B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

Genesis 1:24 is usually translated something like: "And G-d said, 'Let the earth bring forth a living creature for (after) it's kind, beast and crawling thing, and a beast (het yud tav vav) of the earth for it's kind', and it was so."

Maybe Genesis 1:24 says:
"And G-d said, ‘Let the earth bring forth a living soul (an angel?), for her kind (earth's kind) (or the living soul's kind) is a beast and a crawling creature, and His keeping alive (giving life) (het yud tav vav) earth is for her kind, and it was so."

Or: "And G-d said, ‘Let the earth bring forth a living soul (an angel?), for her kind (earth's kind) (or the living soul's kind) is a beast and a crawling creature, and His living thing (het yud tav vav), earth, is for her kind (earth’s kind or the living soul’s kind), and it was so."

It could mean that G-d made the earth a living thing somehow.

Genesis 1:25 is usually translated something like:
"And G-d made the living thing (the creature) (living things) (creatures) (het yud tav) of the earth for it's kind (the creature's kind or earth's kind), and the beast of the earth for it's kind, and every crawling thing of the ground for it's kind..."
I am not sure if (het yud tav) is the plural or singular of the word "living thing." Maybe the first thing He made was the living thing, the living soul, or the angel for the earth, if that is what the quote means.

Genesis 2:7 is usually translated something like:
"And the L-rd G-d formed (alef tav) the man (hay alef dalet mem) from the dust of the earth, and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (soul or person)."

Literally I think it says: "And the L-rd G-d formed the man dust (noun) from the earth, and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (soul or person)."
I don't think it literally says G-d formed the man "from the dust of the earth." It could say He formed man "throwing dust from the earth." The word "dust" could be a verb.

Maybe Genesis 2:7 says:

"And the L-rd G-d formed with her (alef tav hay) a man (alef dalet mem) of dust from the earth, and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (soul or person)."
Maybe the letter (hay) is moved from the beginning of “the man” to the end of (alef tav).

Maybe "with her (it)" (alef tav hay) means G-d made a man of dust from the ground with the earth (feminine noun) or the living soul (feminine noun) that came forth from the earth. This could also explain GENESIS 1:26 "let us make man in our image..." if G-d was talking to the angel, the living soul from the earth, or the earth itself.

Kenneth Greifer

Kenneth Greifer wrote:Genesis 1:24 is usually translated something like: "And G-d said, 'Let the earth bring forth a living creature for (after) it's kind, beast and crawling thing, and a beast (het yud tav vav) of the earth for it's kind', and it was so."

The word נפש is connected with breathing. It’s also used as a verb with the idea of taking a breather, regaining strength. So a נפש חיה would refer to a living creature that is air breathing.

Kenneth Greifer wrote:Genesis 2:7 is usually translated something like:
"And the L-rd G-d formed (alef tav) the man (hay alef dalet mem) from the dust of the earth, and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (soul or person)."

Kenneth Greifer

Literally, אדם is in construct with עפר, indicating the material that is man’s constitution.

The word עפר is not exactly the same as the English “dust”, rather it refers also to mortar that is used to build houses and other not so dusty materials. The one time it’s used as a verb, it could just as well refer to clods of dirt, not just dust.

Nowhere does Tanakh indicate that the earth itself has a living substance, rather that it is a place to be inhabited. So while the clod of dirt that is man’s physical body, life has come from God.

Yours, Karl W. Randolph.

Karl,

The problem is that Genesis 1:24 uses the word (het yud tav vav) with the vav at the end which is unusual for the word creature or living thing, and Genesis 2:7 has the letter (hay) in front of "adam" which is unusual for the construct "the man of dust or a clod of earth."

I was trying to deal with those details that I think are ignored for some reason.

The word nun pay shin has to do with breathing, but it seems to be used for the dead sometimes too. Why is that?

Kenneth Greifer

Kenneth:

Kenneth Greifer wrote:The problem is that Genesis 1:24 uses the word (het yud tav vav) with the vav at the end which is unusual for the word creature or living thing

Unusual, but found elsewhere in Tanakh as well.

Just because a word is unusual doesn’t mean anything in Tanakh, as many, many words are used fewer than ten times.

Kenneth Greifer wrote:and Genesis 2:7 has the letter (hay) in front of "adam" which is unusual for the construct "the man of dust or a clod of earth."

The word האדם with a definite article is found in 126 verses, sometimes in construct. It refers to “the man” and not to the name Adam.

Kenneth Greifer wrote:The word nun pay shin has to do with breathing, but it seems to be used for the dead sometimes too. Why is that?

Oh? Where? I don’t remember any such.

The noun נפש is used in a very wide range of contexts, sometimes referring to a particular living creature, sometimes to life itself.

Karl W. Randolph.

Karl,

The word nun pay shin is used for dead people with the word "dead" and without it in quotes like Numbers 6:6, 6:11, and Numbers 9:6.

G-d also has a nephesh in Judges 10:16, Zechariah 10:16, Jeremiah 14:19, and Leviticus 26:30, but I don't think you would say He breathed air, but maybe He does.

The word het yud tav vav for "living thing" is only used in Genesis 1:24 as far as I can tell.

I thought the construct of a word had "the" in front of the second word not the first. You said you have seen it this way. I did not know that. Maybe you can show an example, so I can see it too.

Kenneth Greifer

Karl,

I was wrong about the word het yud tav vav. I looked it up in biblehub and I see other examples of it. Psalm 104:11 and Psalm 50:10, and more quotes.

I still think "adam" can be used for individuals and not just humanity because of quotes like Leviticus 1:2, Numbers 19:14, and Nehemiah 2:10. Maybe I am wrong, but they look like that.

Kenneth Greifer

Kenneth Greifer wrote:Karl,

The word nun pay shin is used for dead people with the word "dead" and without it in quotes like Numbers 6:6, 6:11, and Numbers 9:6.

I should have looked in my own dictionary, because I include that there.

‎נפש breath ⇒ life Gn 19:17, Ex 4:19; this is a hard word to define because it has such a wide application with no exact equivalent in English. Apparently it is connected to breathing life Gn 2:7 but limited to living creatures that breathe Gn 9:10, 12, 15–6, sometimes used to refer to people and not animals Gn 12:5, individual people Gn 17:14, life force Gn 27:4, (formerly) living creature, being, soul (though usually translated as “soul”, this term had a lot wider meaning, including “breathing space” Is 5:14 and “breathing was short” referring to shortness of breath Jd 10:16, “making broad life” to expand one’s self such that it effects others Pr 28:25 or has room for others Is 5:14)

Kenneth Greifer wrote:G-d also has a nephesh in Judges 10:16, Zechariah 10:16, Jeremiah 14:19, and Leviticus 26:30, but I don't think you would say He breathed air, but maybe He does.

Sometimes it’s use is restricted to those life forms that breathe, other times to just life in general. I spoke too rashly in previous messages.

Kenneth Greifer wrote:I still think "adam" can be used for individuals and not just humanity because of quotes like Leviticus 1:2, Numbers 19:14, and Nehemiah 2:10. Maybe I am wrong, but they look like that.

“Adam” can refer to an individual, to mankind in general, or to a particular individual with the name Adam. We have to examine the contexts to see which meaning is meant in each context.

In the context of Genesis 2:7, I understand it as referring to an individual, but it’s not used as a name.

Karl W. Randolph.

Day 3 - grass, herbs, trees (stars)
Day 4 - stars, sun, moon (birds)
Day 5 - birds, fish, animals (behemah)
Day 6 - behemah, creepers, hominids (humans)

Beginning, middle, end
End of one day = beginning of next day

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs