Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Susan Jeffers <SusanJeffers AT compuserve.com>]

Greetings!

I'm helping a friend who's studying Genesis 1-3 and we've spent some time
pondering the differences between "adam" and "iysh" in those chapters. 
Along the way I came across a couple of places in the Psalms where the two
terms occur together, presumably in contrast to one another, and the
English is usually rendered "Both low and high" (English Ps 49:2, Hebrew Ps
49:3) or "men of low degree... men of high degree" (English Ps 62:9, Hebrew
Ps 62:10).  

Is there something in the meaning of "adam" and "iysh" that makes the sons
of adam of lower social standing than the sons of iysh?  What might that
be?  Are there implications for the interpretation of the story of creation
in Genesis?

Thanks!

Susan Jeffers