וְ/נַפְשֵׁ֣/נוּ
𐤅/𐤍𐤐𐤔/𐤍𐤅
nephesh
and our soul
The animate self; a living being with breath; the seat of life or vitality in animals and humans. In the Hebrew Bible, 'nephesh' refers to living creatures, the essential self or person, appetite, desire, and occasionally the seat of emotions or consciousness. It can indicate the life that animates a body, a specific individual, or one's being in a holistic sense. Unlike later concepts of an immortal soul distinct from the body, 'nephesh' primarily expresses the living, breathing person or animal, often rendered as 'life', 'person', or 'being.'
Numbers 21:5 · Word #15
Lexicon H5315
| Lemma | נֶפֶשׁ |
| Lemma (Paleo) | 𐤍𐤐𐤔 |
| Transliteration | nephesh |
| Strong's | H5315 |
| Definition | The animate self; a living being with breath; the seat of life or vitality in animals and humans. In the Hebrew Bible, 'nephesh' refers to living creatures, the essential self or person, appetite, desire, and occasionally the seat of emotions or consciousness. It can indicate the life that animates a body, a specific individual, or one's being in a holistic sense. Unlike later concepts of an immortal soul distinct from the body, 'nephesh' primarily expresses the living, breathing person or animal, often rendered as 'life', 'person', or 'being.' |
Morphology HC/Ncbsc/Sp1cp
All morphology codes
| Part of Speech | N — Noun — A person, place, thing, or idea |
| Subtype | c — Common — Common noun |
| Gender | b — Both — Both (masculine and feminine) |
| Number | s — Singular — Singular |
| State | c — Construct — The noun is bound to the following word |
Common Translation
| Phrase | and our soul |
SIBI-P1 Translation H5315-57
and our living-being
| Morphological Notes | Conjunction וְ + common noun feminine singular construct נַפְשׁ + 1st person common plural suffix נוּ ("our"). |
| Rendering Rationale | "Nephesh" denotes the breathing, animate self—the living being as a whole. The singular noun with a first person common plural suffix is preserved as "our living-being," reflecting a singular collective self possessed by "us," with the prefixed conjunction rendered as "and." |
View full lexicon entry for H5315 →
SILEX v2
SIBI-P2 (Context-Aware)
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