A Reflective Study of the Translation of the Hebrew נֶפֶשׁ and רוּחַ as 靈魂“Soul” in the Chinese Union Version (CUV)

Abstract

There is no concept of a soul that loses its body after death, and continues to live independently, in the Hebrew Bible. Even though the word 靈魂 (“soul”) is used in the Chinese Union Version (CUV) translation, there is not even one original Hebrew text of נֶפֶשׁ (nepeš) and רוּחַ (rûaḥ) that supports the idea of the immortality of the soul. Therefore, the better translation of נֶפֶשׁ in the Chinese Bible would be 人的生命 (“human life”) or 整全的人 (“wholistic person”), רוּחַ and would be better translated as 靈 (“spirit”) or 生命 (“life”).’