Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama (pending)

Save me, O God; For the waters are come in even unto the soul. (1917)

(2) Deliver me, O God,
for the waters have reached my neck; (1985)

And the people spoke against God, and against Moses: ‘Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.’ (1917)

(5) and the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread and no water, and we have come to loathe this miserable food.” (1985)

(1) THE Hebrew nefesh (soul) is a homonymous noun, signifying the vitality which is common to all living, sentient beings. E.g. “wherein there is a living soul” (nefesh) (Gen. 1:30). It denotes also blood,” as in “Thou shalt not eat the blood (nefesh) with the meat” (Deut. 12:23). Another signification of the term is “reason,” that is, the distinguishing characteristic of man, as in “As the Lord liveth that made us this soul” (Jer. 38:16). It denotes also the part of man that remains after his death (nefesh, soul) comp. “But the soul (nefesh) of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life (1 Sam. 25:29). Lastly, it denotes “will”; comp. “To bind his princes at his will” (be-nafsho) (Ps. 105:22); “Thou wilt not deliver me unto the will (be-nefesh) of my enemies” (Ps. 41:3); and according to my opinion, it has this meaning also in the following passages, “If it be your will (nafshekem) that I should bury my dead” (Gen. 23:8); “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my will (nafshi) could not be toward this people” (Jer. 15:1), that is, I had no pleasure in them, I did not wish to preserve them. When nefesh is used in reference to God, it has the meaning “will,” as we have already explained with reference to the passage, “That shall do according to that which is in my will (bi-lebabi) and in mine intention (be-nafshi)” (1 Sam. 2:35).

(2) Similarly we explain the phrase, “And his will (nafsho) to trouble Israel ceased” (Judg. 10:16). Jonathan, the son of Uzziel [in the Targum of the Prophets], did not translate this passage, because he understood nafshi to have the first signification, and finding, therefore, in these words sensation ascribed to God, he omitted them from his translation. If, however, nefesh be here taken in the last signification, the sentence can well be explained. For in the passage which precedes, it is stated that Providence abandoned the Israelites, and left them on the brink of death: then they cried and prayed for help, but in vain. When, however, they had thoroughly repented, when their misery had increased, and their enemy had had power over them, He showed mercy to them, and His will to continue their trouble and misery ceased. Note it well, for it is remarkable. The preposition ba in this passage has the force of the preposition min (“from” or “of”); and ba‘amal is identical with me‘amal. Grammarians give many instances of this use of the preposition ba: “And that which remaineth of (ba) the flesh and of (ba) the bread” (Lev. 8:32); “If there remains but few of (ba) the years” (ib. 25:52); “Of (ba) the strangers and of (ba) those born in the land” (Exod. 12:19).

(1) I give thanks to You living and everlasting King for You have restored my soul with mercy. Great is Your faithfulness.

(9) By five names is the soul/nefesh called: nefesh, ru’ach, n’shamah, chayah (living one), y’chidah (unique one). Nefesh – this is the blood . . . Ru’ach – for she rises and falls, [as in:] “Who knows if the ru’ach of human beings goes upward?” [Ec 3:21]. N’shamah – this is the visage/character/ofah. . . Chayah – that all the limbs die and (i.e., unless) she lives in the body. Y’chidah – that all the limbs are two by two [but] she is singular in the body.