לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ

   le-NE-fesh

   for a person
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ לֹֽא־יִטַּמָּ֖א

   le-NE-fesh lo-yi-ta-MA

   for a person not become unclean
3. clause🔊 וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ לֹֽא־יִטַּמָּ֖א בְּעַמָּֽיו׃

   ve-a-mar-TA a-le-HEM le-NE-fesh lo-yi-ta-MA be-a-MAV

   say to them for a person not become unclean among his people
4. sentence🔊 וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֱמֹ֥ר אֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִ֖ים בְּנֵ֣י אַהֲרֹ֑ן וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ לֹֽא־יִטַּמָּ֖א בְּעַמָּֽיו׃

   va-YO-mer Ye-ho-VAH el-MO-sheh e-MOR el-ha-ko-ha-NIM be-NEI a-ha-RON ve-a-mar-TA a-le-HEM le-NE-fesh lo-yi-ta-MA be-a-MAV

   LORD said to Moses speak to the priests sons of Aaron say to them for a person not become unclean among his people

Exegesis

The second verb ve-amartā {וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ | wə-ʾā-mar-tā} ‘and you shall say’ frames the prohibition expressed by the idiom le-nefesh {לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ | lə-nĕ-p̄eš}, here meaning ‘on account of the dead’, lo {לֹֽא | lōʾ} negates the imperfect yiṭṭamma {יִטַּמָּ֖א | yiṭ-ṭa-māʾ} ‘he shall defile himself’ with reflexive force, and b-ʿammāy {בְּעַמָּֽיו | bĕ-ʿammāy} ‘among his people’ specifies communal boundaries.

Root and etymology

n-p-sh🔊 נ־פ־שnun–pe–shin

“breath or life principle”