Guf

Guf (ガフ), in Neon Genesis Evangelion, encompasses two separate but intimately connected terms: the Chamber of Guf, and the Doors of Guf.

Chamber of Guf

The Chamber of Guf (ガフの部屋, GAFU no heya) is mentioned twice. In Episode 23:

Ritsuko: "Yes, they're human. The Evas do not intrinsically have souls, but they have human souls embedded in them. They were all salvaged. The only vessel that contained a soul was Rei. She was the only one born with a soul. The Chamber of Guf was empty, you see. These things here that look like Rei have no souls. They're just vessels. That's why I'm going to destroy them. Because I hate them."

In Episode 26':

Fuyutsuki: "The Chamber of Guf has been unsealed. Have the doors to the world's beginning and end finally opened?"

Other than these brief mentions, there is no full explanation given. The Chamber of Guf is a term from Kabballah, said to be the place where all souls emanate. (For more information, see here.) However, the Chamber of Guf in Evangelion, rather than having religious connotations, is merely the name for the origin of all souls, which seems to exist within both Adam and Lilith

Doors of Guf

The Doors of Guf (ガフの扉, GAFU no tobira), are mentioned directly in Episode 21' and heavily alluded to in Episode 26' (see the quote above). In the case of the latter, the actual term "Doors of Guf" appears in the script and designates the vulva-like apertures that open on Lilith's palms to receive souls. Out- and in-doors to Chamber of Guf; Adam; maybe the harpies create "artificial" ones on Eva-01 by skewering her palms, Seele seems to make a big deal out of that after all.

As written of by the Hebrews

Guf (גוף) is the Hebrew word for "body," the chamber of guf however is a very different concept to merely a "chamber of bodies." The Guf's chamber is the place in the celestial Body from which all unborn souls originate. This chamber is said to have existed prior to Creation.

We read R. Assi's writings on the subject of propagation in the Talmud; that the Son of David (the Messiah of the Hebrews) will not be born until the Body is exhausted of souls, for we read in Isaiah lvii:xvi "for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made".

In the Midrash we may have an allusion to another, separate celestial Guf in the seventh heaven of Saturn, for we read "araboth is that which are righteousness and judgment and grace, the treasures of life and the treasure of peace and the treasures of blessing, and the souls of the righteous, and the spirits and souls which are about to be created." This is a very different concept to the Guf we find in the Talmud. The Guf in the Midrash may be the source of Cores (קרח), said to be inferior souls.

The word guf appears in the O.T./Torah only once. In Nehemiah vii:iii, "let the Doors be shut [to Jerusalem] and bar them."

Notes

• The Chamber of Guf is commonly misinterpreted as being the Dummy Plug Plant: this is just because Ritsuko happens to be standing in the Dummy Plug Plant, at the time when she mentions the Chamber of Guf.
• Guf, Guff, Guph, Gof, Goff and Goph are all acceptable English translations of the Hebrew גוף.