Nephesh
/ˈnɛfɛʃ/noun
A Hebrew term referring to a living being, life, self, person, or soul.
Did you know?In the Hebrew Bible, nephesh can mean “throat,” “life,” “person,” “desire,” or “soul,” showing that ancient Hebrew often imagined identity as embodied rather than disembodied.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*napš-
“Reconstructed root associated with breath, life, self, or vital personhood”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh)
“Throat, breath, living being, life, person, desire, or inner self”
3rd–2nd Century BCE
Septuagint Greek
ψυχή (psychē)
“Often used to translate nephesh; life, living being, or soul”
Late Antiquity
Rabbinic Hebrew
נפש (nefesh)
“Life, person, self, or soul, with continuing embodied and spiritual meanings”
Medieval Period
Jewish English/Latin scholarship
nephesh
“Transliterated in theological and biblical discussion as the Hebrew concept of life or soul”
Modern English
English
nephesh
“A Hebrew term used in biblical studies, theology, and Jewish thought for the living self, life, or soul”
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