The concept of an immaterial and immortal soul—distinct from the corporeal body—did not appear in Judaism before the Babylonian exile, instead developing as a result of interaction with Persian and Hellenistic philosophies. Accordingly, the Hebrew word נֶ֫פֶשׁ (nephesh)—though translated as "soul" in some older English-language Bibles—actually has a meaning closer to "living being". Nephesh was translated into Greek in the Septuagint as ψυχή (psūchê), using the Greek word for "soul". The New Testament also uses the word ψυχή.
The textual evidence indicates a multiplicity of perspectives on souls, including probable changes during the centuries in which the biblical corpus developed.
