Wikipedia's first sentence called it “biblical hebrew word which occurs in the hebrew bible”. Today it says “term in the hebrew bible used to refer to the aspects of sentience”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Biblical use”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2025 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2025
Hebrew word for aspects of sentience For other uses, see Nefesh (disambiguation) . Nephesh ( נֶ֫פֶשׁ nép̄eš ), also spelled nefesh , is a Biblical Hebrew word which occurs in the Hebrew Bible . The word refers to the aspects of sentience , and human beings and other animals are both described as being nephesh. Not all living organisms are referred to as Nefesh, arthropods ("bugs") and plants, for example, are not described in the Bible as nephesh. The primary meaning of the term נפש is 'the breath of life' instinct in the nostrils of all living beings, and by extension 'life', 'person' or 'very self'. There English corresponding term to nephesh is the (Christian) ' soul ', which has very similar connotations, and is customarily used to translate it. One view is that nephesh relates to sentient being without the idea of life and that, rather than having a nephesh, a sentient creation of God is a nephesh.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1279975939.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Nephesh (נֶפֶש) is a biblical Hebrew word which occurs in the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament). Though it is commonly rendered as "life" or "soul" in English translations, Bible scholar Dr. Hoffman notes that the word refers to the tangible aspects of life. . Human beings and animals are both described as having nephesh .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 361745309.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Nephesh (נֶפֶש) is a Biblical Hebrew word which occurs in the Hebrew Bible . The word refers to the tangible aspects of life , and human beings and higher animals are both described as having a nephesh.The Hebrew term נפש is literally "living being", although it is commonly rendered as soul in English translations.A different view is that nephesh relates to being without the idea of life and that rather than having a nephesh a creation of God is a nephesh.In Genesis 2:7 the text is that Adam was not given a nephesh but "became a living nephesh." Nephesh then is better translated as person or being, seeing that Numbers 6:6 speaks of a dead body which in Hebrew is a nephesh mooth, a dead nephesh.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 664946507.
The opening as it stood in 2020 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Hebrew word for aspects of sentience For other uses, see Nefesh (disambiguation) .Nephesh ( nép̄eš ) is a Biblical Hebrew word which occurs in the Hebrew Bible .The word refers to the aspects of sentience , and human beings and other animals are both described as having nephesh.Plants, as an example of live organisms, are not referred in the Bible as having nephesh.The term is literally "soul", although it is commonly rendered as "life" in English translations.One view is that nephesh relates to sentient being without the idea of life and that, rather than having a nephesh, a sentient creation of God is a nephesh.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 949469498.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Hebrew word for aspects of sentience For other uses, see Nefesh (disambiguation) . Nephesh ( נֶ֫פֶשׁ nép̄eš ) is a Biblical Hebrew word which occurs in the Hebrew Bible . The word refers to the aspects of sentience , and human beings and other animals are both described as being nephesh. Bugs and plants, as examples of live organisms, are not referred in the Bible as being nephesh.The primary meaning of the term נפש is 'the breath of life' instinct in the nostrils of all living beings, and by extension 'life', 'person' or 'very self'.There is no term in English corresponding to nephesh, and the (Christian) 'soul', which has quite different connotations is nonetheless customarily used to translate it. One view is that nephesh relates to sentient being without the idea of life and that, rather than having a nephesh, a sentient creation of God is a nephesh.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1176738357.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “biblical hebrew word which occurs in the hebrew bible”. Today it says “term in the hebrew bible used to refer to the aspects of sentience”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Biblical use”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
biblical hebrew word which occurs in the hebrew bible
Now
term in the hebrew bible used to refer to the aspects of sentience
Sections that no longer exist
Present on October 6, 2023, absent today, with no near-matching heading in the current article and the article shorter overall, so this is not a renamed heading or a topic absorbed into a fuller treatment. 1 section of 400 characters or more gone since October 6 2023, with the article 1,834 characters shorter.
Biblical use
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
