לַ֝/נֶּפֶשׁ

𐤋/𐤍𐤐𐤔

lanefesh

to the soul

from נָפַשׁ; properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental); any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, [idiom] dead(-ly), desire, [idiom] (dis-) contented, [idiom] fish, ghost, [phrase] greedy, he, heart(-y), (hath, [idiom] jeopardy of) life ([idiom] in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, [phrase] slay, soul, [phrase] tablet, they, thing, ([idiom] she) will, [idiom] would have it.

H5315

Proverbs 16:24 · Word #6

Lexicon H5315

Lemmaנֶפֶשׁ
Lemma (Paleo)𐤍𐤐𐤔
Transliterationnephesh
Strong'sH5315
In-contextto the soul

Morphology HRd/Ncbsa All morphology codes

Part of Speech N — Noun — A person, place, thing, or idea
Subtype c — Common — Common noun
Gender b — Both — Both (masculine and feminine)
Number s — Singular — Singular
State a — Absolute — The noun stands independently

SIBI-P1 H5315-16

for a breathing-being

Rootנפשׁ (n-p-sh)
Core Meaningsbreath, life, living being, self, vitality, inner desire
Semantic Rangelife, living person, self, soul, inner being, appetite, desire, corpse (a departed life), individual person
Conceptual Significanceנֶפֶשׁ expresses the biblical view of a person as a unified living being animated by breath, not a detached soul separate from the body. It encompasses life, identity, and desire, underscoring the holistic anthropology of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Morphological NotesPreposition לְ (“to/for”) prefixed to a common feminine singular absolute noun (נֶפֶשׁ). No pronominal suffix. The form remains singular and feminine.
Rendering RationaleThe noun נֶפֶשׁ (feminine singular) fundamentally denotes a breathing, living being—one animated by breath. The prefixed preposition לָ (“to/for”) yields “for a breathing-being,” preserving both the core idea of life-breath and the singular feminine form indicated in the morphology.

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

Words from Root נפשׁ (breath, life, living being, self, vitality, inner desire)

SILEX Code Transliteration SIBI-P1
H5315-03 benafeshenu with our life-breath
H5315-06 benafeshotam with their lives
H5315-15 lanafesh to a breathing-being
H5315-19 lenafesham for their life-breath
H5315-26 lenafeshoteykhem for your (m.pl.) living-selves
H5315-46 nefesh breathing being
H5315-60 venafeshot and living-breath beings of
H5315-62 venefesh and a living-breath

Word Usage (757 occurrences of H5315)

Location Form Transliteration Meaning
Genesis 1:20 נֶ֣פֶשׁ nefesh of living creatures
Genesis 1:21 נֶ֣פֶשׁ nefesh living creature
Genesis 1:24 נֶ֤פֶשׁ nefesh living creatures