What is the soul?
The answer of the Bible
Where the word "soul" is found in some Bible translations, the word néphesch is found in the original Hebrew language of the Bible and the word psychḗ is found in Biblical Greek. The Hebrew word literally means "breathing creature" and the Greek "living being." * Thus, "soul" in the Bible refers to the entire living creature or person per se-not something inherent in him that leaves the body after death. Here are a few examples:
The creation of the first soul: Adam
Adam did not get a soul - he "became a living soul".
In the Bible account, we read that when God created the first man, "man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7, Elberfelder Bible). So Adam did not get a soul, but became a living soul, that is, a living person.
According to the Bible, the soul can work, have appetite, eat, obey laws, or be refreshed by cool water (Elberfelder Bible: Deut. 7:20; 23:30; Deut. 5:12:20; Rom. 13:1; Slaughterer: Proverbs 25:25). This clearly refers to the human being per se.
Is the soul immortal?
No, it is mortal. Dozens of Bible verses say this quite clearly. Again, a few examples:
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die!" (Ezekiel 18:4, 20, Slaughterer)
If someone committed a serious crime in ancient Israel, the punishment was as follows: "That soul shall ... be cut off" (Exodus 12:15, 19; Deuteronomy 7:20, 21, 27; 19:8; compare Schlachter and Elberfelder Bible). That is, the person was to be "punished with death" (Exodus 31:14, Einheitsübersetzung).
If someone has died, the Bible then speaks in some verses of a "dead soul" (Deut. 21:11; Deut. 6:6). Many Bible translations render this as "corpse," "dead body," or "dead person," but the Hebrew also uses the word néphesch here.
"Soul" can stand as a synonym for life.
The Bible also uses the word "soul" (néphesch) as a synonym for "life," for example, in Job 33:22. Similarly, when the Bible says that someone risks or loses his soul. What is meant is: his life (Exodus 4:19; Judges 9:17; Philippians 2:3.
This is how we know how to understand when Genesis 35:18 says that Rachel's soul "went out" or "disappeared" (Schlachter, Elberfelder Bible). This phrase was used to express that someone's life was ending. Some translations therefore render this text thus: "Rachel felt that life was slipping away from her and that she would die" (NeÜ bibel.heute). Or: "Rachel felt that it was coming to an end with her" (Good News Bible).
Where the belief in the immortal soul comes from
Christian religious communities that believe in an immortal soul do not get this teaching from the Bible, but rather from ancient Greek philosophy. The Calvary Bible Dictionary, under the heading of soul, states, "As s[eele], man is mortal ... This is related to the Bible's holistic view of man. The Greek separation of the perishable body and the immortal soul, as determined by Plato ... is foreign to biblical thinking." In another Bible commentary one reads: "The NT does not know an 'immortal soul' which would be conceivable apart from the body. ... Without being aware of it, we have taken over an old Greek philosophical understanding of 'soul', which in the course of time has displaced the biblical statements" (Biblical Dictionary).
For God it is in no way acceptable to mix His teachings with human philosophies - like the belief in an immortal soul. The Bible even warns against this: "See to it that there be no one to lead you away as a prey through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men" (Colossians 2:8)
