What does soul mean in the Bible?

Answer 1

In both the Old and New Testaments, the Scripture repeatedly makes reference to the "soul." Most today in mainstream Christianity generally teache that this 'soul' is an immortal component of human beings and upon our death, it is released from our bodies to spend eternity in either eternal bliss or eternal torment, depending on our conduct in this life. Upon reading the Bible, however, the reader will get a different finite meaning for this term.

In the Hebrew language, the only term translated as 'soul' in the Old Testament is the word 'nephesh.' Nephesh is also translated as 'creature or being.' These three meanings are all synonomous whether reading about all the creatures in the sea (see Genesis 1:20) or man becoming a living creature (nephesh) in Genesis 2:7. Most importantly, God plainly tells us in Ezekiel 18:4 that, "The soul (nephesh) who sins will die." This fully agrees with what the Apostle Paul was inspired to tell us in Romans 6:23, that the penalty of sin is Death and not some eternal punishment as taught today by so many.

As the term translated as soul refers biblically to all living, breathing creatures, we can conclude that the soul is a living being itself and not an 'eternal' component in mankind. A good next-step would be to find out the biblical meaning of the 'spirit in man' as found in Job 32:8 and compare these with the New Testament occurrences of both soul and spirit.