We can compare with this a recent equally satisfying study of the biblical view of human constitution by Robert H. Gundry titled Soma in Biblical Theology. This makes an excellent companion volume on the New Testament evidence to that by Barton Payne on the Old. Gundry concludes, on the basis of the New Testament, that man is a body plus spirit entity which, when fused, becomes a soul. Notice that we are talking about fusion, not mere addition. Soul is something which neither body nor spirit alone can ever be.
Man IS a soul.
Rather, man is fully himself only in the unity of his body and spirit in order that the body may be animated and the spirit may express itself in obedience to God. Both parts of the human constitution share in the dignity of the divine image. That dignity lies in man's service to God as a representative caretaker over the material creation. For such a task man needs a physical medium of action as much as an incorporeal source for the conscious willing of action. Neither spirit nor body gains precedence over the other.