Snyder, George L Snyder, Lenore Snyder, God, ethics, morals, religion

The Elephant Speaks
One Man’s Elephant book II

The Meanings of Soul


Hebrew


Nephesh includes body, mind, life, and soul. This is a unity, a single concept. In fact if a warrior lost an arm in battle, he also lost a portion of his soul. In Biblical Hebrew it is the totality of the person, not the separate parts. The resurrection of the body is a concept that comes from this heritage. Without all; your body, your mind, your soul, and your life; there is no existence. In Hebrew it is a unit. All parts are required or you have become less than you could have been. This is the meaning of soul when you read it in the Old Testament.


Greek


Psyche - Greek for soul or spirit.

Soma - Greek for body.

The emphasis here is that the soul is a separate entity from the body. The soul is immortal, the body is mortal. Under the Greek thought process, the body is relatively unimportant when compared with the importance of the soul. The medical term: psycho-somatic comes from the concept that health quite often requires both body and mind. This is a duality concept that is not expressed in Hebrew. There are two separate things when using Greek. The soul is separate and independent from the body. This is the meaning of soul when you read it in the New Testament.






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