ψυχή

psuche

soul

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

G5590

3 John 1:2 · Word #13

Lexicon G5590

Lemmaψυχή
Transliterationpsychḗ
Strong'sG5590
In-contextsoul
Literalsoul

Morphology N NOM F SG All morphology codes

Part of Speech N — Noun — A person, place, thing, or idea
Case NOM — Nominative — The subject of the sentence
Gender F — Feminine — Grammatical feminine
Number SG — Singular — One

Lexical Info

Lemmaψυχή
Strong'sG5590

SIBI-P1 G5590-04

the life-breath self (feminine singular; nominative/dative form)

Rootψυχή (psychē)
Core Meaningsbreath, life-breath, living being, inner self, soul, life
Semantic Rangethe animating life principle, a living person, the inner self, seat of desires and affections, one’s life as distinct from the body, the self as subject of experience
Conceptual SignificanceIn biblical thought, ψυχή denotes the whole living being rather than an abstract immortal soul separated from the body. It reflects the Hebrew concept of נֶפֶשׁ, emphasizing embodied life, personal identity, and the vulnerable, living self before God.
Morphological NotesNoun, feminine singular; attested here in nominative feminine singular (NFS) and dative feminine singular (DFS) forms. The nominative functions as subject or predicate nominative; the dative expresses indirect object, means, sphere, or reference ("to/for/by the life-breath self").
Rendering RationaleThe rendering "life-breath self" preserves the root sense of ψυχή as the animating breath that constitutes a living being, corresponding to Hebrew נֶפֶשׁ. The form is feminine singular, appearing in nominative (subject) and dative ("to/for/by the life-breath self") cases, which are reflected in the note about its grammatical function.

AI-generated (openai/gpt-5.2-chat-latest)

Words from Root ψυχή (breath, life-breath, living being, inner self, soul, life)

SILEX Code Transliteration SIBI-P1
G5590-01 psuchai the breath-lives
G5590-02 psuchais to the life-breath selves
G5590-03 psuchas life-breath selves

Word Usage (103 occurrences of G5590)

Location Form Transliteration Meaning
Matthew 2:20 ψυχὴν psuchen life
Matthew 6:25 ψυχῇ psuche
Matthew 6:25 ψυχὴ psuche-2