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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | God's "Mind" or "Soul" in 1 Sam 2:25? | 1 Sam 2:35 | Makarios | 105999 | ||
Greetings Colin! Excellent question! According to the Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, the word translated as "mind" [KJV] in 1 Sam. 2:35 is the Hebrew word #5315 'nepes' or 'nephesh' (Greek equivalent: #5883) meaning "breath; by extension: life, life force, soul, an immaterial part of a person, the seat of emotion and desire; a creature or person as a whole: self, body, even corpse: [rendered as] soul [416 times], life [100], souls [58], lives [18], persons [13], heart [12], mind [11], creature [9]", and various other places in the KJV.. (1) All of the places in the KJV where 'nephesh' is translated as "mind" are: Gen. 23:8; Dt. 18:6; 28:65; 1 Sam. 2:35; 1 Chr. 28:9; Jer. 15:1; Ezek. 23:17,18-twice,22,28. Total - 11 times. As far as 'soul' and 'mind' being interchangeable, I would say that it is based more upon the interpretations of the translators than anything else, but this is a classic example as you have pointed out! The KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV, ESV and Amplified all have "mind" in 1 Sam. 2:35, while the NASB has the more literal "soul" in place, perhaps due to consistency.. The translators of the KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV, ESV and Amplified were clearly not as comfortable using "soul" in a place in Scripture that refers back to God. Does God have a "soul" like ours? That is why I believe that the KJV translators sought to put "mind" here instead of soul, since it refers back to God. However, I believe that the most accurate or literal rendering of 'nepes' in this verse is "soul" as the NASB has it. In the KJV, 'nepes' was rendered as "soul" 416 times, compared to only 11 times for rendering the same Hebrew word as "mind." Therefore, 'soul' would be the most literal translation of 'nepes' in 1 Sam. 2:35. Which do I think is the better choice? Extremely tough question, and putting me on the spot! :-) Let's take a step back and consider the REAL question here: Does God have a "soul" like ours? First of all, if God has a Soul in any way that would resemble our soul, then we can't think of His soul in the same way that we consider our individual souls, since God is a Triune God. You see, as God has three individual Persons, we also have a physical being, a mind and a soul. Jesus Christ, in His humanity, had a human soul and spirit (Matt. 26:38; Luke 23:46). But this does not include His Deity, in which I believe that His 'soul' can only be understood or described in terms of the Holy Spirit. God the Father is not known to us through Scripture as having a 'soul', even though we know His will. I believe that He Himself is beyond what we think of as having a 'soul', and His 'soul' can only be defined in terms of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has a will (1 Cor. 12:11). But the Holy Spirit is also illustrated as clothing (Luke 24:49), fire (Acts 2:3), water (John 4:14; 7:38-39) and wind (John 3:8; Acts 2:1-2). Therefore, if the Holy Spirit Himself can fit the very description in regards to God as compared to what we call 'a soul' in human terms (breath; by extension: life, life force, soul, an immaterial part of a person, the seat of emotion and desire; a creature or person as a whole: self, body, even corpse), then we could say that the Holy Spirit could serve as the "soul" of God. Or, perhaps, our souls, in and of themselves, are small "copies" of the Holy Spirit. :-) But that is another discussion. To come full circle, we could conclude that in 1 Samuel 2:35, "God would raise up for Himself a faithful priest who would do according to what is in His heart and in His soul (i.e., the Holy Spirit).." And that is what my choice would be as far as the best way to "amplify" this verse! Blessings to you, Makarios |
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2 | God's "Mind" or "Soul" in 1 Sam 2:25? | 1 Sam 2:35 | flinkywood | 106019 | ||
Makarios, you always kick it into high gear. I like your analysis tremendously. I agree that God's "soul" is a conundrum: insofar as we are in His image and thus have been given aspects of His being, our "soul" may be akin to that aspect of Himself which He has breathed into us, though I don't know any scripture to help conclude the matter. Perhaps the problem lies with us, with our narrow comprehension of "soul" as understood by the OT Hebrews. I heard it said somewhere that ancient man (Pre-Greek,let's say), did not think of himself as composed of parts -- body, mind, spirit, soul, emotion -- but as a unity, and that not until the Greeks do we see man thinking of himself as a composition of tangible and intangible elements -- body, will, mind, emotion, something of the divine -- and all of it expressed in the family catastrophe of the Pantheon (and Sigmund Freud). This ancient unified man view is totally belied by the Psalms, where we have David crying out from more parts of his being than you can shake a stick at ("Thou hast possessed my reins"); so the difficulty seems to lie more in our contemporary understanding of "soul" as something in us which continues to live though we die. Therein is the rub: why would God have a soul when He's eternal? In this regard I think your answer that "His 'soul' can only be defined in terms of the Holy Spirit" is spot on, especially in context of our contemporary understanding of soul. But perhaps we need to struggle backwards and conceive what "soul" could possibly have meant to the sons of Abraham. Was it something we can never fully grasp (like the Greek "Logos" in John 1.1)? Notice how the word "Heart" precedes "Soul" in 1 Sam 2.35, indicating that we might begin by subtracting what we understand as heart (the seat of emotion, desire, love), from the meaning of "soul" since they are clearly distinguished in context. We are left, perhaps, with "mind", "will" "Spirit", or an inscrutible amalgam of all three. Great! I'm stumped. How 'bout you? I'd sure like to know what the writer of 2 Sam felt when God breathed that word into his brainpan. I agree with you, by the way, the NASB definitely scores on this one. I also really enjoy this kind of brain-cracking study. Thanks, Makarios. Steve P. sent me the Scott Hahn Romans 9-11 study, by the way. Absolutely out-of-sight, don't you think? Colin |
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3 | God's "Mind" or "Soul" in 1 Sam 2:25? | 1 Sam 2:35 | Makarios | 106085 | ||
Greetings Colin! You know, if Paul calls preaching "foolishness" (1 Cor. 1:21), I sure wouldn't want to know what he'd say about this Forum.. :-) But I appreciate your kind words! I agree, the way and concept in which we think of our souls can never be applied to God in the same way in which we apply the word 'soul' to our own being. And that very stumbling block makes God a bit of a mystery to us, in that we are unable to understand God since He is so obviously higher and different from us. Even with that said, I believe that the best way to understand the "soul" of God is through the Holy Spirit, who is, in fact, a Person of the Triunity of God Himself! :-) Yes, I like you, love to get into these concepts and dig deep into what a passage is truly saying, since it helps to stretch my own reasoning. 1 Samuel 2:35 "But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always." Since we are pretty much in agreement regarding the word "soul", then how is that differentiated from the words "My heart" in regards to God, since God's "heart" and "soul" are so clearly distinguished apart from each other in this verse? Another excellent question! According to the Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, the word "heart" in 1 Sam. 2:35 is Hebrew word #3824, 'lebab' or 'leb' (Greek equivalent: 4222): "heart; by extension: the inner person, self, the seat of thought and emotion: conscience, courage, mind, understanding: - heart [208], hearts [23]" and other various words throughout the KJV. What distinguishes the "heart" from "soul" is this: Heart - seat of emotions, will, mind (Prov. 15:13,14; Ps. 51:10; Ex. 4:21; Ezek. 36:26,27; Gen. 8:21; Deut. 6:5) Soul - life or life force (Gen. 9:4,5; Lev. 17:11,14); individual or person (Ps. 84:2; Gen. 2:7; Judges 12:3; Ezek. 18:4); breath (Job 41:21) I understand the word "heart" in this verse in the same spirit as 1 Sam. 13:14, when David is described as a man after God's own heart. When I interpret what "being after God's own heart" means, I perceive it to mean that David was constantly searching for and sensitive to the will of God. Therefore, in a sense of God's will, perhaps we can understand "My heart" in this verse as referring to God's will. In conclusion, we could say, "But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart (i.e., My will) and in My soul (i.e., the Holy Spirit); and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always." But that is simply my "amplified" way of understanding "heart" and "soul" in 1 Sam. 2:35.. But again, I, like you, would love to know what the author truly was thinking when he differentiated "heart" from "soul" in this verse. As for Scott Hahn's study of Romans 9-11, I borrowed that from Steve about a year ago, and I enjoyed that enlightening study for about 3 weeks! Blessings to you, Nolan |
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4 | God's "Mind" or "Soul" in 1 Sam 2:25? | 1 Sam 2:35 | flinkywood | 106100 | ||
Makarios, Great post. I left a longer reply for you in your other reply to me. I think I'll retire from this string and try to get to the bottom of this heart, mind, soul thing, both in the OT and NT. I think it's an essential topic. No one, as far as I know, has a complete grip on it. I listen to Hahn a lot on rewind. Colin. |
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