A Study of the Nature of Man

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A Study of the Nature of Man
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The nephesh or pseuche (Translated soul)

• The Hebrew word nephesh is found 755 times in
  the OT. It is used in a variety of ways in the
  OT but all of them are logically related to its
  concrete meaning.

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The breath of a person.

• and to every beast of the earth and to every
  bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on
  the earth which has life, I have given every
  green plant for food (Genesis 130 )

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The appetites, cravings, or needs of both man and
animal.

• When you enter your neighbors vineyard, then
  you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied
  (lit. according to the satisfaction of your
  soul), but you shall not put any in your basket.
  (Deuteronomy 2324)

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The seat of desire and volition

• As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my
  soul pants for Thee, O God. (Psalm 421-2)

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Life with the emphasis upon the living self
with all its hopes and desires.

• Then Saul sent messengers to Davids house to
  watch him, in order to put him to death in the
  morning. But Michal, Davids wife, told him,
  saying, If you do not save your life tonight,
  tomorrow you will be put to death. (1 Samuel
  1911)

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Man as a living being

• Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the
  ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
  of life and man became a living being. (Genesis
  27)

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An animating principle closely associated with
the breath that is the seat of mans recognized
needs and longings and is the seat of the
personality of man.
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Ruach or pneuma (Translated spirit)

• Ruach, like nephesh, has a broad range of
  meanings and a similar derivation in concept and
  application.

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Wind, air in motion

• And I shall bring upon Elam the four winds from
  the four ends of heaven, And shall scatter them
  to all these winds And there will be no nation
  to which the outcasts of Elam will not go.
  (Jeremiah 4936)

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The breath of man or animals or both.

• So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of
  all flesh in which was the breath of life.
  (Genesis 715)

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The capacity to reason, and exercise emotion

• Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He
  said to me, Say, Thus says the Lord, So you
  think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts.
  (Ezekiel 115)

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The state of mind or attitude of the person.
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The whole inner man as opposed to the flesh or
the outward man

• For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives
  forever, whose name is Holy, I dwell on a high
  and holy place, and also with the contrite and
  lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of
  the lowly and to revive the heart of the
  contrite. (Isaiah 5715) Note how the spirit
  is paralleled with the heart.

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Is there a distinction to be made between soul
and spirit?

• Both are used to describe the inner person.
• The soul of Jesus was troubled (Mt. 2638)
• He was troubled in spirit (Jn. 1321).

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• Both are used in contrast to the physical body.
• 2 Cor. 71
• Mt. 1028

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• Both are used to describe the moment of death
• And it came about as her soul was departing
  (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni but
  his father called him Benjamin.( Gen. 3518)
• For just as the body without the spirit is
  dead, so also faith without works is dead.(James
  226)

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In other passages there seems to be a distinction
implied.

• Pauls description of sanctification involves
  spirit, soul, and body (1 Thes. 523).
• The Lords own appeal to serve God with the
  totality of our being involves loving him with
  all our heart, soul, mind (understanding), and
  strength (Lk. 1027)

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But how might they be distinguished?

• The natural man lives by his own instinctive
  longings and desires.
• The spiritual man uses the God-given capacities
  to think and reason about the Holy Spirits
  revelation to discern his relationship to the
  Creator.

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• Gleason Archer suggests these distinction Ruach
  is the principle of mans rational and immortal
  life, and possesses reason, will, and conscience.
  It imparts the divine image to man, and
  constitutes the animating dynamic which results
  in mans nephesh as the subject of personal life.
  The distinctive personality of the individual
  inheres in his nephesh, the seat of his emotions
  and desire. Ruach is life power, having the
  ground of its vitality in itself the nephesh has
  a more subjective and conditional life.

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• At night my soul longs for Thee, Indeed, my
  spirit within me seeks Thee diligently for when
  the earth experiences Thy judgments. The
  inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
  (Isaiah 269)