---
title: נְשָׁמָה — breath · The Tanakh dictionary
description: נְשָׁמָה (5397), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 24 times: breath. BDB 1906: n.f. breath. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# נְשָׁמָה

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«נְשָׁמָה» in the Tanakh dictionary: **breath** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 24 times · **Key:** 5397 · **BDB:** נְשָׁמָה

### Glosses

breath (6); the.breath (6); breathing.thing (4)

### Meaning (OSHB)

breath [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5397/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.f. breath [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5397/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.f. breath;—נ׳ Dt 20:16 + 9 times; cstr. נִשְׁמַת (cf. LagBN 82) Gn 2:7 + 10 times; sf. נִשְׁמָתִי Jb 27:3; נִשְׁמָתוֹ Jb 34:14; pl. נְשָׁמוֹת Is 57:16;— breath of God as hot wind kindling a flame Is 30:33; as destroying wind 2 S 22:16 = ψ 18:16, Jb 4:9; as cold wind producing ice Jb 37:10; as creative, giving breath to man Jb 32:8; 33:4. breath of man 1 K 17:17 Is 42:5 Jb 27:3 Dn 10:17; breath of life נשׁמת חיים Gn 2:7 (J); cf. נִשְׁמַת רוּחַ חַיִּים Gn 7:22 (J); as breathed in by God it is God’s breath in man Jb 33:4; 34:14; and is characteristic of man אדם אשׁר נשׁמה באפו Is 2:22 man in whose nostrils is but a breath (gloss). syn. of נֶפֶשׁ in נפשׁ כָּל־נְשָׁמָה every breathing thing Dt 20:16 Jos 11:11, 14 1 K 15:29; כָּל־הַנְּשָׁמָה Jos 10:40 ψ 150:6; נְשָׁמוֹת Is 57:16. spirit of man, ‖ רוּחַ, נֵר י׳ נ׳ אָדָם Pr 20:27 the spirit of man is a lamp of י׳; cf. Jb 26:4.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 24 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (1 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (1 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «נְשָׁמָה» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5397/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Psalms 150:6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.150.6/)

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כֹּ֣ל הַ֭נְּשָׁמָה תְּהַלֵּ֥ל יָ֗הּ הַֽלְלוּ־יָֽהּ׃

*Word for word:* every (the).breathing thing let.it.praise Yahweh praise Yahweh

*JPS 1917:* Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD.

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[Proverbs 20:27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.20.27/)

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נֵ֣ר יְ֭הוָה נִשְׁמַ֣ת אָדָ֑ם חֹ֝פֵ֗שׂ כָּל־חַדְרֵי־בָֽטֶן׃

*Word for word:* the.lamp of.Yahweh \[is.the\].breath of.a.human \[it.is\].searching all \[the\].chambers of.\[the\].belly

*JPS 1917:* The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the inward parts.

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