I agree with Robert Alter that English translations of the Bible often miss nuances that exist in the original languages, but one thing to remember is that these translations are often used--as the Psalms originally were--in the liturgy. So consideration of how English speakers might handle the translation (especially if it's to be sung) have to be taken into consideration.

And one thing that we miss in English is that nefesh/psyche/anima (to use the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin forms of the word) means "breath" or "life-force" and also "wind", and so do ruah/pneuma/spiritus, with the second word refering to a more exalted "breath"; hence nefesh is usually tanslated "soul" and ruah "spirit".

In the begining of Genesis we read that "the spirit of God"--ruah elohim--hovered over the waters. If you also consider that elohim means "the powers"--the word is also used to refer to the angels--"the spirit of God" can also be translated "a mighty wind".

And in 1 Corinthians 15 Paul contrasts the soma psychikon--the body enlivened by our animal souls, the natural body--with the soma pnuematikon--the bady enlivened by the spirit we receive from God at baptism, the spiritual body. This confuses some translators, who then contrast the "physical body" with the "spiritual body", as if the contrast is between the physical and the non-physical.

I think there are a couple of problems with your argument here. The first is the equation of Hebrew words with the Greek and Latin words used to translate them. Nefesh does not equal psyche does not equal anima. The fact that Greek or Latin translators used words that are closer to the concept of 'soul' does not mean that the Hebrew word means 'soul'. One may as well argue that since English translators used the word 'soul', it means 'soul'. Greek, Latin, and Hebrew are each different languages.

Second, I'm not sure what 'ruach' has to contribute to the discussion. Sure, 'ruach' can have a meaning that is sorta kinda like 'soul', but that's a different word. A synonym, maybe, but a different word. Synonyms do not transfer meanings across words.

So I don't think that nefesh, by itself, in Hebrew, is a word that speaks of what we mean by 'soul'. (It can even, as in Leviticus 21:11, mean 'dead body' [nefesh met - thanks, Hebrew dictionary!].) While the later Christian tradition (as in the New Testament, the Vulgate, and other liturgical forms) may have interpreted nefesh to mean soul, that doesn't mean that it actually did in its original hebraic context.

srb13:

I think there are a couple of problems with your argument here. The first is the equation of Hebrew words with the Greek and Latin words used to translate them. Nefesh does not equal psyche does not equal anima. The fact that Greek or Latin translators used words that are closer to the concept of 'soul' does not mean that the Hebrew word means 'soul'. One may as well argue that since English translators used the word 'soul', it means 'soul'. Greek, Latin, and Hebrew are each different languages. Second, I'm not sure what 'ruach' has to contribute to the discussion. Sure, 'ruach' can have a meaning that is sorta kinda like 'soul', but that's a different word. A synonym, maybe, but a different word. Synonyms do not transfer meanings across words. So I don't think that nefesh, by itself, in Hebrew, is a word that speaks of what we mean by 'soul'. (It can even, as in Leviticus 21:11, mean 'dead body' [nefesh met - thanks, Hebrew dictionary!].) While the later Christian tradition (as in the New Testament, the Vulgate, and other liturgical forms) may have interpreted nefesh to mean soul, that doesn't mean that it actually did in its original hebraic context.

In English we also use "soul" to refer to persons or bodies. (E.g.: "Those poor dead souls lying on the battlefield.") And offhand my guess is that the folks who first came up with the Greek and Latin translations of the Hebrew knew people who spoke Hebrew as a living language (as opposed to today, in which it is a formerely dead language resurrected by scholars).

apropos of nothing: I recall Nietzsche's quip that he had traced the etymology of 'spiritus' and 'pneuma' to a word that meant 'beans.'