Havde den rige bonde en sjæl eller bare et liv?

Om oversættelsen af det græske ψυχή i Det Nye Testamente

Abstract

Did the rich fool in the Gospel of Luke’s parable have a soul or only a life? This question arises when the authorized Danish Bible from 1992 in the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21, unlike the authorized translation from 1948, renders all three occurrences of the Greek text’s psychē without using the word “soul”. Thus, in verse 20, God no longer demands the fool’s soul of him, but only his life. Encouraged not least by the saying in Matt 10:28, where the soul certainly ranges higher than life, I ask if soul should not be reintroduced in a series of passages with psychē. Otherwise, I think that something very important is lost, because, in the New Testament, “soul” constitutes an irreplaceable element in anthropology, namely man’s inward humanity, which – by the help of the Holy Spirit – is to build up the body of salvation. It was in his soul that the rich fool should have been rich toward God. This understanding is also invited for by the whole context in Luke 12 as well as other passages in the New Testament.