HEBREW WORD STUDY – WINNING SOULS – LAQACH NEPHESHOT  לקח  נפשות  Lamed Qop Cheth   Nun Pei Shin Vav Taw

Proverbs 11:29-30: “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool [shall be] servant to the wise of heart. (30) The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that wins souls is wise.”

In the Baptist church, I grew up Proverbs 11:30 was the Hallmark for evangelism: “he that wins souls is wise.”  The implication is that the really smart (wise) Christians are the ones who are out there getting people saved, causing your church to grow in numbers, increasing tithing and making your pastor a highly respected person at the next pastor’s conference because he is the pastor of a large soul-winning church.  If his church is large enough and winning enough souls he may even be asked to address the convention.  Of course, if he has the largest and most soul-winning church he will be the keynote speaking – now that is Olympic gold.   If you are the biggest soul winner in the biggest soul-winning church, people will swarm around you to shake your hand and will mention your name at all soul winning conferences. Of course, you have to win an awful lot of souls for that honor.

But soft, what did Solomon really mean by: “winning souls?”  Can soul winning be defined by a tangible number that you put on a tally sheet?  Is it the number of people you persuade to say a “sinner’s prayer” who will recite it just to please you, shut you up, or get rid of you; what is your motive? Do you win souls to put another notch in your Bible?   

In the Hebrew, the word that the KJV renders  win is loqech which is a very common word in Classical Hebrew and rarely means win, in fact this is the only place in the Bible and extra Biblical literature where I find it rendered as a win. It really means to take, seize, or capture. It’s a reference to win only in the context of taking spoil or booty which are the most common usages of loqech.  Loqech is the prize for conquering or overpowering someone or something.   In the final analysis you conqueror someone, whether in war, debate or a simple sale by creating fear in that person, either fear for their lives or the fear that they will be without a product that would prove beneficial.  Come to think of it that pretty well defines our evangelistic efforts.  Radical Muslims who uses firebombs and the threat of death to get their converts.  We use fire and brimstone and the threat of eternal death to get ours. We Baptist used to call it fire insurance. That might be why so many former pastors who leave the ministry become insurance agents.  I cannot comment on whether this is true salvation or not but I do know this approach does not always foster a love relationship with God.  I mean I have no love relationship with my insurance agent; I only deal with him when it comes time to pay my premium or make a claim, not unlike many Christians who go to church to pay their tithe and offer prayers to make a claim when things get tough. 

Actually, you look at the context you find it has absolutely nothing to do with getting people saved.  The prior verse (29) goes hand in hand with verse 30. It tells us that he who is a troublemaker in his own house inherits the wind and the fool is a servant to the wise, but (30) he that wins souls is wise.  

You see the word “soul” is nephesh.  Nephesh is used to express the idea of one’s feelings, desires, inclinations, and mind. You could say your soul is your mind. You bring someone to your side by instilling fear and intimidation or by changing their minds. The word house is byrith which can mean any place where people gather together and have a relationship with each other.  So he who disrupts his house, church, job, etc. will only inherit the wind. There the word wind is rauch which has a wide range of meaning. The common thread in the word is empty, no physical substance. The trouble maker who disrupts his house, church, job nation ends up with nothing.

For example, recently, he has been an outbreak of people who feel the best way to win a politician’s soul or mind to get them to change their political position to their’s is to encounter them in a restaurant or on the street and scream at them, insult them, call them horrible names and even steal their food.  These are people who will inherit the wind. The Bible calls them fools who will become ‘avad, servants to slaves to the wise.  However, if they sit down and have an honest discussion respecting the other person they just might win over their soul/mind and such a person is wise. 

But the term soul winning has been a winning phrase in evangelism so I have not a problem with it, I am just saying it is not a Biblical phrase.