5590. psuché
Strong's Lexicon
psuché: Soul, life, self, inner being

Original Word: ψυχή
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: psuché
Pronunciation: psoo-khay'
Phonetic Spelling: (psoo-khay')
Definition: Soul, life, self, inner being
Meaning: (a) the vital breath, breath of life, (b) the human soul, (c) the soul as the seat of affections and will, (d) the self, (e) a human person, an individual.

Word Origin: Derived from the verb ψύχω (psuchō), meaning "to breathe" or "to blow."

Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: - נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh) - Strong's Hebrew 5315, often translated as "soul" or "life" in the Old Testament.

Usage: In the New Testament, "psuché" is used to denote the immaterial and eternal aspect of a person, often translated as "soul" or "life." It refers to the essence of a person that encompasses emotions, desires, and the will. It is distinct from the physical body and is often associated with the eternal aspect of human existence. "Psuché" can also refer to the life force that animates the body, as well as the seat of feelings, desires, and affections.

Cultural and Historical Background: In ancient Greek thought, the concept of the soul (psuché) was significant in understanding human nature. Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle discussed the soul as the essence of a person, with Plato viewing it as immortal and pre-existing the body. In the Jewish context, the soul was seen as the life principle given by God, integral to a person's identity and relationship with the Creator. The New Testament writers, influenced by both Jewish and Hellenistic thought, used "psuché" to convey the depth of human existence and the importance of the soul in one's relationship with God.

HELPS Word-studies

5590 psyxḗ (from psyxō, "to breathe, blow" which is the root of the English words "psyche," "psychology") – soul (psyche); a person's distinct identity (unique personhood), i.e. individual personality.

5590 (psyxē) corresponds exactly to the OT 5315 /phágō ("soul"). The soul is the direct aftermath of God breathing (blowing) His gift of life into a person, making them an ensouled being.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
of uncertain origin
Definition
breath, the soul
NASB Translation
heart (2), heartily (1), life (36), lives (7), mind (1), minds (1), person (1), persons (3), soul (33), souls (14), suspense* (1), thing (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 5590: ψυχή

ψυχή, ψυχῆς, (ψύχω, to breathe, blow), from Homer down, the Sept. times too many to count for נֶפֶשׁ, occasionally also for לֵב and לֵבָב;

1. breath (Latinanima), i. e.

a. the breath of life; the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing: Acts 20:10; of animals, Revelation 8:9 (Genesis 9:4; Genesis 35:18; ἐπιστραφήτω ψυχή τοῦ παιδαρίου, 1 Kings 17:21); so also in those passages where, in accordance with the trichotomy or threefold division of human nature by the Greeks, ψυχή; is distinguished from τό πνεῦμα (see πνευαμ, 2, p. 520a (and references under the word πνεῦμα 5)), 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12.

b. life: μέριμναν τῇ ψυχή, Matthew 6:25; Luke 12:22; τήν ψυχήν ἀγαπᾶν, Revelation 12:11; (μισεῖν, Luke 14:26); τιθέναι, John 10:11, 15, 17; John 13:37; John 15:13; 1 John 3:16; παραδιδόναι, Acts 15:26; διδόναι (λύτρον, which see), Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; ζητεῖν τήν ψυχήν τίνος (see ζητέω, 1 a.), Matthew 2:20; Romans 11:3; add, Matthew 6:25; Mark 3:4; Luke 6:9; Luke 12:20, 23; Acts 20:24; Acts 27:10, 22; Romans 16:4; 2 Corinthians 1:23; Philippians 2:30; 1 Thessalonians 2:8; in the pointed aphorisms of Christ, intended to fix themselves in the minds of his hearers, the phrases εὑρίσκειν, σῴζειν, ἀπολλύναι τήν ψυχήν αὐτοῦ, etc., designate as ψυχή in one of the antithetic members the life which is lived on earth, in the other, the (blessed) life in the eternal kingdom of God: Matthew 10:39; Matthew 16:25; Mark 8:35-37; Luke 9:24, 56 Rec.; ; John 12:25; the life destined to enjoy the Messianic salvation is meant also in the following phrases ((where R. V. soul)): περιποίησις ψυχῆς, Hebrews 10:39; κτᾶσθαι τάς ψυχάς, Luke 21:19; ὑπέρ τῶν ψυχῶν (here A. V. (not R. V.) for you; cf.

c. below), 2 Corinthians 12:15.

c. that in which there is life; a living being: ψυχή ζῶσα, a living soul, 1 Corinthians 15:45; (Revelation 16:3 R Tr marginal reading) (Genesis 2:7; plural ); πᾶσα ψυχή ζωῆς, Revelation 16:3 (G L T Tr text WH) (Leviticus 11:10); πᾶσα ψυχή, every soul, i. e. everyone, Acts 2:43; Acts 3:23; Romans 13:1 (so כָּל־נֶפֶשׁ, Leviticus 7:17 (27); ); with ἀνθρώπου added, every soul of man (אָדָם נֶפֶשׁ, Numbers 31:40, 46 (cf. 1 Macc. 2:38)), Romans 2:9. ψυχαί, souls (like the Latincapita) i. e. persons (in enumerations; cf. German Seelenzahl): Acts 2:41; Acts 7:14; Acts 27:37; 1 Peter 3:20 (Genesis 46:15, 18, 22, 26, 27; Exodus 1:5; Exodus 12:4; Leviticus 2:1; Numbers 19:11, 13, 18; (Deuteronomy 10:22); the examples from Greek authors (cf. Passow, under the word, 2, vol. ii, p. 2590b) are of a different sort (yet cf. Liddell and Scott, under the word, II. 2)); ψυχαί ἀνθρώπων of slaves (A. V. souls of men (R. V. with marginal reading 'Or lives')), Revelation 18:13 (so (Numbers 31:35); Ezekiel 27:13; see σῶμα, 1 c. (cf. Winer's Grammar, § 22, 7 N. 3)).

2. the soul (Latinanimus), a. the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our soul, heart, etc. (R. V. almost uniformly soul); for examples from Greek writings see Passow, under the word, 2, vol. ii., p. 2589b; (Liddell and Scott, under the word, II. 3); Hebrew נֶפֶשׁ, cf. Gesenius, Thesaurus ii, p. 901 in 3): Luke 1:46; Luke 2:35; John 10:24 (cf. αἴρω, 1 b.); Acts 14:2, 22; Acts 15:24; Hebrews 6:19; 2 Peter 2:8, 14; ἐπιθυμία τῆς ψυχῆς, Revelation 18:14; ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς εὑρίσκειν, Matthew 11:29; ψυχή, ... ἀναπαύου, φάγε, πίε (WH brackets these three imperatives), εὐφραίνου (personification and direct address), Luke 12:19, cf. Luke 12:18 ( ψυχή ἀναπαύσεται, Xenophon, Cyril 6, 2, 28; ἐυφραίνειν τήν ψυχήν, Aelian v. h. 1, 32); εὐδοκεῖ ψυχή μου (anthropopathically, of God), Matthew 12:18; Hebrews 10:38; περίλυπος ἐστιν ψυχή μου, Matthew 26:38; Mark 14:34; ψυχή μου τετάρακται, John 12:27; ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν ἀκλυόμενοι (fainting in your souls (cf. ἐκλύω, 2 b.)), Hebrews 12:3; ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχή σου, with all thy soul, Matthew 22:37; (Luke 10:27 L text T Tr WH); ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου (Latinex toto animo), with (literally, from (cf. ἐκ, II. 12 b.)) all thy soul, Mark 12:30, 33 (here T WH omit; L Tr marginal reading brackets the phrase); Luke 10:27 (R G) (Deuteronomy 6:5; (Epictetus diss. 3, 22, 18 (cf. Xenophon, anab. 7, 7, 43)); Antoninus 3, 4; (especially 4, 31; 12, 29); ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχή φροντίζειν τίνος (rather, with κεχαρισθαι), Xenophon, mem. 3, 11, 10); μία ψυχή, with one soul (cf. πνεῦμα, 2, p. 520a bottom), Philippians 1:27; τοῦ πλήθους ... ἦν καρδία καί ψυχή μία, Acts 4:32 (ἐρωτηθεις τί ἐστι φίλος, ἔφη. μία ψυχή δύο σώμασιν ἐνοικουσα, (Diogenes Laërtius 5, 20 (cf. Aristotle, eth. Nic. 9, 8, 2, p. 1168b, 7; on the elliptical ἀπό μιᾶς (namely, ψυχῆς?), see ἀπό, III.)); ἐκ ψυχῆς, from the heart, heartily (Ephesians 6:6 (Tr WH with Ephesians 6:7)); Colossians 3:23 (ἐκ τῆς ψυχῆς often in Xenophon; τό ἐκ ψυχῆς πένθος, Josephus, Antiquities 17, 6, 5).

b. "the (human) soul in so far as it is so constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life": 3 John 1:2; ἀγρύπνειν ὑπέρ τῶν ψυχῶν, Hebrews 13:17; ἐπιθυμίαι, αἵτινες στρατεύονται κατά τῆς ψυχῆς, 1 Peter 2:11; ἐπίσκοπος τῶν ψυχῶν, 1 Peter 2:25; σῴζειν τάς ψυχάς, James 1:21; ψυχήν ἐκ θανάτου, from eternal death, James 5:20; σωτηρία ψυχῶν, 1 Peter 1:9; ἁγνίζειν τάς ψυχάς ἑαυτῶν, 1 Peter 1:22; (τάς ψυχάς πιστῷ κτίστῃ παρατίθεσθαι, 1 Peter 4:19).

c. the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from τό σῶμα, as the other part of human nature (so in Greek writings from Isocrates and Xenophon down; cf. examples in Passow, under the word, p. 2589{a} bottom; Liddell and Scott, under the word, II. 2)): Matthew 10:28, cf. 4 Macc. 13:14 (it is called ἀθάνατος, Herodotus 2, 123; Plato Phaedr., p. 245 c., 246 a., others; ἄφθαρτος, Josephus, b. j. 2, 8, 14; διαλυθῆναι τήν ψυχήν ἀπό τοῦ σώματος, Epictetus diss. 3, 10, 14); the soul freed from the body, a disembodied soul, Acts 2:27, 31 Rec.; Revelation 6:9; Revelation 20:4 (Wis. 3:1; (on the Homeric use of the word, see Ebeling, Lex. Homer, under the word, 3, and references at the end, also Proudfit in Bib. Sacr. for 1858, pp. 753-805)).

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
soul, life, self

From psucho; breath, i.e. (by implication) spirit, abstractly or concretely (the animal sentient principle only; thus distinguished on the one hand from pneuma, which is the rational and immortal soul; and on the other from zoe, which is mere vitality, even of plants: these terms thus exactly correspond respectively to the Hebrew nephesh, ruwach and chay) -- heart (+ -ily), life, mind, soul, + us, + you.

see GREEK psucho

see GREEK pneuma

see GREEK zoe

see HEBREW nephesh

see HEBREW ruwach

see HEBREW chay

Forms and Transliterations
ψηχή ψυήν ψυχαι ψυχαί ψυχαὶ ψυχάι ψυχαις ψυχαίς ψυχαῖς ψυχας ψυχάς ψυχὰς ψυχη ψυχή ψυχὴ ψυχῇ ψυχηήν ψυχην ψυχήν ψυχὴν ψυχης ψυχής ψυχῆς ψυχων ψυχών ψυχῶν psuchai psuchais psuchas psuche psuchē psuchen psuchēn psuches psuchēs psuchon psuchōn psychai psychaí psychaì psychais psychaîs psychas psychás psychàs psyche psychē psychḗ psychḕ psychêi psychē̂i psychen psychēn psychḗn psychḕn psyches psychês psychēs psychē̂s psychon psychôn psychōn psychō̂n
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Matthew 2:20 N-AFS
GRK: ζητοῦντες τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ παιδίου
NAS: who sought the Child's life are dead.
KJV: sought the young child's life.
INT: were seeking the life of the child

Matthew 6:25 N-DFS
GRK: μεριμνᾶτε τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν τί
NAS: about your life, [as to] what
KJV: for your life, what
INT: be anxious about the life of you what

Matthew 6:25 N-NFS
GRK: οὐχὶ ἡ ψυχὴ πλεῖόν ἐστιν
NAS: you will put on. Is not life more
KJV: Is not the life more than meat,
INT: Is not the life more is

Matthew 10:28 N-AFS
GRK: τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν μὴ δυναμένων
NAS: to kill the soul; but rather
KJV: able to kill the soul: but rather
INT: those however soul not are able

Matthew 10:28 N-AFS
GRK: δυνάμενον καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα
NAS: to destroy both soul and body in hell.
KJV: to destroy both soul and body
INT: is able both soul and body

Matthew 10:39 N-AFS
GRK: εὑρὼν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπολέσει
NAS: He who has found his life will lose
KJV: his life shall lose
INT: having found the life of him will lose

Matthew 10:39 N-AFS
GRK: ἀπολέσας τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν
NAS: it, and he who has lost his life for My sake
KJV: he that loseth his life for my sake
INT: having lost the life of him on account of

Matthew 11:29 N-DFP
GRK: ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν
NAS: and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
KJV: rest unto your souls.
INT: rest [for] the souls of you

Matthew 12:18 N-NFS
GRK: εὐδόκησεν ἡ ψυχή μου θήσω
NAS: IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED;
KJV: my soul is well pleased:
INT: has found delight the soul of me I will put

Matthew 16:25 N-AFS
GRK: θέλῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ σῶσαι
NAS: to save his life will lose
KJV: save his life shall lose it:
INT: might desire the life of him to save

Matthew 16:25 N-AFS
GRK: ἀπολέσῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν
NAS: loses his life for My sake
KJV: will lose his life for my
INT: might lose the life of him on account of

Matthew 16:26 N-AFS
GRK: τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ζημιωθῇ
NAS: world and forfeits his soul? Or what
KJV: lose his own soul? or what
INT: and [the] soul of him lose

Matthew 16:26 N-GFS
GRK: ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ
NAS: give in exchange for his soul?
KJV: in exchange for his soul?
INT: [as] an exchange for the soul of him

Matthew 20:28 N-AFS
GRK: δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον
NAS: and to give His life a ransom
KJV: to give his life a ransom for
INT: to give the life of him [as] a ransom

Matthew 22:37 N-DFS
GRK: ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ
NAS: AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL
KJV: all thy soul, and with
INT: all the soul of you and

Matthew 26:38 N-NFS
GRK: ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως
NAS: He said to them, My soul is deeply grieved,
KJV: My soul is
INT: is the soul of me even to

Mark 3:4 N-AFS
GRK: ἢ κακοποιῆσαι ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ
NAS: to save a life or
KJV: to do evil? to save life, or to kill?
INT: or to do evil life to save or

Mark 8:35 N-AFS
GRK: τὴν αὐτοῦ ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἀπολέσει
NAS: to save his life will lose
KJV: save his life shall lose it;
INT: his life to save will lose

Mark 8:35 N-AFS
GRK: ἀπολέσει τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν
NAS: loses his life for My sake
KJV: shall lose his life for my sake
INT: may lose the life of him on account of

Mark 8:36 N-AFS
GRK: ζημιωθῆναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ
NAS: world, and forfeit his soul?
KJV: lose his own soul?
INT: lose the soul of him

Mark 8:37 N-GFS
GRK: ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ
NAS: give in exchange for his soul?
KJV: in exchange for his soul?
INT: [as] an exchange for the soul of him

Mark 10:45 N-AFS
GRK: δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον
NAS: and to give His life a ransom
KJV: to give his life a ransom for
INT: to give the life of him [as] a ransom

Mark 12:30 N-GFS
GRK: ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου καὶ
NAS: AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL
KJV: all thy soul, and with
INT: all the soul of you and

Mark 14:34 N-NFS
GRK: ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως
NAS: And He said to them, My soul is deeply grieved
KJV: My soul is
INT: is the soul of me even to

Luke 1:46 N-NFS
GRK: Μεγαλύνει ἡ ψυχή μου τὸν
NAS: said: My soul exalts
KJV: said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
INT: Magnifies the soul of me the

Strong's Greek 5590
104 Occurrences


ψυχαὶ — 3 Occ.
ψυχαῖς — 3 Occ.
ψυχὰς — 16 Occ.
ψυχῇ — 24 Occ.
ψυχὴν — 41 Occ.
ψυχῆς — 12 Occ.
ψυχῶν — 5 Occ.















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