Guf

Guf (Hebrew: גוף) is a Hebrew noun meaning "body." In modern usage it refers to the physical body of a person or animal, and can also denote a corpse in certain contexts. The term is common in everyday Hebrew and appears in phrases such as guf ha-adam ("the human body").

In Jewish mysticism, especially within Kabbalah and later Hasidic or Lurianic literature, guf takes on a specialized sense. It is used to denote a celestial or heavenly "body"—a repository or vessel associated with the soul. In this framework, the guf is connected to the process of gilgul (reincarnation) and the idea that souls inhabit or descend from a heavenly body before and after earthly life. The exact articulations of the guf vary among traditions and authorities, but the core notion is that there exists a spiritual counterpart to the physical body that underpins the life cycle of souls.

Outside of Jewish religious texts, the word guf is not typically used with a specialized meaning; it remains the everyday Hebrew word for body. The term is sometimes encountered in academic writings on Jewish mysticism when translating or discussing Kabbalistic concepts.