Man: A Tripartite Being, Spirit, Soul and Body

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It is unnecessary for those who believe in the divine inspiration of the whole Word of God to seek to prove from the New Testament that which we have already seen brought before us in the Old. We merely remark that examination will show to any who seek it, that Old Testament truths are all established in the New, and fully unfolded. But there are others which come before the reader of the New Testament respecting "spirit and soul and body"; for now He, on whom in Himself death had no claim, has gained the victory over death and all its power, and has brought "life and immortality [incorruptibility] to light through the gospel." And this for man. Let us then first observe the distinct words (as in the Old) employed to distinguish "soul" and "spirit" in the New Testament.
It is generally admitted, by those who have had ability to examine it, that our Lord and His apostles quoted the scripture from a Greek version of the Old Testament, then in common use, and not from the older Hebrew. This Greek translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew was called the Septuagint. But by thus using it, our Lord accredited this version, and set His seal upon it as the Word of God. This is an important fact; for in this version we have before us the words then used as the equivalents in Greek to the Hebrew rooagh and nephesh, words we may also expect to find distinctively employed therefore by the writers of the New Testament.
Now in this Greek translation of the Old Testament (MSS. of which still exist) we find in the passages we have already referred to; namely, Gen. 1:20, 21, 24, 30; 2:720And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:20‑21)
24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. (Genesis 1:24)
30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. (Genesis 1:30)
7And 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), speaking of the soul's formation, the Greek word psukee as the equivalent to the Hebrew nephesh. For spirit (Hebrews rooagh) we find in Job 32:88But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. (Job 32:8), where its existence is declared, as also in Zech. 12:11The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. (Zechariah 12:1) and Amos 4:1313For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name. (Amos 4:13), where its origin and formation at first by God are spoken of—in all these places, the Greek word pneuma is given as the equivalent for rooagh. In this same translation also, where all three parts of which man is composed are spoken of in one chapter (Job 1013And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee. (Job 10:13)), the same distinction as to the use of the words is maintained. "My soul" (psukee) "is weary of my life;... I will speak in the bitterness of my soul" (psukee). v. 1. "Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit" (pneuma). v. 12. "Thou hast clothed me" (the man Job; that is, both soul and spirit) "with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews." v. 11. In Eccles. 12:77Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7); Hag. 1:1414And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, (Haggai 1:14); Eccles. 1:14, 1714I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. (Ecclesiastes 1:14)
17And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. (Ecclesiastes 1:17); Mal. 2:1616For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. (Malachi 2:16), passages already referred to, the Septuagint has also pneuma for rooagh.
In entire harmony, and using the same words for soul and spirit as the Septuagint version gives, we find all the scriptures of the New Testament. There is no confounding of them, there is no confusion. In coming to the New Testament, we are emerging from a night of shadows into the full light of day as to all that concerns man. "The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth" (1 John 2:88Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. (1 John 2:8)). But apparently small thing as it is, is it not fitting that we should see in this entire harmony of both Old and New Testaments God's care of His Word? "He is the Rock, His work is perfect" (Deut. 32:11Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. (Deuteronomy 32:1)). Thus sang Moses, and this perfection is manifested in the little (as men speak) as well as in the greatest of His works. May it give to us, as we ponder it, increased confidence in Him who, Jehovah to Israel, is to us our Father (John 20:1717Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)), while He permits us to trace both Him and His ways (1 Cor. 2:1010But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10)) in His Word. He will speak to us and instruct us therein (John 6:4545It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. (John 6:45)) as to all that it is necessary for us to know. May the knowledge of who He is humble us. While our Father, He is, nevertheless, the Alpha and the Omega, the unchangeable God. As He says, "I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." Rev. 1:88I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:8).
The three parts of which man is constituted, "spirit and soul and body," may for a time be separated. That hour is death. "Man dieth, and wasteth away," says Job (14:10), when regarding the body. Paul, in the New Testament, repeats it, but follows him beyond the grave. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Heb. 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27). Death is the penalty attached to sin. "Sin entered into the world, and death by sin" (Rom. 5:1212Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12)). It is that condition of the body when seen without a tenant. The body is the man's earthly house or tabernacle, the habitation of both spirit and soul, so that while in it he is said to be "at home in the body." While in the body, he is also said to be "clothed" (Job 10:1111Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. (Job 10:11)). But he leaves the body at death. Thus we read, "Willing [desiring] rather to be absent from the body"; again, "To depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better" (Phil. 1:2323For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: (Philippians 1:23)); and again, "The body without the spirit [pneuma] is dead" (Jas. 2:2626For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:26)). Here we learn that at death the spirit is not there. But we also read that the death of the body does not affect the soul. "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul" (psukee). Matt. 10:2828And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28). At death the soul (psukee) is "required" (Luke 12:2020But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? (Luke 12:20)), and then all that ministers merely to the body is left behind for others.
The body only is that part in man which is mortal. In Heb. 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27) it is seen to be both capable of, and liable to, death, and after that also to corruption. (Compare Acts 13:3636For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: (Acts 13:36) Cor. 15:42; Rom. 6:1212Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. (Romans 6:12); etc.) "Flesh and blood [of which the body is formed] cannot inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Cor. 15:5050Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (1 Corinthians 15:50). So the remark of Martha, "Lord, by this time he stinketh" (John 11:3939Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. (John 11:39)), though spoken of the man, could only refer to the body. She knew corruption had begun in it; but the cry, "Lazarus, come forth"! from Him who was both the Creator and the Life, was answered at once by the whole man, "spirit and soul and body." "And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go." We see therefore that that part of the man, the body in which he dwelt, and in which he is said to be clothed, "skin and flesh... bones and sinews" (Job 10:1111Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. (Job 10:11)), this only rested in that grave at Bethany, where corruption had already begun its work.
It was there in the condition of which James speaks—"without the spirit" (pneuma); for the Lord had before said plainly, "Lazarus is dead." That the sorrow attendant upon death is also because of the absence of the soul (psukee), we learn from other scriptures. Paul said, "His life [soul—psukee] is in him," as a reason why they should not be troubled about the young man whose body they took up (Acts 20:1010And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. (Acts 20:10)); but this only shows that the usual trouble and mourning at death are because the soul and spirit have left the body. And it was certainly so that day at Bethany; for they well knew that Lazarus would "rise again" (v. 24), but at present, and from them, their brother was gone.