat” or “appetite”. נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה is translated “living being”, both for animals and for the human being, and נֶפֶשׁ מֵת “a dead person” (Numbers 6:6).

How it is translated

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

• soul ×427
• life ×108
• person ×70
• souls ×34
• persons ×27
• lives ×17
• being ×11
• appetite ×7
• I ×5
• dead ×5
• others ×43

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Genesis×43
• Exodus×17
• Leviticus×60
• Numbers×50
• Deuteronomy×35
• Joshua×16
• Judges×10
• Ruth×1
• 1 Samuel×34
• 2 Samuel×17
• 1 Kings×23
• 2 Kings×15
• 1 Chronicles×5
• 2 Chronicles×4
• Esther×6
• Job×35
• Psalms×144
• Proverbs×56
• Ecclesiastes×7
• Song of Songs×7
• Isaiah×34
• Jeremiah×62
• Lamentations×12
• Ezekiel×42
• Hosea×2
• Amos×3
• Jonah×5
• Micah×3
• Habakkuk×3
• Haggai×1
• Zechariah×2

• Genesis 1:20

  And Elohim said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living beings, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the vault of the heavens.”

• Genesis 1:21

  And Elohim created the great sea monsters and every living being that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good.

• Genesis 1:24

  And Elohim said, “Let the earth bring forth living beings according to their kind: livestock and creeping things and animals of the earth according to their kind.” And it was so.

• Genesis 1:30

  And to every animal of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that creeps on the earth, that has life, I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

• Genesis 2:7

  And YHWH Elohim formed the man from dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

• Genesis 2:19

  And YHWH Elohim formed from the ground every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called it, as a living being, that was its name.

• Genesis 9:4

  Only flesh with its life, its blood, you shall not eat.

• Genesis 9:5

  And surely your blood, for your lives, I will require; from the hand of every animal I will require it, and from the hand of the human being, from the hand of each one for his brother, I will require the life of the human being.

• Genesis 9:10

  and with every living being that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that came out of the ark, to every animal of the earth.

• Genesis 9:12

  And Elohim said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I am giving between me and you and every living being that is with you, for generations forever:

• Genesis 9:15

  that I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living being of all flesh; and the waters will never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

• Genesis 9:16

  And the bow will be in the cloud, and I will see it to remember the eternal covenant between Elohim and every living being of all flesh that is on the earth.”

• Genesis 12:5

  Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot the son of his brother, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the persons that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. And they came to the land of Canaan.

• Genesis 12:13

  Please say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you, and I may stay alive thanks to you.”

• Genesis 14:21

  The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the possessions for yourself.”

• Genesis 17:14

  But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

• Genesis 19:17

  When they had brought them outside, he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stop anywhere in the plain; escape to the mountain, lest you be swept away.”

• Genesis 19:19

  Look, your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have made great your loyal love that you have shown me by keeping me alive; but I cannot escape to the mountain, lest the evil overtake me and I die.

• Genesis 19:20

  Look, this city is near to flee there, and it is small. Please let me escape there (is it not small?) and I will stay alive.”

• Genesis 23:8

  He spoke with them, saying, “If it is your will that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and intercede for me with Ephron son of Zohar,

• Genesis 27:4

  and make me tasty food such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”

• Genesis 27:19

  Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.”

• Genesis 27:25

  He said, “Bring it near to me, and let me eat of the game of my son, so that I may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

• Genesis 27:31

  He also made tasty food and brought it to his father, and he said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

• Genesis 32:30

  So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, “For I have seen Elohim face to face, and my life has been delivered.”

• Genesis 34:3

  But his soul clung to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke to the heart of the young woman.

• Genesis 34:8

  Hamor spoke with them, saying, “Shechem, my son, his soul longs for your daughter; please give her to him as a wife.

• Genesis 35:18

  As her life was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

• Genesis 36:6

  Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household, his livestock, all his animals, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to a land away from Jacob his brother.

• Genesis 37:21

  But Reuben heard it and delivered him from their hands, and said, “Let us not take his life.”

• Genesis 42:21

  They said to one another, “Indeed we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

• Genesis 44:30

  Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father and the young man is not with us, since his soul is bound up with his soul,

• Genesis 46:15

  These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, and Dinah his daughter; all the persons of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.

• Genesis 46:18

  These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and she bore these to Jacob, sixteen persons.

• Genesis 46:22

  These are the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob; all the persons were fourteen.

• Genesis 46:25

  These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter; and she bore these to Jacob; all the persons were seven.

• Genesis 46:26

  All the persons who came with Jacob to Egypt, who came out of his thigh, not counting the wives of Jacob’s sons, all the persons were sixty-six.

• Genesis 46:27

  And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.

• Genesis 49:6

  Into their council let my soul not enter; to their assembly let my honor not be joined; for in their anger they killed men, and at their whim they hamstrung oxen.

• Exodus 1:5

  All the persons who came out of the thigh of Jacob were seventy persons; and Joseph was in Egypt.

And 714 more times.