UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: inner self, mind, thoughts, feelings, heart, being

Semantic entry: 26.4

Semantic domains: Psychological Faculties

Definition: the essence of life in terms of thinking, willing, and feeling

Notes: It is also possible to render ψυχή in RV PHP 1:27 · LV PHP 1:27 · Read together PHP 1:27 as ‘purpose’ or ‘desire,’ for ψυχή focuses upon the total psychological being involved in struggling for the faith.|ψυχή[a] is often glossed as ‘heart’ or ‘desire.’ Compare the following: περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως θανάτου ‘my heart is sorrowful even to the point of death’ RV MAT 26:38 · LV MAT 26:38 · Read together MAT 26:38; ἵνα μὴ κάμητε ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν ἐκλυόμενοι ‘so do not let your hearts become discouraged and give up’ RV HEB 12:3 · LV HEB 12:3 · Read together HEB 12:3 (for ψυχή in the idiom κάμνω τῇ ψυχῇ, see 25.291: κάμνω / 25.291: ψυχή); ἀλλ ὡς δοῦλοι Χριστοῦ ποιοῦντες τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκ ψυχῆς ‘but with all your heart, do what God wants, as slaves of Christ’ RV EPH 6:6 · LV EPH 6:6 · Read together EPH 6:6. In these passages, however, ψυχή refers really to the entire being of a person, so that RV MAT 26:38 · LV MAT 26:38 · Read together MAT 26:38 may very well be rendered as ‘my sorrow is so great it almost kills me.’ RV HEB 12:3 · LV HEB 12:3 · Read together HEB 12:3 may also be rendered as ‘so do not let yourselves be discouraged and give up,’ and RV EPH 6:6 · LV EPH 6:6 · Read together EPH 6:6 may be appropriately rendered as ‘but with your whole being, do what God wants, as slaves of Christ.’|The meaning of ψυχή in the sense of the person as an individual is treated under ψυχή [source selector 000002][c] (9.20: ψυχή) as, for example, in RV MAT 11:29 · LV MAT 11:29 · Read together MAT 11:29 (εὑρήσετε ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν ‘you will find rest for yourselves’).|Even in those contexts in which ψυχή refers to existence beyond death, it may be referring figuratively to the person. For example, in RV ACT 2:27 · LV ACT 2:27 · Read together ACT 2:27 (οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ᾅδην one may translate ‘you will not abandon my soul to Hades’ or ‘you will not abandon me to the grave.’|It is important to distinguish ψυχή[a], signifying a psychological faculty, from ψυχή [source selector 000001][b], meaning ‘physical life, life principle’ (23.88: ζάω / 23.88: ζωή / 23.88: ψυχή). Note, for example, the occurrence of ψυχή [source selector 000001][b] in RV HEB 4:12 · LV HEB 4:12 · Read together HEB 4:12 (διϊκνούμενος ἄχρι μερισμοῦ ψυχῆς καὶ πνεύματος ‘it cuts all the way through to where physical life and spirit meet’). Note also the occurrence of ψυχή [source selector 000001][b] in RV TH1 5:23 · LV TH1 5:23 · Read together TH1 5:23 αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης ἁγιάσαι ὑμᾶς ὁλοτελεῖς, καὶ ὁλόκληρον ὑμῶν τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ τὸ σῶμα ἀμέμπτως ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τηρηθείη ‘may the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being - spirit, life, and body - free from all fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’).|In certain contexts ψυχή would appear to be in contrast with καρδία (26.3: καρδία) and διάνοια (26.14: διάνοια / 26.14: νόημα / 26.14: νοῦς) as, for example, in RV MAT 22:37 · LV MAT 22:37 · Read together MAT 22:37 ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐν ὅλω τῇ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλω τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλω τῇ διανοίᾳ σου ‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind’). Because of the three terms, some have insisted that there must be at least three quite different parts of human personality. Others, however, have concluded that instead of being three parts of personality, these are only three different perspectives which one may employ in thinking about or describing human personality. Still others would contend that the use of the three terms, καρδία, ψυχή and διάνοια, only emphasizes the totality of human personality, and no clear-cut distinctions can possibly be made. Certainly the referents involve considerable overlapping. One could translate with complete justification RV MAT 22:37 · LV MAT 22:37 · Read together MAT 22:37 as ‘you shall love the Lord with all your heart and life and mind.’ In fact, in many languages it is impossible to distinguish between καρδία, ψυχή, and διάνοια, and therefore it may be necessary to translate as ‘you shall love the Lord your God with all that you desire and with all that you think’ or ‘you must love the Lord your God with all your being.’

Sense 2: life

Semantic entry: 23.88

Semantic domains: Physiological Processes and States

Subdomains: Live, Die

Definition: the existence of a human being, or other living creature, sustained by the presence of air to breathe and food to eat

Notes: In rendering ψυχή in RV ROM 11:3 · LV ROM 11:3 · Read together ROM 11:3 it may be necessary to indicate more precisely the relationship between ‘to seek’ and ‘life,’ for example, ‘they seek to destroy my life’ or ‘they seek to cause me no longer to live.’|In a number of languages there is no noun-like word for ‘life.’ It may therefore be necessary to change all passages which speak of ‘life’ into a corresponding expression using a verb-like form meaning ‘to live.’

Sense 3: person, people

Semantic entry: 9.20

Semantic domains: People

Subdomains: Human Beings

Definition: (a figurative extension of meaning of ψυχή[a] ‘inner self, mind,’ 26.4: ψυχή) a person as a living being{N:001}

Sense 4: living creature

Semantic entry: 4.1

Semantic domains: Animals

Subdomains: Animals

Definition: (an idiom, literally: living soul) any living creature, whether animal or human

Notes: Though the phrase ψυχὴ ζωῆς is highly generic in meaning, its specific reference in RV REV 16:3 · LV REV 16:3 · Read together REV 16:3 is to creatures of the sea, and therefore in most languages one must translate simply ‘fish’ or ‘that which lives in the sea.’

Collocations: ψυχὴ ζωῆς

Sense 5: to experience anguish, to be tormented in one’s heart

Semantic entry: 25.280

Semantic domains: Attitudes and Emotions

Subdomains: Sorrow, Regret

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to be tormented in soul) to experience mental torment involving sorrow mixed with anger

Collocations: ψυχὴν βασανίζω

Sense 6: to turn someone against, to cause to dislike

Semantic entry: 88.200

Semantic domains: Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior

Subdomains: Hate, Hateful

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to cause a person’s attitude to be bad against) to cause someone to have hostile feelings of dislike toward someone

Collocations: κακόω τὴν ψυχὴν κατά

Sense 7: to become discouraged, to become tired of

Semantic entry: 25.291

Semantic domains: Attitudes and Emotions

Subdomains: Discouragement

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to become tired in spirit) to gradually lose one’s motivation to accomplish some goal

Collocations: κάμνω τῇ ψυχῇ

Sense 8: to save oneself, to protect oneself

Semantic entry: 21.20

Semantic domains: Danger, Risk, Safe, Save

Subdomains: Cause To Be Safe, Free from Danger

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to acquire one’s soul or to acquire one’s life) to save oneself from grave danger or death

Collocations: κτάομαι τὴν ψυχήν

Sense 9: to risk, to risk one’s life

Semantic entry: 21.7

Semantic domains: Danger, Risk, Safe, Save

Subdomains: Expose Oneself to Danger

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to hand over life) to expose oneself willingly to a danger or risk

Notes: In a number of languages the equivalent of ‘risking one’s life’ is ‘exposing oneself to death’ or ‘showing that one is willing to die’ or ‘walking into the danger of dying.’

Collocations: παραδίδωμι τὴν ψυχήν

Sense 10: to save one’s life, to save oneself

Semantic entry: 21.24

Semantic domains: Danger, Risk, Safe, Save

Subdomains: Cause To Be Safe, Free from Danger

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to do something with regard to one’s life) to save or preserve one’s own life

Collocations: τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ περιποιέομαι

Sense 11: to feel pain and sorrow, to be sorrowful and distressed

Semantic entry: 25.279

Semantic domains: Attitudes and Emotions

Subdomains: Sorrow, Regret

Definition: (an idiom, literally: a sword goes through one’s soul) to feel the intense pain of sorrow

Collocations: τὴν ψυχὴν διέρχεται ῥομφαία

Sense 12: to die voluntarily, to die willingly

Semantic entry: 23.113

Semantic domains: Physiological Processes and States

Subdomains: Live, Die

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to lay down one’s life) to die, with the implication of voluntary or willing action

Notes: Though in English the phrases ‘to lay down one’s life’ or ‘to give one’s life’ do suggest a voluntary dying, a literal rendering of such expressions in other languages would not necessarily imply the same. It may therefore be necessary to use such expressions as ‘to die willingly’ or ‘to die without resisting.’ In some languages ‘willingly’ is expressed primarily as a negation of objecting, for example, ‘I will not object to dying.’

Collocations: τὴν ψυχὴν τίθημι