I spent some time with Strong's looking up the Hebrew words used for
"breath" in Genesis 2:7 and 6:17.
Genesis 2:7 uses "neshamah" (5397). Strong's definition is "A puff, i.e.
wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect, or (concr) an
animal:- blast (that) breath(-eth), inspiration, soul, spirit."
Genesis 6:17 uses ruwach (7307). Strong's definition is "Wind; by
resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; fig.
life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extens. a region of the sky; by
resemblance apirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression
and functions: - air, anger, blast, breath, x cool, courage, mind, x
quarter, x side, spirit([-ual]), tempest, x vain ([whirl-])wind(-y).
So we have two words, both of which can mean either breath or spirit, and
spirit doesn't appear to be the primary meaning of either. So we must use
context to determine what are the legitimate meanings of the two words
where they are used. In 6:17 there are at least two possibilities. In
6:17 God says, "And behold, I, even I, am bringing the flood of water upon
the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life."
Possibility 1 is that by "flesh" God means men. In this case the
interpretation of ruwach as spirit may be legitimate. This does not of
course mean that animals outside the ark won't be destroyed, only that the
death of the animals is incidental to the primary intent which is to
destroy sinful men. Possibility 2 is that it is referring to all flesh -
men and animals, in which case the "spirit" interpretation doesn't seem
relevant at all. The main subject of the passage is what God intends to
do, and the consequences will affect men and animals, so possibility 2
seems most reasonable to me.
Genesis 2:7 is an elaboration and continuation of the discussion of the
creation of man which was first described in Gen 1:26-29. The earlier
discussion has already established that man is unique in that 1)he is made
in the image and likeness of God, and 2)that God has given man specific
responsibilities in Gen 1:28. I see 2:7-24 as a continuation of the
discussion of what makes man unique and differentiates him from the rest of
creation. At the beginning of this dissertation it says that God 1)made
man from the dust of the earth, 2)breathed the breath of life into him, and
3)he became a living being. Of those three elements, only one is present
in the making of the animals: making them from the dust of the earth. Man
is different: He has God's Spirit and he is therefore spiritually alive.
The animals aren't.
Steve pointed out Gen 1:30 which in the NIV refers to every being that has
the breath of life and clearly refers to animals. However, I looked at a
number of other translations (the King James Version, the New American
Standard, the Berkeley and the New English Bible) and none of these
translations uses the term "breath of life". They all just say "life".
Then I looked at the NIV and found a footnote referring to Gen 6:17,
indicating I believe that the translators rendered 1:30 the same way they
rendered 6:17 because they believed the meaning was the same, even though
"ruwach" doesn't appear in 1:30.
I see no reason for restricting the meaning of "neshamah" in 2:7 to meaning
the same thing as "ruach" in 6:17, when the subject matter is totally
different.
Bill Hamilton | Vehicle Systems Research
GM R&D Center | Warren, MI 48090-9055
810 986 1474 (voice) | 810 986 3003 (FAX)