Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dr. Joe Sprinkle" <jsprinkle AT crossroadscollege.edu>]

Basic meaning of NEPHESH is "throat", with derived meanings including
"appetite, person, self, life, corpse," and here it could refer to the
physical body!  A dead body/throat is one that does not breathe.  A living
one is one that does breath. If that is the view, in Genesis 2:7 where "man
became a living NEPHESH," the text means that God did not make a stiff,
inanimate clay man who just lies there.  He gave him the ability to breath
and move.  According to this interpretation, this is not one of the
differences between man and the beasts, for they too are living/breathing
beings/throats/bodies (Cf. Gen 1:20-1, 24; 9:10,12,15).

In Genesis 2:7 the traditional "living soul" (KJV) is misleading in that it
suggests something about the immaterial, immortal soul that is unique to
man.  However the Hb NEPHESH does not refer to the immortal soul that man
possesses for he does not possess a NEPHESH, but he is a NEPHESH.   The
exact meaning, however, is difficult to pin down. NEPHESH has a wide
semantic range, including such meanings as breath, appetite, person, self,
life, desire, throat, and even (if rarely) corpse. The possible meaning
"breath" suggests he became a living, breathing entity. However, that man
became a living NEPHESH implies that before God breathed into him he may
have been a dead or inanimate NEPHESH. Hence the primary sense is that of
"person" or "being" in Gen 2:7.  NEPHESH in OT does not often (I'm tempted
to say never) mean "soul" as opposed to body.

Joe Sprinkle