Leviticus 23:27 contains a command that can sound unusually severe to a modern reader: “afflict your souls.” The phrase appears in the instructions connected with the Day of Atonement, but the wording itself raises a separate question. What exactly does it mean to afflict the soul and why do modern Bible translations sometimes render the same command as “humble yourselves,” “deny yourselves,” or “practice self-denial”?
The expression should not be understood as a command to deliberately injure the body. The Hebrew wording points instead toward a deliberate humbling of oneself before God, expressed through self-denial. The word translated “soul” also carries a broader meaning in biblical Hebrew than the modern English idea of an invisible spiritual part of a person.
To see when this biblical command is observed on the calendar, visit When Is Yom Kippur 2026? That article covers the date-specific search intent without repeating the linguistic focus of this discussion.
What Does “Afflict Your Souls” Mean?
Quick Definition: In Leviticus 23:27, “afflict your souls” describes deliberately humbling or denying oneself before God. The Hebrew uses anah, associated with humbling or afflicting, together with nephesh, a word that can refer to the life, self or living person. Other biblical passages connect this kind of self-humbling with fasting, showing that physical self-denial could express an inward posture of humility, dependence and repentance.
Original Hebrew: Anah and Nephesh
Anah
The Hebrew verb anah can carry the sense of afflicting, humbling, weakening or bringing low depending on its grammatical form and context. That range of meaning helps explain why English Bible translations do not all use the same wording in Leviticus 23:27.
In this passage, the emphasis is not suffering for suffering’s sake. The command concerns deliberately lowering oneself before God and setting aside ordinary comfort or physical satisfaction. The person approaches God in humility rather than self-sufficiency, allowing the outward act of self-denial to reflect the seriousness of the occasion.
This is also why the English word “afflict” can be misleading if read only through its modern meaning. Today it can suggest deliberate injury or punishment, while the biblical context points more naturally toward humbling, denying or bringing oneself low before God.
Nephesh
The Hebrew noun nephesh is often translated as “soul,” but its biblical meaning is broader than the modern English idea of an invisible spiritual part of a human being. Depending on the context, it can refer to a living being, a person’s life, the self or the person as a whole.
That broader meaning makes the command easier to understand. To “afflict” the nephesh does not mean attempting to harm an immaterial soul. It means humbling the person as a whole, including bodily desires and inward attitude.
In some biblical contexts, nephesh is also associated with desire and appetite. That connection is helpful, but the strongest evidence for linking the command with fasting comes from the wider biblical usage of the expression rather than from the word nephesh alone.
Taken together, anah and nephesh communicate the idea of deliberately humbling oneself as a complete person before God. The emphasis falls on self-denial, dependence and an inward lowering of the self rather than physical punishment.
Afflict vs. Humble vs. Deny
Different English Bible translations express the Hebrew command in Leviticus 23:27 in slightly different ways because no single English phrase captures every shade of the original wording.
- King James Version (KJV): “Ye shall afflict your souls…”
This traditional wording preserves the strong language of the Hebrew expression. It emphasizes the seriousness of the self-humbling involved, although “afflict” can sound harsher to modern readers than the underlying idea requires. - Translations using “afflict yourselves” or similar wording: These preserve the language of affliction while making it clearer that the command concerns the person as a whole rather than an abstract “soul” separated from the body.
- Translations using “deny yourselves” or “humble yourselves”: These renderings emphasize the practical meaning of the command. The person voluntarily gives up ordinary physical satisfaction and comfort as an act of humility before God.
- Translations using “practice self-denial”: This wording brings the behavioural dimension into clearer focus. It emphasizes intentionally refraining from normal gratification so that the outward act corresponds with a serious inward response to God.
The differences between these translations do not necessarily describe different practices. They reflect different attempts to communicate the same Hebrew expression in natural English. “Afflict,” “humble,” “deny,” and “practice self-denial” each emphasize a different aspect of the command while pointing toward the same underlying idea of voluntary self-humbling before God.
To understand what was happening in the sanctuary while the people were humbling themselves, read Day of Atonement 2026: Meaning, Dates and the Scapegoat. That guide covers the broader Day of Atonement ritual and priestly context, while this article remains focused specifically on the meaning of “afflict your souls” in Leviticus 23:27.
How the Bible Defines Its Own Term
Psalm 35:13
Psalm 35:13 provides one of the clearest biblical connections between humbling the soul and fasting. David describes himself as humbling his soul with fasting, bringing together the ideas of the nephesh, self-humbling and voluntary physical restraint.
This connection helps explain why fasting became closely associated with the command in Leviticus. Food is one of the most immediate physical needs of human life, so temporarily abstaining from it can serve as a tangible expression of dependence, seriousness and humility before God.
The physical act is therefore not meaningless deprivation. Its value comes from what it expresses inwardly. Fasting becomes significant when it reflects a conscious decision to place spiritual attention above ordinary bodily satisfaction.
Isaiah 58:5
Isaiah 58:5 strengthens the connection between fasting and self-affliction while also placing an important limit on how the practice should be understood. The passage speaks about fasting, bowing the head and humbling oneself, but it does so while criticizing outward religious performance that is not matched by genuine righteousness.
The people could perform visible acts of humility while continuing to behave unjustly. Their fasting therefore failed to accomplish its intended spiritual purpose because the external practice was not accompanied by a sincere inward response to God.
This makes Isaiah 58 especially important for understanding Leviticus 23:27. Fasting could express self-humbling but merely going without food was never the whole meaning of the command. The physical discipline was intended to reflect genuine humility, dependence, repentance and submission.
What These Passages Show
Taken together, Psalm 35:13 and Isaiah 58 show why “afflict your souls” became closely associated with fasting. Psalm 35 connects fasting directly with humbling the self, while Isaiah 58 shows that fasting and self-affliction were recognized religious practices but could become empty when separated from genuine inward change.
The wider biblical context therefore gives the phrase a balanced meaning. Physical self-denial mattered because it gave visible expression to humility but the physical act was not the ultimate goal. A person could experience hunger while remaining proud or unjust, which is why Scripture repeatedly directs attention from the outward practice to the condition of the heart.
In that sense, “afflict your souls” is best understood as a command to humble the whole person before God. Fasting can serve as an outward expression of that humility, while repentance, dependence and sincere submission give the practice its deeper spiritual meaning.
