Soul
Different Bibles have translated the Greek word psyche (from which we get words like psychology) in many ways, including soul and life. However, psyche literally means something that breathes. It’s only used in the Bible to describe breathing animals and humans. It can also mean life or your inner person.
Does it mean an immortal soul that floats away when one dies? No, that is a later development. The consensus among scholars is that the teaching of an immortal soul is not found in the Old Testament canon. It was imported into Judaism and Christianity from Greek philosophy, especially from Plato. It only became established in Christianity by the 3rd century AD.
Therefore, when Bibles translate it as soul, it can insert in the mind of the reader something that was not meant by the original authors. In other words, sometimes soul can be a mistranslation. However, in English we do sometimes use the word soul poetically to describe an entire person, with no ‘immortal spirit’ implied, e.g. ‘poor old soul.’
In this Bible, we use a variety of phrases to translate psyche, including soul, but not when it may give a false impression to the reader. This is in accord with the Charter of this project, to use religiously neutral terms to free readers from centuries of religious baggage.
Often deceptively translated
When Elijah resurrects the dead boy in 1 Kings 17:21-22 some bibles horribly mistranslate it in a way to support the immortal soul doctrine.
The KJV says:
‘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’
This makes it sound like a floating immortal soul is entering the boy. However, translating it accurately as life gives the orginal meaning.
The NIV correctly says:
‘'Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!’
‘The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.’
Interestingly, the Greek Septuagint’s version is even simpler and clearer.
Our translation says:
‘'O my God!
‘Give back this boy’s life!’
‘And at that, the boy suddenly shouted aloud!’