Month: February 2022

Psyche in Matthew: Sellers on the Soul—Part X

[Previous installments: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX]

As Sellers approaches the Greek Scriptures on the question of the soul, he’s eager to affirm the principle of interpretation he calls “divine interchange.” It is a theological principle, that is, it is based, not on an empirical study of linguistics, but rather from the worldview he derived from his study of the Bible.

On this blog we explored what Sellers means by this principle as it pertains to the Hebrew עוֹלָם‎ (olam) and the Greek  αἰών (aion), both usually translated “eternal” or “everlasting”—which obscures the idea of flow at the root of both words. Those who wish to review that discussion should take the link to the first post in that three-part series. It was about olam’s “control” of aion, just as what follows is about nephesh’s “control” of psyche.

These words are identical in meaning in the Word of God. Whatever nephesh means, as gathered from divine usage in the Old Testament, is also the meaning of psyche. This is established by the fact that the Holy Spirit uses these two words interchangeably, a fact that would overrule the contrary opinion of any scholar. In Psalm 16:10 and Acts 2:27 we find the following:

For thou wilt not leave my soul (נַפְשִׁ֣י, naphshi) in sheol (לִשְׁא֑וֹל, leshowl).

Because thou wilt not leave my soul (ψυχήν, psychen) in hades (ᾅδην, haden).

As hades (ᾅδης) is the equivalent of sheol (שְׁאוֹל‎), so is psyche (ψυχή) of nephesh (נפש). Now, hades doesn’t translate ᾅδης, but transliterates it; the same is true of what sheol does for שְׁאוֹל‎. The English words carry over, not the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words, but only the sounds into different symbols. And it’s the meaning we’re after.

Continue reading “Psyche in Matthew: Sellers on the Soul—Part X”

Nephesh in the Rest of the Hebrew Scriptures (3): Sellers on the Soul—Part IX

Otis Q. Sellers, “What Is the Soul,” Grand Rapids, MI 1939. Cover shown here is that of the reprint, Los Angeles, dated no earlier than 1963 when zip codes were introduced.

[Previous installments: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII.]

Citing the many occurrences of nephesh in Isaiah, Sellers selects for commentary Isaiah 1:14 “. . . your appointed feasts my soul (נַפְשִׁ֔י, naphshi) hateth . . .”:

In this passage [Sellers writes] the soul is used in reference to God. It is evident that “my soul” means I.

He also notes the unusual translation of nephesh in Isaiah 3:20: “The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets [or “perfume boxes”] (הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ, hanephesh), and the earrings.”

This is a very obscure reference. It seems that perfume boxes or scentcases were called “houses of the soul.” Whether this is used because of the connection of the soul with the sense of smell, or its connection with the breath, would be hard to say.

Again, many times nephesh occurs in Jeremiah, and six times it “is used in relationship to God”:

    • “Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul (נַפְשִֽׁי, naphshi) be avenged on such a nation as this?” Jeremiah 5:9
    • “Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul (נַפְשִֽׁי, naphshi) be avenged on such a nation as this?” Jeremiah 5:29
    • “Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul (נַפְשִֽׁי, naphshi) depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.” Jeremiah 6:8
    • “Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul (נַפְשִֽׁי, naphshi) be avenged on such a nation as this?” Jeremiah 9:9
    • “Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind (נַפְשִׁ֖י, naphshi) could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. Jeremiah 15:1
    • “The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself (בְּנַפְשׁ֑וֹ, benaphshow), saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.” Jeremiah 51:14

There isn’t much purpose in listing all the many occurrences of nephesh in Lamentations, Ezekiel, and the so-called “Minor Prophets,” but Sellers calls attention to a couple of passages that make it clear that it couldn’t mean what “everyone knows” it means. Continue reading “Nephesh in the Rest of the Hebrew Scriptures (3): Sellers on the Soul—Part IX”

Nephesh in the Rest of the Hebrew Scriptures (2): Sellers on the Soul—Part VIII

Otis Q. Sellers c. 1921

[Previous installments: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII.]

Sellers notes how the King James translators, who knew that the Hebrew for “life” is ח (chay), not נֶֽפֶשׁ (nephesh), nevertheless often translated the latter as “life.” Perhaps they feared rendering it “soul ” would expose the absurdity of their commitment to a quasiplatonic (nonbiblical) notion of the soul as a substance that temporarily inhabits the body. For example:

 

Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life (נַפְשְׁךָ֔, naphsheka) as the life (נַפְשְׁךָ֔, kenephesh) of one of them by to morrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 1 Kings 19:2-3

That is, Sellers writes, “Elijah had slain the prophets of Baal, and Ahab threatened to make the soul of Elijah as the soul of one of them. Elijah flees in order to save his soul”—the very center of his experience of life—”from such a fate.”

In 1 and 2 Chronicles נֶֽפֶשׁ (nephesh) occurs nine times, and eight times King James’ translators rendered it “soul”; when to 1 Chronicles 5:21, they left it untranslated:

And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of (וְנֶ֥פֶשׁ, wenephesh) men (אָדָ֖ם, adam) an hundred thousand.

“In a number of these passages,” Sellers notes, “heart and soul are used together, but heart always comes first. The heart is connected with the motives and the soul with the actions. God’s ideal is perfect actions springing from perfect motives.”

“God breathed the word nephesh (נֶֽפֶשׁ) six times in the Book of Esther”—4:13, 7:3, 7:7, 8:11, 9:16, 9:31—“but who would know this from reading the Authorized [i.e., the King James] Version?,” Sellers asks. In the Book of Job, he finds the translators alternating between “soul” and “life” even when “soul” as that which is capable of delight is obviously meant.

It will be a surprise to many to discover in this familiar passage [Job 2:4] that Satan said, “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his soul (נַפְשֽׁוֹ, napshaw).” All Job’s possessions were gone, but he still had power to enjoy his food, his rest, his life, his God. Satan’s reasoning is that if Job’s power to enjoy these is removed, he will curse God.

The KJV for Job 2:6 is “And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life,” that is, his soul (נַפְשׁ֥וֹ, naphshaw). “Satan is permitted to touch Job’s soul until every sensation and experience that should be sweet becomes bitter, but he is not permitted to destroy Job’s soul,” that is, his capacity for enjoyment. Continue reading “Nephesh in the Rest of the Hebrew Scriptures (2): Sellers on the Soul—Part VIII”