Question 1

What does "Soul" mean in the King James Bible?

Accepted Answer

In the KJV, "Soul" means "inner spirit." The embodied wholeness. Nephesh meant 'throat' -- the place where breath, food, water, and words pass. A soul was not a ghost in a machine but a whole breathing, eating, thirsting, longing person. 'My soul thirsteth for God' meant 'my whole embodied being craves God the way a parched throat craves water.'

Question 2

Why did the word "Soul" disappear from modern English?

Accepted Answer

Hebrew nephesh ('whole living being/throat/appetite/life itself') was filtered through Greek Platonic dualism into a detachable ghost-part trapped in a body. The earthy, embodied Hebrew concept became a disembodied Greek one. The word was at peak usage around 1611 and declined by still used but Platonized (~400 AD, reinforced ~1600).

Question 3

What modern word replaced "Soul"?

Accepted Answer

"Soul" was replaced by: "spirit" (though this disembodied; nephesh included the body -- 'man became a living nephesh' meant the whole person, not a ghost inserted into flesh); "inner self" (though this psychological and private; nephesh was the whole person in relation to god); "ghost" (though this spooky afterlife entity; nephesh was the vital, breathing, hungry, thirsting, embodied person).

What Does “Soul” Mean in the Bible?

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