Gen 2:7: formed from dust, breath of life, a living being
Says וַיִּיצֶר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים uses the verb of the potter (BDB "form, fashion"): compare Isa 64:8 (MT 64:7), אֲנַחְנוּ הַחֹמֶר וְאַתָּה יֹצְרֵנוּ ("we are the clay, and You are the potter," BSB), and Jer 18:6, כַחֹמֶר בְּיַד הַיּוֹצֵר. The man is formed עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה (BDB "dry earth, dust"; "ground"). God וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים; BDB glosses the noun "breath." Then וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה: לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה is the phrase used of the animals in 2:19 (נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה); BDB glosses the noun "soul, living being, life, self, person." The breathing into the nostrils is said of the man only. The LXX has πνοὴν ζωῆς and εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν.
Implies The man is an earthly creature whose life is God's gift and who depends on God for breath, as Job 33:4 (וְנִשְׁמַת שַׁדַּי תְּחַיֵּנִי), Ps 104:29 ("when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust," BSB) and Eccl 12:7 also say. The lean, on the language, is grounded in the forming from dust and the breath God gives. The main alternative reads 2:7 as an account of origin only, saying nothing about ongoing dependence.
Uncertain Whether נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים marks a capacity unique to humans. No lean is taken here; the image is treated in note.language.Gen.1.26-Gen.1.27.tselem-demut.
Claims
- Saysוַיִּיצֶר (BDB "form, fashion"; the potter, Isa 64:8, Jer 18:6); עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה; נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים (BDB "breath"); לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה as of animals in 2:19 (BDB "soul, living being …"); breath into nostrils said of the man only; LXX πνοὴν ζωῆς, εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν.
- ImpliesLean: the man is earthly and depends on God for breath (Job 33:4; Ps 104:29; Eccl 12:7); main alternative: an account of origin only.
- UncertainWhether the breath of life marks a capacity unique to humans; no lean.
Citations
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 2:7, 19 (WLC/OSHB; morph HC/Vqw3ms, HNcmsa, HNcfsc, HR/Ncbsa)
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Isa 64:8 (MT 64:7); Jer 18:6; Job 33:4; Ps 104:29; Eccl 12:7 (WLC/OSHB)
- BDB CC BY 4.0 s.v. H3335, p. 427, entry j.cv.aa; BDB 1906 page image, archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, leaf n450
- BDB CC BY 4.0 s.v. H6083, p. 779, entry p.eg.ab; BDB 1906 page image, archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, leaf n802
- BDB CC BY 4.0 s.v. H127, p. 9, entry a.bc.ac; BDB 1906 page image, archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, leaf n32
- BDB CC BY 4.0 s.v. H5397, p. 675, entry n.fx.ab; BDB 1906 page image, archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, leaf n698
- BDB CC BY 4.0 s.v. H5315, p. 659, entry n.en.ab; BDB 1906 page image, archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, leaf n682
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 2:7. LXX read on the Swete page image, vol. 1 (1901), p. 3 (leaf n34).
- BSB public domain Isa 64:8; Ps 104:29
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-11-10
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