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Is this the right translation?:

Frank Goad

Well-Known Member
Hades: The conscious realm of the dead!: on this website I found this:

I. Interesting verses that use Sheol:

Job 7:9"When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up."If Sheol is merely the grave, it makes no sense for such a verse would make exhuming a body impossible. It is the soul that cannot be brought back!

Is this the right translation?Because as I understand it Jehovah's Witnesses believe Sheol is just the grave.This makes it look the other way around.:)
 

jimb

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Verse divisions can often lead to misunderstanding.

Job 7:1-10...

“Does not humanity have hard service on earth?
Are not their days also like the days of a hired man?
Like a servant longing for the evening shadow,
and like a hired man looking for[e] his wages,
thus[g] I have been made to inherit
months of futility,
and nights of sorrow
have been appointed to me.
If I lie down, I say, ‘When will I arise?’
And the night stretches on
and I toss and turn restlessly
until the day dawns.
My body is clothed with worms and dirty scabs;
my skin is broken and festering.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle
and they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is but a breath,
that my eyes will never again see happiness.
The eye of him who sees me now will see me no more;
your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.
As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears,
so the one who goes down to the grave
does not come up again.
He returns no more to his house,
nor does his place of residence know him anymore."

a) I think it is a mistake to base doctrine on two lines taken out of context. All Scripture must be understood in the context in which it was written.

b) Job is lamenting his condition, i.e., when he (or anyone else dies) he won't return to his home. -> It doesn't mean anything more than that <- He is not proclaiming doctrine! He is simply saying that, in his opinion, when a person dies, the disappear from life on earth and nobody sees them again.

c) Two verses later, Job says...

"Am I the sea, or the creature of the deep,
that you must put me under guard?"

Clearly Job does not think that he is either a) the sea(!) or b) a creature of the deep. Much of Job is poetry, meant to express emotion, not hard facts. Read Job (and the entire Bible) in the form in which it was written, in this case poetry meant to convey his feelings of despair.
 
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I Am Hugh

Researcher
Hades: The conscious realm of the dead!: on this website I found this:

I. Interesting verses that use Sheol:

Job 7:9"When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up."If Sheol is merely the grave, it makes no sense for such a verse would make exhuming a body impossible. It is the soul that cannot be brought back!

Is this the right translation?Because as I understand it Jehovah's Witnesses believe Sheol is just the grave.This makes it look the other way around.:)

He's talking about the permanence of death, in this life. The Watchtower Library says of Job 7:9, 10; 10:21; 16:22 - "Do these statements indicate that Job did not believe in the resurrection? These are comments about Job’s immediate future. What, then, did he mean? One possibility is that if he should die, none of his contemporaries would see him. From their standpoint, he would neither return to his house nor get further acknowledgment until God’s appointed time. Job might also have meant that no one can come back from Sheol on his own. That Job hoped in a future resurrection is clear from Job 14:13-15."
 
Hades: The conscious realm of the dead!: on this website I found this:

I. Interesting verses that use Sheol:

Job 7:9"When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up."If Sheol is merely the grave, it makes no sense for such a verse would make exhuming a body impossible. It is the soul that cannot be brought back!

Is this the right translation?Because as I understand it Jehovah's Witnesses believe Sheol is just the grave.This makes it look the other way around.:)
We Witnesses understand Sheol as the common burial "place" of all human beings.

But it is not a "place" where "something" literally goes, like a grave for the corpses, but rather the condition of dead that all who die have.

Sheol is a symbolic place that can be expressed as "the Grave" of all who die in a general sense. We can say they all "rest" in that symbolic place until the moment of the resurrection of many of them.
 

RR144

Bible Student
Hades: The conscious realm of the dead!: on this website I found this:

I. Interesting verses that use Sheol:

Job 7:9"When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up."If Sheol is merely the grave, it makes no sense for such a verse would make exhuming a body impossible. It is the soul that cannot be brought back!

Is this the right translation?Because as I understand it Jehovah's Witnesses believe Sheol is just the grave.This makes it look the other way around.:)
When we look at the genesis account of the creation of man, we're told in Genesis 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 soul."​
So man BECAME a living soul, he was not GIVEN a soul. Prior to the breath of life he was a lifeless soul. The breath gave him life. Today we have an expression when we see someone in trouble, "oh, that poor soul". This isn't referring to a separate spirit, but the person himself.
 

URAVIP2ME

Veteran Member
Hades: The conscious realm of the dead!: on this website I found this:
I. Interesting verses that use Sheol:
Job 7:9"When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up."If Sheol is merely the grave, it makes no sense for such a verse would make exhuming a body impossible. It is the soul that cannot be brought back!
Is this the right translation?Because as I understand it Jehovah's Witnesses believe Sheol is just the grave.This makes it look the other way around.:)
Yes, at www.jw.org it informs that sheol is the temporary stone-cold grave for the sleeping dead - Ecclesiastes 9:5; Psalm 115:17; John 11:11-14
Yes, since Adam the dead are asleep in the grave even faithful people like those mentioned in Hebrews 11:13,39
According to Acts 24:15 the resurrection is still future ' there is going to be ' a resurrection...... (KJV says of the just and unjust )
Resurrection Day is Jesus' coming Millennium-Long Day of governing over Earth for a thousand years - Rev. 1:18
Job knew we can't resurrection oneself or another so we need someone who can resurrect us
Job believed he would stand up again at Job 14:13-14 and so did Jesus - John 11:25; John 6:40,44
 

jimb

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
When we look at the genesis account of the creation of man, we're told in Genesis 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 soul."​
So man BECAME a living soul, he was not GIVEN a soul. Prior to the breath of life he was a lifeless soul. The breath gave him life. Today we have an expression when we see someone in trouble, "oh, that poor soul". This isn't referring to a separate spirit, but the person himself.
Nice try, but that's not what the Bible says. The man was given a soul by God by His breathing into his nostrils. It didn't appear "out of thin air".
 

RR144

Bible Student
Nice try, but that's not what the Bible says. The man was given a soul by God by His breathing into his nostrils. It didn't appear "out of thin air".
We must be looking at different verses, since it specifically says, "man became a living soul", NOT "man was given a soul."
 

jimb

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
We must be looking at different verses, since it specifically says, "man became a living soul", NOT "man was given a soul."
I'm certain that you know that Genesis was written in ancient Hebrew and that exact translation into English is an art as well as a science, and that translations vary. "Man became a living soul" is one interpretation, as is "man was given a soul".

Additionally, how did "man" get a soul? It must have been given to him by God. Adam was created by God and was given a body, a soul, and a spirit. Saying that he became "a living soul" implies that he had no body, which is absurd. He became a living human being.
 

RR144

Bible Student
I'm certain that you know that Genesis was written in ancient Hebrew and that exact translation into English is an art as well as a science, and that translations vary. "Man became a living soul" is one interpretation, as is "man was given a soul".
Two questions:
  1. Are you an ancient Hebrew scholar?
  2. What translation says "man was given a soul"?
Additionally, how did "man" get a soul? It must have been given to him by God. Adam was created by God and was given a body, a soul, and a spirit. Saying that he became "a living soul" implies that he had no body, which is absurd. He became a living human being.
Man didn't get a soul, man IS the soul.

KJ21 - 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 soul.​

ASV - And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.​

AMP - then the Lord God formed [that is, created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit].​

AMPC - Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being.​

BRG - 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 soul.​

CSB - Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.​

CEB - the Lord God formed the human from the topsoil of the fertile land and blew life’s breath into his nostrils. The human came to life.​
CJB - Then Adonai, God, formed a person from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living being.​

CEV - The Lord God took some soil from the ground and made a man. God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing.​
DARBY - And Jehovah Elohim formed Man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Man became a living soul.​

DRA - And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.​

ERV - Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and made a man. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living thing.​

EASY - Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and he made a man. He breathed air into the nose of the man to give him life. So the man became alive.​

EHV - The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.​

ESV - 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.​

ESVUK - 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.​

EXB - Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and formed a man from it [C there is wordplay between “ground” (adama) and “man” (adam)]. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living person.​

GNV - ¶ The Lord God also made the man of the dust of the ground, and breathed in his face breath of life, and the man was a living soul.​

GW - Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the earth  and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being.​

GNT - Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.​

HCSB - Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.​

ICB - Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and formed man from it. The Lord breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose. And the man became a living person.​

ISV - So the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground, breathed life into his lungs, and the man became a living being.​

JUB - 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 soul.​

KJV - 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 soul.​

AKJV - 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 soul.​

LSB - Then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and so the man became a living being.​

LEB - when Yahweh God formed the man of dust from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.​

TLB - The time came when the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And man became a living person.​

MSG - At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground—God hadn’t yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)—God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!​

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

 

RR144

Bible Student
NOG - Then Yahweh Elohim formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being.

NABRE - then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

NASB - 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 person.

NASB1995 - Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

NCB - Then the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the earth and he breathed his breath of life into his nostrils and man became a living creature.

NCV - Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and formed a man from it. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living person.

NET - The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

NIRV - Then the Lord God formed a man. He made him out of the dust of the ground. God breathed the breath of life into him. And the man became a living person.

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

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

NKJV - 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.

NLV - Then the Lord God made man from the dust of the ground. And He breathed into his nose the breath of life. Man became a living being.

NLT - Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

NRSVA - then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

NRSVACE - then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

NRSVCE - then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

NRSVUE - then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

OJB - And Hashem Elohim formed the adam of the aphar min haadamah, and breathed into his nostrils the nishmat chayyim; and the adam became a nefesh chayyah.

RSV - then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

RSVCE - then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

TLV - Then Adonai Elohim formed the man out of the dust from the ground and He breathed into his nostrils a breath of life—so the man became a living being.

VOICE - One day the Eternal God scooped dirt out of the ground, sculpted it into the shape we call human, breathed the breath that gives life into the nostrils of the human, and the human became a living soul.

WEB - Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

WYC - Therefore the Lord God formed man of the slime of [the] earth, and breathed into his face the breathing of life; and man was made into a living soul. (And so the Lord God formed man out of the slime of the earth, and breathed into his face the breathe of life; and then the man was made into a living soul.)

YLT - And Jehovah God formeth the man -- dust from the ground, and breatheth into his nostrils breath of life, and the man becometh a living creature.
 

jimb

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Two questions:
  1. Are you an ancient Hebrew scholar?
  2. What translation says "man was given a soul"?

Man didn't get a soul, man IS the soul.

KJ21 - 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 soul.​

ASV - And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.​

AMP - then the Lord God formed [that is, created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit].​

AMPC - Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being.​

BRG - 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 soul.​

CSB - Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.​

CEB - the Lord God formed the human from the topsoil of the fertile land and blew life’s breath into his nostrils. The human came to life.​
CJB - Then Adonai, God, formed a person from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living being.​

CEV - The Lord God took some soil from the ground and made a man. God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing.​
DARBY - And Jehovah Elohim formed Man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Man became a living soul.​

DRA - And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.​

ERV - Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and made a man. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living thing.​

EASY - Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and he made a man. He breathed air into the nose of the man to give him life. So the man became alive.​

EHV - The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.​

ESV - 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.​

ESVUK - 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.​

EXB - Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and formed a man from it [C there is wordplay between “ground” (adama) and “man” (adam)]. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living person.​

GNV - ¶ The Lord God also made the man of the dust of the ground, and breathed in his face breath of life, and the man was a living soul.​

GW - Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the earth  and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being.​

GNT - Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.​

HCSB - Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.​

ICB - Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and formed man from it. The Lord breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose. And the man became a living person.​

ISV - So the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground, breathed life into his lungs, and the man became a living being.​

JUB - 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 soul.​

KJV - 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 soul.​

AKJV - 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 soul.​

LSB - Then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and so the man became a living being.​

LEB - when Yahweh God formed the man of dust from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.​

TLB - The time came when the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And man became a living person.​

MSG - At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground—God hadn’t yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)—God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!​

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

I have enough knowledge of the Bible languages and the translation process in general to make the statements that I make. What are your credentials? Are you sufficiently knowledgeable in the ancient languages to make definitive statements about them? Clearly, if you have to post multiple examples of the same verse without identifying which one is "correct", you are not.

Examine the above list and tell me which one is the correct translation. Then I will answer your question.
 

RR144

Bible Student
I have enough knowledge of the Bible languages and the translation process in general to make the statements that I make. What are your credentials? Are you sufficiently knowledgeable in the ancient languages to make definitive statements about them? Clearly, if you have to post multiple examples of the same verse without identifying which one is "correct", you are not.
So you say, but you haven't provided any credentials.
 

jimb

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
So you say, but you haven't provided any credentials.
And I don't have to. Either you accept my statement or you don't.

You haven't provided your credentials. Gee, I wonder why...
 

IndigoChild5559

Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
Hades: The conscious realm of the dead!: on this website I found this:

I. Interesting verses that use Sheol:

Job 7:9"When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up."If Sheol is merely the grave, it makes no sense for such a verse would make exhuming a body impossible. It is the soul that cannot be brought back!

Is this the right translation?Because as I understand it Jehovah's Witnesses believe Sheol is just the grave.This makes it look the other way around.:)
Sheol is the abode of the dead. In Israelite cosmology it was located beneath the earth. It is sometimes translated as the netherworld. The closest similar idea to it would be the Greek idea of Hades.

I wouldn't worry too much about the JW's. They are not entirely wrong. The truth is that the Bible teaches multiple, contradictory ideas about the afterlife. The idea that when you die you go to be with your forefathers, aka six feet under, is also in the Bible.
 

Muffled

Jesus in me
Hades: The conscious realm of the dead!: on this website I found this:

I. Interesting verses that use Sheol:

Job 7:9"When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up."If Sheol is merely the grave, it makes no sense for such a verse would make exhuming a body impossible. It is the soul that cannot be brought back!

Is this the right translation?Because as I understand it Jehovah's Witnesses believe Sheol is just the grave.This makes it look the other way around.:)
I believe Job is very old Hebrew and sometimes is difficult to translate. I believe grave works well enough. Not many people come back to life after being interred. Hell is a place of fire and is only a burial ground in Norse myth. Many translations put Hell in for Sheol and it is not culturally correct.
 

Muffled

Jesus in me
Hades: The conscious realm of the dead!: on this website I found this:

I. Interesting verses that use Sheol:

Job 7:9"When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up."If Sheol is merely the grave, it makes no sense for such a verse would make exhuming a body impossible. It is the soul that cannot be brought back!

Is this the right translation?Because as I understand it Jehovah's Witnesses believe Sheol is just the grave.This makes it look the other way around.:)
I believe Job is very old Hebrew and sometimes is difficult to translate. I believe grave works well enough. Not many people come back to life after being interred. Hell is a place of fire and is only a burial ground in Norse myth. Many translations put Hell in for Sheol and it is not culturally correct.
We Witnesses understand Sheol as the common burial "place" of all human beings.

But it is not a "place" where "something" literally goes, like a grave for the corpses, but rather the condition of dead that all who die have.

Sheol is a symbolic place that can be expressed as "the Grave" of all who die in a general sense. We can say they all "rest" in that symbolic place until the moment of the resurrection of many of them.
I believe in my country we have many different words for a grave and none of them are sheol.
 

Muffled

Jesus in me
When we look at the genesis account of the creation of man, we're told in Genesis 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 soul."​
So man BECAME a living soul, he was not GIVEN a soul. Prior to the breath of life he was a lifeless soul. The breath gave him life. Today we have an expression when we see someone in trouble, "oh, that poor soul". This isn't referring to a separate spirit, but the person himself.
I believe it was not a lifeless soul but rather a lifeless body. No doubt a body must breathe in order to have life. I believe spirits are given by God so the gods would not have been able to do that part.
 

jimb

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
When we look at the genesis account of the creation of man, we're told in Genesis 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 soul."​
So man BECAME a living soul, he was not GIVEN a soul. Prior to the breath of life he was a lifeless soul. The breath gave him life. Today we have an expression when we see someone in trouble, "oh, that poor soul". This isn't referring to a separate spirit, but the person himself.
That is just one translation from ancient Hebrew into modern English.

Here are others...

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

"The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." NET

"then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." NRSVue

"then the Lord God formed [that is, created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit]. AMP

In fact, most modern translations have "a living being" instead of "soul". It is a mistake to put too much reliance on the word "soul".
 

IndigoChild5559

Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
When we look at the genesis account of the creation of man, we're told in
So man BECAME a living soul, he was not GIVEN a soul. Prior to the breath of life he was a lifeless soul. The breath gave him life. Today we have an expression when we see someone in trouble, "oh, that poor soul". This isn't referring to a separate spirit, but the person himself.
In Hebrew, the ideas of breath and soul are all very closely related. My Hebrew really stinks, but I will do the best I can, and if I make a mistake, hopefully someone more fluent than I am will pipe up.

Genesis 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 soul."

In Jewish culture, the ideas of breathing and one's vital essence are inextricably linked. For example, traditionally, a fetus goes from being a potential human to a full human person when it takes its first breath.

I would like to suggest that in this verse, it is God who breathes the breath into the man. It is this breath that becomes the man's vital essence. So this means the man is the RECIPIENT of that vital essence, that God breathed it into him, that God basically transferred his own breath/soul into Adam.

Now for the boring part that you can skip if you wish:

The word there for breath (in red) is נִשְׁמַת (nishmat). It's more of a liturgical term, and can mean either breath or soul, but edges towards the latter, as in the phrase breath of life. It is closely related to the ordinary Hebrew word for "breath" is נְשִׁימָה (neshimah). This term is used to refer specifically to the act of breathing or the breath of life. For example, in Genesis 7:22, the term נְשִׁימָה is used to denote the breath of life in all living creatures. It is also related to נְשָׁמָה (neshamah), which refers to a person's essence, and is usually translated soul or spirit. The shared root word for each of these is the same.

The word there for soul (in green) is נֶ֥פֶשׁ (ne'efesh). It translates as soul, but not exactly the way we think of someone's ghost or spirit. More, it seems to refer to the essence of a person, their vital force, or their emotional and spiritual life. It might also be translated "vital breath." And it can also be translated as "being" or "self" in certain contexts.
 
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