Soul; Spirit

Dictionary of Biblical Words:

generally means the natural life of man. Beasts have souls (Gen. 1:21, 24, 3021And 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 1:21)
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); Heb.) (that is) animal life. Man’s soul differs from theirs in being directly imparted together with His spirit by God, and hence is immortal (Psa. 16:1010For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Psalm 16:10); Gen. 2.). The immortality of the soul we find mentioned by such a writer as Job, who was one of the earliest, and not a Jew (Job 33:2828He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light. (Job 33:28)). We find him distinguishing between soul and spirit (Job 7:1111Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. (Job 7:11), also 12:10). He speaks of all these, spirit, soul, and body (Job 10:1, 11, 121My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. (Job 10:1)
11Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. 12Thou hast granted me life and favor, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. (Job 10:11‑12), and says in 19:26), that in his flesh he (that is the complete man, spirit, soul, and body) would see God. He points out that the body is mortal, but not the other two. The soul in Scripture departs from the body at death (Gen. 35:1818And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin. (Genesis 35:18)), it can love (Gen. 34:33And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. (Genesis 34:3)), has appetites (Lev. 7:1818And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity. (Leviticus 7:18)), lusts (Deut. 14:2626And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, (Deuteronomy 14:26)), hates (2 Sam. 5:88And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house. (2 Samuel 5:8)), is troubled (Psa. 88:33For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. (Psalm 88:3)), is relieved (Lam. 1:1111All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O Lord, and consider; for I am become vile. (Lamentations 1:11)), &c., &c. The soul thus is not the same, nor so high a part of man, as the spirit. See SPIRIT.

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

The Hebrew ideal of man was threefold:

Concise Bible Dictionary:

The Hebrew word commonly translated “soul” is nephesh: in many instances this is translated “life” in the AV, as in Jonah 1:1414Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. (Jonah 1:14): “Let us not perish for this man’s life,” or soul. In the New Testament the word ψυχή stands for both “life” and “soul:” “Whosoever will save his ‘life’ shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his ‘life’ for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own ‘soul’? or what shall a man give in exchange for his ‘soul’?” (Matt. 16:25-2625For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:25‑26)).
The soul, as distinguished from the spirit, is the seat of appetites and desires. The rich man said, “I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:1919And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. (Luke 12:19)). That night his “soul” was required of him. The salvation of the soul cannot be distinguished from the salvation of the person.
The SPIRIT is distinctively the higher part of man, it marks the conscious individuality, and distinguishes man thus from the inferior creation. God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, and by this man was set in relation with God, and cannot be really happy separated from Him, either in present existence or eternally. The words are ruach and πνεῦμα, and are the same as constantly used for God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, and for the angels as spirits, and for evil spirits.
The word of God is sharp, and able to divide asunder the soul and spirit of a man, though it may not be easy for the human mind to see the division. The apostle prayed for the Thessalonians that spirit (which is probably viewed as the seat of God’s work), as well as soul and body might be sanctified (1 Thess. 5:2323And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)). In the Epistle to the Hebrews we read of the “spirits” of just men made perfect: their place is with God through redemption. Here “spirits” apparently signifies the persons apart from their bodies.
The Holy Spirit being given to the Christian, as the spring in him of life in Christ, he is exhorted to pray with the spirit, sing with the spirit, walk in the Spirit, so that in some cases it is difficult to distinguish between the Spirit of God and the Christian’s spirit.

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

The three days after death were called “days of weeping,” which were followed by four “days of lamentation,” thus making up the seven “days of mourning.” See note on Genesis 27:4141And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob. (Genesis 27:41) (#47). According to the rabbinical notion the spirit wanders about the sepulcher for three days seeking an opportunity to return into the body; but when the aspect of the body changes it hovers no more, but leaves the body to itself. The friends of the deceased were in the habit of visiting the sepulcher for three days after death and burial, (see note on Acts 5:6, 826) probably because they supposed they would thus be nearer to the departed soul. When the fourth day came and decomposition took place, and the soul, as they supposed, went away from the sepulcher, they beat their breast and made loud lamentations. This explains the allusion to the “four days” in this text and in verse 39. To say that one had been in the grave four days was equivalent to saying that bodily corruption had begun.

Related Books and Articles:

808. Rabbinical Notions of Soul and Body
Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 1min
Body, Soul and Spirit
Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 30min
Man: a Tripartite Being
Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 8min
Soul and Spirit