What is the definition of the word "soul" and how do I know about it?
Well, it is common sense about what we know about that word and the Bible.
Definition of the Origin of the word "Soul":
Online Etymology Dictionary
Strong's Concordance Definition of the word "Soul":
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H5315&t=KJV
If you do not believe me, or these basic other sources, then maybe you will believe someone who holds to the OSAS view (who speaks about it):
Here is their explanation on the word "soul" with many Biblical examples.
Soul
Aside from having a spirit which enables him to commune with God, man also possesses a soul, his self-consciousness. Hs is made conscious of his existence by the work of his soul. It is the seat of our personality. The elements which make us human belong to the soul. Intellect, thought, ideals, love, emotion, discernment, choice, decision, etc., are but various experiences of the soul.
It has been explained already that the spirit and the body are merged in the soul which, in turn, forms the organ of our personality. That is why the Bible sometimes calls man “soul,” as though man has only this element. For example, Genesis 12.5 refers to people as “souls” (ASV). Again, when Jacob brought his entire family down to Egypt, it is recorded that “all the souls of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were threescore and ten” (Gen. 46.27 ASV). Numerous instances occur in the original language of the Bible where “soul” is used instead of “man.” For the seat and essence of the personality is the soul. To comprehend a man’s personality is to comprehend his person. Man’s existence, characteristics and life are all in the soul. The Bible consequently calls man “a soul.”
That which constitutes man’s personality are the three main faculties of volition, mind and emotion. Volition is the instrument for our decisions, revealing our power to choose. It expresses our willingness or unwillingness: “we will” or “we won’t.” Without it, man is reduced to an automaton. Mind, the instrument for our thoughts, manifests our intellectual power. Out of this arise wisdom, knowledge and reasoning. Lack of it makes a man foolish and dull. The instrument for our likes and dislikes is the faculty of emotion. Through it we are able to express love or hate and to feel joyful, angry, sad or happy. Any shortage of it will render man as insensitive as wood or stone.
A careful study of the Bible will yield the conclusion that these three primary faculties of personality belong to the soul. Too many Scripture passages exist to quote them all. Hence only a few selections can be enumerated here.
A) The Soul’s Faculty of Volition
“Give me not up to the will (original, “soul”) of my adversaries” Ps. 27.12
“Thou dost not give him up to the will (original, “soul”) of his enemies” Ps. 41.2
“Delivered you to the greed (original, “soul”) of your enemies” Ezek. 16.27
“You shall let her go where she will (original, “soul”)” Deut. 21.14
“Aha, we have our heart’s desire (original, “soul”)” Ps. 35.25
“Or swear an oath to bind himself (original, “soul”) by a pledge” Num. 30.2
“Now set your mind and heart (original, “soul”) to seek the Lord your God” 1 Chron. 22.18
“They desire and
lift up their soul to return to dwell there” Jer. 44.14 Amplified
“These afflictions my soul refuses to touch” Job 6.7 Amplified
“My soul
chooseth strangling, death, rather than my bones” Job 7.15 Darby
The “will” or “heart” here points to the human will. “Set the heart,” “lift up their soul,” “refuse” and “choose” are all exercises of the will, having their springs in the soul.
B)
The Soul’s Faculty of Intellect or Mind
“Whereunto they lift up their soul, their sons and their daughters” Ezek. 24.25 Darby
“That a soul be without
knowledge is not good” Prov. 19.2 Darby
“How long must I bear pain (Syriac:Hebrew: hold counsels) in my soul?” Ps. 13.2
“Marvelous are thy works; and that my soul
knoweth right well” Ps. 139.14 Darby
“My soul continually
thinks of it” Lam. 3.20
“
Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul” Prov. 2.10
“Keep sound
wisdom and discretion . . . and they will be life for your soul” Prov. 3.21,22
“Know that
wisdom is such to your soul” Prov. 24.14
Here “knowledge,” “counsel,” “lift up,” “think,” etc., exist as the activities of man’s intellect or mind, which the Bible indicates as emanating from the soul.
C) The Soul’s Faculty of Emotion
1) EMOTIONS OF AFFECTION
“The soul of Jonathan was
knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan
loved him as his own soul” 1 Sam. 18.1
“You whom my soul loves” Song 1.7
“My soul
magnifies the Lord” Luke 1.46
“His life
abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty food” Job 33.20 Darby
“Who are
hated by David’s soul” 2 Sam. 5.8
“My soul was
vexed with them” Zech. 11.8 Darby
“You shall
love the Lord your God . . . with all your soul” Deut. 6.5
“My soul is
weary of my life” Job 10:1 Darby
“Their soul
abhorreth all manner of food” Ps. 107:18 Darby
2) EMOTIONS OF DESIRE
“For whatever thy soul
desireth . . . or for whatever thy soul
asketh of thee” Deut. 14.26 Darby
“What thy soul may say” 1 Sam. 20.4 Darby
“My soul
longs, yea,
faints for the courts of the Lord” Ps. 84.2
“Your soul’s longing” Ezek. 24.21 Darby
“So
longs my soul for thee, O God” Ps. 42.1
“My soul
yearns for thee in the night” Is. 26.9
“My soul is well
pleased” Matt. 12.18
3) EMOTIONS OF FEELING AND SENSING
“A sword will
pierce through your own soul also” Luke 2.35
“All the people were
bitter in soul” 1 Sam. 30.6
“Her soul is
bitter and
vexed within her” 2 Kings 4.27 Amplified
“His soul was
grieved for the misery of Israel” Judges 10.16 Darby
“How long will ye
vex my soul” Job 19.2 Darby
“My soul shall
exult in my God” Is. 61.10
“
Gladden the soul of thy servant” Ps. 86.4
“Their soul
fainted within them” Ps. 107.5
“Why are you cast down, O my soul” Ps. 42.5
“Return, O my soul, to your rest” Ps. 116.7
“My soul is
consumed with longing” Ps. 119.20
“Sweetness to the soul” Prov. 16.24
“Let your soul
delight itself in fatness” Is. 55.2 Amplified
“My soul
fainted within me” Jonah 2.7
“My soul is very sorrowful” Matt. 26.38
“Now is my soul troubled” John 12.27
“He was
vexed in his righteous soul day after day” 2 Peter 2.8
We can discover in the above observations touching upon man’s various emotions that our soul is capable of loving and hating, desiring and aspiring, feeling and sensing.
From this brief Biblical study it becomes quite obvious that the soul of man contains in it that part known as will, that part known as mind or intellect, and that part known as emotion.
Source:
Spirit and Soul - Watchman Nee
(Note: Please take note that I do not hold to OSAS; Nor do I necessarily hold to any other views held by this author. I merely agree with the portion of the article I quoted).