The Use of Psuche in
the New Testament.
This Is
Appendix 110 From The Companion Bible.
psuche
is the only word translated "soul" in the
New Testament. It occurs 105 times, and is rendered "soul"
58 times, "life" 40 times, "mind"
3 times, and "heart", "heartly",
"us", and "you"
once each.
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To
ascertain its meaning, it is useless to go to heathen authors. The
Greek philosophers were at variance among themselves. ARNOBIOUS,
a Christian writer of the latter part of the third century, in his
work Adversus Gentes, speaking of the speculations
of the heathen of his day, says: "In exactly the same
way (as the creation and the gods) is the condition of souls
discussed. For this one thinks they are both immortal, and survive
the end of our earthly life; that one believes that they do not
survive, but perish with the bodies themselves; the opinion of
another, however, is that they suffer nothing immediately, but
that, after the [form of] man has been laid aside, they are
allowed to live a little longer, and then come under the power of
death." 1
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We
must, therefore, let Scripture be its own interpreter. Psuche
exactly corresponds to the Hebrew Nephesh (Appendix
13), as will be seen from the following passages: Mark 12:29,
30,
compared with Deuteronomy 6:4,
5;
Acts 2:27
with Psalm 16:10;
Romans 11:3
with 1
Kings 19:10;
1
Corinthians 15:45
with Genesis 2:7.
In all these places, psuche in the New Testament
represents nephesh in the Old.
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The
following are the occurrences of the word :-
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| I.
psuche, used of the lower animals twice, is rendered |
| 1.
"life" : |
Revelation
8:9. |
1 |
| 2.
"soul" : |
Revelation
16:3. |
1 |
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__ |
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2 |
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== |
II. psuche, used of man as an individual (just
as we speak of a ship going down with every soul on board, or of
so many lives being lost in a railway accident), occurs 14 times,
and is rendered
|
| "soul" |
Acts
2:41,
43;
3:23;
7:14;
27:37.
Romans 2:9;
13:1.
1 Corinthians
15:45.
James 5:20.
1
Peter 3:20.
2
Peter 2:14.
Revelation 6:9;
18:13;
20:4. |
14 |
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== |
III. psuche, used of the life of man, which can
be lost, destroyed, saved, laid down, etc., occurs 58 times and is
rendered
| |
| 1.
"life": |
Matthew
2:20;
6:25,
25;
10:39,
39;
16:25,
25;
20:28.
Mark 3:4;
8:35,
35;
10:45.
Luke 6:9;
9:24,
24, 56;
12:22,
23;
14:26;
17:33 2.
John 10:11,
15, 17;
12:25,
25;
13:37,
38;
15:13.
Acts 15:26;
20:10,
24;
27:10,
22.
Romans 11:3;
16:4.
Philippians 2:30.
1
John 3:16,
16.
Revelation 12:11. |
39 |
| 2.
"soul": |
Matthew
10:28,
28;
16:26,
26.
Mark 8:36,
37.
Luke 12:20;
21:19.
1
Thessalonians 2:8;
5:23.
Hebrews 4:12;
6:19;
10:39;
13:17.
James 1:21.
1
Peter 1:9;
2:11,
25;
4:19. |
19 |
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58 |
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== |
IV. psuche, used to emphasize the pronoun, as we
use "self" (for example, "my
soul" = "myself"), occurs 21
times, and is rendered
|
| 1.
"soul": |
Matthew
11:29;
12:18;
26:38.
Mark 14:34.
Luke 1:46;
12:19,
19.
John 12:27,
31;
14:22;
15:24.
2
Corinthians 1:23.
Hebrews 10:38.
1
Peter 1:22.
2
Peter 2:8.
Revelation 18:
14. |
17 |
| 2.
"mind" : |
Acts
14:2.
Hebrews 12:3. |
2 |
| 3.
"us" : |
John
10:24. |
1 |
| 4.
"you" : |
2
Corinthians 12:15
(see margin). |
1 |
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21 |
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== |
V. psuche, used with intensive force, to express
all the powers of one's being, occurs 10 times, and is rendered
|
| 1.
"soul" : |
Matthew
22:37.
Mark 12:30,
33.
Luke 2:35;
10:27.
Acts 4:32.
3
John :2. |
7 |
| 2.
"heart" : |
Ephesians
6:6. |
1 |
| 3.
"mind" : |
Philippians
1:27. |
1 |
| 4.
"heartily" : |
Colossians
3:23. |
1 |
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== |
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10 |
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== |
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Total
105 |
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NOTES |
| 1
Clark's Ante-Nicene Christian Library,
volume xix, page 125. |
| 2
In this verse "life" occurs twice in the
English, but psuche only once in the Greek. |
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