The traditional concept of an immaterial and immortal soul distinct from the body is not found in ancient Hebrew beliefs, but developed as a result of interaction with the Hellenistic philosophy. The only Hebrew word traditionally translated as “soul” in the Hebrew Bible  נפשׁ (nephesh) refers to a living, breathing conscious body, rather than to an immortal soul. In the Greek Septuagint ψυχή (psuche) is used to translate each instance of נפש. The Greek word ψυχή traditionally translated as “soul” in the Septuagint and in the New Testament has basically the similar meaning of נפש in the Hebrew Bible. Both these terms carry a similar range of meanings both in the OT and the NT and can designate the person or the person’s life as a whole. In modern parlance we can say נפשׁ or ψυχή is the life-principle, or simply is the self or person. The biblical view of man is not a bipartite creature of the divine and human, of soul and body. Instead of splitting a person into body and soul, Hebrew thought sees it as a unified being. Human person is a living soul rather than having a soul. The “soul” is integral to physical life itself.It is therefore not a good idea to assume that any of the meanings of נפשinvolve “having”, since such an interpretation would lead to a misunderstanding of the anthropological nature of נפש. Human beings in the OT do not think of themselves in a subject-object relationship (body and soul). On the basis of being alive, of individuation within life, of perceiving life as an in-and-out rhythm, they find themselves to be living quanta with respect to hayyim, life. Similarly ψυχήin the NT indicates the entire person. ψυχή is always the vital self and the life, never the phenomenon of life as such but as a whole, a person. Thus, it can be the locus of joy and sorrow and love and hate, etc.; it describes humans from the standpoint of inward participation in the fellowship with God in the midst of their earthly existence. In short, in the biblical view, a person “does not have a soul, but is a soul”. Both נפשׁand ψυχή points to the vital self of the person which is lived only in the body. They stand for human needs, desires and feelings, including thought, memory and consciousness. As the vital self, individuated life and part of the body נפשׁ and ψυχήpoints to the whole person.

Dr. Thomas Karimundackal is a Jesuit priest, belonging to the Kerala Province of the Society of Jesus. He has a Masters in Chemistry with a gold medal from St. Joseph’s College, Trichy, affiliated to the Bharathidasan University, Trichy. He also holds a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome, Italy, and a Doctorate in the Old Testament from the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He has published articles in both national and International journals. Among his publications includes the book A Call to Commitment: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Deut 10,12-11,32, published  on the prestigious research series on the Old Testament, namely Forschungzur Bibel. He also has presented papers in both national and international conferences on themes related to the Scripture.  At present, he teaches Sacred Scripture in the Faculty of Theology at Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune.