Soul

Aside from having a spirit which enables him to commune with God, man also possesses a soul, his self-consciousness. Hs is made conscious of his existence by the work of his soul. It is the seat of our personality. The elements which make us human belong to the soul. Intellect, thought, ideals, love, emotion, discernment, choice, decision, etc., are but various experiences of the soul.
It has been explained already that the spirit and the body are merged in the soul which, in turn, forms the organ of our personality. That is why the Bible sometimes calls man “soul,” as though man has only this element. For example, Genesis 12.5 refers to people as “souls” (ASV). Again, when Jacob brought his entire family down to Egypt, it is recorded that “all the souls of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were threescore and ten” (Gen. 46.27 ASV). Numerous instances occur in the original language of the Bible where “soul” is used instead of “man.” For the seat and essence of the personality is the soul. To comprehend a man’s personality is to comprehend his person. Man’s existence, characteristics and life are all in the soul. The Bible consequently calls man “a soul.”
That which constitutes man’s personality are the three main faculties of volition, mind and emotion. Volition is the instrument for our decisions, revealing our power to choose. It expresses our willingness or unwillingness: “we will” or “we won’t.” Without it, man is reduced to an automaton. Mind, the instrument for our thoughts, manifests our intellectual power. Out of this arise wisdom, knowledge and reasoning. Lack of it makes a man foolish and dull. The instrument for our likes and dislikes is the faculty of emotion. Through it we are able to express love or hate and to feel joyful, angry, sad or happy. Any shortage of it will render man as insensitive as wood or stone.
A careful study of the Bible will yield the conclusion that these three primary faculties of personality belong to the soul. Too many Scripture passages exist to quote them all. Hence only a few selections can be enumerated here.
A) The Soul’s Faculty of Volition
“Give me not up to the will (original, “soul”) of my adversaries” Ps. 27.12
“Thou dost not give him up to the will (original, “soul”) of his enemies” Ps. 41.2
“Delivered you to the greed (original, “soul”) of your enemies” Ezek. 16.27
“You shall let her go where she will (original, “soul”)” Deut. 21.14
“Aha, we have our heart’s desire (original, “soul”)” Ps. 35.25
“Or swear an oath to bind himself (original, “soul”) by a pledge” Num. 30.2
“Now set your mind and heart (original, “soul”) to seek the Lord your God” 1 Chron. 22.18
“They desire and lift up their soul to return to dwell there” Jer. 44.14 Amplified
“These afflictions my soul refuses to touch” Job 6.7 Amplified “My soul chooseth strangling, death, rather than my bones” Job 7.15 Darby
The “will” or “heart” here points to the human will. “Set the heart,” “lift up their soul,” “refuse” and “choose” are all exercises of the will, having their springs in the soul.
B) The Soul’s Faculty of Intellect or Mind
“Whereunto they lift up their soul, their sons and their daughters” Ezek. 24.25 Darby
“That a soul be without knowledge is not good” Prov. 19.2 Darby
“How long must I bear pain (Syriac:Hebrew: hold counsels) in my soul?” Ps. 13.2
“Marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” Ps. 139.14 Darby
“My soul continually thinks of it” Lam. 3.20
“Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul” Prov. 2.10
“Keep sound wisdom and discretion . . . and they will be life for your soul” Prov. 3.21,22
“Know that wisdom is such to your soul” Prov. 24.14
Here “knowledge,” “counsel,” “lift up,” “think,” etc., exist as the activities of man’s intellect or mind, which the Bible indicates as emanating from the soul.
C) The Soul’s Faculty o f Emotion
1) EMOTIONS OF AFFECTION
“The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” 1 Sam. 18.1
“You whom my soul loves” Song 1.7
“My soul magnifies the Lord” Luke 1.46
“His life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty food” Job 33.20 Darby
“Who are hated by David’s soul” 2 Sam. 5.8
“My soul was vexed with them” Zech. 11.8 Darby
“You shall love the Lord your God . . . with all your soul” Deut. 6.5
“My soul is weary of my life” Job 10:1 Darby
“Their soul abhorreth all manner of food” Ps. 107:18 Darby
2) EMOTIONS OF DESIRE “For whatever thy soul desireth . . . or for whatever thy soul asketh of thee” Deut. 14.26 Darby
“What thy soul may say” 1 Sam. 20.4 Darby
“My soul longs, yea, faints for the courts of the Lord” Ps. 84.2
“Your soul’s longing” Ezek. 24.21 Darby
“So longs my soul for thee, O God” Ps. 42.1
“My soul yearns for thee in the night” Is. 26.9
“My soul is well pleased” Matt. 12.18
3) EMOTIONS OF FEELING AND SENSING
“A sword will pierce through your own soul also” Luke 2.35
“All the people were bitter in soul” 1 Sam. 30.6
“Her soul is bitter and vexed within her” 2 Kings 4.27 Amplified
“His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel” Judges 10.16 Darby
“How long will ye vex my soul” Job 19.2 Darby
“My soul shall exult in my God” Is. 61.10
“Gladden the soul of thy servant” Ps. 86.4
“Their soul fainted within them” Ps. 107.5
“Why are you cast down, O my soul” Ps. 42.5
“Return, O my soul, to your rest” Ps. 116.7
“My soul is consumed with longing” Ps. 119.20
“Sweetness to the soul” Prov. 16.24
“Let your soul delight itself in fatness” Is. 55.2 Amplified
“My soul fainted within me” Jonah 2.7
“My soul is very sorrowful” Matt. 26.38
“Now is my soul troubled” John 12.27
“He was vexed in his righteous soul day after day” 2 Peter 2.8
We can discover in the above observations touching upon man’s various emotions that our soul is capable of loving and hating, desiring and aspiring, feeling and sensing.
From this brief Biblical study it becomes quite obvious that the soul of man contains in it that part known as will, that part known as mind or intellect, and that part known as emotion.