A ny discussion regarding the composition of an individual’s body and the concept of having a soul must begin with examining a per- son's substance. Scriptures define man, called adam in Hebrew, as a creature whose body was created from the material elements of the ground. These elements were arranged to form a body con- sisting of flesh, bone, and blood. At the same time, be- cause mankind’s blood cells breathe air in order to give him life, the Hebrew language refers to man as a nephesh(a life that breathes). The word nepheshis trans- lated into the Greek of the LXX and NT as yuchv (psuche), rendered into English as “soul.” Al- though only a narrow understanding of yuchv (psuche) was originally intended by the transla- tors, both the Greek term and the word “soul” can be misleading. They often take on the gen- eral Greek connotation of being an entity that is “alive” and “immortal,” capable of living sepa- rately from the fleshly body, i.e., a spirit life that has a conscious existence after the body’s death. As we shall demonstrate in Scriptures, the nepheshis the creature or person and is un- able to be alive without a physical body. The Composition of Adam After Yahweh created the first man and woman, he called them both µda (Adam). 1 Adam not only became the personal name of the first man and the married name of his wife Eve, 2 but it was also used as the generic term for all humankind. 3 Accordingly, the expres- sion µdah (ha-adam; the man) is found numer- ous times in the Hebrew text. A man (adam) is composed of rp[ (‘aphar), i.e., the material elements of the earth, 4 which was taken from the hmda (adamah; the ground, red soil). 5 The Hebrew term hmda (adamah) derives from the word µda (adam), and means “to show blood(in the face), i.e., flushor turn rosy,” “ruddy,” “red, reddish brown.” 6 All the descendants of Adam, like their original earthly father, are also composed of the same rp[ (‘aphar) material. To demonstrate, Job defines humans as those “dwelling in houses of rmj (khamar; clay), 7 whose foundation is in rp[ (‘aphar; material elements).” 8 Meanwhile, both the first man and first woman were called “adam.” This is be- cause the male was created first from the hmda (adamah; ground, red soil), while the woman was, in turn, produced out of the male. 9 We are all called “adam” because that is what we are, everyone being a descendant of a man com- posed of hmda (adamah). In Genesis, we read: And he, Yahweh eloahim, rxy (yat- sar; molded) 10 ha-adam, ‘apharfrom the adamah. 11 In another passage, Yahweh tells Adam: Body and Soul 1 Gen., 5:2. 2 I.e., Gen., 4:1, 5:3–5; Deut., 32:8; Luke, 3:38; 1 Cor., 15:45; etc. 3 SEC (Strongs’s Exhaustive Concordance), Heb. #120, see ref. pp. 650–654. 4 The Hebrew term rp[(‘aphar) means, “dust(as powderedor gray); hence clay, earth, mud” (SEC, Heb. #6083); “earth, mould, clay” (HEL (Hebrew-English Lexicon. Zondervan Edition, 1970.), p. 199). 5 The Hebrew term hmda (adamah), also tmda (adamath), means, “soil(from its gen. redness)” (SEC, Heb. #127); “ground, soil” (HEL, p. 5). 6 SEC, Heb. #119, 120; HEL, pp. 4f. 7 The Hebrew term rmj(khamar) means, “clay. . . raw material, (clayey) mud, to be trodden under . . . building ma- terial, mortar. . . material for pottery” (CHAL (A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. William B. Eerd- mans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1971), p. 109); “clay, earth, mire . . . heap, mound of earth” (HEL, p. 89); “prop. a bubblingup, i.e. of water, a wave; of earth, mireor clay(cement)” (SEC, Heb. #2563). 8 Job, 4:20. 9 Gen., 2:4–7, 21–25. 10 SEC, Heb. #3335, “(through the squeezinginto shape) . . . to mouldinto a form; espec. as a potter”; CHAL, p. 141, “form, shape(as a potter) . . . subj. men: form, fashion. . . subj. God: create, form); HEL, p. 113, “form, fashion, make.” 11 Gen., 2:7. A RTICLE S ERIES Q ADESH L A Y AHWEH P RESS C OPYRIGHT © 2022By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the adamah; for out of it you have been taken; for ‘apharyou are, and to ‘apharyou will return. 12 Notice that Adam is ‘aphar. Nowhere in Scriptures is a man (adam) said to be an immor- tal soul or a “spirit being” inhabiting a physical body. On the other hand, adam is scripturally de- fined as a nephesh (breather) being who pos- sesses ruach (unseen animating force), which, as we shall see, is quite a different characterization. The above scriptures prove that adam is a material thing, i.e., ‘aphar. Abraham, as another example, testifies to Yahweh, “I am rp[ (‘aphar) and rpa (ephar; worthless material).” 13 The Hebrew term rpa (ephar) refers to “any- thing worthless,” or something cast away, to “be- strew,” like “ashes.” 14 The numerous offspring of Jacob are also referred to as “the ‘apharof Jacob,” 15 i.e., they descend from the material substance of Jacob; and in Job, we read that upon death, “adamwill return to ‘aphar.” 16 The book of Psalms informs us, “For he (Yahweh) knows our form; remembering that we are ‘aphar.” 17 In another verse from this same text, David reminds Yahweh that when he takes away the life force of men, “they expire and they return to their ‘aphar.” 18 The Body of Adam Yahweh arb (bara; created) Adam by molding the ‘apharfrom the adamah into a hywg (gewiyah; body) of rçb (basar; flesh). More precisely, these three terms can be defined as follows: • arb (bara): “to create; (qualified) to cut down (a wood), select,” “formed, made. . . pro- duced.” 19 The essential idea of arb (bara) is to form, produce, and create something out of some- thing else that already exists. For example, one can baraa tree and then produce a chair—thus the use of barameaning, “to cut down.” The concept of barais that an already-existing ob- ject or material is being altered, destroyed, or reshaped to produce a new object. In the case of man, ‘apharfrom the adamahwas molded to create the human body. • hywg (gewiyah): “a body, whether alive or dead:—(dead) body, carcass, corpse,” “dead body, carcase of menor animals.” 21 • rçb (basar): “to be fresh, i.e. full(rosy, fig. cheerful),” “flesh(from its freshness); by extens. body, person.” 20 •The Greek translation of this Hebrew word hywg (gewiyah) is sw`ma (soma), meaning: “the body(as a soundwhole),” “the dead body, corpse, carcase. . . generally, a body, i.e. any mate- rial substance. . . the whole bodyor mass of a thing.” 22 The hywg (gewiyah) or sw`ma (soma) of some- thing is merely the mass and shape in which that “thing” exists. For example, in 1 Corinthi- ans 15:35-42, Saul speaks of different kinds of bodies. Two great classifications used are “heavenly bodies and earthly bodies.” Listed among the heavenly types are the sun, the moon, and the stars. Among earthly types, there are men, birds, animals, fish, and so forth. Plants also have bodies. A man’s body is de- fined as rçb (basar; flesh) and bone. 23 Yet there are different kinds of fleshly bodies. Saul writes, “Not every flesh is the same flesh, but one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fishes, and another of birds.” 24 12 Gen., 3:19. 13 Gen., 18:27. 14 SEC, Heb. #665, “to bestrew; ashes”; HEL, p. 23, “ashes . . . any thing worthless”; CHAL, p. 25, “loose soil, crumbling to dust. . . ashes.” 15 Num., 23:10. 16 Job, 34:15. 17 Ps., 103:14. 18 Ps., 104:29. 19 SEC, Heb. #1254, “to create; (qualified) to cutdown (a wood), select, feed(as formative processes”; HEL, p. 43, “created, formed, made . . . cut, as with a sword or axe . . . make, form”; CHAL, p. 47, “create. . . cut down timber, clear ground, abs. Jos 17 15 , obj. woods 18 .” 20 SEC, Heb. #1319, 1320; cf., HEL, p. 45; CHAL, p. 51. 21 SEC, Heb. #1472; HEL, p. 49; cf., CHAL, p. 57. 22 SEC, Gk. #4983, GEL, p. 788. 23 E.g., Gen., 2:21–24, 6:3; Exod., 30:32; Lev., 13:2; 2 Sam. 19:13; 1 Chron., 11:1; Job, 2:5; John, 3:6; and so forth. 24 1 Cor., 15:35–42. 2B ODYAND S OULTherefore, Saul was demonstrating that human flesh was different from the flesh of animals, fish, or birds. In Scriptures, when the body is dead, it is also called a hlbn (nebelah), “a flabbything, i.e., a carcase or carrion (human or bestial).” 25 This term is derived from the word lbn (nebel), “to wilt,” from the idea that a dead body has failed and is wilted; 26 also by implication it refers to “a skin-bagfor liq- uids (from collapsing when empty)” 27 —the human body similarly being a container for water. When the person dies, his body dehydrates and be- comes like a wilted bag. An- other term used is hndn (nidneh), meaning “a sheath,” or something that holds something else, as a sheath holds a sword. 28 Daniel, for example, speaks of his body as a sheath that holds his jwr (ruach; unseen animating force). 29 The Nephesh In Scriptures, the type of body that a man has is called a çpn (nephesh). • çpn (nephesh), collective plural µçpn (nepheshim), is a primary root meaning “to breathe. . . a breathingcreature, i.e. animalor (abstr.) vitality,” 30 “an animal(that which breathes) . . . a person.” 31 •The Greek translation of the Hebrew word çpn (nephesh) is yuchv (psuche) which means, “breath” and “the life. . . mind, under- standing.” Only by pagan Greek usage is the idea of “spirit” implied. 32 Since the Greek translation of the New Testament is merely an attempt to express the Hebrew thought in Scriptures, we must use the Hebrew meanings and Scriptures to define the word. In various English transla- tions of the Hebrew and Greek terms, the words nepheshand psuche are ren- dered as soul, breath, life, creature, and mind. At the same time, çpn (nephesh)—a thing that breathes—must not be confused with the Hebrew word πçn (nesheph), meaning a “breeze” and to “blow.” 33 In turn, the term nephesh must also be clearly distinguished from the word hmçn (ne- shamah), or tmçn (neshamath), meaning, “a puff” of air, “i.e., wind, angry or vital breath, di- vine inspiration, intellect,” a “blast” of air. 34 The neshamah deals with the physical act of breathing utiliz- ing the lungs and nostrils.Nepheshmust like- wise be distinguished from the word jpn (naphach), meaning “to puff. . . inflate, blow hard.” 35 The difference between nephesh, neshamah, and naphachis best expressed in Genesis, 2:7, “And Yahweh eloahim molded ha-adamfrom the ‘apharof the adamah, and naphach(blew hard) into his nostrils the neshamah(vital breath) of life and ha-adambecame a living nephesh.” Notice that ha-adam(the Adam, the man) “became a living nephesh.” It does not say Adam has a nephesh. Instead, he is a nephesh. Equally, although fish, birds, and all other ani- mals have a different type of flesh, they too are considered this type of creature. The following passages from Genesis demonstrate the point: 25 SEC, Heb. #5038; cf., CHAL, p. 225, “corpse. . . carcassof animal”; HEL, p. 158, “carcase of an animal . . . dead body of a man.” 26 SEC, Heb. #5034; cf., CHAL, p. 225, “wither &fall. . . wither, fall to ruin, wear out”; HEL, p. 157, “became shrivelled and fell(as flowers, &c) . . . wasted away . . . crumbled to dust.” 27 SEC, Heb. #5035. 28 HEL, p. 160; SEC, Heb. #5085; CHAL, p. 413. 29 Dan., 7:15. 30 SEC, Heb. #5314, 5315. 31 HEL, pp. 170f. 32 SEC, Gk. #5590; GEL, p. 903. 33 SEC, Heb. #5398–5399. 34 SEC, Heb. #5397; HEL, p. 175. 35 SEC, Heb. #5301; CHAL, p. 241; HEL, p. 169, “blew, blew upon . . . blew a fire. . . with vp,n<expired.” B ODYAND S OUL 3And eloahimsaid, Let swarm the waters with swarms of living NEPHESH, and let fowl fly above the land in the open expanse of the heavens. And eloahim created the great sea-animals and EVERY LIV- ING NEPHESHthat creeps, which swarm the waters, after its kind, and every winged fowl after its kind. 36 And eloahimsaid: Let the land bring forth the living NEPHESHafter its kind, cattle, and creeper, and living thing of the land after its kind. 37 And Yahweh eloahim formed out of the adamahevery living thing of the field, and every fowl of the heav- ens, and brought them to ha-adamto see what he would call them; and all which ha-adamwould call them, EVERY LIVING NEPHESH, that was its name. And ha-adamcalled names to ALL THE CATTLE, and to THE FOWL of the heavens, and to ALL LIVING THINGS of the field. 38 The key to understanding the term nephesh is that it means “to breathe,” specifically in the blood. All creatures with blood breathe oxy- gen. On the other hand, any variety of vegeta- tion (e.g., trees, bushes, and such things), which breathes carbon dioxide, is never de- fined in Scriptures as a “nephesh.” This point is verified in Leviticus, 17:11–12, which reads: For the NEPHESHof the flesh is IN THE BLOOD; and I have given it to you (the Israelites) upon the altar to make atonement for your NEPHESHIM(a collective plural of nephesh, i.e., the Israelites); for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the NEPHESH. Genesis, 9:4 tells us, “Only you will not eat flesh in the nepheshof the blood,” and Deuteronomy, 12:23, states, “Only be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the nephesh, and you will not eat the nephesh with the flesh.” Accordingly, the nephesh is not only in the blood, but the blood is PART OF THE NEPHESH. Genesis, 9:5, states, “And surely I will re- quire your blood of your NEPHESH.” 39 Therefore, the nephesh—which is both in the blood and is the blood—per- meates the human body, and as we shall see below, it has two qualities, being both di- vine and material. It is the exchange of oxy- gen in the blood (the act of breathing) that sepa- rates the flesh species, whether fish, fowl, animal, or man, from other bodies (stars, moons, planets, the earth, rocks, vegetation, etc.). Therefore, a nephesh is one type of a gewiyah(body). It is a fleshly body of sinews, skin, and bones containing blood and breathing oxygen. Since the exchange of oxygen in the bloodstream is throughout the body, being the life principle itself, nepheshis frequently trans- lated as “life,” 40 because a thing that is breathing is “alive.” Furthermore, after that thing dies, it is considered to have been “alive.” That scholars understand a nepheshas an oxygen-breathing, fleshly creature is demonstrated by the fact that the Hebrew word nepheshis often translated as “creature.” 41 Nevertheless, the human nepheshis markedly different from the animal forms. 36 Gen., 1:20f. 37 Gen., 1:24. 38 Gen., 2:19f. 39 Also see Jer., 2:34. 40 I.e., at Gen., 19:17, 19, 32:30; Exod., 21:23, 30, and so forth. 41 I.e., at Gen., 1:21, 24, 2:19, 9:10, 12, 15, 16; Lev., 11:46; etc. 4B ODYAND S OULAdam was created as a nephesh being, brought to life the moment that Yahweh blew the ne- shamah(vital breath) into his body. 42 Yet this was not merely a breath of air. Yahushua de- fines this type of neshamahwhen, after his res- urrection, he breathed upon his disciples and said, “Re- ceive the sacred ruach.” 43 Ruach, as we shall fully demonstrate in several sepa- rate discussions, is energy as an unseen animating force. 44 The sacred ruach proceeds from out of father Yahweh, 45 and was used by Yahu Yah- weh to create mankind. The neshamah (vital breath) that Yahweh blew into Adam entered through his lungs and into his blood- stream. It then permeated every cell in Adam’s body, making him a living, breath- ing nephesh. As it activated the brain, Adam was given consciousness. The late 2nd century C.E. Christian writer Irenaeus reminds his readers, “at the beginning of our for- mation in Adam, the breath of life which pro- ceeded from the deity, having been united to what had been fashioned, animated the man, and manifested him as a being endowed with rea- son.” 46 This act of Yahweh blowing a neshamah (vital breath = sacred ruach) into Adam is not to be confused with the vital breath that exists in the nostrils of animals. 47 The act undertaken with Adam was a one-time event, combining the divine ruachwith the physical body. Nowhere is it said, for example, that Yahweh blew the neshamahinto any animal, fish, or bird. Neither did he blow his neshamahinto Eve. She obtained her portion from Adam when she was created out of the flesh and bone that came from Adam’s side. 48 All the descen- dants of Adam and Eve do likewise, being cre- ated from human sperm and egg, combining flesh and blood from both parents. This information means that the fleshly part of Adam’s nephesh, the gewiyah (body), which was created in a nonliving state, was com- bined with the sacred ruach from Yahweh to create a third thing, the living human nephesh. By blowing the sa- cred ruach directlyinto Adam, Yahweh was conceiving an offspring. Because Adam’s personality or innermost self (the leband lebab) 49 was in part created from the sacred ruach, a substance derived from fa- ther Yahweh, Adam is called the son of the deity Yahweh. 50 For this reason, the nephesh of man differs from that of the animals and, as we shall see, at death, allows the nephesh of a man to enter into a “state of being” called sheol. 51 Animals, birds, and fish, on the one hand, dis- sipate into the nonexistence of absolute dark- ness. Mankind, meanwhile, falls into a state of unconsciousness, a so-called “death sleep.” We will have much more to say about this state of sleep in a another Article. 52 The “Person” The nephesh is more specifically the person. For example, sometimes nephesh is used for and, accordingly, translated as “mind.” 53 The nepheshincludes the mind because in a living creature, such as a man, the blood-oxygen ex- change which takes place in the brain is essen- tial for one’s mental activities. 42 Gen., 2:7. 43 John, 20:22. 44 See forthcoming articles titled Ruach, Ruach of the Mind, Sacred Ruach, and Sacred Ruach. 45 John, 15:26. 46 Irenaeus, Ag. Her. (Agains Heresies), 5:1:3. 47 Gen., 7:21f. 48 Gen., 2:21. 49 For a discussion of the leband lebab, see forthcoming article titled Ruach of the Mind. 50 Luke, 3:38. 51 See forthcoming article titled Sheol. 52 See forthcoming article titled Sleep and Samuel. 53 I.e., Gen., 23:8; 1 Sam., 2:35; 1 Chron., 28:9; etc. B ODYAND S OUL 5 This act of Yahweh blowing a neshamah (vital breath = sacred ruach) into Adam is not to be confused with the vital breath that exists in the nostrils of animals.That a nephesh in the bodily form of a man is the human creature itself (a fleshly being which contains blood and breathes oxygen), and by extension, his mind is also substanti- ated by the following things the nephesh can do: •A nephesh can eat flesh, fat, blood, or other materials. 54 •A nephesh becomes hun- gry or thirsty. 55 •A nephesh can fast. 56 •It can be refreshed by cold water. 57 •It can be placed in iron chains. 58 •A nephesh can kidnap a man. 59 •A nephesh can work. 60 •A nephesh can grieve, be glad, faint, love, and hate. 61 •A nepheshcan either be alive, 62 or dead, 63 the latter case proving that a “nephesh” is not an immortal “soul” nor does it continue to live while dead. The above-listed attributes of a human nephesh reveal that the nephesh is the person. This fact is confirmed in those places where the nephesh specifically designates an individ- ual or person 64 or is employed with a pronom- inal suffix to denote self. 65 A nephesh, accordingly, is a type of life-form—one that is flesh, contains blood, and breathes oxygen. Therefore, it is a breather, an animal, a fish, a bird, or a man. Furthermore, the exchange of oxygen in the bloodstream is the type of body that distinguishes the nephesh creature from other forms of existence. However, the flesh of man, from which his physical nephesh is formed, is not the same as the flesh and nepheshof animals. Saul, as we have said earlier, reminds us, “Not every flesh is the same flesh, but one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fishes, and another of birds.” 66 Man’s physical nepheshwas combined with the sacred ruachthat had been given to Adam by Yahweh, therefore creating the living human nephesh. As a result, man’s mind, which is part of his nephesh, emanates from a dif- ferent source of flesh, one which is superior to animals, birds, or fish. The human nephesh was brought to life by Yahweh when he directly jp (phakh; blew) 67 sacred ruachas the ne- shamah(vital breath) of life into the nostrils of the gewiyah(body) of Adam, 68 thereby blending part of Yahweh, the divine, within the material creation of Adam (much as a man blends part of himself with the egg of a woman when she conceives a child). As a child is, in a sense, a combination of both his mother and his father, Adam is a combination of both a physical cre- ation from the ‘aphar(dust) of the ground and the sacred ruach. Furthermore, although the “self” of the human nephesh, which will be raised back to life at the resurrection, is derived from the divine, his personality is created by 54 Lev., 7:18f, 17:10f; Deut., 23:24. 55 Deut., 12:15f; Ps., 107:9; Prov., 19:15, 27:7; Isa., 29:8, 32:6; Mic., 7:l. 56 Ps., 35:13. 57 Prov., 25:25. 58 Ps., 105:18. 59 Deut., 24:6f. 60 Lev., 23:30. 61 Job, 30:25; Ps., 86:4, 107:26; Song, l:7; Isaiah, l:14. 62 Gen., l:2l, 2:7, 20, 9:10, 12, 15; and so forth. 63 Lev., 19:28; Num., 6:6; Hag., 2:13; and so forth. 64 E.g., Lev., 7:2l, 17:12; Ezek. 18:4. 65 E.g., Judg. 16:16; Ps., 120:6; Ezek., 4:14. 66 1 Cor., 15:39. 67 A form of jpn(naphach), see SEC, Heb. #5301; HEL, p. 169; CHAL, p. 241. 68 Gen., 2:7. 6B ODYAND S OUL As a result, man’s mind, which is part of his nephesh, emanates from a different source of flesh, one which is superior to animals, birds, or fish.means of the physical and cannot remain alive without a physical breathing body. As a result, it is improper to translate the Hebrew word nephesh (also written “nefesh”) as “soul,” as is so often done, the latter being an English word for “a disembodied spirit of a de- ceased person.” 69 Dr. H. M. Orlinsky of the He- brew Union College writes that the word “soul” had been eliminated from his new translation of the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) because “the Hebrew word in question here is ‘Nefesh.’” He then adds: Other translators have interpreted it to mean ‘soul,’ which is com- pletely inaccurate. The Bible does not say we have a soul. ‘Nefesh’ is the person himself, his need for food, the very blood in his veins, his being. 70 Genesis 35:18 Some who know little about the Hebrew lan- guage will try to confuse the issue by pointing to Genesis 35:18, which tells the story of the death of Rachel as she was giving birth to her son Ben- jamin. Unfortunately, this verse is often falsely translated into English as, “and it happened as her soul was going out, for she died, that she called his name Benoni; but his father called him Benjamin.” Translating the phrase “ hçpn taxb (be-tsath nepheshah)” to mean “her soul was going out,” they will then argue that her “soul” went out of her body at her death, implying that the soul is a disembodied spirit being. Many scholars have recognized that this ear- lier translation of this verse is not in keeping with the Hebrew thought. To correct this error, the New International Versionand the New Jerusalem Bibleboth render “ hçpn taxb (be- tsath nepheshah)” to mean “she breathed her last”; A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexiconhas “as her (breath =) life left her”; 71 Moffatt has, “As her life went from her”; the Lindsell Study Bible gives, “last breath.” Nevertheless, there is an- other interesting way that this verse can be un- derstood. To begin with, the Hebrew term trans- lated as “was going out” is taxb (be-tsath). • b (be) means, “of place: in, among, with, near, before; never motion either to or in a place . . . of time: in, within. . . of the cause: for, because . . . of the rule: according to.” 72 • hax (tsah), feminine tax (tsath), is a form of axy (yatsa), meaning, “to go (causat. bring) out.” 73 By extension hax can also be an “issue, i.e. (human) excrement:—that (which) cometh from (out),” “to issue; soiled(as if excre- mentitious):—filthy,” “excrement; gen. dirt; fig. pollution:—dung, filth (-iness).” 74 Yet tsah only takes on the connotation of “excrement” or “issue” because human excrement or issue “goes out.” The term taxb (be-tsath) refers to some- thing or someone going out from something. A verse in 1 Kings, 6:1, for example, speaks of the sons of Israel “ tax (tsath= going out from) the land of Egypt.” The verse at question in Gene- sis, 35:18, therefore, literally states (reading along with the Hebrew from right to left): taxbyhyw <— with the going out fromAnd it happened ykhçpn for that reasonher nephesh ynwaˆbwmçarqtwhtm Ben-aunihis nameand she calledshe died As a result, we can read this verse to say: And it happened with the going out from her nephesh, for that rea- son she died, and she called his name Ben-auni (son of my sorrow). The passage merely means that as the in- fant was “going out from” Rachel, i.e., out of her nephesh, “for that reason” two things hap- pened: (1) “she died,” (2) “AND she called his name ben-auni(son of my sorrow).” 75 69 The Random House College Dictionary, p. 1255, s.v. “soul.” 70 New York Times, October 12, 1962. 71 CHAL, p. 243. 72 HEL, p. 30. 73 SEC, Heb. #3318. 74 SEC, Heb. #6627, 6674, 6675; HEL, p. 217. 75 SEC, Heb. #1126. B ODYAND S OUL 7It was not Rachel’s nepheshthat was going out, but the male child within her that was going out. Ancient writers and translations verify the understanding that Rachel died due to giving birth to this son. The LXX of Genesis, 35:18, for example, states: But it came as her yuch;n (psuchen= nephesh) ajfiev- nai (aphienai; was send- ing forth), for she was dying, she called his name the son of my pain. • ajfievnai (aphienai), a form of ajfihmi (aphiemi), “To send forth, discharge. . . in legal sense to release froman en- gagement, accusation,” in the medium voice, “to send forth from oneself, send forth.” 76 Josephus (first century C.E.) writes, “Rachel died in childbirth,” 77 and the second century B.C.E. book of Jubilees, states, “And Rachel bore a son in the night and called him ‘son of my sorrow,’ because she suffered when she bore him.” 78 The Testament of Benjamin, sim- ilarly, which claims to report the words of Ben- jamin, has Benjamin stating, “Rachel, my mother, died as she was bearing me.” 79 Regardless of which understanding of Gen- esis, 35:18 one favors, the plain fact is, as W. J. Cameron, a professor of New Testament Lan- guage, points out, the word nephesh “is never used to mean the spirit of the dead.” 80 Indeed, the deceased person’s body is referred to as a tm çpn (nephesh muth; dead nephesh). 81 Therefore, a human nephesh does not leave the body. In- stead, even after death, it clings to and includes the body. In the case of mankind, his present corruptible nepheshis a combination of physi- cal elements and sacred ruach. After death, the physical part of the nephesh,along with the physical body, is destroyed (dissipating by the process of rotting, by being burned up, eaten by wild animals, or some other such method). Meanwhile, the part of the human nephesh,which is di- vine ruach, as we will amply demonstrate later in our study, remains in the state of sheoluntil it is resurrected. 82 Life Goes On Eve was created from a por- tion of the flesh and bone taken from the side of Adam. 83 Eve at the time of her creation was already a living nephesh containing in her flesh the vital breath (sacred ruach) from Yahweh. Yahweh is not reported to have blown a vital breath into Eve, nor any other creature for that matter. This fact is why Adam is the only created being from the ‘aphar(dust) of the ground said to be the son of Yahweh. 84 For unlike all other life forms produced upon the earth, a part of Yahweh was placed directly within his physical form, combining a portion of the sacred ruachwith the flesh and air- breathing function to create a living nephesh. Eve became a living creature formed from living tissue already in existence (living nephesh from living nephesh, the scientific law of biogenesis). She received her vital breath from that which already existed within Adam, now innate within his flesh. Therefore, she did not require the vital breath directly from Yahweh. At the same time, we are all alive in Adam, 85 for it was Adam and Eve who combined to pro- duce all subsequent mankind as offspring. 76 GEL (An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1968.), p. 138; SEC, Gk. #863, “to send forth”; ILT (Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament. G.R. Berry. Zondervan Publishing House, Michigan, 1958), p. 17, “to send away . . . to let go, emit . . . dismiss.” 77 Jos., Antiq. (Josephus,Jewish Antiquities), 1:21:3. 78 Jub.( The Book of Jubilees), 32:33. 79 Test. Benj. (The Testament of Benjamin), 1:3. 80 NBD (The New Bible Dictionary. W.B. Eerdmans Pub., Grand Rapids, MI, 1971), p. 1208. 81 Num., 6:6; cf., Hag., 2:13; Lev., 19:28. 82 See our forthcoming articles that discuss Sheol, Tartaros, and Heaven. 83 Gen., 2:21 –23. 84 Luke, 3:38. 85 Cf., Heb., 7:4–10; Deut., 5:1–4, 29:14f; Rom., 5:12. 8B ODYAND S OUL Eve became a living creature formed from living tissue already in existence (living nepheshfrom living nephesh, the scientific law of biogenesis).A woman’s egg and the man’s sperm both breathe oxygen (i.e., each cell takes in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide). In both cases, the egg and the sperm take in a supply of oxygen and nutri- ents from their respective par- ent to maintain themselves until they unite and begin using the mother’s blood for further nourishment. These cells are alive. They descend from Adam and possess his vital breath. As cells divide and create newer cells, the fleshly body of Adam, which is infused with ruach, continues to grow and create the next genera- tion, after generation. Subsequently, the child created in its mother’s womb, shortly after the sperm and the egg unite, breathes oxy- gen and takes in nutrients from its mother’s blood. In a short time, the child develops its in- dependent air and blood circulation system, in- nate within its genetic makeup, until it is capable of independent life. When born, a child can breathe on its own, taking its first breath to live independently from its mother. (In this same way, all other life forms on earth are programmed to automati- cally breathe air when born.) Nevertheless, the human child, like Eve, al- ready has the original “neshamah(vital breath) of life” innate within him and only requires oxygen to continue the process of being a liv- ing nephesh. What Yahweh did with Adam was a special event because of who Adam was and what he is to become. His source of life came directly from his parent, Yahweh, just as a child’s source of life derives directly from his parents. As flesh grows and gives birth to flesh, the vital breath, being merged with the flesh, grows and continues within the offspring. Finally, at death, we give up the vital breath, and the nepheshdies— the sacred ruachportion of the nepheshentering into an un- conscious “death sleep.” 86 This life chain continues from generation to genera- tion. Flesh begets flesh, and a living nephesh begets a living nephesh (life begets life). In turn, since the creation of Adam, the nephesh type, which is called adam (mankind), can only be dead after it has been alive, for we were all alive in and are all derived from the original human creation, Adam. Conclusion The evidence demonstrates that humans are made of ‘apharor material elements of the ground. This material was molded into Adam’s original flesh-and-blood nephesh gewiyah. It was imbued with sacred ruach, the very substance of father Yahweh, forming a liv- ing nepheshand a child of eloahim. The nephesh of this creature is the person or self. Adam’s nepheshbody, infused with sacred ruach, was used to create Eve, and, in turn, through their offspring, they have been reproduced from generation to generation. As we proceed with our Article Series, we will have much more to say concerning the think- ing part of the nephesh and what happens to the mind after its death. But, for now, it is only im- portant to conclude that you are a nephesh. 86 The state of the nepheshafter death is discussed in our forthcoming Articles: The Nephesh, Ruach, Ruach of the Mind, Sacred Ruach, and The Annointing Ruach. As cells divide and create newer cells, the fleshly body of Adam, which is infused with ruach, continues to grow and create the next generation, after generation. B ODYAND S OUL 9Next >