What does נֶפֶשׁ · תַּחַת mean in the Bible?
נֶפֶשׁ · תַּחַת is a Hebrew phrase meaning "life in place of life".
Hebrew · H5315, H8478
נֶפֶשׁ תַּחַת נָפֶשׁ
Properly, a breathing creature , i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality ; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental) · the bottom (as depressed); only adverbially, below (often with prepositional prefix underneath), in lieu of , etc.
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Words in this compound — expand to study each participant
נֶפֶשׁ H5315 properly, a breathing creature , i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality ; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)
Pronunciation nafsho
Vitality or lifeforce of a creature; ranges from physical breath to desire, appetite, and personal identity or selfhood.
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תַּחַת H8478 the bottom (as depressed); only adverbially, below (often with prepositional prefix underneath), in lieu of , etc.
Pronunciation tachtav
Spatial foundation shifting to substitution: beneath becomes "in place of" or "instead of" through positional logic.
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What does נֶפֶשׁ תַּחַת נָפֶשׁ (nefesh tachat nafesh) mean in the Bible?
נֶפֶשׁ · תַּחַת is a Hebrew phrase meaning "life in place of life".
Full entry for נֶפֶשׁ תַּחַת נָפֶשׁ (H5315, H8478) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How many biblical occurrences are listed for H5315, H8478?
H5315, H8478 is connected to 1,268 lexical occurrence verses in the lexicon data.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew phrase. life in place of life
Strong's H5315, H8478
Lexical occurrences 1,268 verses Source Gloss
life in place of life
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
נֶפֶשׁ תַּחַת נָפֶשׁ is built from this root:
Cross-Language Connections
Greek words that correspond to or develop the meaning of this Hebrew word in the New Testament.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain