What Does The Bible Really Say About Your Soul?

The English word "soul" originated from an Anglo-Saxon word, sawel, that meant an age, as in a lifetime. The original meaning of "soul" was physical, not something spiritual. Whether coincidence or not, that Anglo-Saxon word sounds very much like the Biblical Hebrew word, pronounced sheol, that referred to the place where physical creatures return after they have lived their lives. Both words are based upon that reality, that is described throughout the Holy Scriptures.

"^3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:19 KJV)

"^146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." (Psalm 146:4 KJV)

The English word "soul" is used to translate two original words of the Holy Scriptures. The Old Testament Hebrew word (pronounced) nay-fesh, which literally means a breathing creature (human or animal), is variously translated as soul, life, person, mind, heart, creature, body, himself, yourselves, dead, will, desire, man, themselves and appetite. The New Testament Greek word (pronounced) psoo-kay, which literally means life's breath or breathing (see Giving Up The Ghost), is variously translated as soul, life, mind and heart. According to God's Word, a "soul" is a living, breathing creature that eventually dies.

"^2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7 KJV)

Nowhere does the Bible say that the "soul" is immortal; quite the contrary, souls are subject to death.

"^18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4 KJV)

"^5:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death" (James 5:20 KJV)

"The soul that sinneth, it shall die"

All humans have been (see When And Where Your Eternal Life Will Begin) or yet will be (see The Eighth Day: What Does It Mean?) given the awareness to chose between genuine right and wrong - to choose life, or to choose death (see the Fact Finder question below). It is a personal choice to be made in due time. Some other person's righteousness, or some other person's wickedness, no matter who they are to you, have no effect upon your choice to obey or reject the offer of salvation that the LORD is or will be giving you.

"^18:1 The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, ^18:2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?

^18:3 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. ^18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

^18:5 But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, ^18:6 And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour's wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman, ^18:7 And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment; ^18:8 He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man, ^18:9 Hath walked in my statutes [see The Process Of Conversion], and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.

^18:10 If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things, ^18:11 And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife, ^18:12 Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination, ^18:13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

^18:14 Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like, ^18:15 That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour's wife, ^18:16 Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment, ^18:17 That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. ^18:18 As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.

^18:19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. ^18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

^18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. ^18:22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. ^18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

^18:24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die." (Ezekiel 18:1-24 KJV)

Fact Finder: What must we do for the LORD to "save our soul"?

The Way To Salvation: Step 1
The Way To Salvation: Step 2
The Way To Salvation: Step 3
The Way To Salvation: Step 4
The Way To Salvation: Step 5
The Way To Salvation: Step 6
The Way To Salvation: Step 7
The Way To Salvation: Step 8
The Way To Salvation: Step 9
The Way To Salvation: Step 10

This Day In History, October 29

539 BC: Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon. Cyrus thereafter permitted the people of Judah to return home after their prophesied 70-years exile in Babylon (see Iran's Greatest Leader Was Pro-Zionist).

312: Constantine the Great entered Rome after his battle victory at the Milvian Bridge (see Constantine's Crusades In History And Prophecy).

1618: Sir Walter Raleigh was executed at age 66 for alleged (but never proven) treason against King James I (of the King James Bible fame). Raleigh was a writer, statesman and explorer. He is noted for introducing potatoes and tobacco to England.

1709: The First Barrier Treaty; Britain agreed to support the restoration to the United Provinces of the fortresses that it had been granted by the Treaty of Rijswijk.

1727: A severe earthquake struck northeastern North America.

1762: The Battle of Freiburg. The Austrians were defeated by the Prussians under Prince Henry. It was the only Prussian victory without Frederick II in command.

1889: The British South Africa Company, headed by Cecil Rhodes, was granted a charter by the British government. The charter gave extensive powers over the area which later became Rhodesia.

1911: Hungarian-born U.S. newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer died at age 64. The Pulitzer Prizes are named after him.

1922: Italian King Victor Emmanuel II called on Benito Mussolini to form a government.

1923: After the fall of the Ottoman Empire (listen to our Sermon The Ottoman Empire), Turkey became a republic under its first President, Kemal Ataturk.

1927: Russian archaeologist Peter Koz1off discovered the tomb of Genghis Khan in the Gobi Desert.

1929: Wall Street "Black Tuesday" marked the final collapse of the U.S. stock market and the beginning of the Great Depression.

1956: Israel invaded the Sinai in response to belligerent actions by Egyptian President Gamal Nasser, including refusing access of Israeli ships to the Suez Canal and Gulf of Aqaba, and forming a unified military command with Jordan and Syria. In the brief war that followed, Israeli, British and French troops landed in the Canal Zone. By the end of the conflict, Israel had conquered the whole of the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza. It was the second major Israeli-Arab war since the founding of the modern state of Israel, as made possible by the British presence there after the end of the First World War (listen to our Sermons The Ottoman Empire, The European World Wars and The Balfour Declaration). Known as the Sinai War, it was code-named Operation Kadesh by the Israelis (whoever named the operation "Kadesh" was apparently unmindful of the historical reality that Kadesh was the place in the Sinai wilderness where the Israelites refused to obey the LORD and enter the promised land when they first had the opportunity to do so, and so were left to wander and die in the wilderness (see A Journey Without A Destination).

1957: Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and a number of government members were injured when a hand grenade was thrown into Israel's Parliament, the Knesset.

1967: Expo 67, Montreal's World Fair, ended after over 50 million visitors.

1972: A "Black September" terrorist group hijacked a Lufthansa airliner as it flew over Turkey. They demanded the release of 3 of their members who were being held for the murders of Israeli athletes at the Olympics.

1999: A cyclone devastated Orissa, India.

2004: The Arabic news network Al Jazeera broadcast a video of Osama bin Laden in which, for the first time, he admitted direct responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.