Person, Personality
The Hebrew Understanding of Personhood
In the Old Testament, the concept of a "person" is most frequently expressed by the Hebrew word nephesh, often translated "soul" or "life." This word captures something essential about the biblical view: a person is not merely a body or a mind, but a living, breathing whole. When Genesis 14:21 speaks of "persons," it uses nephesh to refer to actual human beings in their totality. The word appears in contexts ranging from census counts (Numbers 31:28) to moral descriptions such as "a worthless person" (Proverbs 6:12).
Other Hebrew words add further dimensions. The term ish emphasizes individuality, as in the description of David as "a comely person" (1 Samuel 16:18). The word adam highlights shared humanity, while enosh stresses human frailty and mortality (Judges 9:4; Zephaniah 3:4). Together, these terms paint a picture of personhood that is at once individual and communal, dignified and dependent.
Impartiality and the Value of Every Person
One of the most striking ways the Bible addresses personhood is through the theme of impartiality. The Hebrew word panim ("face") appears frequently in phrases about "accepting" or "regarding" the person, meaning to show favoritism based on external status. Deuteronomy 10:17 declares that God "regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward," establishing a foundational principle: every human being has equal standing before the Creator.
This theme carries powerfully into the New Testament. Jesus himself "regardest not the person of men" (Matthew 22:16), and the apostles consistently affirm that "God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11). James warns against showing partiality in the assembly, treating the rich differently from the poor (James 2:1-9). The biblical ethic of personhood demands that every individual be treated with dignity regardless of wealth, power, or social standing.
The Person of God and the Doctrine of the Trinity
The concept of personhood reaches its theological summit in the Bible's revelation of God. Hebrews 1:3 describes Christ as "the express image of his person" (or "substance"), indicating that the Son perfectly reveals the Father's essential nature. This verse became central to early Christian debates about the Trinity, where the word "person" came to describe the three distinct yet unified realities within the one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The theological use of "person" to describe God's triune nature has shaped Christian thought for centuries. It affirms that personhood is not merely a human category but something rooted in God's own being. Because God is personal, human persons made in God's image bear a dignity that cannot be reduced to biology or social function.
Created in God's Image
The biblical foundation for human personhood lies in Genesis 1:26-27, where God creates humanity in His own image and likeness. This declaration sets human beings apart from the rest of creation and establishes the basis for all subsequent biblical teaching on the value and responsibility of persons. Every human being, regardless of ability or status, reflects something of the divine nature.
This truth is reinforced throughout Scripture. Psalm 8:4-5 marvels that God has crowned human beings with glory and honor. The incarnation of Christ, where the eternal Son took on full human personhood (Philippians 2:6-8), is the ultimate affirmation of human dignity. In becoming a person, God declared that personhood itself is worthy of divine participation.
The New Person in Christ
The New Testament introduces a transformative dimension to personhood through the gospel. Paul speaks of putting off the "old self" and putting on the "new self, created after the likeness of God" (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-10). This language indicates that sin has distorted human personhood, but redemption in Christ restores and renews it.
The gift bestowed "by many persons" (2 Corinthians 1:11) hints at the communal aspect of renewed personhood: believers are not isolated individuals but members of a body, each contributing to the life and well-being of the whole. In Christ, personhood is not diminished but fulfilled, brought into the relationship with God for which it was originally designed.
Biblical Context
The concept of person and personality appears throughout Scripture, from the creation narratives in Genesis through the epistles of the New Testament. Key Hebrew terms like nephesh, ish, and adam define personhood in the Old Testament, appearing in legal, narrative, and poetic contexts. The theme of divine impartiality toward all persons runs from Deuteronomy through James. The New Testament applies the concept of personhood to God in Christ (Hebrews 1:3) and to the transformation of believers (Ephesians 4:22-24).
Theological Significance
The biblical understanding of personhood is foundational to Christian theology. It establishes that every human being has inherent dignity as an image-bearer of God, that God Himself is personal and relational, and that human personhood finds its ultimate fulfillment through redemption in Christ. The doctrine of the Trinity depends on the concept of divine persons, while the ethics of Scripture flow from the equal value of every human person before God.
Historical Background
Ancient Near Eastern cultures often defined personhood in terms of social status, with slaves and foreigners considered less than full persons. The biblical insistence on divine impartiality was countercultural. Greek philosophy contributed terms like hypostasis and prosopon that became important in later theological discussions about the persons of the Trinity, particularly at the councils of Nicaea (325 AD) and Chalcedon (451 AD). The Hebrew concept of nephesh as the whole living person contrasts with Greek dualistic views that sharply separated body and soul.