“Soul” and “Spirit” – What Do These Terms Really Mean?
When you hear the terms “soul” and “spirit”,
what comes to your mind? Many believe that these words mean something invisible
and immortal that exists inside us. They think that at this invisible part of a
human leaves the body and lives on. Since this belief is so widespread, many
are surprised to learn that it is not all what the Bible teaches. What, then,
is the soul, and what is the spirit, according to God’s Word?
“SOUL” AS USED IN THE BIBLE
First, consider the soul. You may remember that the Bible was
originally written mainly in Hebrew and Greek. When writing about the soul, the
Bible writers used the Hebrew word n’phesh
or the Greek work psy-khe’.
These two words occur well over 800 times in the Scriptures, and the New World
Translation renders them “soul,” either in the main text or in
footnotes. When you examine the way “soul” or “souls”
is used in the Bible, it becomes evident that this word basically refers to (1)
people, (2) animals, or (3) the life that a person or an animal has. Let us
consider some scriptures that present these three different senses.
People. “In
Noah’s day . . . a few people, that
is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water.” (1 Peter 3:20) Here the “souls”
clearly stands for people—Noah,
his wife, his three sons, and their wives. Exodus 16:16 mentions instructions
given to the Israelites regarding the gathering of manna. They were told to
gather it “according to
the number of people [“souls,” footnote]” that each of them had in his
tent. So the amount of many that was gathered was based on the number of people
in each family. Some other Biblical examples of the application of “soul” or “souls” to a person or to people are
in the footnotes found at Genesis 46:18; Joshua 11:11; Acts 27:37; and Romans
13:1.
Animals. In the Bible’s
creation account, we read: “Then
God said: ‘Let the
waters swarm with living creatures [“souls,” footnote], and let flying
creatures fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.’ Then God said: ‘Let the earth bring forth
living creatures [“souls,” footnote] according to their
kinds, domestic animals to their kinds.’
And it was so.” (Genesis
1:20, 24) In this passage, fish, domestic animals, and wild animals are all
referred to by the same word—“souls.” Birds and other animals are
called souls in the footnotes found at Genesis 9:10; Leviticus 11:46; and
Numbers 31:28.
Life of a person. Sometimes the word “soul” means the life of a person. Jehovah told Moses: “All the men who were seeking to
kill you [“seeking your
soul,” footnote] are dead.” (Exodus 4:19) What were Moses’ enemies trying to do? They
were seeking to take Moses’
life. Earlier, while Rachel was giving birth to her son Benjamin, “her life was slipping away [“her soul was going out,” footnote],” (Genesis 35:16-19) At that
time, Rachel lost her life. Consider also Jesus’
words: “I am the fine
shepherd; the fine shepherd surrenders his life [“soul” footnote] in behalf of the
sheep.” (John 10:11) Jesus gave his
soul, or life, in behalf of mankind. In these Bible passages, or in the
footnotes, the word “soul” clearly refers to the life of
a person. You will find more examples of this sense of “soul”
either in the text or in the footnotes found at 1 Kings 17:17-23; Matthew
10:39; John 15:13; and Acts 20:10.
A further study of God’s
Word will show you that nowhere in the entire Bible are the terms “immortal” or “everlasting” linked with the word “soul,” Instead, the Scriptures state that a soul is
mortal, meaning it dies. (Ezekiel 18:4, 20) Therefore, the Bible calls someone
who ahs died simply a “dead soul.”—Leviticus 21:11, footnote.
THE “SPIRIT”
IDENTIFIED
Let us now consider the Bible’s
use of the term “spirit.” Some people think that “spirit” is just another word for “soul.”
However, that is not the case. the Bible makes clear that “spirit” and “soul” refer to two different things.
How do they differ?
Bible writers used Hebrew word ru’ach or the Greek word pneu’ma when writing about the “spirit.”
The Scriptures themselves indicated the meaning of those words. For instance,
Psalm 104:29 states: “If you [Jehovah]
take away their spirit [ru’ach],
they die and return to the dust.”
And James 2:26 notes that “the
body without spirit [pneu’ma]
is dead.” In these
verses, then, “spirit” refers to that which gives
life to a body. Without spirit, the body is dead. Therefore, in the Bible the
word ru’ach is
translated not only as “spirit” but also as “force,” or life-force. For example, concerning the Flood in
Noah’s day, God said, “I am going to bring floodwaters
upon the earth to destroy from under the heavens all flesh that has the breath
[ru’ach] of life.” (Genesis 6:17; 7:17, 22) “Spirit” thus refers to an invisible force (the spark of
life) that animates all living creatures.
The soul and the spirit are not the same. The body needs the
spirit in much the same way as a radio needs electricity—in order to function. To illustrate this further,
think of a portable radio. When you put batteries in a portable radio and turn
it on, the electricity stored in the batteries brings the radio to life, so to
speak. Without batteries, however, the radio is dead. so is another kind of
radio when it is unplugged from an electric outlet. Similarly, the spirit is
the force that brings our body to life. Also, like electricity, the spirit has
no feeling and cannot think. It is an impersonal force. But without that
spirit, r life-force, our bodies “die
and return to the dust” as the
psalmist stated.
Speaking about man’s
death, Ecclesiastes 12:7 states: “The
dust [of his body\ returns to the earth, just as it ws, and the spirit returns
to the true God who gave it.”
When the spirit, or life-force, leaves the body, the body dies and returns to
where it came from—the earth.
Comparably, the life-force returns to where it came from—God. (Job 34:14, 15; Psalm 36:9) This does not mean
that the life-force actually travels to heaven. Rather, it means that for
someone who dies, any hope of future life rests with Jehovah God. His life is
in God’s hands, so to speak. Only by
God’s power can the spirit, or
life-force, be given back so that a person may live again.
How comforting it is to know that this is exactly what God
will do for all of those resting in “the
memorial tombs”! (John 5:28,
29) At the time of the resurrection, Jehovah will form a new body for a person
sleeping in death and bring it to life by putting spirit, or life-force, in it.
What a joyful day that will be!
If you would to learn
more about the terms “soul” and “spirit”
as used in the Bible, you will find valuable information in the brochure What
Happens to Us When We Die? And pages 375-384 of the book Reasoning From the
Scriptures, both published by Jehovah’s Witnesses.
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