The ‘makeup’ of man - what is man?

Question

This question comes out from a comment .. The Q was closed, so I couldn’t respond via a comment reply, so I’ll both ask it here, (open it up), and also respond here ...

GEN 2:7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

If man ‘became’ a living ‘creature’ [some translations say ‘soul’], what was he before this? Nothing?

Answer 1

I read the account in Gen 2 rather simply without trying to add lots of theological overtones.

The record in Gen 2:7 is entirely phenomenological:

Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

There are three actions recorded here -

1. God forms man, not ex-nihilo, but from the dust of the ground. That is, God takes soil/clay and molds a figure that is lifeless
2. God "breathes" into the nostrils the breath of life - a phrase coined in numerous places as defining the difference between something being dead or alive such as: Job 33:4, Gen 1:30, 6:17, 7:15, 22, Rev 11:11, Isa 2:22, Dan 5:23, Josh 10:40, etc.
3. Man becomes of "nephesh" = soul or living creature. The same word is used of animals in Gen 1:20, 21, 24, 30, 2:19, 9:4, 5, 10, 15, 16, etc. It is also used to describe people, Gen 12:5, 14:21, 17:14, etc. See also Eccl 3:19 which says that all these creatures have the same breath [of life].

The Bible also describes the reverse process as well:

• Job 34:15 - all humanity would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.
• Job 10:9 - Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again?
• Gen 3:19 - By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
• Ps 104:29 - When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
• Ps 146:4 - When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. ("thought perish", KJV)
• Eccl 12:7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit/breath [of life] returns to God who gave it.

The "breath" of life is just the act of breathing as recorded in numerous places, Gen 7:22, Deut 20:16, Josh 10:40, 11:11, etc.

Thus, not only humans are described as "nephesh" = "souls", but so are animals and other living creatures.

I also observe that whatever "the breath of life" is, it is an on-going debt we have to God for existence as per Col 1:17 and Dan 5:23. Note especially, 1 John 5:11, 12 -

And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

UPDATE:

There is probably an allusion to God forming man "from the dust of the earth" (Gen 2:7) in John the Baptist's remark in Matt 3:9 and Luke 3:8 -

For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham

That is, God can take any non-living thing and create life.

Answer 2

A comment on another post stated “Humans don't have souls, they are souls”. And quoted Genesis 2:7 as support. I’d like to examine this. Let’s consider exactly what man is. Lets look a little closer at this verse ...

GEN 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Here, God ‘formed’. yāṣar. Not bārā - Create, to be made - bārā. whereas ‘formed’ - to ‘shape’, ‘form’' ‘frame’ - yāṣar. That is, these are not the same.

What did God ‘do’ in Genesis 2? He made (yāṣar) something - out of, or using ‘the earth (ʿāp̄ār - dry earth, dust, mortar). A body. A body for who? For the man he created (bārā) in chapter one.

But, some suggest this should be interpreted this way....

What did God ‘do’ in Genesis 2? He made (yāṣar) something - out of, or using ‘the earth (ʿāp̄ār - dry earth, dust, mortar). He made man. But then those who interpret this like this then need to explain what happened in chapter one, which, for them, is the same. And, there are reasoned explanations that do this.

So either God made man, or, he made man’s body.

In Genesis 2, ‘man’ became a living (ḥay) creature. ‘ḥay’ always refers to ‘physical’ life. But, the original Hebrew explicitly says man ‘became’ a living creature. (Significantly... some second temple writings, based on the Septuagint used in the days of Jesus, often translate to ‘speaking spirit.). So let’s carefully consider this .... If ‘you’ become ‘something’, then ‘you’ must of ‘been there’ beforehand.

Man was created in the beginning. Genesis chapter 1. Created as a spirit. In Genesis chapter two, they (man= male and female he created them) received their bodies which God formed(made out of) earth. (ok, the female body came out of man’s body). They needed ‘earth’ bodies, because they were created (Genesis chapter one) for the earth - Which wasn’t ready for them until Genesis chapter 2.

So, man is spirit, possesses a ‘soul’ [identity], and lives in a [physical] body so that he can interact with this [physical] earth.