MEMORY VERSE: ‘Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.’ Ezekiel 18:4.
LEESON AIM: To study the range of meanings that the word ‘soul’ has in the Bible.
‘The word “nephesh” occurs 745 times in the Old Testament, and is translated by the term 'soul' about 473 times. In every instance in the Old Testament where the word 'soul' occurs, it is from “nephesh”, with the exception of Job 30:15, where it comes from another Hebrew word, and Isaiah 57:16, where it is from another Hebrew word. Besides the word “soul,” “nephesh” is translated “life” and “lives,” as in Genesis 1:20, 30, in all 118 times. It is translated “person,” as in Genesis 14:21, in all 29 times. It is translated “mind,” as in Genesis 23:8, in all 15 times. It is translated “heart,” as in Exodus 23:9, in all 15 times. It is translated “body,” or “dead body,” as in Numbers 6:6, in all 11 times. It is translated “will,” as in Psalm 27:12, in all 4 times. It is translated “appetite,” as in Proverbs 23:2, twice; “lust,” as in Psalm 78:18, twice; “thing,” as in Leviticus 11:10, twice. Besides the foregoing, it is rendered by the various pronouns, and by the words, “breath, beast, fish, creature, ghost, pleasure, desire,” etc., in all forty-three different ways.
‘The word “soul” in the New Testament comes invariably from the Greek word “psuche”; which word occurs 105 times. It is translated “soul” 58 times; “life” 40 times; “mind” 3 times; “heart” twice; “us” once; and “you” once, six different ways.’ Uriah Smith: Here and Hereafter, pages 62-63.
1. What is the first mention of the word “soul” in the King James Bible? Genesis 2:7.
NOTE: ‘After God created man in His image, the form was perfect in all its arrangements, but it had no vitality. Then a personal, self-existing God breathed into that form the breath of life, and man became a living, breathing, intelligent being. All parts of the human machinery were put in motion. The heart, the arteries, the veins, the tongue, the hands, the feet, the perceptions of the mind, the senses, were placed under physical law. It was then that man became a living soul.’ Manuscript Releases, volume 3, page 304.
2. How does the human life end? Ecclesiastes 12:7.
NOTE: ‘“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7. This text is the exact counterpart of Genesis 2:7: “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.” One text teaches how man was first formed. The other text makes known the process of his dissolution. What God did in creating, death undoes by dissolving.’ J. N. Andrews: Departing and Being with Christ, page 13.