sion. As it has no reference to an immortal soul in man, it is not necessary to dwell on it..

Nephish. Some have said, this word occurs over three hundred times in the Old Testament; but if they had said, it occurs over seven hundred times, they would have been nearer the truth. Parkhurst says "as a noun, nephish hath been supposed to signify the spiritual part of man, or what we commonly call his soul: I must for myself confess, that can find no passage where it hath undoubtedly this meaning. Gen. 35: 18. 1 Kings 17: 21, 22. Ps. 16: 10, seem fairest for this signification. But may not nephish in the three former passages be most properly rendered breath, and in the last, a breathing or animal frame?" This explicit concession, from Parkhurst, an orthodox critic, supersedes all examination of this word. I have examined all the places where it occurs, and am satisfied he is correct. confirmation, I shall quote what Taylor says respecting the different senses in which this word is used.

In

He says nephish signifies "the animal life, or that principle by which every animal, according to its kind, lives, Gen. 1: 20, every moving creature that hath the soul of life. And verse 24, let the earth bring forth the living creature, the soul of life. And verse 30, every beast, fowl, &c. wherein there is life, the soul of life, Lev. 11: 46. Which animal life, so far as we know any thing of the manner of its existence, or so far as the Scripture leads our thoughts, consists in the breath, Job 41: 21, and 31: 39. And in the blood, Lev. 17: 11, 14, the life or the soul of the flesh is in the blood. And Jer. 2: 34, the blood of the souls of poor innocents. This soul or life is supported and refreshed by meat and drink. Num. 11: 6. Ps. 107: 5. Isai. 29: 8. Lam. 1: 11, 19. And is taken away when the animal dieth or is slain, Gen. 37: 21. Let

us not kill him, or smite him in the life, Deut. 19: 6, 11. Ps. 56: 13, and 116: 8. Prov. 1: 19. Jer. 15: 9. Isai. 38: 17. Ps. 49: 15. 94: 17. Job 33: 30. Hence the following senses:

"1st. Life, and that which supports life. Deut. 24: 6, he taketh a man's life, or he taketh a soul to pledge. To restore, convert, relieve, refresh, the life or soul, Ruth 4: 15. Ps. 19: 7. 23: 3. Prov. 25: 13. Lam. 1: 16, is the same phrase in the original, and signifies to make the soul or life return; to refresh, invigorate, cheer and comfort the weak, faint or discouraged mind. The waters come in unto my soul. Ps. 69:1. Jonah 2:5, The sword reacheth unto the soul. Jer. 4: 10, i. e. advance so far as to endanger life. He puts his life in his hand, 1 Sam. 19: 5, he hazarded it, put it into a desperate, hopeless situation, where it might easily have been dashed out of his hand. Put my life in my hand, Job 13: 14. Account it to be in a desperate, hopeless condition. "2d. Animal appetite, lust, desire, will, or pleasure, Exod. 15: 9. Deut. 23: 24. Ps. 27: 12. Prov. 23: 2, and 25:25. Eccles. 6: 7,9. Mic. 7: 1. Hab. 2: 5.

"3d. A person, persons, Exod. 1: 5; all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls, Num. 31: 35, &c.

&c. are used

Esth. 4: 13.

"4th. My soul, thy soul, his soul, for the sake of the greater emphasis, instead of I, thou, he, himself, &c. Gen. 12: 13. Ps. 131: 2. Job 32: 2. Lev. 11:43. ner it is also applied to God, Lev. 26: 10: 16. Prov. 6:16. Isai. 1.: 14. 42: 1. Jer. 5: 9. 29. 68. 9: 9. 51: 14, &c.

In this man11, 30. Jude

5th. As lebeb, the heart, so nephish the life, soul, is applied to the faculties, the actions and affections of the mind; as to the understanding, memory, will,

counsel, desire, love, hatred, courage, fear, joy, sorrow, anger, see Exod. 23: 9. 1 Sam. 1: 10. 30: 6. Thus it is also applied to God, Jer. 12: 7. 15: 1.

32:41.

"6th. It is used, in a singular manner, to signify, 1st. fish, one species of the animal creation, Isai. 19: 10, ponds for fish. Others render it ponds of desire, or pleasant ponds. It refers to brutes and the life they possess, Gen. 1: 20, 21, 24, 30. 9: 10. Lev. 11: 10, 46. Gen. 2: 19. 9: 12, 15, 16. Ezek. 47: 9. comp. Rev. 12: 10. 2d. A dead animal body, Lev. 19: 28. Num. 5: 2. 6:11. 9: 6, 7, 10. Hag. 2:13. In some places the adjective mut, death, is expressed, as in Num. 6: 6. 19:13. And it may, I suppose, in other places be understood.

"The verb derived from this noun, signifies to refresh, and so the noun too may signify refreshment in those places which will admit that sense; as Isai. 3 : 20. Tablets or houses of the soul, i. e. of refreshments; meaning, probably, some small neat boxes, inclosing a delicious perfume, which the ladies wear about them, to please and recreate themselves with the smell, Exod. 23:12. 1 Sam. 16: 14. Exod. 31: 17."

Such is Taylor's account of the word nephish, and the various senses in which it is used. He does not even insinuate, that it ever signifies an immortal soul, which survives the death of the body. Calmet-says, the word nephish, rendered "soul, is very equivocal in the style of the Hebrews. The English word person is the nearest I can think of to answer the Hebrew." Parkhurst, Taylor and Calmet then, concur in their testimony, that nephish, soul, does not signify an immortal principle in man. The texts which Parkhurst says bids fairest for this signification I shall now examine, adding any others which

appeared likely to be quoted in proof of this opinion. His first text is

Gen. 35: 18. "And it came to pass as her soul was in departing (for she died) that she called his name Benoni; but his father called him Benjamin." Religious prejudice aside, no man would understand any thing more but this, her breath or life departed. The writer explains his own meaning, by the words in a parenthesis, for she died. We shall see afterwards, that to depart out of this world simply means to die. His second text is,

1 Kings 17: 21, 22, "And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee let this child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah: and the soul of the child came into him again and he revived." Did Elijah pray, that this child's soul might come from heaven or hell to reanimate its body again? Or, did God answer such a request? What the mother of the child desired, what the prophet prayed for, and what God granted, was the restoration of the child to life; and is sufficiently explained by the words" and he revived." We have seen that nephish often means breath or life. Parkhurst's third text is

Ps. 16: 10, "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell: neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption." The phrases my soul, thy soul, his soul, occur often in Scripture; and are used for the sake of greater emphasis, instead of I, thou,he,himself. See Taylor, above, Whitby on Acts 2, and on this text in my First Inquiry. Such are the texts, which Parkhurst owns bid fairest to prove that nephish means an immortal soul in man. Although we have searched with care to find others more conclusive, we must say they are not to be found among the nu merous places where nephish occurs. I can only add

Gen. 2: 7, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living

soul." But if this proves an immortal soul in man, it proves also that brutes have immortal souls, for the same thing is said of them, Gen. 7: 22. The passage says nothing about the immortality of man's soul, any more than of brutes. In Isai. 2: 22, an allusion is made to this text, showing how little dependance is to be placed on man, because his breath is in his nostrils. But why is this done, if an immortal soul was breathed into him? Before God breathed into man he was dead, but, by.breathing into him he became a living soul, or person, as the word nephish signifies, and which Calmet says is the nearest word he could think of answering to the Hebrew. When man dies he becomes a dead soul or person, for so the word nephish is also used, as seen from Taylor's remarks. Indeed, no person will question, that men and beasts are said to have the same breath, life, or soul, as the following among other passages show: Gen. 6: 17. 17: 15, 22. Eccl. 3: 19. That this breath or life means a power imparted to them may, we think, be gathered from John 20: 22, 23. 1 Cor. 12: 9. Luke 1: 35. Job 37: 10. Ps. 104: 29. Isai. 42: 5.

Here then is a word rendered soul; occurs over seven hundred times in the Old Testament; is applied to men and beasts; to the dead as well as the living; expresses something about man in various ways; yet it is never used to express any part of man which lives in a state of conscious existence in a disembodied state. Does any man in our day, speaking on religious subjects, use the word soul seven hundred times, yet never conveys by it the idea of something about man which survives the death of the body? This is now the principal sense in which religious