Bible Lexicons

As in the case of σάρξ (q.v.), no attempt can be made here to treat fully this important word; but a few miscellaneous exx. may be given to illustrate its varied uses in the Κοινή.

1. (a) = ";breath of life"; : Wünsch AF, p. 11.15 στρέβλωσον αὐτῶν τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ τὴν καρδίαν ἵνα μὴ [π ]νέωσιν, P Leid Wxii. 29 (ii/iii A.D.) ( =II. p. 123) αἰσθησάμενος (l. ἀσθμασάμενος) καὶ ἐγένετο Ψυχὴ καὶ πάντα ἐκεινήθη (l. ἐκινήθη) ";anhelitu ducto, et nata est Anima, et omnia mota sunt"; (Ed.).

(b) = ";life"; : P Tebt I. 56.11 (late ii/B.C.) καλῶς οὖν ποήσῃς εὐχαριστῆσαι πρῶτον μὲν τοῖς θεοῖς, δεύτερον δὲ σῶσαι ψυχὰς πολλάς, ";please therefore in the first place to give thanks to the gods and secondly to save many lives,"; by providing for their maintenance, P Oxy XII. 1409.22 (A.D. 278) ἐὰν γὰρ τοιοῦτο ἐπιχειρ [ῆσ ]αι τολμή [σ ]η ̣ . . ἴστω. . . περὶ αὐτῆς τῆς ψυχῆς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἕξε [ι, ";if any one dare to attempt exactions, let him know that his life will be at stake"; (Edd.), ib. VII. 1033.11 (A.D. 392) μὴ ἐχόντων ἡμῶν τὴν βοήθειαν εἴτ᾽ οὖν τοὺς δημοσίους καὶ τοὺς ἐφοδευτὰς πολλάκεις σχεδὸν εἰπε <ῖ >ν εἰς ψυχὴν ἐκεινδυνεύσαμεν, ";having no assistance either of public guards or inspectors we often run the risk almost of our lives"; (Ed.), Syll 342 ( = .3 762).39 (B.C. 48) ψυχῇ καὶ σ [ώ ]ματι παραβαλλόμενος, and Herodas III. 3 (ed. Headlam) of a schoolmaster flogging a pupil ἄχρις ἡ ψυχή | αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ χειλέων μοῦνον ἡ κακὴ λειφθῆι, ";till his life—curse it—remain hanging on his lips.";

2. = ";the soul,"; as the seat of the feelings, desires : P Grenf I. 1 i. 9 (Alexandrian Erotic Fragment—ii/B.C.) συνοδηγὸν ἔχω τὸ πολὺ πῦρ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ μου καιόμενον, BGU IV. 1040.21 (ii/A.D.) καθαρ [ὰ ]ν γὰρ ἔχων τὴν ψ ̣υ ̣χ ̣ήν, P Giss I. 3.9 (A.D. 117) ( = Chrest. I. p. 571) γέλωσι καὶ μέθαις ταῖς ἀπὸ κρήνης τὰς ψυχὰς ἀνέντες, in connexion with Hadrian’s accession to the throne, Archiv v. p. 393, No. 312.9 (a magic spell—ii/A.D.) ἄρτι ἄρτι ταχὺ ταχὺ ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ καρδίας (cf. Eph. 6:7), P Oxy VI. 903.33 (iv/A.D.) καὶ περὶ Ἀντίλλας τῆς δούλης αὐτοῦ ἔμεινεν θλίβων τὴν ψυχήν μου, ";he also persisted in vexing my soul about bis slave Antilla"; (Edd.), an accusation against a husband, ib. XVI. 1873.5 (late v/A.D.) χιμαζομένης δέ μου τῆς ψυχῆς, ";while my soul is tempest tossed"; (Edd.), ib. 1874.16, .17 (vi/A.D.) a Christian letter of condolence in which the writer prays that it may be granted to the mourners to sing with the departed in Paradise ὅτι κρίνοντε (l. ὅτε κρίνονται) ἑ ψυχὲ (l. αἱ ψυχαὶ) τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ";when the souls of men are judged,"; and adds παρακαλῶ σε, κύριέ μου, μὲ βάλῃς [?λύπη ]ν εἰς τὸ ψυχί σου καὶ ἀπολήσις τὸ (l. ἀπολέσῃς τὰ) πράγματά σου, ";I exhort you, my lord, not to put grief into your soul and ruin your fortunes"; (Edd.), and P Grenf I. 61.1 (vi/A.D.) a letter apparently fromaslaveaddressed τῶ δεσπότη μου τῆς ψυχῆς γλυκυτάτω καὶ τιμιωτάτω.

The word is naturally common in memorial inscrr., e.g. Kaibel 701.1 μνησθείης, ἀγαθὴ ψυχή, Γερμανικέ, Preisigke 6008.2 (v/vi A.D.) εὐχαριστήριον Ταριτσένης ὑπὲρ ἀναπαύσεως ψυχῆς Διδύμου, ib. 6089.7 ἀνάπαυσον τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ [ε ]ἰς κώλπης Ἀ [β ]ραὰμ κτλ. The Christian grave-stones from Old Dongola, referred to by F. C. Burkitt in JTS iv. (1903), p. 585 ff. may be noted as showing the name of the dead person in apposition to ψυχή) (see below). Cf. also the curse in P AmhII. 153.19 (vi/vii A.D.) ἵνα ὁ θεὸς σήψῃ τὴν ψυχήν σου ὡς διέσηψάς με εἰς τὴν κατ [α ]γραφὴν ταύτην, ";may God destroy your soul, if you destroy me in the matter of this register"; (Edd.).

3. In BGU IV. 1141.24 (B.C.13) ( = Olsson, p. 45) οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐφιλίασά σοι εἰς τὸ ἀφαρπάσαι τι, ἀλλὰ ἡ σὴ ψυχὴ ἐπίσταται, ὅτι ὡς δοῦλος ἐπ᾽ ἐλευθερίᾳ θέλει ἀρέσαι ου ̣̓́τ ̣ω κτλ., Olsson (p. 50) notes that ἡ σὴ ψυχή = σύ, and compares Act. 2:41; Act. 2:43; Act. 27:37. Note also the interchange of τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ and ἑαυτόν in Luk. 9:24-25, and sec Proleg. pp. 87, 105 n.2.

4. With the trichotomy in 1Th. 5:23, cf. the fragment of a Christian letter P Oxy VIII. 1161.6 (iv/A.D.) ( = Ghedini, p. 226)] . . α ̣ς ̣ καὶ τ ̣ῷ ἀγαθ [ῷ ἡμῶ ]ν ̣ σωτῆρι καὶ τῷ οι [ἱ ]ω ̣ (l. υ [ἱ ]ῷ) αὐτοῦ τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ ο ̣̓́π ̣ως οὗτοι πάντες β [ο ]ηθήσωσιν ἡμῶν τῷ σώματι, τῇ ψυχῇ, τῷ π ̣ν ̣(ευματ)[[ι ̣]] πν (εύματ)ι, ";. . . (to our God) and gracious Saviour and to his beloved Son, that they all may succour our body, soul, and spirit"; (Ed,), and see further Milligan Thess. p. 78 f., and H. A. A. Kennedy St. Paul and the Mystery-Religions, p. 142, where evidence is adduced from Philo and the Liturgy of Mithras showing the assimilation of ψυχή to πνεῦμα.

For the expressive ψυχαγωγέω cf P Hamb I. 91.22 (B.C. 167) ἡ αἰχμάλ ]ωτος ψυχαγωγηθει ̣ͅσ ̣α ̣ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐκ τῆς κώμης ἱερείων. . ., P Ryl II. 128.12 (c. A.D. 30) complaint of a breach of contract by a mill-hand ἀλλότρια φρονήσασα ἐνκαταλιποῦσα τὸ ἐλαιούργιον ἀπηλλάγη ψοιχαγωγηθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῆς, ";who changed her mind, left the mill, and departed, persuaded by her father"; (Edd.). The subst. in the sense of ";gratification,"; ";enchantment,"; is found in Aristeas 78 ψυχαγωγία τις ἦν μετὰ θαυμασμοῦ.