A Living Being.

In the Old Testament the Hebrew word nephesh is translated 'soul' 428 times (in the KJV). Its meaning is clear from its use. We are shown that souls can eat (see Leviticus 7:18); be bought (see Leviticus 22:11); be destroyed (see Leviticus 23:30); die (see Ezekiel 18:4); etc. Nephesh is also translated 'body', 'heart', 'life', 'man', 'mind', 'person', ' self', 'fish', and in many other ways. A soul is a living (animal) creature, usually a man or woman.

In the New Testament 'soul' is the usual translation given to the Greek word psuche, which is translated 'soul' 58 times, 'life' 40 times, 'mind', 'heart', and in other ways. In the New Testament we are shown that the soul can be destroyed (see Matthew 10:28); we can 'lose' our soul (see Matthew 16:26); a soul can be 'pierced with a sword' (see Luke 2:35); and die (see Revelation 6:9). As in the Old Testament, 'soul' is a living creature, a person who has been given breath and made alive by God. It is also our 'life'.

The translators of the original Hebrew and Greek words sometimes tried to make the words support their own religious preconceptions, in this case the idea of an 'immortal soul'. This problem is well illustrated in Mark 8:35-37 (KJV and all English translations), where the same word psuche is given two different meanings in the same passage of scripture:

"Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"