נֶפֶשׁ

Strong’s Definition

properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)

Etymology & Derivation

from H5314 (נָפַשׁ);

KJV Usage

any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, [idiom] dead(-ly), desire, [idiom] (dis-) contented, [idiom] fish, ghost, [phrase] greedy, he, heart(-y), (hath, [idiom] jeopardy of) life ([idiom] in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, [phrase] slay, soul, [phrase] tablet, they, thing, ([idiom] she) will, [idiom] would have it.

Detailed Definition

From the Brown–Driver–Briggs (BDB) Hebrew lexicon outline.

• 1.soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion
• 2.that which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man
• 3.living being
• 4.living being (with life in the blood)
• 5.the man himself, self, person or individual
• 6.seat of the appetites
• 7.seat of emotions and passions
• 8.activity of mind
• 9.activity of the will
• 10.activity of the character

Scholarly Notes

Transliteration: nephesh; Pronunciation: neh'-fesh