"Her Soul Was in Departing"
By Arthur L. Manous
OF the death of Rachel we read, "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin." Gen. 35:18. See also 1 Kings 17:17-23; Job 11:20, margin. This is one of the "scriptures in which the term 'soul' is supposed to be used in a manner to show that it is a separate entity in man, immortal in its nature, and able to exist as well out of the body as in" it. The Hebrew word here translated "soul" is nephesh, and is defined by Mr. Parkhurst, the lexicographer, as follows: As a noun, nephesh hath been supposed to signify the spiritual part of man, or what we commonly call his soul. I must for myself confess that I can find no passage where it hath undoubtedly this meaning. Gen. 35:18; 1 Kings 17:21, 22; Ps. 16:10, seem fairest for this signification. But may not nephesh in the three former passages, be most properly rendered breath, and in the last, a breathing or animal frame? In agreement with the foregoing, others render the verse as follows: And it came to pass in her giving up the ghost (for she was dying), that she called his name, The son of my pain; but his father called his name Benjamin.—The Septuagint Version with an English Translation. But she breathing out her life—for she was dying—named him Son-of-my-anguish, but his father called him Benjamin.—Ferrar Fenton's Translation. And just as she was departing (for she died) she called his name Son of my sorrow; but his father called his name Benjamin.—Charles Thomson's Translation. Before her death, Rachel gave birth to a second son. With her parting breath she named the child Benoni, "son of my sorrow." But his father called him Benjamin, "son of my right hand" or "my strength."—"Patriarchs and Prophets," page 206. "As her soul was in departing." Heb. . . . in the going out of her soul, or life. Gr. . . . in her sending out her life. The language legitimately implies no more than the departing or ceasing of the vital principle, whatever that be. In like manner, when the prophet Elijah stretched himself upon the dead child, 1 Kings 17:21, and cried three times, saying, "O Lord my God, let this child's soul come into him again," he merely prays for the return of his physical vitality.—Bush's Notes. It would seem that this collation ought to settle it forever in the mind of the unprejudiced reader that the expression, "As her soul was in departing," does not teach that there is in man a separate entity, immortal in its nature, and capable of an intelligent existence apart from the body. And where is the scripture that does teach such a doctrine?