Deuteronomy 4:9

Keep thy soul diligently ; i . e . Be very careful to preserve thy life (cf. Job 2:6 ; Proverbs 13:3 ; Proverbs 16:17 ; Proverbs 19:16 ; in all which passages the same formula is used as here). The Hebrew ( נֶפֻשׁ ) means primarily breath, then vital principle, natural life ( anima ), then soul life, the soul or mind ( animus ). The forgetting of the wonders they had seen would lead to their forgetting God, and so to their departing from him, and this would mar and ultimately destroy their life (cf. Joshua 23:11-16 ). The things which thine eyes have seen (see Exodus 19:10 , etc.).