Same word describing animals and men.....soul (Nephesh)! Souls die!
I'm not familiar with Greek or Hebrew and I know that you are but I'm using my Companion Bible (KJV with appendixes by E.W. Bullinger) that are referring to some of what we are discussing. All the information comes from him.
The word Nephesh occurs 754 times in the Hebrew OT....With these two exceptions, the English word "soul" always represents the Hebrew nephesh, nephesh is not always translated "soul". (Job30:15, Isa.57:16)
Bullinger lists each occurrence of nephesh and the lexical usage but leaves the reader to form his own judgment as to how far the classification is correct. He also states that "the usage of the word nephesh by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God is the only guide to the true understanding of it".
It will be seen that the word "soul" in its theological sense, does not cover all the ground, or properly represent the Heb. word nephesh. The English word "soul" is from the Latin solus = alone or sole, because the maintenance of man as a living organism, and all that affects his health and well being, is the one sole, or main thing, in common with every living thing which the Lord God has made. The correct Latin word for the theological term "soul" (or nephesh) is anima; and this is from the Greek anemos = air or breath, because it is this which keeps the whole in life and in being.
(The usage of the corresponding NT word, psuche, will be presented in a later appendix)
There are 12 classifications of nephesh: 1.Lower animals, 2.Lower animals and man (in 7 passages), 3.Man, as an individual person (53 passages, rendered 6 different ways), 4.Man, as exercising certain powers or performing certain acts. 5.Man as possessing animal appetites and desires (22 passages) 6.Man, as exercising mental faculties and feelings, passions. 7.Man as being cut off by God and as being slain or killed by man. 8.Man as being mortal, subject to death, from which it can be saved and delivered and life prolonged. 9.Man, as actually dead 10.Nephesh, in 13 passages, all rendered "soul", is spoken of as going to a place described by four different words - Sheol, grave, hell, shachath (a pit for wild beasts), dumah (silence)
The one that we are most interested in is #8, Man as mortal, subject to death. Bullinger gives many scripture references where it is used in this manner. His first two are Gen.9:5 as "life, lives" and Gen.12:13 as "soul". There are numerous others and I would be glad to list them if you are interested.
My point here is that there is a big difference in that word, nephesh. Not all mean an animal, although the word is the same for an animal and a human.
Bullinger also teaches about the Ruach, Spirit, including the "invisible part of man - given by God at man's formation at birth, and returning to God at his death."
As you said, in the NT the word psuche is the only word translated "soul". Bullinger gives the different uses of that word. He states that "it is useless to go to heathen authors. The Greek philosophers were at variance among themselves. So, we must, therefore, let scripture be its own interpreter. Psyche exactly corresponds to the Hebrew Nephesh.
1.Psuche, used of the lower animals twice (Rev.8:9, 16:3)
2.Psuche, used of the life of man as an individual, as a ship going down with every soul on board.
3.Psuche, used of the life of man, which can be lost, destroyed, saved, laid down etc. - occurs 58 times. As in Matt.2:20, 6:25, 10:39, 16:25.......
4.Psuche, used to emphasize the pronoun, as we use "self" - my soul, myself.
5.Psuche, used with intensive force, to express all the powers of one's being.
Bullinger also teaches about "Dead and The Dead". The word "nekros" (noun and adjective) has different meanings, according as it is used in different connections:
1.With the article (hoi nekroi) it denotes dead bodies, or corpses, carcasses in the grave, apart from the personality they once had.
2.Without the article (nekroi) it denotes the persons who were once alive, but who are now alive no longer: i.e. dead persons as distinct from dead bodies.
3.With a Preposition, but without the Article, which may be latent in the Preposition (ek nekron), it denotes out from among dead people. ( Mk.9:9-10, Lk16:30-31, Jhn20:9, Acts10:41.Rom.6:13,10:7-9, 11:15, 1Cor 15:12-20, Heb.11:19).
4.With a Preposition, and with the article; e.g. ek ton nekron, it denotes emphatically out from among the dead bodies, or corpses. (Eph.5:14, Col.1:18, 2:12)
5.The bearing of this on 1Pet.4:6 will be better seen if we note that we have nekroi, meaning people who were then dead, but who had the gospel preached to them while they were alive; and this is confirmed by the Gr.Particle, men. The verse reads thus: "for to this end to those who are dead was the Gospel preached, that though they might be judged in the flesh according to the men, yet they might live according to God, as regards spirit."
It seems to me that even though the same word describes animals and men it means much more than that.
Your friend........Ping
The word in Job is [Ndiybah] and the word in Isaiah is [Nshamah]. These were incorrectly translated as "soul" by the KJV translators. [#5082 "Ndiybah" feminine of 'nadiyb' ; properly, nobility, i.e. reputation:--soul.] [#5397 "Nshamah"from 'nasham'; a puff, i.e. wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect. or (concretely) an animal:--blast, (that) breath(-eth), inspiration, soul, spirit]
Again, all of this stems from the fact that the KJV translators were just a few years out of Catholicism, and the fact that the soul was not eternal did not register. All ancient pagan religions taught the immortality of the soul and the Romans twisted their version of Christianity to fit this profile.....and the Protestants dutifully tagged along.
Here is what we know from reading the scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments. Man dies exactly the same as beasts do. They are both living, air breathing souls [Ecclesiastes 3:19-20]. [Job 14:1-2] Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. [Job 14:10-14] But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up. So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me. If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
[1 Corinthians 15:50-52] Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
[Psalm 116:15] Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.