The nature of the soul is a deep and complicated topic, but it can be summarized as “spiritual life,” who we are in terms of our thoughts and affections. And that, generally, is the internal meaning when the Bible talks of a soul. You could be missing limbs, disfigured in the body due to illness or accident, paralyzed, whatever, but you would still be a complete human being. That’s because the soul is the real you, and the soul has to do with internal things, not the state of your body.
There is a more specific meaning, however, when the Bible uses the phrase “heart and soul.” In those cases “heart” means the affections, the things we want; “soul,” meanwhile, means the thoughts we have and the things we understand.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9050
- The fact that ‘soul’ means spiritual life is clear from the meaning of ‘soul’ as a person’s life – the life of his faith, which is spiritual life. Various places in the Word use the expression ‘heart and soul’, and in those places ‘heart’ means the life of love and ‘soul’ the life of faith. A person has two mental powers for receiving life from the Lord, one being called the will, the other the understanding. Love belongs to the power called the will, for forms of the good of love compose its life; but faith belongs to the power called the understanding, for the truths of faith compose its life. Yet these two powers of life with a person nevertheless make one; and when they make one matters of faith are also aspects of love because they are loved, and aspects of love in turn are also matters of faith because they are believed. This is the kind of life that all in heaven possess.
[2] The reason why in the Word the life of love, or what amounts to the same thing, the will, is called ‘the heart’, and why the life of faith, or what amounts to the same thing, the understanding, is called ‘the soul’, is this: Those in the Grand Man or heaven who are governed by love to the Lord and are called celestial angels constitute the province of the heart, and those governed by faith in the Lord and from this by charity towards the neighbour constitute the province of the lungs, see 3635, 3883-3896. So it is that ‘the heart’ in the Word means love, which is the life of the will, while ‘the soul’ means faith, which is the life of the understanding, 2930, 7542, 8910. For ‘soul’ in the original language is derived from a word that means breathing, which is the function of the lungs.
[3] The reason why faith belongs to the understanding is that this mental power is enlightened by the Lord when the person receives faith, so that he has light, or discernment of truth, in such things as are matters of faith when he reads the Word. And the reason why love belongs to the will is that this mental power is kindled by the Lord when the person receives love, so that he has the fire of life and keen perception of good.
[4] All this shows what the proper meaning of ‘the heart’ is in the Word and what the proper meaning of ‘the soul’ is, as in the following places: In Moses, You shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deut. 6:5, 6.
In the same author,
You shall love Jehovah your God, and serve Him, with all your heart and with all your soul. Deut. 10:12; 11:13.
In the same author,
You shall keep the statutes and judgements, and observe them, with all your heart and with all your soul. Deut 26:16.
In the Gospels,
Jesus said, You shall love the Lord your God with an your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and your thought. Matt 22:37; Mark 12:30, 32; Luke 10:27.
‘Heart’ stands for the life of love, and ‘soul’ for the life of faith. ‘Strength’ stands for those things that emanate from the life of love, and so from the heart or will, and ‘thought’ stands for those that emanate from the life of faith, and so from the soul or an enlightened understanding.
[5] Similarly in Isaiah,
A deceived heart causes him to go astray, so that he does not rescue his soul and say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? Isa. 44:20.
In Jeremiah,
I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in the land in truth, with all My heart and with all My soul. Jer. 32:41.
This refers to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord. ‘Heart’ is attributed to Him because of His Divine Goodness, which is the good of love or mercy with a person, and ‘soul’ because of His Divine Truth, which is the truth of faith with him.
[6] Few within the Church at the present day know that these things are meant by ‘the hears’ and ‘the soul’ in the Word. They do not know them because they have not considered that a person has two powers of mind that are distinct from each other, that is to say, the will and the understanding, and that these two powers must constitute a single mind if the person is to be truly human. Nor have they considered that all things in the whole of creation, both in heaven and in the world, have connection with goodness and truth, and that these must be joined together if they are to be anything or be productive. The outcome of their ignorance of these things has been that they have separated faith from love; for one who is ignorant of those universal laws cannot know that faith has connection with truth and love with good, or that unless faith and love have been joined together they are not anything. Faith without love is not faith, and love without faith is not love. Love receives its specific quality from faith, and faith its life from love, so that faith without love is dead, whereas faith together with love is living. The truth of this becomes clear from every detail in the Word, for where faith is dealt with, so too is love, in order that the marriage of good and truth, that is, heaven, and in the highest sense the Lord, may be present in every single detail there. Regarding the existence of that marriage, see 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712, 4138 (end), 5138, 5502, 6343, 7945, 8339. From all this it is now evident why it is that a member of the Church has not up to now known what is meant in the Word by ‘the heart’ and what by ‘thesoul’.
[7] The meaning of ‘the soul’ in the Word as the life of faith becomes perfectly clear from places where ‘the soul’ is mentioned, as in the following: In Moses,
No one shall take* as a pledge the mill or the milling stone, for he is taking the [person’s] soul as a pledge. Deut. 24:6.
It says that he takes the soul as a pledge if he takes the mill because in the internal sense ‘the mill’ means matters of faith, 7780. In Isaiah,
It will be as when a hungry man dreams – as if he were eating – but when he wakes up his soul is fasting; or as when a thirsty man dreams – as if he were drinking – but when he wakes up, behold, he is faint, and his soul is craving. Isa. 29:8.
‘A fasting soul’ and ‘a craving soul’ stand for the desire to learn the forms of good and the truths of faith. In the same prophet,
If you bring out for the hungry your soul** and satisfy the afflicted soul … Isa. 58:10.
‘Bringing out for the hungry your soul’ stands for teaching the truths of faith to one who desires them, and ‘satisfying the afflictedsoul’ stands for teaching the good of faith.
[8] In Jeremiah,
If you clothe yourself in twice-dyed and deck yourself with ornaments of gold, if you widen your eyes with stibium,*** in vain will you make yourself beautiful; your lovers will abhor you, they will seek your soul. Jer. 4:30.
Here ‘soul’ stands for the life of faith, and therefore for the faith itself present with a person since it composes his spiritual life. The fact that faith is what ‘soul’ is used to mean is evident from the details of the verse. In the same prophet,
They will come and sing on the height of Zion, and converge towards the goodness of Jehovah, towards wheat, and towards new wine, and towards oil, and towards the young**** of the flock and of the herd; and their soul will become like a watered garden. I will water the weary soul, and every soul that sorrows [I will replenish]. Jer. 31:12, 25.
‘Soul’ stands for the life of faith present with a member of the Church, who is said to become like a garden because ‘a garden’ means intelligence, which consists of the truths of faith, 100, 108, 2702; and the soul is said to be watered because ‘being watered’ means receiving instruction.
[9] In the same prophet,
In peril of our souls we acquire our bread, because of the sword of the wilderness. Lam. 5:9.
‘Peril of souls’ is the risk of loss of belief and therefore of spiritual life; for ‘the sword of the wilderness’ is falsity engaged in conflict against the truths of faith, 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294. In Ezekiel,
Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your merchants; untie thesouls of men (homo) and vessels of bronze, they traded for you.***** Ezek. 27:13.
‘The souls of men’ stands for the more internal truths of faith derived from good, ‘vessels of bronze’ for the more external truths of faith derived from good. ‘Vessels’ are the more external truths or factual knowledge containing truths, 3068, 3079, and ‘bronze’ is the good of the natural, 425, 1551. Without the knowledge that ‘thesouls of men’ means faith no one could understand what is meant by trading ‘with the souls of men and with vessels of bronze’.
[10] In the same prophet,
Every living soul that creeps, wherever the [two] rivers come to, will live; as a result the fish become very many, for these waters go there, and become fresh. Ezek. 47:9.
This refers to the new temple, that is, to the new spiritual Church from the Lord. ‘Living soul that creeps’ stands for factual knowledge embodying the truths of faith; ‘the fish’ which as a result are many are known facts, 40, 991; and ‘the rivers’ stands for matters of intelligence, which consists of the truths of faith, 2702, 3051. Again no one could know without the internal sense what might be meant by the fish which become many as a result of the rivers going there. In David,
Make me safe, O God, for the waters have come even to my soul. Ps. 69:1.
And in Jonah,
The waters surrounded me, even to my soul. Jonah 2:5.
‘Waters’ here stands for falsities, and also for temptations caused by falsities that have been introduced, 705, 739, 756, 790, 8137, 8138, 8368.
[11] In Jeremiah,
Jehovah has said, Will not My soul be avenged on a nation which is like this? Jer. 5:9, 29.
In the same prophet, Take warning,****** O Jerusalem, lest Mysoul turn from you, and I reduce you to a waste.
Since ‘soul’ is attributed to the Lord it stands for Divine Truth. In John,
The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of one dead, from which every living soul died in the sea. Rev. 16:3.
‘The sea’ stands for known facts in their entirety, 28; ‘blood’ stands for the truths of faith derived from good, and in the contrary sense for truths of faith that have been falsified and rendered profane, 4735, 6978, 7317, 7326. Therefore ‘living soul’ stands for life from faith.
[12] In Matthew,
Do not be anxious for your soul, what you are going to eat or what you are going to drink. Matt. 6:25.
‘Soul’ stands for the truths of faith, ‘eating and drinking’ for receiving instruction in the goodness and truth of faith; for the internal sense at this point refers to spiritual life and the nourishment of that life. In the same gospel,
Whoever wishes to find his soul will lose it, and whoever loses hissoul for My sake will find it. Matt. 10:39.
‘Soul’ stands for the life of faith, such as believers possess, and in the contrary sense for the life that is not that of faith, such as unbelievers possess. In Luke,
In your patience possess your souls. Luke 21:19.
‘Possessing their souls’ stands for the things of faith and consequently of spiritual life. ‘Soul’ has a similar meaning in very many other places.
* lit. He shall not take, reading Non … accipiet for Non … accipies (You
shall not take)
** i.e. If you bring food out of store for the hungry
*** lit. break open the eyes with stibium. Stibium was a cosmetic used for blackening the eyelids and eyebrows, thereby making the eyes look brighter or more open.
**** lit. the sons
***** lit. they gave your trading
****** lit. Admit castigation
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5835
- ‘And his soul being bound up with his soul’ means when more closely joined together. This is clear from the meaning of ‘soul’ as life, so that ‘the soul of the one bound up with the soul of the other’ means the life of the one in that of the other. Consequently a closer joining together is meant, that is to say, of spiritual good, which is ‘Israel’, to the truth springing from that good, which is ‘Benjamin’.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 2930
- ‘If you are willing’ means if on account of an affection for truth coming from the heart. This is clear from the meaning of ‘soul’ in the internal sense. The expression ‘with heart and soul’ or ‘with all the heart and with all the soul’ occurs in various places in the Word where with all the will and all the understanding is meant. The fact that man possesses the dual powers of will and understanding, and also that the will is separated from the understanding may be well known to everyone, for we are all able to understand what is good and true but nevertheless will what is evil and false. From the beginning the human being was created in such a way that will and understanding with him were to make one, so that he would not think anything other than what he willed, nor will anything other than what he thought. Such is the state with celestial people and such it was in the celestial Church which was called Man or Adam. But with spiritual people, that is, in the spiritual Church, the first ability is separated from the second, that is to say, that of the understanding is separated from that of the will. A spiritual person is reformed by the Lord as to the former, namely the understanding part of his mind, and then within this there is formed a new will and a new understanding, 863, 875, 895, 897, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2256.
[2] The new will there, which is received from the Lord, is what is called ‘the heart’, while the new understanding is what is called ‘thesoul’. And when the expression ‘with all the heart and with all thesoul’ is used, with all the will and with all the understanding is meant. This is what is meant by ‘heart and soul’ in Moses,
This day Jehovah your God is commanding you to observe these statutes and judgements – that you may keep and observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. Deut. 26:16.
You shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deut. 6:5.
In the same author,
Now Israel, what does Jehovah your God require of you except to fear Jehovah your God, to go in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all yoursoul? Deut. 10:12; 11:13.
In the same author,
In the Book of Kings,
David said to Solomon, Jehovah will establish His Word which He spoke concerning me, saying, If [your] sons take heed to their way to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there will not fail you a man on the throne of Israel. 1 Kings 2:4.
In Matthew,
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:29, 30.
[3] The same is also said of Jehovah or the Lord because with the member of the Church He is the source of affection for good, which belongs to the will, and of the affection for truth, which belongs to the understanding; as in Samuel,
I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest, [who will do] according to what is in My heart and in My soul. 1 Sam. 2:35.
And in Jeremiah,
I will rejoice over them to do good to them, and I will plant them in this land in truth, with all My heart, and with all My soul. Jer. 32:41.
And there are still other places in the Word where ‘soul’ means the affection for truth, as in Isaiah,
With my soul I desired You in the night; even with my spirit within me I sought You early. For insofar as Your judgements are in the earth the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Isa. 26:9.
Here ‘soul’ stands for an affection for truth, ‘spirit’ for an affection for good. ‘Judgements’ has reference to truths, and ‘righteousness’ to good, see 2235.
[4] In the same prophet,
The fool speaks folly, to make empty the hungry soul, and causes the [soul] thirsting for drink to fail. Isa. 32:6.
‘The hungry soul’, which ‘the fool makes empty’, stands for the desire for good, while ‘the soul thirsting for drink’, which ‘the fool causes to fail’, stands for the desire for truth. In Jeremiah,
Their soul will become like a watered garden, and I will water the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul I will replenish. Jer. 31:12, 25.
‘The soul’ stands for the affection for truth and good. In the same prophet,
All its people groan as they search for bread. They have given their desirable things for food, to revive the soul. A comforter is far from me, one to revive my soul; my sons have been made desolate. They sought food for themselves to revive their soul. Lam. 1:11, 16, 19.
‘The soul’ stands for the life of the affection for good and truth, ‘food’ stands for wisdom and intelligence.
[5] It has been said that ‘the soul’ means the affection for truth coming from the heart, because some affections for truth exist which do not come from the heart, such as those which come from self-love, which is the desire to be above others; from love of the world, which is the love of gain; and from love of merit. Affections for truth spring in a similar way from these loves, but they are not genuine affections. They come from the will of the flesh, not from the heart. That which comes from the heart comes from the Lord. Furthermore ‘the soul’ in the Word means in the universal sense all life, see 1000, 1005, 1040, 1742. Indeed in the universal sense thesoul constitutes that from which another thing has its being and life. Thus the soul of the body is its spirit, since it is from this that the body has life. The soul of the spirit however is its still more interior life from which it derives its wisdom and intelligence.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1000
- ‘Soul’ means life. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘soul’ in many places in the Word. In general ‘soul’ in the Word means life in its entirety, the internal life, or that of the internal man, as well as the external, or that of the external man. And because it means life in its entirety it means the nature of the life present in the one to whom ‘soul’ has reference. In this case it has reference to the life of someone who is regenerate, which is separate from the merely human will. For as stated already, the new life which a regenerate spiritual person receives from the Lord is completely separate from the person s own will or proprium, that is, from the life that is his own, which though called such is not really life but death because it is the life belonging to hell. This is why ‘flesh with its soul which they were not to eat’ means flesh together with its soul, that is, they were not to mix together this new life which is the Lord’s with the evil or putrid life that is man’s, that is, with his own will or proprium.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7021
- ‘For all the men seeking your soul are dead’ means the removal of falsities endeavouring to destroy the life of truth and good. This is clear from the meaning of ‘being dead’ as the fact that they have been removed, since those who are dead have also been removed; from the meaning of the Egyptians, to whom ‘the men’ refers here, as those who are under the influence of falsities, dealt with in 6692; and from the meaning of ‘those seeking the soul’ as those who endeavour to destroy life. And since spiritual life is the life of truth which belongs to faith and of good which belongs to charity, it is called the life of truth and good. From all this it is evident that ‘all the men seeking your soul are dead’ means the removal of falsities endeavouring to destroy the life of truth and good. In the Word ‘soul’ (anima) is used to mean every living thing and is also attributed to living creatures (animalia). But the proper use of the word ‘soul’ is in reference to a human being; and when used in this way it can vary in meaning. A person himself is called a soul, because the life in general within him is called the soul; more specifically the life or activity of his understanding is called such, and so too is the life or activity of his will.
[2] But in the spiritual sense ‘soul’ is used to mean the life of truth belonging to faith and the life of good belonging to charity, or in general to mean a person himself in respect of his spirit that lives after death, which is the meaning that ‘soul’ has in Matthew,
Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Matt. 10:28.
In the same gospel,
What does it profit a person if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul? Or what will a person give as a price sufficient for the redemption of his soul? Matt. 16:26.
In Luke,
The Son of Man did not come to destroy people’s souls but to save them. Luke 9:56.
In Ezekiel,
You have desecrated Me among My people, to kill souls that ought not to die, and to keep alive souls that ought not to live. Ezek. 13:19.
In these places ‘soul’ stands for a person’s spiritual life, the life which is that of his spirit after death. ‘Killing the soul’, ‘suffering the loss of one’s soul’, and ‘destroying the soul’ stand for dying spiritually or being subject to damnation.
Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 750
- And they loved not their life (anima), even unto death.- That this signifies the faithful who endured temptations because of those truths, and esteemed the life of the world as of no account in comparison with the life of heaven, is evident from the signification of, not to love the soul, as denoting to regard the life of the world as of no account in comparison with the life of heaven (concerning which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of, even unto death, as denoting to suffer temptations. For those who are in combats of temptations consider the life of the world as of no account in comparison with the life of heaven, consequently, they regard the death of the body as of no account in comparison with the life of the soul, as is evident from those who suffered martyrdom. The reason is, that they know that life in the world, which lasts only for a few years, is nothing compared with the life in heaven, which is eternal life; in fact, there is no comparison at all between the time of man’s life in the world, and the life in heaven which will endure to eternity. Let any one consider, whether there can be any comparison between a hundred thousand years and eternity, and he will find that there cannot be. These and many other thoughts flow in from heaven with those who endure spiritual temptations, therefore they love not their life, that is, their life in the world, even unto death.
[2] What is meant by life (or soul = anima) is little known in the world, because the learned have invented many theories about the seat of the soul in the body, also about its essence, and its influx into and operation in the body, and from the notions drawn therefrom about its immortality. In consequence of this it has come to be a matter of belief that the soul is a cogitative something, ethereal in its essence, and that, when separated from the body, it has no organs of motion or of sense, as it had in the world [and will not have] until again united with the body, which they say will take place at the time of the Last Judgment. As, in consequence of this, such an inconsistent idea concerning the soul of man has been accepted in the learned world, it is of importance to make clear from the Word what is meant by the soul. By the soul (anima), in general, is meant man, and specifically, the life of man; and as in every man there are three degrees of life, there are also as many degrees of the soul. But because the entire life of man resides in these two faculties, which are called will and understanding – on which account they are sometimes in the Word called lives in the plural – and as the soul means the life, it follows that there is a soulof the will, and a soul of the understanding, and that the soul of the will is the affection which is of love, and the soul of the understanding is thought therefrom. But in the Word, soulcorrectly means the life of man’s understanding, which is thought, and the heart means the life of the will, which is affection. And because the respiration of the lungs corresponds to the life of the understanding which is thought, and the pulsation of the heart corresponds to the life of the will which is affection, therefore thesoul, in the lowest natural sense, means the life of respiration; consequently it is usual to say of those who are about to die, that they give up the soul or spirit, also that they have no longer any animation, or that no breathing from the mouth is sensibly perceived.
That such is the meaning of soul in the Word, is evident from the passages where it is mentioned.
[3] (I.) That soul (anima) in general signifies man, is clear from the following passages.
In Moses:
“Abram took every soul which they had gotten in Haran; and they departed into the land of Canaan” (Gen. xii. 5).
“The king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the souls, and take the substance to thyself” (Gen. xiv. 21).
“All the souls of the sons and daughters of Leah were thirty and three” (Gen. xlvi. 15).
“The sons of Joseph were two souls, every soul of the house of Jacob which came into Egypt, seventy” (Gen. xlvi. 27).
“Every soul which hath eaten of a carcase, or of that which is torn, shall be unclean until the evening” (Levit. xvii. 15).
“Of the cities of the people thou shalt not keep any soul alive” (Deut. xx. 16).
“If a man steal the soul of his brethren, and make gain thereof” (Deut. xxiv. 7).
“The soul that eateth fat and blood shall be cut off” (Lev. vii. 27).
“The soul that is not circumcised shall be cut off from his people” (Gen. xvii. 14); and elsewhere.
In these passages soul is used instead of man.
[4] (II.) That the soul specifically signifies the life of the body is clear from these passages.
In Luke:
The rich man thought with himself, “I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast many goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry; but God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night they shall require thy soul of thee” (xii. 19, 20).
In Moses:
“When the soul” of Rachel “was departing she called his name Benoni” (Gen. xxxv. 18).
“All the men are dead which sought thy soul” (Exod. iv. 19); and elsewhere.
“By the hand of them that seek thy soul” (Jer. xix. 7, 9; xxxiv. 21).
“He who departeth to the Chaldeans shall live, and his soul shall be to him for spoil” (Jer. xxi. 9).
“I will give thy soul for a prey” (Jer. xlv. 5).
“Is this the fast which I choose; a day for a man to afflict his soul” (Isaiah lviii. 5).
Reuben said to his brethren concerning Joseph, “Let us not smite him in the soul” (Gen. xxxvii. 21).
“Soul for soul, eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (Deut. xix. 21).
“Thou shalt not take the mill or the upper mill stone for a pledge, for he receiveth the soul for a pledge” (Deut. xxiv. 6)
“Samson said, Let my soul die with the Philistines” (Judges xvi. 30).
Jezebel said to Elijah that tomorrow she would make his soul as the soul of one of them; and Elijah “departed for his soul” (1 Kings xix. 2, 3).
Peter said, “I will lay down my soul for thee; Jesus answered, Wilt thou lay down thy soul for me? verily I say The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice” (John, xiii. 37, 38).
In these passages soul is used for the life of the body. The Lord spoke in a similar manner concerning the life of His body; “As the son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his soul a redemption for many” (Matt. xx. 28; Mark x. 45).
So elsewhere,
“Behold, I love thee; therefore I will give a man for thee, and peoples for thy soul” (Isaiah xliii, 4).
Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his soul for his friends” (John xv. 13).
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd layeth down his soul for the sheep. I lay down my soul, and I will take it again; no man taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John x. 11, 12, 15, 17, 18).
[5] (III.) That “soul” signifies the life of man’s spirit, which is called his spiritual life, is plain from the following passages.
In the Evangelists:
Jesus said, “Fear not them who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soulin hell (gehenna)” (Matt. x. 28; Luke xii. 4, 5).
“Whosoever would find his soul shall lose it; and whosoever would lose his soul” for Jesus’ sake, “shall find it” (Matt. x. 39; Luke xvii. 33).
“He that loveth his soul shall lose it; but he who hateth his soul in this world shall keep it unto the life eternal” (John xii. 25).
Jesus said, “Whosoever would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. He that would save hissoul shall lose it, but he that would lose his soul for my sake shall find it. What doth it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world, but lose his soul; or what shall a man give as a sufficient price for the redemption of his soul” (Matt. xvi. 24-26; Mark viii. 34-37; Luke ix. 24, 25).
Jesus said, “I have come not to destroy souls, but to save them” (Luke ix. 56).
Mary said unto Elizabeth, “My soul doth magnify the Lord” (Luke i. 46).
“Simeon said unto Mary,” concerning the infant Jesus, “A sword shall also pierce through thine own soul, that the thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke ii. 35).
Jesus said concerning the last times, “In patience possess ye yoursouls” (Luke xxi. 19):
and elsewhere
“The foundations shall be broken, all those making gain with pools of the soul” (Isaiah xix. 10).
“With the peril of our souls we get our bread, because of the sword of the wilderness” (Lam. v. 9).
“They have digged a pit for my soul” (Jer. xviii. 20).
“Their soul shall be as a watered garden” (Jer. xxxi. 12).
“I will water the wearied soul, and every soul which grieveth I will fill” (Jer. xxxi. 25).
“Woe to them that sew pillows under all the joints of mine hands, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls. Will ye hunt the souls of my people that ye may preserve yoursouls alive? Thou hast profaned me with my people, to slay thesouls that ought not to die, and to keep alive the souls that ought not to live” (Ezek. xiii. 18, 19).
“Behold, all souls are mine, as the soul of the father, so the soul of the son, they are mine; the soul that sinneth it shall die” (Ezek. xviii. 4, 20).
“I will go away for the bitterness of my soul” (Isaiah xxxviii. 15).
“The waters compassed me about even to the soul” (Jonah ii. 5).
“The waters came even unto the soul; I was sunk in deep mire” (Psalm lxix. 1, 2).
“They hurt my foot with a fetter, my soul came to the earth” (Psalm cv. 18).
“Bring my soul out of prison” (Psalm cxlii. 7).
“Thou hast delivered my soul from death” (Psalm lvi. 13).
“To rescue their soul from death, and to make them alive in famine” (Psalm xxxiii. 19).
“Deliver me not up to the soul of my foes” (Psalm xxvii. 12; xli. 2).
“I afflicted my soul with fasting; let them not say in their heart, Ah, for his soul” (Psalm xxxv. 13, 25).
“Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (in inferno),* neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (Psalm xvi. 10).
“The man who feareth Jehovah, him shall he teach the way that he shall choose; his soul shall pass the night in good “(Psalm xxv. 12, 13).
“The clean in hands and the pure in heart, who doth not lift up hissoul to vanity” (Psalm xxiv. 4).
“He shall save the souls of the needy, he will redeem their soulfrom deceit and violence” (Psalm lxxii. 13, 14).
“Bless Jehovah, O my soul” (Psalm ciii. 1, 22).
“Let every soul praise Jah” (Psalm cl. 6).
“They will ask food for their soul” (Psalm lxxviii. 18).
“Jehovah breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of lives, and man became a living soul” (Gen. ii. 7).
In these passages “soul” is used for the life of man’s spirit, which is called his spiritual life.
[6] (IV.) Since man has two faculties of life, namely, the faculty of understanding and the faculty of willing, and both these faculties constitute the spiritual life of man, it is evident from some of the passages quoted above, and also from the following, that “soul” signifies that faculty which is called the life of man’s understanding.
As in Moses:
“Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, with all thysoul, and with all thy strength” (Deut. vi. 5; x. 12; xi. 13; xxvi. 16).
And in the Evangelists:
Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. xxii. 37; Mark xii. 30, 33; Luke x. 27).
To love Jehovah God with all the heart and with all the soul, means with all the will and all the understanding, also with all the love and all the faith; for the heart signifies the love and the will, and the soul signifies faith and understanding. The heart signifies these two, namely, the love and the will, because a man’s love is of his will; and the soul signifies these two, faith and understanding, because faith is of the understanding. This signification of heart and soul is derived from correspondence, because the heart of man corresponds to the good of love, which is of his will, and the breath (anima) of the lungs corresponds to the truth of faith, which belongs to man’s understanding. With all the strength and with all the mind, signifies above all things.
[7] In Ezekiel:
“Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the anger of Jehovah; they shall not satisfy their soul, neither shall they fill their bowels” (vii. 19).
Here also soul is put for the understanding of truth, which is said not to be satisfied when there is no truth in the church, and the bowels denote the will of good, which are said not to be filled when there is no good in the church. Because silver, from correspondence, signifies truth, and in the opposite sense falsity, and gold signifies good, and in the opposite sense evil, it is therefore said, “Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the anger of Jehovah,” the silver and gold there denoting what is not true and what is not good, also what is false and evil, and the day of anger denotes the day of judgment.
[8] In Isaiah:
“The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame, which shall burn up and consume the glory of his forest and Carmel; it shall consume from the soul even to the flesh” (x. 17, 18).
The light of Israel and His Holy One, which shall be for a fire and a flame, mean the Lord as to a last judgment; fire and flame signify the destruction of those who are in falsities of evil; by the glory of the forest and Carmel, which the fire and flame shall burn and consume, are signified truth and the good of truth pertaining to the church, which shall be destroyed because they have been turned into falsities and evils of falsity. From the soul even to the flesh, signifies even from its understanding to its will, soul denoting the understanding of truth, and flesh the will of good.
[9] In the same:
“The fool speaketh foolishness, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail” (xxxii. 6).
Here also the soul signifies man as to the understanding of good and truth, the soul of the hungry the understanding of good, and the drink of the thirsty the understanding of truth. That a man who is in falsities of evil will endeavour to deprive of that truth one who is in truth from good, is signified by “The fool speaketh foolishness, to make empty the soul,” and to cause it to fail.
[10] In the same:
“It shall be as when a hungry man dreameth as if he were eating, but when he awaketh, his soul is empty; and when a thirsty man dreameth as if he were drinking, but when he awaketh, behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite; so shall be the multitude of all nations that fight against Mount Zion” (Isaiah xxix. 8).
These things are said of those who are in falsities from evil, and yet suppose them to be truths from good; the falsities of evil fighting against the goods of the church are signified by “the multitude of all nations fighting against Mount Zion”; multitude is used in reference to truths, nations signify evils, and Mount Zion signifies the church as to the good of love. The belief that evils are good, when yet they are evils of falsity, is signified by “It shall be as when a hungry man dreameth as if he were eating, but when he awaketh, his soul is empty”; a hungry man dreaming as if he were eating signifies an erroneous opinion and belief about good, to dream signifying such erroneous opinion and belief, and to be hungry and as if he were eating, signifying a kind of desire as it were for good that will give nourishment. But when he awaketh, signifies when it is discovered what good is; his soul is empty, signifies that there is no understanding of good. Similar things are said concerning truth, which are signified by “when a thirsty man dreameth as if he were drinking” but when he awaketh, behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite”; to be thirsty and as if he were drinking whilst he dreameth, signifying an opinion and belief that it is truth; but when he awaketh, behold he is faint, and his soulhath appetite, signifies that still it is not truth but falsity, soul here signifying belief in falsity, because truth is not understood; for both evil and falsity as well as good and truth, pertain to faith and understanding when they are of the thought alone. For a man is able to so think as to understand and thus believe that evil is good, and falsity truth. Such are all those who are in falsities of doctrine, and have faith merely in their masters and books, and do not consider whether the things which are taught may not consist of falsities and evils, believing them to be truths and goods because they can be proved, not knowing that falsity and evil may be proved equally as truth and good.
[11] In the same:
“If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflictedsoul, thy light shall arise in darkness, and thy thick darkness shall be as the noon-day” (Isaiah lviii. 10).
To draw out the soul to the hungry, and to satisfy the afflictedsoul, signifies to teach him who desires it what is good and what is true; the hungry signify those who desire good, and the afflicted those who desire truth, while to draw out the soul signifies to teach good and truth, that is from understanding, doctrine and faith. That to those who are in ignorance, and yet are in the desire for them, there shall be given the understanding of truth and good, is signified by “thy light shall arise in darkness, and thy thick darkness shall be as the noon-day,” darkness and thick darkness denoting ignorance of truth and good, while the light and the noon-day denote the understanding of these.
[12] In Lamentations:
“All the people groan, they seek bread, they have given their desirable things for food to refresh the soul. He is far from me the comforter that refresheth my soul, my sons are become desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed. My priests and my elders expired in the city, because they sought food for themselves with which they might refresh their souls” (i. 11, 16, 19).
This is said of a church where there is no longer any truth and good of doctrine, whence the men of the church who desire these are lacking. The deficiency of good and truth in doctrine, and a desire for them in order to nourish the life of faith and of the understanding, is signified by “All the people groan, they seek bread, they have given their desirable things for food to refresh thesoul”; deficiency is signified by their groaning, the desire for good by seeking bread, the desire for truth by giving their desirable things for food, while the nourishment of faith and understanding is signified by refreshing the soul. That there is no nourishment of faith and understanding, because there are no longer any truths through evils of life, is signified by “He is far from me the comforter that refresheth my soul, my sons are become desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed,” the sons being desolate signifying that there are no longer any truths, and the enemy that hath prevailed signifying evil from hell, thus evil of the life. That there are no longer any who teach good and truth is signified by “My priests and my elders expired in the city,” priests signifying those who teach good, elders those who teach truths, and city doctrine, while to expire denotes that these no longer exist. That they have no spiritual nourishment is signified by “because they sought food for themselves with which they might refresh theirsouls.”
[13] In Lamentations:
“They say to their mothers, Where is the corn and the wine? when they faint as one thrust through in the streets of the city, when theirsoul is poured out upon their mother’s bosom” (ii. 12).
The signification of these words is similar to that of the preceding, namely, that such is the desolation of the church from the want of good and truth in doctrine, that spiritual life therein faints and perishes. Mothers signify the truths of the church; they say to them, Where is the corn and the wine? signifies, where is now the good of doctrine and its truth. Their soul is poured out upon their mother’s bosom, signifies the fainting and perishing of spiritual life because of the desolation arising from deficiency of truths. Because the soul means the life of faith and of the understanding of good and truth, which is the spiritual life of man, it is said that they faint as one thrust through in the street of the city, one thrust through signifying those who perish through falsities, and the street of the city truth of doctrine.
[14] In Jonah:
“When my soul fainted upon me” (ii. 7).
This treats of temptations; and that his soul fainted upon him signifies that truth fainted (or ceased) in faith and understanding.
In David:
“Mine eye wasteth away with indignation, my soul and my belly” (Psalm xxxi. 9).
In the same:
“My soul is bowed down to the dust, our belly cleaveth to the earth” (Psalm xliv. 25).
A state of temptations is also described by these words. The eye signifies the understanding, the soul, the belief in and understanding of truth, and the belly, the belief in and understanding of good. The reason why this is the signification of belly is, that the belly receives the food, and food and bread signify good that nourishes, here understanding and faith. The deficiency of these in temptation is signified by wasting away with indignation, bowing down to the dust, and cleaving to the earth.
[15] In Moses:
“They said, Now is our soul dried up, there is nothing but manna before our eyes” (Numb. xi. 6).
Because manna signifies spiritual nourishment, and it is faith and understanding, that is, man’s intelligence, which is spiritually nourished, and because the sons of Israel had no natural nourishment, and yet desired it, therefore they said, “Our soul is dried up, there is nothing but manna before our eyes.” The souldried up signifies the life of faith and of the understanding failing when there was at the same time no natural nourishment; there is nothing but manna before our eyes, signifies that there was only spiritual nourishment; and because they loathed this, the flesh of quails, or selav,** was given to them, and the flesh of these signifies natural nourishment.
[16] And in the First Book of Samuel:
Hannah said unto, Eli, “I have poured out my soul before Jehovah” (i. 15).
To pour out the soul before Jehovah signifies to declare the thoughts of her mind and heart.
In the Evangelists:
“Be ye not anxious for your soul what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, nor for your body what ye shall put on; is not the soulmore than food, and the body more than raiment?” (Matt. vi. 25; Luke xii. 22, 23).
Although these words are spoken of the life of the body, they nevertheless signify such things as pertain to the life of the spirit, for all things of the sense of the letter of the Word, which is natural, contain within them an internal sense, which is spiritual. In this sense, eating, drinking, and food signify spiritual nourishment, which is the nourishment of faith, together with that of the understanding, from which comes intelligence in spiritual things; it is therefore said, “Be not anxious for your soul what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink; is not the soul more than food?” To eat denotes to perceive good intellectually and thus spiritually; to drink, to perceive truth intellectually and thus spiritually; and food denotes the good and truth which are the source of [spiritual] nourishment. By clothing the body and by raiment is signified truth investing the good of love and of the will, raiment signifying such truth, and the body the good of love which is the good of the will.
[17] In David:
“O my soul, I lie in the midst of lions, the sons of man are set on fire” (Psalm lvii. 4).
Here too soul signifies spiritual life, which is the life of faith, thus also the life of the understanding; for the understanding is formed from truths, and consists of them, as also faith. Because these things are signified by the soul, and the vastation of truth is the subject here treated of, it is therefore said, “I lie in the midst of lions,” lions signifying falsities destroying the truths of the church. It is also said, “The sons of men are set on fire,” the sons of men signifying the truths of doctrine and of the church, and when these are taken possession of by corporeal love and thereby perish, they are said to be set on fire.
In Moses:
Abraham spake with the sons of Heth, “If it be with your soul that I bury my dead” (Gen. xxiii. 8).
Soul here signifies thought from truth. But these words are explained in the Arcana Coelestia (n. 2930).
[18] In Jeremiah:
“Thy lovers will abhor thee, they will seek thy soul” (iv. 30).
Lovers mean those who are in the love of evil; to seek the soulsignifies to desire to destroy belief in and the understanding of truth, by means of the falsities of evil.
In Ezekiel:
“Javan and Tubal traded with the soul of man and vessels of brass” (xxvii. 13).
This is said of Tyre, which signifies the church as to the knowledges of truth and good. Trading signifies the acquisition and communication of these; Javan and Tubal signify external representative worship, and the soul of man signifies knowledge (scientia) of truth in the natural man, and vessels of brass signify knowledge of good in the natural man; knowledge of natural truth (veri naturalis) is also signified by “souls of men” in the Apocalypse (xviii. 13). The souls of men (animoe hominum) mean strictly slaves or servants, which also, in the spiritual sense, signify truths scientific (vera scientifica) of the natural man, that are serviceable to the spiritual.
[19] (V.) Since the life of faith, and also the life of man’s understanding is from Divine Truth, therefore Divine Truth is also signified by soul, as is evident in the following passages:
In Jeremiah:
“I will plant them in this land in verity, in my whole heart and in my whole soul” (xxxii. 41).
As there are two things that proceed from the Lord, Divine Good and Divine Truth, and these, when received by the angels of heaven and the men of the church, make heavenly life in them, therefore it is evident what is signified by planting them in the whole heart and in the whole soul, namely, in His Divine Good and in His Divine Truth; for the heart signifies the Divine Good of the Divine Love, and the soul Divine Truth.
[20] In the same:
“Jehovah hath sworn by His soul” (li. 14; Amos vi. 8).
Jehovah is said to swear by His soul when He confirms by means of His Divine Truth, for to swear signifies to confirm, and the soulof Jehovah Divine Truth.
In David:
“Jehovah trieth the just; the wicked, and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth” (Psalm xi. 5).
Here also the soul of Jehovah signifies Divine Truth, for the violent in the Word signifies one who does violence to Divine Truth; and because this is done by falsities of evil, therefore this is signified by the wicked and him that loveth violence.
[21] In Isaiah:
“My chosen in whom my soul is well pleased, I have put my Spirit upon him” (xlii. 1).
This is said of the Lord, who is meant by the chosen of Jehovah; and as the Spirit of Jehovah, which was put upon Him, signifies the proceeding Divine, therefore the soul of Jehovah, which was well pleased in Him, signifies Divine Truth, for the Lord was in that Divine Truth as to His Human in the world.
In Jeremiah:
“Jehovah said, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, mysoul [could] not [be] toward this people” (xv. 1).
Moses and Samuel, in the representative sense, signify the Word; and as the Word is Divine Truth, and the people there mentioned mean the sons of Israel, who had no Divine Truth but what was falsified and adulterated, it is said, “My soul could not be toward this people.”
In the same:
“Shall not my soul take vengeance” (v. 9, 29).
Here also the soul of Jehovah means Divine Truth; and when from this the Lord executes judgment, it is said that His soul takes vengeance. The Son of man who is to execute judgment has a similar signification, the Son of man also denoting the Lord, as to Divine Truth.
In the same:
“Receive chastisement, O Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from thee, and I reduce thee to wasteness” (vi. 8):
Jerusalem signifies the church as to doctrine, to receive chastisement, signifies to receive discipline; lest my soul be alienated from thee, signifies lest Divine Truth should depart from them; and to reduce to wasteness, signifies lest the church should be desolated as to all truth.
[23] In Isaiah:
“Jehovah that giveth soul to the people upon the earth, and spirit to them that walk therein” (xlii. 5).
The soul which Jehovah giveth to the people upon the earth, signifies Divine Truth from the Lord to those who will be of His church. The spirit which Jehovah will give to them that walk upon the earth, signifies life according to Divine Truth, to walk signifying to live.
[24] (VI.) Since soul (anima) in reference to the Lord signifies Divine Truth, therefore it signifies spiritual life from truth.
In Moses:
“The soul of all flesh is the blood” (Levit. xvii. 14).
As the ultimate life of man, which is the life of his body, consists in the blood, it is therefore said that “the soul of all flesh,” that is to say, the life thereof, is its blood; but because there is a spiritual sense in every detail of the Word, and as in that sense blood signifies truth of doctrine from the Word, therefore this also is signified by the soul of flesh. That blood signifies truth of doctrine from the Word, which is Divine Truth, may be seen above (n. 328, 329, 476). Because this is the signification of blood, therefore the sons of Israel were forbidden to eat blood, and therefore the blood of the burnt-offerings and sacrifices was sprinkled about the altar; and sanctifications and also inaugurations were performed by blood, also the covenant of the God of Israel, that is, of the Lord with the people was entered into by blood. The case is also the same with the new covenant entered into by the Lord with the church at this day. This is why the blood of the Lord is called the blood of the covenant, that is, of conjunction with the Lord, and it is so called because it is the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord that conjoins. From these things it is now clear why blood is calledsoul.
[25] Because of this signification of blood, it was forbidden, from the most ancient times, to eat blood, as is evident in Moses:
“Every creeping thing that liveth, to you it shall be for food, but the flesh with the soul thereof, the blood thereof, ye shall not eat” (Gen. ix. 3, 4).
Here also it is said that the blood is the soul of the flesh, and it was forbidden to eat, because eating blood signified the profanation of truth.
In the same:
“Whosoever shall eat any blood, I will set my faces against thesoul that eateth blood, that I may cut off that soul from the midst of its people; for the soul of the flesh is in the blood; therefore I have given it upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood itself that maketh atonement for the soul” (Levit. xvii. 10, 11).
Because soul, like blood, signifies truth from the Word, which is Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, and as all worship of the Lord is performed by means of Divine Truth, it is therefore said, “For the soul of the flesh is in the blood, therefore have I given it upon the altar,” to give the blood upon the altar signifying worship from Divine Truth. And since all liberation from evils and falsities, which is atonement (expiatio), is effected by means of Divine Truth and by a life according to it, it is therefore said, “to make atonement for your souls,” for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul.
[26] In the same:
“Surely the blood of your souls will I require, at the hand of every wild beast will I require it, especially at the hand of man, at the hand of a man’s brother will I require the soul of man” (Gen. ix. 7).
That blood, and also soul, here mean the spiritual life of man, which is a life according to Divine Truth, is evident from this, that whoever extinguishes that life perishes in eternal death, for that life can be extinguished only by one who is in infernal evil and falsity. But this may be seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia.
[27] (VII). That living soul (anima vivens) signifies life in general is evident from passages where beasts, birds, reptiles, and fish are called living souls; as in the following:
“God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving thing, the living soul. God created the great sea monsters (ceti magni), and every living soul that creepeth, which the waters brought forth abundantly” (Gen. i. 20, 21).
“God said, Let the earth bring forth the living soul, after its kind, beast and wild beast” (Gen. i. 24).
“Jehovah brought unto the man every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens, to see what he would call it; and whatsoever the man called it, the living soul, that was its name” (Gen. ii. 19).
“Every living soul that swimmeth, whithersoever the rivers come, shall live; whence there shall be much fish” (Ezek. xlvii. 9).
And in the Apocalypse:
“Every living soul in the sea died” (xvi. 3).
All animals, in the spiritual sense, signify things that belong to the natural man and its life; and as the life of the natural man, which is life in ultimates, signifies life in its whole extent, therefore they are called living souls.
[28] From these things it is now evident that soul (anima) in the Word signifies the life of man both natural and spiritual, thus the life both of his body and spirit. It may thus be seen how inconsistent is the idea concerning man’s soul, entertained in the first place by the learned, and then by the common people, that it is a kind of indivisible entity having its seat in some part of the body, either in the brain, or in the heart, or elsewhere, and that when it is set free from man by death, it is destitute of a body, and possesses none of those powers of sense and motion that belong to the body, but that these will be added to it at the day of the Last Judgment. Then also, that in the meantime it is something or other flitting about in the ether, or dwelling in some place or other awaiting its accessory part, which is the body.
Such is the idea entertained in the world concerning man’s soul, although nothing of the kind is meant in the Word by soul (anima), which there signifies the life of man, and this cannot exist apart from a body, but only in a body; for the body is the external form of that life which is called the soul, giving effect to its will and pleasure in both worlds, the natural, in which men live, and the spiritual, in which spirits and angels live. And as the proceeding Divine from the Lord constitutes the life of all, therefore this is signified by soul in the celestial sense. Because the proceeding Divine, wherever it comes, forms an image of the Lord, that is, so forms angels and spirits that they become human forms according to their receptivity, therefore it now follows that the soul that lives after death must mean man’s spirit, which is a man with both a souland body, with a soul which governs the body, and with a body by means of which it gives effect to its will in the world in which it is.
* Heb. Sheol.
** The Hebrew word for quails.