H5397 — נְשָׁמָה (nᵉshâmâh)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5397
Original: נְשָׁמָה
Transliteration: nᵉshâmâh
Pronunciation: nesh-aw-maw
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: H5395 נָשַׁם (nâsham) — to blow away, destroy (primitive root; 1x, Isa 42:14)
Occurrences: 24 unique verses (25 tokens) across 10 books
First Occurrence: Gen 2:7 — "the LORD God...breathed into his nostrils the breath of life"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H5395; a puff, i.e. wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect. or (concretely) an animal:—blast, (that) breath(-eth), inspiration, soul, spirit.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
breath (all forms: breath / the breath / my breath / By the breath)	~10	~42%
breathe / breatheth / that breathed / that hath breath	~5	~21%
blast (at the blast / By the blast)	3	12.5%
spirit / The spirit	2	8.3%
inspiration	1	4.2%
souls	1	4.2%
Other	2	8.3%

Neshamah consistently denotes breath as a physical-yet-divine entity. The KJV renders it "breath" most often, "blast" when destructive, and "spirit/inspiration" when emphasizing intellectual illumination.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Job	7	0.7
Isaiah	4	0.3
Joshua	3	0.5
Genesis	2	0.1
1 Kings	2	0.2
Psalms	2	0.1
Daniel	1	0.3
2 Samuel	1	0.1
Deuteronomy	1	0.1
Proverbs	1	0.1

Job is the dominant book (7 of 24 occurrences) and contains all the wisdom/illumination uses. Joshua's 3 occurrences are all war-formula ("left none breathing"). Genesis provides the paradigmatic creation uses.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Breath of Life — Divine Gift at Creation¶

The neshamah as the animating force God breathes directly into living beings.

Gen 2:7 — "And the LORD God...breathed into his nostrils the breath (neshamah) of life; and man became a living soul"
Gen 7:22 — "All in whose nostrils [was] the breath (neshamah) of life, of all that [was] in the dry [land], died"
Job 33:4 — "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath (neshamah) of the Almighty hath given me life"
Isa 42:5 — "[God] giveth breath (neshamah) unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein"

2. Divine Blast — God's Wrathful Breath¶

The same divine breath becomes a destructive force when God acts in judgment.

Job 4:9 — "By the blast (neshamah) of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed"
Ps 18:15 — "Then the channels of waters were seen...at the blast of the breath (neshamah) of thy nostrils"
Isa 30:33 — "The breath (neshamah) of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it"
Job 37:10 — "By the breath (neshamah) of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened"

3. Total Annihilation — "No Neshamah Left"¶

A formula for complete slaughter where no living thing remains.

Deut 20:16 — "thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth (neshamah)"
Josh 10:40 — "destroyed all that breathed (neshamah), as the LORD God of Israel commanded"
Josh 11:11 — "they smote all the souls...there was not any left to breathe (neshamah)"
1 Ki 17:17 — "his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath (neshamah) left in him"

4. Human Inner Life — The Spirit of Illumination¶

Neshamah as the divine spark within a person that enables wisdom, consciousness, and moral awareness.

Prov 20:27 — "The spirit (neshamah) of man [is] the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly"
Job 32:8 — "there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration (neshamah) of the Almighty giveth them understanding"
Job 27:3 — "All the while my breath (neshamah) [is] in me, and the spirit of God [is] in my nostrils"
Isa 57:16 — "I will not contend for ever...for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls (neshamah) which I have made"

5. Every Living Being¶

Neshamah as the shared quality that defines all living creatures; universal breath.

Ps 150:6 — "Let every thing that hath breath (neshamah) praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD"
Isa 2:22 — "Cease ye from man, whose breath (neshamah) [is] in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?"
Dan 10:17 — "straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath (neshamah) left in me"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
רוּחַ (rûwach)	H7307	10x	Breath + spirit paired: "my breath...and the spirit of God"
יְהֹוָה (Yahweh)	H3068	9x	Divine source: "breath of the LORD," "breath of his nostrils"
אַף (ʼaph)	H639	7x	"nostrils" — neshamah located anatomically in the nose
כֹּל (kôl)	H3605	8x	"all that breathed" — total destruction formula
אָדָם (ʼâdam)	H120	4x	"man" — neshamah as the uniquely human gift
נָכָה (nâkâh)	H5221	4x	"smite" — war contexts; striking down all who breathe
שָׁאַר (shâʼar)	H7604	4x	"remain" — "left none breathing" formula

Word Family / Cognates¶

H5395 נָשַׁם (nâsham) — root verb: to blow away, destroy (Isa 42:14 only)

Synonyms¶

H7307 רוּחַ (rûwach) — breath, wind, spirit; the closest Hebrew neighbor, though broader and less specifically tied to the animating breath of life.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H5397.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
רוּחַ (rûwach)	H7307	both: "breath," "spirit"	rûwach = wind/breath/spirit broadly (389x); neshamah = the breath-as-divine-gift specifically, especially in creation and wisdom contexts
נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh)	H5315	both: "soul," "living being"	nephesh = the whole animated person or life-force (753x); neshamah = the animating breath God provides; conceptually complementary — Gen 2:7 contains both

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
002002001002	Blow	The core breath/blowing field that fits neshamah's life-breath and divine-breath imagery.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
πνοή (pnoḗ)	G4157	14x	25.35	Primary — "breath, breeze"; also used in Acts 2:2, Acts 17:25
πνεῦμα (pneûma)	G4151	10x	12.60	Secondary — when neshamah = spirit/inner life
ζωή (zōḗ)	G2222	3x	5.70	When neshamah = life-principle

The LXX overwhelmingly prefers πνοή over πνεῦμα for neshamah — preserving its physical-breath nuance while reserving πνεῦμα for the broader spirit sense. This is the reverse of ruach, which maps primarily to πνεῦμα.