Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
נֶפֶשׁ nephesh, neh'-fesh; from H5314; properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental):—any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, × dead(-ly), desire, × (dis-) contented, × fish, ghost, greedy, he, heart(-y), (hath, × jeopardy of) life (× in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, slay, soul, tablet, they, thing, (× she) will, × would have it.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon [?](Jump to Scripture Index)
STRONGS H5315:
Abbreviations
נֶ֫פֶשׁ 756 noun feminineGenesis 49:6 (so even Genesis 2:19; Numbers 31:28; 1 Kings 19:2 see AlbrZAW xvi (1896), 42 SS) soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, appetite, emotion, and passion (Ecclesiasticus 3:18; 4:1 (twice in verse); Ecclesiasticus 4:2 (twice in verse); Ecclesiasticus 13:12; Ecclesiasticus 14:11); — נ׳ Genesis 1:20 +; נָ֑פֶשׁ Genesis 37:21 +; suffix נַפְשִׁי Genesis 12:13 +; plural נְפָשׁוֺת Ezekiel 13:18 + 13 times; נְפָשֹׁת Exodus 12:4; Leviticus 27:2; construct נַפְשׁוֺת Genesis 36:6 + 4 times; נַפְשֹׁת Leviticus 21:11; נְפָשִׁים Ezekiel 13:20 (but read חָפְשִׁים, see Co Berthol Toy); suffix נַפְשׁוֺתָם 2 Samuel 23:17 +; נַפְשֹׁתָם Numbers 17:3 +: —
1. = that which breathes, the breathing substance or being = ψυχή, anima, the soul, the inner being of man:
a. distinguished from ׃בָּשָׂר מִנֶּפֶשׁ וְעַד בָּשָׂר Isaiah 10:18; הַנֶּפֶשׁ עִם הַבָּשָׂר Deuteronomy 12:23; from שְׁאֵר Proverbs 11:17; from בֶּטֶן body Psalm 31:10.
b. both the inner נפשׁ and the outer בשׂר are conceived as resting on a common substratum: אַךְ בְּשָׂרוֺ עָלָיו יִכְאָ֑ב וְנַפְשׁוֺ עָלָיו תֶּאֱבָֽל׃ Job 14:22 only his flesh upon him is in pain, and his soul upon him mourneth; compare Psalm 42:5; Psalm 42:7; Psalm 131:2; Job 30:16; Lamentations 3:20 [see עַל 1d], all poetical (compare 6 c).
c. נ׳ departs at death and returns with life: וַיְתִי בְּצֵאת נַפְשָׁהּ כִּי מֵתָה Genesis 35:18 (E) and it came to pass when her soul was going forth (for she died); בַפְשָׁהּ נָֽפְחָה Jeremiah 15:9 she breathed out her soul, compare 1 Kings 17:21, 22; Job 11:20; Job 31:39.
d. often desired that the נפשׁ may be delivered: from She’ôl Psalm 16:10; Psalm 30:4; Psalm 49:16; Psalm 86:13; Psalm 89:49; Proverbs 23:14; from שַׁחַת, the pit of She’ôl, Isaiah 38:17; Job 33:18, 22, 28, 30.
2. The נפשׁ becomes a living being: by God's breathing נשׁמת חיים into the nostrils of its בשׂר; of man Genesis 2:7 (J); by implication of animals also Genesis 2:19 (J); so Psalm 104:29; Psalm 104:30; compare Psalm 66:9; man is נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה, a living, breathing being Genesis 2:7 (J); elsewhere נפשׁ חיּה always of animals Genesis 1:20, 24, 30; Genesis 9:12, 15, 16 (all P), Ezekiel 47:9; so נפשׁ החיּה Genesis 1:21; Genesis 9:10 (both P), Leviticus 11:10, 46 (H); נפשׁ השׁרצת Leviticus 11:46 (H); נפשׁ כל חי Job 12:10. נפשׁ is frequently used with the verb ׃חיה וחיתה נפשׁ Genesis 12:13; Genesis 19:20 (both J), 1 Kings 20:32 (E), Psalm 119:175; Jeremiah 38:17, 20; חֵי נַפְשְׁךָ 1 Samuel 1:26; 1 Samuel 17:55; 1 Samuel 20:3; 1 Samuel 25:26; 2 Samuel 11:11; 2 Samuel 14:9; 2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6; 2 Kings 4:30 (all J E); compare † יְחַיֶּה נ׳ 1 Kings 20:31 (E), Ezekiel 18:27; Psalm 22:30; also Genesis 19:19; Isaiah 55:3; Proverbs 3:22.
3. The נפשׁ (without חיה noun or verb) is specified:
a. a living being whose life resides in the blood [so in Arabic WeSkizzen iii. 217 G. JacobArab. Dicht. iv. 9 f.] (hence sacrificial use of blood, and its prohibition in other uses; first in D), Deuteronomy 12:23, 24 only be sure that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is the living being (הַדָּם הוּא הַנֶּפֶשׁ); and thou shalt not eat the living being with the flesh (הַנֶּפֶשׁ עִם הַבָּשָׂר); thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water; this is enlarged in H, Leviticus 17:10, 11, 12, 14 and in P Genesis 9:4, 5, compare Jeremiah 2:34.
b. a serious attack upon the life is an attack upon this inner living being 2 Samuel 1:9; Jeremiah 4:10; Jonah 2:6; Psalm 69:2; Psalm 124:4; Psalm 124:5; Job 27:3.