7. (a) How many times does this Hebrew word occur in the Bible, and what is its actual meaning? (b) What other souls are there besides human souls, and do souls die? (c) How is the Greek word for soul used with respect to Adam? (d) How did Adam become a living soul, and what reverse process took place later? (Job 34:15)

⁷ The Hebrew word, neʹphesh, which occurs about 750 times in the Bible, means actually “a breather.” As we have already seen, fish, birds, animals and humans are all called “souls [neʹphesh]” in the Bible. They do not have souls. They are souls, breathing creatures. And as the psalms quoted above show, the “soul” cannot escape the hand of gravedom. It dies.

8. (a) How do Hebrew scholars define neʹphesh? (b) How do Greek-English lexicons define psy·kheʹ? (c) What words of Jesus prove that the soul is not immortal? (Matthew 26:38)

⁸ The “soul” is the physical, living person himself, not just a spiritual part of him. Many authorities present this viewpoint. For example, one of America’s foremost Hebrew scholars, Dr. H. M. Orlinsky, said regarding the word soul”:

“The Bible does not say we have a soul. ‘Nefesh’ is the person himself, his need for food, the very blood in his veins, his being.”