THE USE OF PSUCHE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.



Psuche is the only word translated "soul" in the N.T. It occurs 105 times, and is rendered "soul" 58 times, "life" 40 times, "mind" 3 times, and "heart", "heartily", "us", and "you" once each.

We must therefore, let Scripture be its own interpreter. Psuche exactly corresponds to the Hebrew Nepesh (Ap. 13), as will be seen from the following passages : Mar_12:29; Mar_12:30, compared with Deu_6:4; Deu_6:5; Act_2:27 with Psa_16:10; Rom_11:3 with 1Ki_19:10; 1Co_15:45 with Gen_2:7. In all these places, psuche in the New Testament represents nepesh in the Old.

The following are the occurrences of the word :--
I. psuche, used of the lower animals twice, is rendered
1. "life" : Rev_8:9
2. "soul" : Rev_16:3

II. psuche, used of man as an individual (just as we speak of a ship going down with every soul on board, or of so many lives being lost in a railway accident), occurs 14 times, and is rendered "soul" : Act_2:41; Act_2:43; Act_3:23; Act_7:14; Act_27:37. Rom_2:9; Rom_13:1. 1Co_15:45. Jam_5:20. 1Pe_3:20. 2Pe_2:14. Rev_6:9; Rev_18:13; Rev_20:4.

III. psuche, used of the life of man, which can be lost, destroyed, saved, laid down, &c., occurs 58 times, and is rendered
1. "life" : Mat_2:20; Mat_6:25; Mat_10:39; Mat_16:25; Mat_20:28. Mar_3:4; Mar_8:35; Mar_10:45. Luk_6:9; Luk_9:24; Luk_9:56; Luk_12:23; Luk_14:26; Luk_17:33(*2). Joh_10:11; Joh_10:15; Joh_10:17; Joh_12:25; Joh_13:37; Joh_13:38; Joh_15:13. Act_15:26; Act_20:10; Act_20:24; Act_27:10; Act_27:22. Rom_11:3; Rom_16:4. Php_2:30. 1Jn_3:16. Rev_12:11.
2. "soul" : Mat_10:28; Mat_16:26. Mar_8:36; Mar_8:37. Luk_12:20; Luk_21:10. 1Th_2:8; 1Th_5:23. Heb_4:12; Heb_6:19; Heb_10:39; Heb_13:17. Jam_1:21. 1Pe_1:9; 1Pe_2:11; 1Pe_2:25; 1Pe_4:19.

IV. psuche, used to emphasize the pronoun, as we use "self" (e.g. "my soul" = "myself"), occurs 21 times and is rendered
1. "soul" : Mat_11:29; Mat_12:18; Mat_26:38. Mar_14:34. Luk_1:46; Luk_12:19. Joh_12:27. Act_2:27; Act_2:31; Act_14:22; Act_15:24. 2Co_1:23. Heb_10:38. 1Pe_1:22. 2Pe_2:8. Rev_18:14.
2. "mind" : Act_14:2. Heb_12:3.
3. "us" : Joh_10:24.
4. you" : 2Co_12:15 (see margin).

V. psuche, used with intensive force, to express all the powers of one's being, occurs 10 times, and is rendered
1. "soul" : Mat_22:37. Mar_12:30; Mar_12:33. Luk_2:35; Luk_10:27. Act_4:32. 3Jn_1:2.
2. "heart" : Eph_6:6
3. "mind" : Php_1:27
4. "heartily" : Col_3:23


(*2) In this verse "life" occurs twice in the English, but psuche only once in the Greek.