Soul in the Bible
The concept of an immaterial and immortal soul – distinct from the body – did not appear in Judaism before the Babylonian exile,[1] but developed as a result of interaction with Persian and Hellenistic philosophies.[2] Accordingly, the Hebrew word נֶ֫פֶשׁ, nephesh, although translated as "soul" in some older English-language Bibles, actually has a meaning closer to "living being". Nephesh was translated into Greek in the Septuagint as ψυχή (psūchê), using the Greek word for "soul". The New Testament also uses the word ψυχή.
New Testament[edit]
The New Testament counterpart to the Old Testament word for soul, nephesh, is psyche. The two words carry a similar range of meanings.[2] Both can designate the person or the person’s life as a whole.[12] For all uses and meanings of psyche/ψυχἠ, see Joseph Henry Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.[13]