נְשָׁמָה

Genesis 2:7 נִשְׁמַ֣ת [the] breath of

Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

Here: Ordinary breathing, the air that moves in and out of a living thing, and so a sign of life itself. It is linked to the next word: "breath of life". It is not the usual word for "spirit" (rûaḥ), though the two overlap elsewhere.

Genesis 7:22 נִשְׁמַת־ [the] breath of

Of all that was on dry land, everything that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.

Deuteronomy 20:16 נְשָׁמָֽה׃ breathing thing

However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.

Here: 'Breath' standing for a living person, much as English 'soul' can mean a person ('not a soul survived'). In Deuteronomy and Joshua this phrase points mainly to human inhabitants (see the studies).

Joshua 10:40 הַנְּשָׁמָה֙ <the> breathing thing

So Joshua conquered the whole region—the hill country, the Negev, the foothills, and the slopes, together with all their kings—leaving no survivors. He devoted to destruction everything that breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.

Here: "The breath," meaning living beings who breathe. In this context (compare Deut 20:16 and Josh 11:14) it means the human population; livestock were taken as plunder.

Joshua 11:11 נְשָׁמָ֑ה breathing thing

The Israelites put everyone in Hazor to the sword, devoting them to destruction. Nothing that breathed remained, and Joshua burned down Hazor itself.

Joshua 11:14 נְשָׁמָֽה׃ breathing thing

The Israelites took for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but they put all the people to the sword until they had completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone who breathed.

Here: The breath of life, standing for a living being. Since the animals were kept, it means human beings here. It echoes the command in Deuteronomy 20:16.

2 Samuel 22:16 מִנִּשְׁמַ֖ת from [the] breathing of

The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

1 Kings 15:29 נְשָׁמָ֛ה breathing thing

As soon as Baasha became king, he struck down the entire household of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone who breathed, but destroyed them all according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servant Ahijah the Shilonite,

1 Kings 17:17 נְשָׁמָֽה׃ breath

Later, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill, and his sickness grew worse and worse, until no breath remained in him.

Job 4:9 מִנִּשְׁמַ֣ת from [the] breath of

By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.

Here: The prefix mi- ('from') here gives the cause: 'because of, by'. Neshamah is the breath that comes out of a living mouth. Elsewhere it is the breath God puts into humans to give them life (Genesis 2:7). Here the same divine breath, blown outward, is what kills.

Job 26:4 וְנִשְׁמַת־ and [the] breath of

To whom have you uttered these words? And whose spirit spoke through you?

Here: 'And the breath of…'. The word means the breath of life, and in Job it is often God's breath, which gives life and understanding. Asking whose breath came out of Bildad is asking where his speech, and any claim to inspiration, really came from.

Job 27:3 נִשְׁמָתִ֣י breath my

as long as my breath is still within me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,

Here: 'My breath', the actual breathing that shows a body is alive. It is the same word used when God breathes the 'breath of life' into Adam (Genesis 2:7).

Job 32:8 וְנִשְׁמַ֖ת and [the] breath of

But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.

Here: "And the breath of": the same word as the breath God blew into the first human (Gen 2:7). It restates and sharpens rûaḥ: the spirit in a person is God's own breath.

Job 33:4 וְנִשְׁמַ֖ת and [the] breath of

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Here: 'And the breath of.' This is the word from Genesis 2:7, where God breathes the 'breath of life' into the first human. Unlike rûaḥ it is almost never used of wind. It is the breath that marks a living person.

Job 34:14 וְ֝נִשְׁמָת֗וֹ and breath his

If He were to set His heart to it and withdraw His Spirit and breath,

Here: 'And his breath': the breath that keeps a body alive, the word used in Genesis 2:7 when God breathes into the man's nostrils. Paired with ruach, it doubles the picture of life as God's own breath.

Job 37:10 מִנִּשְׁמַת־ from [the] breath of

By the breath of God the ice is formed and the watery expanses are frozen.

Psalm 18:15 מִ֝נִּשְׁמַ֗ת from [the] breath of

The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

Here: 'From the blast of.' The word is the ordinary word for breath, the breath of life in Gen 2:7, but here it is a forceful exhalation.

Psalm 150:6 הַ֭נְּשָׁמָה <the> breathing thing

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Hallelujah!

Here: The breath that marks a living creature, the breath Genesis 2:7 says God blew into the first human. Used with "all", it is a set phrase for "every living, breathing being". After a whole list of instruments, the last thing called on to praise is breath itself.

Proverbs 20:27 נִשְׁמַ֣ת [is the] breath of

The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching out his inmost being.

Here: The breath of life. It is the word used in Genesis 2:7, where God breathes 'the breath of life' into the first human. Here it stands for the living, aware inner self that God gave. It does not mean a separate spiritual part of a person.

Isaiah 2:22 נְשָׁמָ֖ה breath

Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?

Here: The breath that makes a body alive, which God breathed into the first human (Genesis 2:7). Here the stress is on how slight and borrowed that life is: a human's whole hold on life is air passing through the nose.

Isaiah 30:33 נִשְׁמַ֤ת [the] breath of

For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.

Here: "The breath of." This is the word for God's life-giving breath in Gen 2:7. Here it is a blast that kindles and destroys (compare Job 4:9). It picks up 30:27–28, where the LORD's breath is an "overflowing torrent."

Isaiah 42:5 נְשָׁמָה֙ breath

This is what God the LORD says—He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:

Here: The physical breath that marks a living being; recalls Genesis 2:7, where God breathes 'the breath of life' into the first human.

Isaiah 57:16 וּנְשָׁמ֖וֹת and breaths

For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me—the breath of life I have made.

Here: "And the breaths." This is the word of Gen 2:7, where God breathes the "breath of life" into the man. The plural means living, breathing creatures.

Daniel 10:17 וּנְשָׁמָ֖ה and breath

How can I, your servant, speak with you, my lord? Now I have no strength, nor is any breath left in me.”