What does נֶפֶשׁ · בָּשָׂר mean in the Bible?
e. animal of (abstractly) vitality ; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)".
Hebrew · H5315, H1320
נֶפֶשׁ הַבָּשָׂר
Properly, a breathing creature , i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality ; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental) · flesh (from its freshness ); by extension, body , person ; also (by euphemistically) the pudenda of a man
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Words in this compound — expand to study each participant
נֶפֶשׁ H5315 properly, a breathing creature , i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality ; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)
Pronunciation nafsho
Vitality or lifeforce of a creature; ranges from physical breath to desire, appetite, and personal identity or selfhood.
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בָּשָׂר H1320 flesh (from its freshness ); by extension, body , person ; also (by euphemistically) the pudenda of a man
Pronunciation bāšār
Flesh as the vulnerable human body, emphasizing mortality, kinship, and bodily shame or nakedness.
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What does נֶפֶשׁ הַבָּשָׂר (nefesh habbasar) mean in the Bible?
נֶפֶשׁ · בָּשָׂר is a Hebrew phrase meaning "properly, a breathing creature , i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality ; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)".
Full entry for נֶפֶשׁ הַבָּשָׂר (H5315, H1320) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How many biblical occurrences are listed for H5315, H1320?
H5315, H1320 is connected to 1,027 lexical occurrence verses in the lexicon data.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew phrase. properly, a breathing creature , i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality ; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)
Strong's H5315, H1320
Lexical occurrences 1,027 verses Source Gloss
properly, a breathing creature , i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality ; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
נֶפֶשׁ הַבָּשָׂר is built from this root:
Cross-Language Connections
Greek words that correspond to or develop the meaning of this Hebrew word in the New Testament.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain