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The Historic Faith
Strong's Concordance
Hebrew Word Study

Strong's H5397 נְשָׁמָה (neshamah)

Neshamah means “inspiration” — full meaning, definition, and every linked Bible usage across the indexed canon.

Same number, other testament: Strong's G5397 — phlyaros (“tattler”) in the Greek Bible.

Strong's Number H5397
Language Hebrew
Linked Usages 24
Books 10

Strong's H5397 Quick Answer

Strong's H5397 נְשָׁמָה (nshamah) is a Hebrew Strong's word-study entry. nshamah (nesh-aw-maw') n-f. 1. a puff, i.e. wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect. or (concretely) an animal [from H5395] It has 24 linked Bible usages across 10 books. Visible English usage signals include breath, breathed, breatheth, and inspiration. Indexed coverage on this page includes Old Testament.

Meaning
nshamah (nesh-aw-maw') n-f. 1. a puff, i.e. wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect. or (concretely) an animal [from H5395]
Usage
24 linked usages
Books
10 indexed books
Corpus
Old Testament
Usage Words
breath, breathed, breatheth, and inspiration

Meaning and Definition

nshamah (nesh-aw-maw') n-f. 1. a puff, i.e. wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect. or (concretely) an animal [from H5395] KJV: blast, (that) breath(-eth), inspiration, soul, spirit. Root(s): H5395

Original Word
נְשָׁמָה
Transliteration
nshamah
Derivation
Root: נשׁם First root strongs: 5395
Morphology
noun fem

Across Lexicons

How independent scholarly lexicons define Strong's H5397. Each definition is shown with its source so you can compare and cite the original reference works.

Extended Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (Brown-Driver-Briggs based)

breath

Usage: 1) breath, spirit 1a) breath (of God) 1b) breath (of man) 1c) every breathing thing 1d) spirit (of man) Aramaic equivalent: nish.ma (נִשְׁמָא "breath" H5396)

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How Strong's H5397 Is Translated

The English word each shown verse actually uses to render nshamah, taken from the interlinear word alignment (the same word underlined in the excerpts below). Where a rendering is used more than once, the count is shown.

breath Genesis 2:7 15× breathed Joshua 10:40 breatheth Deuteronomy 20:16 inspiration Job 32:8

How Strong's H5397 Usage Compares

Indexed coverage includes Old Testament. Each section below keeps corpus counts and sample passages visible so readers can compare the word across contexts instead of reading one flat concordance list.

  • The largest indexed corpus on this page is Old Testament with 24 linked usages.
  • The linked rows are Old Testament Hebrew usage, grouped by book for fast canonical scanning.

Strong's H5397 by Corpus

Indexed usage grouped by testament and extended corpus so readers can compare this word across the Bible, Septuagint, deuterocanonical books, and 1 Enoch where present.

Strong's H5397 in the Old Testament

24 indexed usages in Old Testament.

Genesis 2:7 KJV

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Genesis 7:22 KJV

All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

Deuteronomy 20:16 KJV

But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

Usage Excerpts

First 24 linked usage excerpts for Strong's H5397.

Genesis 2:7 Old Testament, KJV
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 7:22 Old Testament, KJV
All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
Deuteronomy 20:16 Old Testament, KJV
But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
Joshua 10:40 Old Testament, KJV
So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.
Joshua 11:11 Old Testament, KJV
And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire.
Joshua 11:14 Old Testament, KJV
And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any to breathe.
2 Samuel 22:16 Old Testament, KJV
And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
1 Kings 15:29 Old Testament, KJV
And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:
1 Kings 17:17 Old Testament, KJV
And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
Job 4:9 Old Testament, KJV
By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
Job 26:4 Old Testament, KJV
To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?
Job 27:3 Old Testament, KJV
All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
Job 32:8 Old Testament, KJV
But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
Job 33:4 Old Testament, KJV
The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Job 34:14 Old Testament, KJV
If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
Job 37:10 Old Testament, KJV
By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
Psalms 18:15 Old Testament, KJV
Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
Psalms 150:6 Old Testament, KJV
Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
Proverbs 20:27 Old Testament, KJV
The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
Isaiah 2:22 Old Testament, KJV
Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
Isaiah 30:33 Old Testament, KJV
For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
Isaiah 42:5 Old Testament, KJV
Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
Isaiah 57:16 Old Testament, KJV
For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
Daniel 10:17 Old Testament, KJV
For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.

All Indexed Usage Links

Every indexed verse link for Strong's H5397, grouped by book.

Genesis 2 usages, Old Testament
Deuteronomy 1 usage, Old Testament
Joshua 3 usages, Old Testament
2 Samuel 1 usage, Old Testament
1 Kings 2 usages, Old Testament
Job 7 usages, Old Testament
Psalms 2 usages, Old Testament
Proverbs 1 usage, Old Testament
Isaiah 4 usages, Old Testament
Daniel 1 usage, Old Testament

Strong's H5397 FAQ

What does neshamah (נְשָׁמָה) mean?

Neshamah (Strong's H5397) is a Hebrew word most simply glossed "inspiration". nshamah (nesh-aw-maw') n-f. 1. a puff, i.e. wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect. or (concretely) an animal [from H5395]

How many times is neshamah (נְשָׁמָה) used in the Bible?

This page currently indexes 24 linked usages for Strong's H5397 across 10 books.

Where can I study neshamah (נְשָׁמָה) in context?

Use the linked verse references on this page to study Strong's H5397 in context. The indexed coverage includes Old Testament.

What English words translate neshamah (נְשָׁמָה)?

The visible usage excerpts most often surface English words such as breath, breathed, breatheth, and inspiration. These are scanning signals from the displayed verses, not replacements for the original-language definition.