I can read ancient Greek. I can read Hebrew (not as well as I can Greek, and I don't have a degree in Hebrew or Semitic languages like I do classical languages). I gave you the definition of psyche according to the LSJ.
You, however, made this statement:
It most certainly doesn't mean any such thing. It didn't mean this in classical Greek (Attic or Ionic), it didn't mean this in Hellenistic Greek, and it isn't used to mean this even in the LXX (it CAN refer to breath, but it doesn't mean "something that breathes").. For your convenience, I've scanned the pages containing the entry psyche in Muraoka's A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint.
τεθνήκασιν γὰρ οἱ ζητοῦντες τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ παιδίου (Matt. 2:20) doesn't mean "those seeking a breathing thing of the child are dead", it means "those seeking the child's life are dead". When (Matt. 6:25) Jesus says Διὰ τοῦτο λέγω ὑμῖν· μὴ μεριμνᾶτε τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν, he doesn't mean "don't worry about your breathing things" but "don't worry about your life."
When (Mk. 3:4 ) Jesus asks whether it is lawful ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι on the Sabbath, he doesn't mean "to kill or to save the thing that breathes" but "to save life". When he says (Mk 10:45) ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλ ὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλ ῶν, he is not saying that "the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life [as] a ransom for the multitude". When (Lk. 1:46) we find an OT reference on the lips of Mary beginning Μεγαλύνει ἡ ψυχή μου τὸν κύριον, her breath isn't glorifying or magnifying the Lord, her soul is.
Finally, why on Earth are you approaching the conception of "soul" or related concepts in the Bible via an attempt at an analysis of Greek lexemes?
For its use in the LXX, see the attached document. For an understanding of the concept of soul in the Bible, switch to Hebrew.
I want to apologize for the way I started out. It came across as somewhat condescending.....I'm sorry.
Here is something about 'pneuma' in the Bible you may appreciate. I've saved it to my iPad notes. This was written, as a link from the 2001translation.com in order to explain their translation usage of the word 'pneuma' in their version of the NT, and also how it's used in some instances in the Greek text of the Hebrew Scriptures (I must say, I don't think I agree with how they view Gen.6:3 ):
***Breath
The Greek word
pneuma (as in
pneumonia, a breathing disease) means
breath or
wind – the movement of air. In other Bible translations, this word is often translated as spirit or ghost, as in Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. However,
spirit is just a shortened form of the Latin word
spiritu, which once again just means
breath in Latin. And
ghostconveys another meaning altogether.
In the Bible, the most common use of the word
pneuma is to convey the idea of a force that can't be seen, such as
breath or
wind. And the problem with translating it as
spirit or
ghost is that those words have been given religious meanings which aren't implied by the Greek texts. Therefore, to prevent confusion, the Greek word
pneuma is frequently translated as
breath herein. However, there are many exceptions, as in instances where the Bible refers to demons as 'spirits.' Translating
pneuma as
breath in these cases, although correct, might just be confusing. So there are several places where we have left
pneuma translated as
spirit.
For example; there are instances where the word pneuma is speaking of a person's motivation. Therefore, we have translated
pneuma as
spirit in such locations, as we have also done in several places that speak of God's Holy Spirit, where readers will better understand the meaning in Modern English. However, rendering it as
[God's] Holy Breath (which we have done in several instances) is really more accurate and a clarification. For an example, see the Note, '
Worshiping God In Spirit and Truth.'
Another important use of the word
pneuma is in the phrase, 'Breath of Life.' This phrase appears to mean more than just breathing, for it seems to refer to the entire mechanics of life itself. It's the unseen force of life for all creatures and what makes each cell alive. However, nowhere does the Bible describe the 'pneuma' as immortal, nor is it the same as the soul (a breathing thing); so it can (figuratively) 'return to God' at death, because all hope of future life depends on God and His promise of a resurrection.
Note in particular how the term
Breath is used at Job 27:3 (in the Greek text), where Job spoke of God's Breath or Spirit. For there he asked: 'Does the
Breath of the Divine One remain in my nose?' As you can see from his application of this word,
pneuma obviously referred to God's Breath, for he was clearly talking about that which comes from God and which caused him (Job) to breathe… the Breath of Life.
It is interesting that at Genesis 6:3, God said concerning the wicked people on earth before the Downpour: 'I won't allow My Breath to stay with these men through the age, for they are fleshly.' In Greek, that reads: 'Ou me katameine to
pneuma mou en tois anthropois toutoiseis ton aiona, dia ai einai autous sarka,' or, 'Not not should stay the
Breath Mine with these men the age through, their being flesh.'
So while the words
Breath Mine (
pneuma mou) here can refer to God's Holy Breath, it seems more likely that He was referring to
the breath of life that He gave to Adam. Therefore, it appears as though what God was saying here is that the breath of life (of the people of that age) would be removed prematurely. However, since God referred to it as 'My Breath,' there may be a link implied between God's Holy Breath and the breath of life. For more information, see the linked document, '
The Powers of God's Holy Spirit.'
Note how the proper rendering of the word pneuma as breath can clarify the meaning of a Bible verse in the instance found at John 19:30. There it says in Greek: 'kai klinas ten kephalen paredoken to pneuma', or, 'and inclined his head giving/up the breath.' So rather than saying that Jesus gave up his
spirit, which is how many Bibles render this verse to imply that Jesus then went to God (which he didn't because the Bible tells us that happened forty days later), the obvious reference is to his giving up 'the breath of life,' or that force which gave him life as a human.***
Take care.