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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Nefesh - Breath or Breather

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  • From: Brak <Brak AT neo.rr.com>
  • To: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • Cc: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Nefesh - Breath or Breather
  • Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 04:39:30 -0500


Yigal Levin wrote:

Dear "Brak" (or is it John? - please sign you posts in such a way that we know who we are answering),



If you look at the end of my email I do have it signed with my name, John Steven, which is followed by a Fulton J. Sheen quote. Nowhere did my email have the word Brak in it. So I'm not sure what you are complaining about. I have no idea why you are seeing Brak, except for my actual email address which is brak AT neo.rr.com - so maybe its something with your email client.

Think of the expression "a living soul" in English. The "soul" is somthing that all living beings (or at least humans - I have no intention of opening up a debate on that) have - and so one may refer to all people as "living souls", as in, "I walked down the street, and there was not a living soul there".

While Nefe$ Xayah is more "spirit" then "soul", the ancients considered a person's breathing as evidence of his being alive - thus the use of the same word for "spirit" and for "breath". "Ne$amah" has a similar meaning. So you might translate vss. 20, 21, 24 as "beathing, living creatures" (even for fish!), and 30 as "creatures with the breath of life".

Yigal Levin


There is a lot of different opinions about what a soul is and things related to that. For example as a SDA I believe that we are a soul - we don't have one. But that is really niehter here nor there in regards to my question.

Maybe I wasn't clear in my initial post, so allow me to restate my question:
Why is the identical phrase used and translated in two different ways - in one passage as the item - in another passage as a possession. In Gen 1:20, 21, 24 a NEFE$ XAY.FH is the person, fish, bird, etc. But in 1:30 a NEFE$ XAY.FH is in the person, fish, bird, etc.
Is there some kind of grammer markings to indicate the change of usage that I am not seeing. Its pointed the same in all examples listed. Also a correction, in 1:21 its NEFE$ HAXAY.FH - so let remove that one for discussion do to the difference.

So again why is the phrase NEFE$ XAY.FH treated different in 1:20,24 from 1:30?



B"H
John Steven

"If you don't behave as you believe, you will end by believing as you behave."
-Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.






----- Original Message ----- From: "Brak" <Brak AT neo.rr.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 10:36 AM
Subject: [b-hebrew] Nefesh - Breath or Breather



In Gen 1:20, 1:21, 1:24, and 1:30 we have the phrase NEFE$ XAY.FH

In 1:20, 1:21, and 1:24 the phrase is usually translated as "living
creature".
But in 1:30 it is usually translated as "breath of life".

So it appears that in 1:20,21,24 NEFE$ XAY.FH is being translated to be
referring to the item being spoken of (the "breather"), while in 1:30 is
appears to be translated as something which the item being spoken of has
(the "breath").

Can someone help me make heads or tails of this.


--

B"H
John Steven

"If you don't behave as you believe, you will end by believing as you
behave."
-Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
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