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b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] Re: Gen.2:7, nefesh v neshamah

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  • From: "Dr. Joe Sprinkle" <jsprinkle AT crossroadscollege.edu>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Re: Gen.2:7, nefesh v neshamah
  • Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2003 19:39:32 -0500

Dear Doris,

You write:

> An animal clearly is a NEFESH CHAYAH without a NESHAMAH.

This statement is not clear to me at all. The root of NESHAMAH is N.SH.M
that means "to breathe." Most animals breathe too.

Genesis 7:22 would appear to apply NESHAMAH to animals and man alike: "of
all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the NISHMAT
[construct of same word] of the spirit of life, died." Genesis 7:21 seems
to define NESHAMAH here as birds, cattle, swarming things and mankind. So I
cannot accept the premise of your question that animals lack NESHAMAH..

Or to try to answer your question, is a man who does not breathe animate?
Not normally. A man who does not breathe is probably a corpse or at best in
suspended animation (as can happen briefly on an operating table or via
extreme cold where bodily functions stop but are capable of revival).

Joe





  • [b-hebrew] Re: Gen.2:7, nefesh v neshamah, Dr. Joe Sprinkle, 08/31/2003

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