Reference: Soul
American
The ancients supposed the soul, or rather the animating principle of life, to reside in the breath, that it departed from the body with the breath. Hence the Hebrew and Greek words which, when they refer to man, in our Bibles are translated "soul," are usually rendered "life" or breath" when they refer to animals, Ge 2:7; 7:15; Nu 16:22; Job 12:10; 34:14-15; Ps 104:29; Ec 12:7; Ac 17:25.
But together with this principle of life, which is common to men and brutes, and which in brutes perishes with the body, there is in man a spiritual, reasonable, and immortal soul, the seat of our thoughts, affections, and reasonings, which distinguishes us from the brute creation, and in which chiefly consists our resemblance to God, Ge 1:26. This must be spiritual, because it thinks; it must be immortal, because it is spiritual. Scripture ascribes to man alone understanding, conscience, the knowledge of God, wisdom, immortality, and the hope of future everlasting happiness. It threatens men only with punishment in another life, and with the pains of hell. In some places the Bible seems to distinguish soul from spirit, 1Th 5:23; Heb 4:12: the organ of our sensations, appetites, and passions, allied to the body, form the nobler portion of our nature which most allies man to God. Yet we are to conceive of them as one indivisible and spiritual being, called also the mind and the heart, spoken of variously as living, feeling, understanding, reasoning, willing, etc. Its usual designation is the soul.
The immortality of the soul is a fundamental doctrine of revealed religion. The ancient patriarchs lived and died persuaded of this truth; and it was in the hope of another life that they received the promises. Compare Ge 50:22; Nu 23:10; 1Sa 28:13-15; 2Sa 12:23; Job 19:25-26; Ec 12:7; Heb 11:13-16. In the gospel "life and immortality," and the worth of immortal souls, are fully brought to light, Mt 16:26; 1Co 15:45-57; 2Ti 1:10. To save the souls of men, Christ freely devoted himself to death; and how does it become us to labor and toil and strive, in our respective spheres, to promote the great work for which He bled and died!
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And God said, "Let us make humankind in our image and according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth."
when Yahweh God formed the man [of] dust from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
And they came to Noah to the ark, {two of each}, from every living thing in which [was] the breath of life.
So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and the house of his father. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.
And they fell on their faces, and they said, "God, God of the spirits of all flesh, will one man sin and you become angry toward the entire community?"
Who can count the dust of Jacob, or [as] a number the fourth part of Israel? Let my life die the death of an upright person, and let my end be like his!"
In whose hand [is] the life of all living things and {the breath of every human being}?
But I myself know [that] my redeemer [is] alive, and [at the] last he will stand up upon {the earth}. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, but from my flesh I will see God,
If he should set his heart to it, and he should gather his spirit and his breath to himself, all flesh would perish together, and humankind would return to dust.
You hide your face, they are terrified. You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.
And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.
For what will a person be benefited if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life?
nor is he served by human hands [as if he] needed anything, [because] he himself gives to everyone life and breath and everything.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For there are many rebellious [people], idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,
These all died in faith without receiving the promises, but seeing them from a distance and welcoming [them], and admitting that they were strangers and temporary residents on the earth. For those who say such [things] make clear that they are seeking a homeland. read more. And if they remember that [land] from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they aspire to a better [land], that is, a heavenly [one]. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Hastings
The use of the term in the OT (Heb. nephesh) for any animated being, whether human or animal (Ge 1:20 'life,' Ge 2:7), must be distinguished from the Greek philosophical use for the immaterial substance which gives life to the body, and from the use in the NT (Gr. psyche) where more stress is laid on individuality (Mt 16:26 Revised Version margin). As the Bible does not contain a scientific psychology, it is vain to dispute whether it teaches that man's nature is bipartite (body and soul or spirit) or tripartite (body and soul and spirit): yet a contrast between soul and spirit (Heb. r
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And God said, "Let the waters swarm [with] swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth across the face of the vaulted dome of heaven.
when Yahweh God formed the man [of] dust from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
when Yahweh God formed the man [of] dust from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
I desire you [with all] my soul in the night; also I seek you [with] my spirit within me, for when your judgments [are] {upon} the earth, [the] inhabitants of [the] world learn righteousness.
For what will a person be benefited if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life?
And Mary said, "My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced greatly in God my Savior,
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Then when he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, "It is completed," and bowing [his] head, he gave up [his] spirit.
But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand [them], because they are spiritually discerned.
It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If [there] is a natural body, [there] is also a spiritual [body]. Thus also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul"; the last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit. read more. But the spiritual [is] not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.
Only lead your lives in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent I hear {your circumstances}, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one soul contending side by side for the faith of the gospel,
For the word of God [is] living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the reflections and thoughts of the heart.
This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but [is] earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly, not having the Spirit.
Watsons
SOUL, that immortal, immaterial, active substance or principle in man, whereby he perceives, remembers, reasons, and wills. See MATERIALISM.