The Hebrew Bible refers to God breathing the breath of life into clay to make Adam a living soul (nephesh, roughly "breather"). It also refers to the breath as returning to God when a mortal dies.
The usage of the word Nephesh by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God is the only guide to the true understanding of it. It will be seen that the word "soul", in its theological sense, does not cover all the ground, or properly represent the Hebrew word "Nephesh". The English word "soul" is from the Latin solus = alone or sole, because the maintenance of man as a living organism, and all that affects his health and well-being, is the one sole or main thing in common with every living thing which the LORD God has made. The correct Latin word for the theological term "soul" (or Nephesh) is anima; and this is from the Greek anemos = air or breath, because it is this which keeps the whole in life and in being.