Lowered?

[micah7:9]

this is what i get from the online Hebrew interlinear on my desktop;

and·he-is-forming
   the·human  from
־
the·ground
and·he-is-blowing
in·nostrils-of·him
breath-of
   
lives
and·he-is-becoming
    the·human
to·soul
living

That a LOT of interpretation....

Yehovah   Elohiym   to.form    man(kind)  dust   of   ground   to.breath    nostril    breath/spirit    living   man(kind)   living  soul

Note: breath/spirit is NOT the same Hebrew words as Soul

Good.

[micah7:9]

וִַ יצֶ ר 72:
u·iitzr
and·he-is-forming
יְהוָה
ieue
Yahweh
אֱהִ י   
aleim
Elohim
אֶ ת
ath
»
־
-
הָ אָ דָ    
e·adm
the·human
עָפָ ר
ophr
soil
מִ .
mn
from
־
-
הָ אֲדָ מָ ה
e·adme
the·ground
וִַ 0ַ ח
u·iphch
and·he-is-blowing
And the LORD God
formed man [of] the dust of
the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath
of life; and man became a
living soul.
7
ְ אַ 0ָ יו
b·aphi·u
in·nostrils-of·him
נִ ְ מַ ת
nshmth
breath-of
חַ ִ י   
chiim
lives
וַ יְהִ י
u·iei
and·he-is-becoming
הָ אָ דָ    
e·adm
the·human
לְ נֶפֶ 
l·nphsh
to·soul
חַ ָה
chie
living
:

[Beloved Servant]

Compare it to a car.
God build a car. Then He turned the ignition key.

I like that.
That's about the same as I was at getting with the samples above.

The spirit is the "force"; the soul is the expression of that force.

That's why Adam was red/ruddy, he expressed the nature on his countenance.

[Molly]

"The breath of life," i.e., breath producing life, does not denote the spirit by which man is distinguished form the animals, or the soul of man from that of the beasts, but only the life-breath (vid., 1 Kings 17:17).

It is true, נשׁמה generally signifies the human soul, but in Genesis 7:22 חיּים נשׁמת־רוּח is used of men and animals both; and should any one explain this, on the ground that the allusion is chiefly to men, and the animals are connected per zeugma, or should he press the ruach attached, and deduce from this the use of neshamah in relation to men and animals, there are several passages in which neshamah is synonymous with ruach (e.g., Isaiah 42:5; Job 32:8; Job 33:4), or חיים רוח applied to animals (Genesis 6:17; Genesis 7:15), or again neshamah used as equivalent to nephesh (e.g., (Joshua 10:40, cf. Joshua 10:28, Joshua 10:30, Joshua 10:32).

For neshamah, the breathing, πνοή, is "the ruach in action" (Auberlen). Beside this, the man formed from the dust became, through the breathing of the "breath of life," a חיּה נפשׁ, an animated, and as such a living being; an expression which is also applied to fishes, birds, and land animals (Genesis 1:20-21, Genesis 1:24, Genesis 1:30), and there is no proof of pre-eminence on the part of man. As חיּה נפשׁ, ψυχὴ ζῶσα, does not refer to the soul merely, but to the whole man as an animated being, so נשׁמה does not denote the spirit of man as distinguished from body and soul.

On the relation of the soul to the spirit of man nothing can be gathered from this passage; the words, correctly interpreted, neither show that the soul is an emanation, an exhalation of the human spirit, nor that the soul was created before the spirit and merely received its life from the latter. The formation of man from dust and the breathing of the breath of life we must not understand in a mechanical sense, as if God first of all constructed a human figure from dust, and then, by breathing His breath of life into the clod of earth which he had shaped into the form of a man, made it into a living being.

The words are to be understood θεοπρεπῶς. By an act of divine omnipotence man arose from the dust; and in the same moment in which the dust, by virtue of creative omnipotence, shaped itself into a human form, it was pervaded by the divine breath of life, and created a living being, so that we cannot say the body was earlier than the soul. The dust of the earth is merely the earthly substratum, which was formed by the breath of life from God into an animated, living, self-existent being.

When it is said, "God breathed into his nostril the breath of life," it is evident that this description merely gives prominence to the peculiar sign of life, viz., breathing; since it is obvious, that what God breathed into man could not be the air which man breathes; for it is not that which breathes, but simply that which is breathed. Consequently, breathing into the nostril can only mean, that "God, through His own breath, produced and combined with the bodily form that principle of life, which was the origin of all human life, and which constantly manifests its existence in the breath inhaled and exhaled through the nose" (Delitzsch, Psychol. p. 62).

Breathing, however, is common to both man and beast; so that this cannot be the sensuous analogon of the supersensuous spiritual life, but simply the principle of the physical life of the soul. Nevertheless the vital principle in man is different from that in the animal, and the human soul from the soul of the beast. This difference is indicated by the way in which man received the breath of life from God, and so became a living soul.

"The beasts arose at the creative word of God, and no communication of the spirit is mentioned even in Genesis 2:19; the origin of their soul was coincident with that of their corporeality, and their life was merely the individualization of the universal life, with which all matter was filled in the beginning by the Spirit of God.
On the other hand, the human spirit is not a mere individualization of the divine breath which breathed upon the material of the world, or of the universal spirit of nature; nor is his body merely a production of the earth when stimulated by the creative word of God.

The earth does not bring forth his body, but God Himself puts His hand to the work and forms him; nor does the life already imparted to the world by the Spirit of God individualize itself in him, but God breathes directly into the nostrils of the one man, in the whole fulness of His personality, the breath of life, that in a manner corresponding to the personality of God he may become a living soul" (Delitzsch). This was the foundation of the pre-eminence of man, of his likeness to God and his immortality; for by this he was formed into a personal being, whose immaterial part was not merely soul, but a soul breathed entirely by God, since spirit and soul were created together through the inspiration of God.

As the spiritual nature of man is described simply by the act of breathing, which is discernible by the senses, so the name which God gives him (Genesis 5:2) is founded upon the earthly side of his being: Adam, from אדמה (adamah), earth, the earthly element, like homo from humus, or from χαμά, χαμαί, χαμᾶθεν, to guard him from self-exaltation, not from the red colour of his body, since this is not a distinctive characteristic of man, but common to him and to many other creatures. The name man (Mensch), on the other hand, from the Sanskrit mânuscha, manuschja, from man to think, manas equals mens, expresses the spiritual inwardness of our nature.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

[Molly]

Compare it to a car.
God build a car. Then He turned the ignition key.

I like that.
That's about the same as I was at getting with the samples above.

The spirit is the "force"; the soul is the expression of that force.

That's why Adam was red/ruddy, he expressed the nature on his countenance.

No.

Too mechanistic.  Read what I just posted.

[Beloved Servant]

I did.
And still chewing on it.
It's pretty dense.

[micah7:9]

"The breath of life," i.e., breath producing life, does not denote the spirit by which man is distinguished form the animals, or the soul of man from that of the beasts, but only the life-breath (vid., 1 Kings 17:17).

It is true, נשׁמה generally signifies the human soul, but in Genesis 7:22 חיּים נשׁמת־רוּח is used of men and animals both; and should any one explain this, on the ground that the allusion is chiefly to men, and the animals are connected per zeugma, or should he press the ruach attached, and deduce from this the use of neshamah in relation to men and animals, there are several passages in which neshamah is synonymous with ruach (e.g., Isaiah 42:5; Job 32:8; Job 33:4), or חיים רוח applied to animals (Genesis 6:17; Genesis 7:15), or again neshamah used as equivalent to nephesh (e.g., (Joshua 10:40, cf. Joshua 10:28, Joshua 10:30, Joshua 10:32).

For neshamah, the breathing, πνοή, is "the ruach in action" (Auberlen). Beside this, the man formed from the dust became, through the breathing of the "breath of life," a חיּה נפשׁ, an animated, and as such a living being; an expression which is also applied to fishes, birds, and land animals (Genesis 1:20-21, Genesis 1:24, Genesis 1:30), and there is no proof of pre-eminence on the part of man. As חיּה נפשׁ, ψυχὴ ζῶσα, does not refer to the soul merely, but to the whole man as an animated being, so נשׁמה does not denote the spirit of man as distinguished from body and soul.

On the relation of the soul to the spirit of man nothing can be gathered from this passage; the words, correctly interpreted, neither show that the soul is an emanation, an exhalation of the human spirit, nor that the soul was created before the spirit and merely received its life from the latter. The formation of man from dust and the breathing of the breath of life we must not understand in a mechanical sense, as if God first of all constructed a human figure from dust, and then, by breathing His breath of life into the clod of earth which he had shaped into the form of a man, made it into a living being.

The words are to be understood θεοπρεπῶς. By an act of divine omnipotence man arose from the dust; and in the same moment in which the dust, by virtue of creative omnipotence, shaped itself into a human form, it was pervaded by the divine breath of life, and created a living being, so that we cannot say the body was earlier than the soul. The dust of the earth is merely the earthly substratum, which was formed by the breath of life from God into an animated, living, self-existent being.

When it is said, "God breathed into his nostril the breath of life," it is evident that this description merely gives prominence to the peculiar sign of life, viz., breathing; since it is obvious, that what God breathed into man could not be the air which man breathes; for it is not that which breathes, but simply that which is breathed. Consequently, breathing into the nostril can only mean, that "God, through His own breath, produced and combined with the bodily form that principle of life, which was the origin of all human life, and which constantly manifests its existence in the breath inhaled and exhaled through the nose" (Delitzsch, Psychol. p. 62).

Breathing, however, is common to both man and beast; so that this cannot be the sensuous analogon of the supersensuous spiritual life, but simply the principle of the physical life of the soul. Nevertheless the vital principle in man is different from that in the animal, and the human soul from the soul of the beast. This difference is indicated by the way in which man received the breath of life from God, and so became a living soul.

"The beasts arose at the creative word of God, and no communication of the spirit is mentioned even in Genesis 2:19; the origin of their soul was coincident with that of their corporeality, and their life was merely the individualization of the universal life, with which all matter was filled in the beginning by the Spirit of God.
On the other hand, the human spirit is not a mere individualization of the divine breath which breathed upon the material of the world, or of the universal spirit of nature; nor is his body merely a production of the earth when stimulated by the creative word of God.

The earth does not bring forth his body, but God Himself puts His hand to the work and forms him; nor does the life already imparted to the world by the Spirit of God individualize itself in him, but God breathes directly into the nostrils of the one man, in the whole fulness of His personality, the breath of life, that in a manner corresponding to the personality of God he may become a living soul" (Delitzsch). This was the foundation of the pre-eminence of man, of his likeness to God and his immortality; for by this he was formed into a personal being, whose immaterial part was not merely soul, but a soul breathed entirely by God, since spirit and soul were created together through the inspiration of God.

As the spiritual nature of man is described simply by the act of breathing, which is discernible by the senses, so the name which God gives him (Genesis 5:2) is founded upon the earthly side of his being: Adam, from אדמה (adamah), earth, the earthly element, like homo from humus, or from χαμά, χαμαί, χαμᾶθεν, to guard him from self-exaltation, not from the red colour of his body, since this is not a distinctive characteristic of man, but common to him and to many other creatures. The name man (Mensch), on the other hand, from the Sanskrit mânuscha, manuschja, from man to think, manas equals mens, expresses the spiritual inwardness of our nature.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

As far as I can tell they make their explanation using  how the word soul is used in the NT in relation to what a soul is a breathing creature.

[Molly]

1 Thessalonians 5:8-10



8But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

9For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

10Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

[micah7:9]

Amen! :happygrin:

[WhiteWings]

Compare it to a car.
God build a car. Then He turned the ignition key.

I like that.
That's about the same as I was at getting with the samples above.

The spirit is the "force"; the soul is the expression of that force.

That's why Adam was red/ruddy, he expressed the nature on his countenance.

No.

Too mechanistic.

Nope, it's exactly what the animal soul is. It's the summary of your article and the Jewish view.

[Molly]

Compare it to a car.
God build a car. Then He turned the ignition key.

I like that.
That's about the same as I was at getting with the samples above.

The spirit is the "force"; the soul is the expression of that force.

That's why Adam was red/ruddy, he expressed the nature on his countenance.

No.

Too mechanistic.

Nope, it's exactly what the animal soul is. It's the summary of your article and the Jewish view.

Do the Jews consider themselves animals?

[Molly]

And the LORD 3068 God 430 formed 3335 man 120 [of] the dust 6083 of 4480 the ground 127, and breathed 5301 into his nostrils 639 the breath5397 of life 2416; and man 120 became a living 2416 soul 5315.


"the breath of life"
nĕshamah chay   from which man derives his soul...



It looks to me like this phrase is uniquely applied to man.  It appears once in the OT, in the Gen 2:7 creation of the first man Adam. [We see Jesus breathing into the nostrils of the disciples to impart to them the Holy Spirit.]

Again, we see the word also used as 'spirit' of man.


Pro 20:27 The spirit5397 of man 120 [is] the candle 5216 of the LORD 3068, searching 2664 all the inward parts 2315 of the belly 990.


Here in Prov 20:27 we see that neshamah as applied to man is the lamp of the LORD and the spirit of man.


God breathes directly into the nostrils of man.  In this way, nashamah chay characterizes the unique and personal relationship between God and man, and defines man's being [soul].



Barnes Notes

His mental part is from another source. "And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." The word נשׁמה neshāmâh is invariably applied to God or man, never to any irrational creature. The "breath of life" is special to this passage. It expresses the spiritual and principal element in man, which is not formed, but breathed by the Creator into the physical form of man. This rational part is that in which he bears the image of God, and is suited to be his vicegerent on earth. As the earth was prepared to be the dwelling, so was the body to be the organ of that breath of life which is his essence, himself.

[sheila]

 Lamentations 4;20    the LORD'S ANOINTED,OUR VERY LIFE BREATH...was caught in their traps

[WhiteWings]

Compare it to a car.
God build a car. Then He turned the ignition key.

I like that.
That's about the same as I was at getting with the samples above.

The spirit is the "force"; the soul is the expression of that force.

That's why Adam was red/ruddy, he expressed the nature on his countenance.

No.

Too mechanistic.

Nope, it's exactly what the animal soul is. It's the summary of your article and the Jewish view.

Do the Jews consider themselves animals?

Every living creature has a "life force". The "life force" of humans is the same as that of other animals.
But humans have "something extra".
neshâmâh and nephesh.

I wrote something similar as you posted last night but deleted it because I thought it was off-topic. Now the thread moved that way I'll retype the other part of my post.
When we look at Genesis we see God creating all kinds of things excluding humans. AFTER that God plants a garden and makes it grow. That takes a while and all that time man is NOT in the garden.
So what if there are thousands of nearly-humans outside the garden. These creatures look exatly like early mankind. But they only have that "life force" like animals.
When God puts that nealy-human in the garden it recieves "something extra". At that point it's a human. That "something extra is teh only difference between man and animal.
:2c:

[WhiteWings]

  1395 נָפַשׁ (nāpash) take breath, refresh oneself. This denominative verb occurs only in the Niphal (Ex 23:12; II Sam 16:14; Ex 31:17).
Parent Noun
1395a נֶפֶשׁ (nepesh) life, soul, creature, person, appetite, and mind are the more common of the twenty-some varieties of meaning utilized in KJV.
(ASV conforms with these uses in a majority of cases, while RSV deviates freely, sometimes reverting to "soul" where KJV has another expression but more often replacing "soul" with words like "being," "person," any "one," "he" who, "self," "I/me," etc., and "appetite." Both revisions, in fact, make substitutions by using terms found in other passages in KJV.) The Ugaritic and Akkadian have cognates with somewhat similar breadth of meaning but both include the meaning "throat." Arabic nas includes "soul, mind, life, person, inclination, self (as a reflexive pronoun)" but does not mean "throat." For Phoenician-Punic and Old Aramaic npsh/nbsh see Jean, C. F. and Hoftijzer, F. Dictionnaire des Inscriptions Sιmitiques de l'ouest (Leiden 1965). It is common in language for a bodily part or organ to take on emotional or spiritual meanings, cf. "heart" in both Hebrew and English.
Most of the KJV variants referred to above are a matter of closely related concepts, as synonyms for creature, "living thing, beast, fish," for appetite, "heart, pleasure, desire, lust, discontent," and "will." While "any(one), man," and "self (myself, etc.)" occur in KJV, the rendering of nepesh by the simple personal pronoun (often reflexive) is common only in RSV and other recent translations. The seemingly contradictory meaning, "the dead, dead body," found a few times in all three versions, will be analyzed in what follows.
The treatment of nepesh by C. Westermann (THAT, I:71–95) is valuable and should be compared.
The original, concrete meaning of the word was probably "to breathe." The verb occurs three times in the medio-passive Niphal stem with the meaning "to refresh oneself" (Ex 23:12; 31:17; II Sam 16:14). The verb may be a denominative from the substantive, but both ancient and modern Semitic cognates do have a verbal form signifying "to breathe" (cf. Akkadian napāshu "to blow, to breathe out"; (see D. W. Thomas, "A Study in Hebrew Synonyms; Verbs Signifying 'To Breathe' " Zeitschrift fόr Semitisrik 10:311–14). The noun appears to denote "breath" in Gen 1:30: "in which (i.e. the land creatures] is the breath of life." The connection between nepesh and breath is also suggested by such statements as: "and [the Lord] breathed [npḥ] into his [man's] nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen 2:7); and "the nepesh [life/breath/soul] of the child returned and he revived" (I Kgs 21:22).
The case for an original, concrete meaning of "breath" is also suggested by the use of nepesh to denote "throat" in Akkadian, Ugaritic, and Hebrew; e.g., "therefore Sheol had enlarged its throat [NASB; "appetite" in NIV] and opened its mouth without measure" (Isa 5:14; cf.Hab 2:5); "the waters have come up to my neck [NIV]" (Ps 69:2; cf.Jon 2:6).
As in the cognate languages (cf. especially Arabic) nepesh can refer to the appetite. Thus it may denote hunger for food: "You may eat grapes according to your appetite, until you are satisfied" (Deut 23:24; [H 25]; cf.Ps 78:18); "this bread will be for their hunger" (Hos 9:4); "a righteous man cares for the needs of his animals" (Prov 12:10; cf. 10:3; 16:26). So also it can refer to one's spiritua/volitional appetite, that is, "desire" or "will"; e.g. "the enemy said, ... 'my desire shall be gratified against them' " (Ex 15:9; cf.Ezk 16:27; Ps 27:12; 41:3); "then you shall let her go according to her desire" (Deut 21:14; cf.I Sam 2:35 [of God's will] 105:22). Abraham says to Ephron: "if it is your wish ... " (Gen 23:8). The desire of the wicked is condemned (Prov 13:2; 19:2).
About twenty times, however, nepesh is the subject of 'āwâ "to desire," "to crave." Here it is not the hunger/appetite/desire itself but that which possesses the appetite, "the soul." A person, a soul, may crave physical food: "and you say, 'I will eat meat,' because you desire [tĕ'awweh] to eat meat, then you may eat meat, according to the desire of your soul [bĕkol-'awwat napshĕkā]" (Deut 12:20; cf. 14:26; I Sam 2:16). The compound can also speak of the sexual drive: "a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness, that sniffs the wind has passion [bĕ'awwat napshāh] [Qere and LXX], in the time of her heat who can turn her away" (Jer 2:24). So also it may denote one's spiritual/volitional desire for something. Abner said to David: "that you may be king over all that your soul desires" (II Sam 3:21; I Kgs 11:37). "The desire of the wicked soul is evil" (Prov 21:10). "[what] his soul desires [wĕnapshô 'iwwĕtâ] that he does" (Job 23:13).
The people of Judah desire God's justice: "Yes, lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts [ta'ăwat nāpesh]. My soul yearns for you [napshı̂ 'iwwı̂tı̂kā] for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments came upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness" (Isa 26:8–9; cf.Ps 119:20 and below for numerous passages where nepesh is used to express personal yearning for someone and its inclination and disinclination for someone).
One can also speak of the hungry or thirsty soul: "For he has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul he has filled with good things" (Ps 107:9; cf.Prov 19:15; 25:25; 27:7).
Accordingly verb śāba' "to satisfy" occurs often with nepesh: "The dogs are greedy ['azzê-nepesh = "strong of appetite" ], they are not satisfied" (Isa 56:11; cf. 58:10; Jer 50:19). Especially in Ecclesiastes, the soul "craves, lacks," or is "filled with good things" (Eccl 2:24; 4:8; 6:2, 3, 7, 9, and 7:28).
As Isa 26:8–9 suggests, the object of that which the soul craves may be a person. The soul's thirst or language may be directed toward God. The psalmist brings the two notions together thus: "As the deer pants for the water-courses, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and appear before God" (Ps 42:1, 2 [H 2, 3]; cf.Ps 63:2). In addition to God's presence the soul may long for the law (Ps 119:20), salvation (Ps 119:81); his courts (Ps 84:3); etc.
Thus nepesh occurs with many verbs denoting "yearning"; cf. the idiom he set his soul "to long after, yearn" for someone, something (Deut 24:15; Hos 4:8; Prov 19:18; Jer 22:27; 44:14; etc.). The soul waits for [qwh] the lord (Ps 130:5), seeks [drsh] him (Lam 3:25); etc.
Thus in numerous passages reference is made to the inclination or disinclination of the soul. It is frequently used in connection with "love." The maiden says to her lover: "Tell me, O you whom my soul loves" (Song 1:7; and repeatedly in Song 3:1–4; cf.Jer 12:7; Gen 34:3). It is used not only of the man-woman relationship, but also of the closest human friendships; e.g. of David and Jonathan: "The soul of Jonathan was bound [qāshar] with the soul of David, and he loved him as his own soul." So also it speaks of man's love for God. The psalmist says: "My soul clings [dābaq] to you" (Ps 63:9).
Here too belongs the important exhortation "to love" and "to serve" God with the whole heart and soul (Deut 6:5; 30:6; cf. 4:29; 10:12; 11:13; 13:4; 26:16; 30:2, 6, 10; Josh 22:5; 23:14; I Kgs 2:4; 8:48=II Chr 6:38; etc.). Commenting on Deut 6:5, J. McBride noted: "The three parts of Deuteronomy 6:5; lēbāb (heart), nephesh (soul or life), and me'ōd (muchness) rather than signifying different spheres of biblical psychology seem to be semantically concentric. They were chosen to reinforce the absolute singularity of personal devotion to God. Thus, lēbāb denotes the intention or will of the whole man; nepesh means the whole self, a unity of flesh, will and vitality; and mĕ'ōd accents the superlative degree of total commitment to Yahweh." While agreeing that these terms were chosen to denote the singularity of devotion, we would now underscore nepesh as pertaining to the personal desire or inclination.
For the turning away of the soul from someone/something, nepesh occurs with such words as śānē' "to hate" (II Sam 5:8; Isa 1:14 [of God's hatred]; Ps 11:5); gā'al "abhor" (Lev 26:11, 15, 30, 43=of a fractured God—man relationship); qûṣ "loathe" (Num 21:5); etc.
Thus nepesh is frequently used in connection with the emotional states of joy and bliss. The Psalmist suggests the relationship between these ideas when he prays: "Bring joy to the soul of your servant, for I long (I lift up my soul, napshı̂ 'eśśā') for you, O Lord" (Ps 86:4). Not only can the soul be joyful because its desires are met but also because of its appreciation for the inherent worth of something which delights its tastes: "Pleasant words are ... sweet to the soul" (Prov 16:23). When filled with the sayings of the wise, the son will find that "Knowledge will be pleasant to [his] soul" (Prov 2:10). A disciplined son "will delight your soul" (Prov 29:17). Fully satisfied in the lord the soul praises him [Ps 103:1, 2, 22; 104:1, 35; etc.). But the wicked, having depended upon themselves, praise themselves (Ps 49:19).
It also follows that the soul can be bitter. Fifteen times it occurs with the root mārar. With his health and well-being broken, Job complained: "The Almighty has embittered my soul" (Job 27:2). Provoked by her rival on account of her barrenness, Hannah was one "bitter of soul" (mārat nepesh) (I Sam 1:10; cf.Jud 18:25; etc.). Related to mārar are many different expressions of sorrow with the soul. Jeremiah says to his people: "But if you will not listen to it [the word of God], my soul will sob in secret ... " (Jer 13:17; cf.passim).
In Isa 10:18nepesh is employed alongside of bāśār, "flesh"=physical body as a merism to denote the whole person. It is also used in parallel with bāśār, NIV interprets this as a figure for totality: "completely," "flesh" in Ps 63:1 [H 2] for the same reason.

[WhiteWings]

Since personal existence by its very nature involves drives, appetites, desires, will, nepesh denotes the "life" of an individual. As the object of the verb shûb "to revive" "to restore" nepesh moves between the notion of "soul" and "life." Jerusalem laments: "Because far from me is a comforter, One who restores my soul/life" (Lam 1:16). The women of Bethlehem pray for Naomi: "May he [Obed] be to you a restorer of life [nepesh], and a sustainer of your old age (Ruth 4:15; Ps 23:3; Lam 1:11; Ps 18:8; Prov 25:13). What is meant in these passages is life which consists of emotions, passions, drives, appetites.
It also moves between these two notions with the word ḥāyâ "to live." Abraham instructs Sarah to say she is his sister "so that it may go well with me on account of you and my soul may continue in life" (Gen 12:13; cf.Gen 19:20; 20:32; Isa 55:3; etc.). But here it is also equivalent to "self." nepesh with the notion of "life" refers to the "I" that hungers and is filled, loves and hates, is joyful and sorrowful, etc. It adds an intensely personal element to the notion of self. Indeed nepesh could be substituted with the personal pronoun in these passages, but the intensity of feeling would be lost.
Accordingly, in some passages nepesh is best translated by "life," but "life" here denotes the living self with all its drives, not the abstract notion "life" which is conveyed by ḥayyim, nor the other meaning of ḥayyim which refers to a quality of existence as well as the temporal notion of being (cf. the use of ḥayyim in Deut and Prov). Westermann noted that when nepesh occurs as the subject of the verb it is usually rendered "soul"—desires, inclinations, etc.; as the object of the verb it is frequently rendered by "life"—the state of personal existence as over against death.
Many passages refer to the "saving" of a man's nepesh "life". In fact, almost all the verbs within this semantic notion take nepesh as their object: with nāṣal "and deliver our lives from death" (Josh 2:13; Isa 44:20; passim), with mālaṭ: "if you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death" (I Sam 19:11); cf.II Sam 19:6; passim); with ḥālaṣ, "rescue my life" (Ps 6:5); with yāsha', "he will save the lives of the needy" (Ps 72:13); etc. The psalmist is confident that God will even "redeem" (pādâ) his life out of the grave (Ps 49:15 [H 16]). In all these passages "life" is equivalent to the person.
It has also this notion of saving the "life"="individual" in certain prepositional phrases. Thus Elijah "ran for his life ['el napshô] I Kgs 19:3); "take heed for your lives (Jer 17:21); etc. When one risks his life it is said that he takes his nepesh into his hands (Judg 12:3; passim).
Then too, it is usually rendered "life" after verbs denoting "keeping" "preserving" "sustaining" etc. Thus it occurs: with shāmar "to keep" (Deut 4:9); with sāmak "to sustain" (Ps 54:6); with ḥāsaq "to hold back [from the grave]" (Ps 78:50); etc.
The nepesh "life" is most precious. Thus the captain prays to Elijah: "O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight" (II Kgs 1:13; cf.I Sam 26:21); etc. In some situations a monetary payment can be given for the life (cf.Ex 21:30; 30:12).
In the lex talionis formula "life for life" nepesh denotes the precious individual, the living self (Ex 21:23; Lev 24:18; Deut 19:21; cf.I Kgs 20:39, 42; II Kgs 10:24; etc.).
Here too belongs Lev 17:11, one of the most decidedly theological and distinctively meaningful passages where the word nepesh is of major significance, and one which certainly defines the term as meaning life "for the life (nepesh) of the flesh (bāśār) is in the blood." Here it is the vitality, the passionate existence of an individual which is denoted.
Then too it is frequently said that the enemy threatens the individual's life. Thus it occurs as the objects of: bāqash "to seek" (Ex 4:19; passim); 'ārab "to lie in ambush for" (Ps 59:3 [H 4]) etc. Sometimes God's destruction of the life, the individual is in view: "Do not take away my life with sinners" (Ps 26:9).
It comes as no surprise, then, that in some contexts nepesh is best rendered by "person," "self," or more simply by the personal pronoun. Westermann says that it is best rendered by such English equivalents in casuistic law, in the enumeration of people, in the general designation of people and as a substitute for a pronoun. An example of its use in legal contexts with such particles as 'asher or kı̂ is: "Now when anyone [nepesh kı̂] presents a grain offering" (Lev 2:1; cf. 4:2; 5:1, 2; passim). Again, "But the person who [wĕhannepesh 'ăsher] eats the flesh ... " (Lev 7:20; passim). Similarly it has this notion in enumerations: "These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive ... in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons [nepesh] ... " (Jer 52:28, 29; Ex 12:4, passim). So also with reference to "people" "he [shall be valued] according to the valuation of persons belonging to the lord" (Lev 27:2; passim). As a substitute for a pronoun it frequently occurs with the pronominal suffix. Thus Lot said to the lord: "That I [napshı̂ = "my soul" ] may live" (Gen 19:19; passim). Although it appears to be an equivalent of the personal pronoun, its intensive, passionate sense peculiar to the word is always present. A. R. Johnson speaks of it as "a pathetic (i.e. in the sense of deeply emotional) periphrasis for a pronoun" (The Vitality of the Individual in the Thought of Ancient Israel, 1964, p. 22).
A total of 755 occurrences of the noun nepesh have been counted in the ot, and of these it is rendered in the Greek translation (LXX) some 600 times by the psyche (ψυχή). Of the 144 times it is used in the Psalms, over 100 of them have the first person suffix, "my soul." Thus in its most synthetic use nepesh stands for the entire person. In Gen 2:7 "man became a living creature" [nepesh]—the substantive must not be taken in the metaphysical, theological sense in which we tend to use the term "soul" today. Precisely the same Hebrew expression (nepesh ḥayyâ)—traditionally rendered "living soul" occurs also in Gen 1:20, 21, and 24. In other words, man is here being associated with the other creatures as sharing in the passionate experience of life and is not being defined as distinct from them. It is true, however, as Oehler points out that the source of the nepesh of animals is the ground, whereas the source of the nepesh of Adam is God.
Particular note should be taken of the antonymous translation, "the dead, dead body" found in Lev 19:28; 21:1, 11; Num 5:2; 6:6, 11; 9:6, 7, 10; etc. In these citations, "the dead" stands for nepesh by itself, while "dead body" renders nepesh/napshōt mēt. The latter indicates "a person (persons) who has died," the emphasis being on the personal identity of an 'individual,' so that in context the term nepesh by itself refers to a dead individual, "one who has died," and the word itself does not really mean physical 'body.'
The use of nepesh with reference to God is rare since God does not have the cravings and appetites common to man nor is his life limited by death. In addition to the passages already noted, we cite several more where the word is used to express forcefully his passionate disinclination or inclination toward someone. The former is more frequent. Thus he threatens: "Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I/My soul be alienated from you" (Jer 6:8); cf.Jer 5:9, 29; 9:8; 15:1; passim). On the other hand his passionate love, delight and inclination toward his servant is spoken of thus: "My chosen one in whom my soul delights" (Isa 42:1).
It must not be concluded from this study of nepesh that the ot presents man as physical only. There are other ot ideas to be considered in this connection: (1) the ot teaching concerning the "spirit" of man; (2) the ot teaching concerning the heart (lēb) of man; (3) the subject of the image of God (see ṣelem) in man; and (4) the picture as given of man's relation to God.
Bibliography: Briggs, C. A., "The Use of npsh in the OT," JBL 16. 17–30. Becker, J. H., Het Begrip Nefesj in het Oude Testament, 1942. Buswell, J. O., A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion, Zondervan, 1962, vol. II, pp. 237–41. Seligson, M., The Meaning of npsh mt in the Old Testament, 1951; cf. Widengren, G., VT 4:97–102. Murtonen, A., The Living Soul, 1958. Lys, D., Nepesh, 1959. Johnson, A. R., The Vitality of the Individual in the Thought of Ancient Israel, 1949. Wolff, H. W., Anthropology of the Old Testament. Westermann, C., "Naefaes" in THAT, II, pp. 71–95. Richardson, TWB, pp. 144–45. TDOT, IX, pp. 617–37.
B.K.W.

[sheila]

 :2c:   when Father proposed to make man in His image....He said ,MY GLORY  WILL NOTBE GIVE UN TO ANOTHER.  Man is 'the GLORY" of God..when in

  His image. When man is as a beast[lacking understanding] if he but touch the mountain he wll die.   Look at the Glory on HIS HOLY MOUNTAIN...

   a child will place his hand in the cobras nest.  Isaaih11...the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord[mountain that fills the earth]

   the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him..spirit of Wisdom,understanding,counsel and power. The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord...

    AND HE WILL DELIGHT IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD....

    why would the annointed 'delight' in the fear of the Lord?   Gen   Be fruitful and increase in number[from 666]

   FILL THE EARTH....[mountain fills the earth]   AND SUBDUE IT....RULE OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA[Leviathan/Beast out of sea] and

  THE BIRDS OF THE AIR[Gen 15;11]...AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE THAT MOVES ON THE GROUND[unclean beasts]/lower carnal understanding/beast

  out of Land]

   Dominion and rulership in the Glory of God and image of God..over leasser creations is the CROWNING GLORY OF MAN IN THE IMAGE OF GOD

   Dominion over the WIND AND SEA[Ephes 4;14,James1;6 then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves,and blown here and

  there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming..Mark 4;39]

   

[micah7:9]

Ecc 3:18  I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.

Ecc 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity.

Ecc 3:20  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

[Molly]

Ecc 3:18  I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.

Ecc 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all i
s vanity.

Ecc 3:20  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

It always annoys me at funerals when the minister quotes the curse on Adam before he was kicked out of the garden--for dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return--dust to dust.

As though the work of Jesus had not been finished.  As though the work of Jesus had not even been started.

I am going to have to write my own funeral. :laughing7:

It is true, however, as Oehler points out that the source of the nepesh of animals is the ground, whereas the source of the nepesh of Adam is God.

For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.
--Acts 2:27

[micah7:9]

I do not wish to stray from the topic but I must ask....

"As though the work of Jesus had not been finished.  As though the work of Jesus had not even been started." (Molly)

I take it you do not accept Ecc 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. ?


May I inquire as to how your epitaph would read?

[WhiteWings]

It is true, however, as Oehler points out that the source of the nepesh of animals is the ground, whereas the source of the nepesh of Adam is God.

For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.
--Acts 2:27

So?

[Molly]

I take it you do not accept Ecc 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

That's Solomon going through his 'all is vanity' stage which he took to the extreme with thousands of horses and hundreds of wives.

So, no I don't accept it or I would be living like Solomon. 

I like Ben Franklin's epitaph, though. :icon_jokercolor:

Benjamin Franklin (1706-90)
The body of
B. Franklin,
Printer,
Like the cover of an old book
its contents torn out,
and stripped of its lettering and gilding,
lies here, food for worms.
But the work shall not be wholly lost,
for it will, as he believed, appear once more,
in a new and more perfect edition,
corrected and amended
by the Author.

[micah7:9]

O!

[Molly]

It is true, however, as Oehler points out that the source of the nepesh of animals is the ground, whereas the source of the nepesh of Adam is God.

For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.
--Acts 2:27

So?

7The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.



Fear Jehovah, ye His holy ones, For there is no lack to those fearing Him.



22The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

--Psa 39

[Beloved Servant]

I have no plans of dust being heaped on my face; AGAIN !