Genesis 2:7 - What am I Missing?

[Josef]

Hey All,
I saw this topic being discussed, and it triggered an old question of mine I have never been able to satisfactorily resolve. So I am asking it again:

What does "breath into his nostrils" mean in Genesis 2:7?

breathed” (Strong’s 5301, “naphach”- to inflate or blow hard)
“breath” (Srong’s 5397, nahamah - divine inspiration, soul or spirit)
So these two slightly different words describe a forceful blowing into Adam’s body, which was a molded but lifeless form, and specifically into his nostrils, at which point the body came to life.
The question why has to be asked.

Why did God breathe into Adam's nostrils?

The Bible doesn't say God breathed carbon dioxide into the the flora and the plants became living vegetation. God could have just said breathe. But God performed a different specific physical action. It has to mean something.

It is said that the sense of smell is supposed to be a gateway to our minds. Google the search, “Is the idea that the sense of smell the gateway to the mind?" It has an interesting article about how the ofactory glands actually bypass the brain in the Harvard Gazette, “What the Nose Knows” (How scent, emotion, and memory are intertwined — and exploited) It is well known, for example, that the scent of vanilla or lavender has a calming effect on the body.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (chay = life); and the man became a living (chay = life) person (nephesh = soul). [NASB] (Parentheses added for clarity from Hebrew words.)

man formed from dust + breath of life = living being/soul
The breath of life, whatever that is, is something that, apparently, all mankind shares with living creatures that breathe air. For instance:

Gen 1:30 - all the creatures created on the sixth day receive the breath of life
Gen 6:17 - all the creatures destroyed by the flood had the breath of life taken away
Gen 7:22, 15 - all the animals on Noah's ark were allowed to keep the breath of life
Num 16:22, 27:16 - breath of life exists in all mankind
Josh 10:40 - Joshua destroyed all the animals that had the breath of life
Eccl 3:19 - all men and beasts have the same breath of life
Eccl 11:5 - we do not fully comprehend the breath of life (Amen to that one)

Now, according to Gen 2:7, God gives the breath of life to initiate a living being/soul. However, at death, the breath of life returns to God who gave it, Job 34:14, Eccl 12:7.

Job 34:14-15 If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

So the first breath comes from God. The last breath returns to God.
And that's probably more about breathing than you care to know.
But there are a couple more examples.
Stephen:
Stephen's prayer to Jesus to receive his breath at death, Acts 7:59, which essentially quotes Ps 31:5.

Acts 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Psalms 31:5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

One last verse:
John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

Don't you believe this passage is related to the Genesis 2:7 breath?

CONCLUSION
We, as humans, cannot give life. We can do the biological. But we cannot make a baby breathe. The "breath of life" appears to be the difference between a dead body and a living person/soul: And that breath, that first breath, comes from outside into the body. The air we take in oxygenates the blood, purifying it, and pulls toxins from the blood, and is expelled as carbon dioxide. The last breath we breathe, is air transformed into carbon dioxide. It leaves the body different than what it was. Beyond that we cannot go because the Bible has no further information. But it has to mean something.

Why did Jesus breathe upon his disciples before He said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost:"
My gut tells me there has to be a connection with John 20:22, and Genesis 2:7.

John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

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.

This has to mean something.
There is a connection.
I know it is there, stareing right back at me.
But I cannot see it.
What am I missing?
How am I missing it?
Any ideas?
(I know. I ask such easy questions.)

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz

 

[electedbyhim]

Melvin H. Shoemaker - Life. God (Yahweh) as the Source and Sustainer of Life. According to Genesis 2:7, “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.” This “breath of life” does not distinguish human beings from other animals, nor perhaps even plant life, as can be seen in Genesis 1:29–30. When God declared his judgment against Noah’s generation, all creation in which there was the “breath of life” would suffer the destruction of the flood (Gen. 6:17; 7:15, 21–23). The breath of life distinguishes the living from the dead, not human beings from animals (Eccles. 3:18–19). Consistently throughout Scripture God is portrayed as the giver of life, which distinguishes living organisms from inanimate things (Rom. 4:17).

Life is contingent upon the continuing, sustaining “breath” of God. When God ceases to breathe, life is no more, “How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.… When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust” (Ps. 104:24, 29). Death is frequently described as the cessation of this divine activity (Gen. 25:8; Mark 15:37). It is for this reason that the psalmist concludes, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD” (Ps. 150:6; cf. Rom. 1:20–21). (Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology)


Ray Pritchard - BREATH OF LIFE

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

The Hebrew word ruah can be translated “breath” or “spirit.” The phrase “breath of life,” therefore, refers to more than simply the air that Adam breathed. It is the animating life force that comes only from God’s Spirit. By itself, the body is simply “the dust of the ground”—a collection of chemical elements bound together as water and protein. But life comes only from the inbreathing of God’s Spirit.

All that we are and have we owe to God who has brought us to life by His Spirit. What a contrast to many who boast of their worldly achievements—money, fame, and power. But those things do not last forever. All of it returns to the dust eventually.

Life comes only from God—a fact true both on the physical and spiritual planes. Just as we owe our physical life to the Spirit of God, we also owe our spiritual life to Him as well. For without the “inbreathing” of God’s Spirit in the work of regeneration, we could not be born again.

Thank You, Father, for giving me the breath of life. Thank You also for the gracious work of Your Spirit in breathing into me new life through Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

[Whatever]

This may sound un-spiritual, but I believe that God create Adam's body and then performed CPR on him to get his heart started and him breathing.

God knew that in the future we would learn that you can do this to bring a lifeless body to life.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (chay = life); and the man became a living (chay = life) person (nephesh = soul). [NASB] (Parentheses added for clarity from Hebrew words.)

Let me rephrase that in plain English. The LORD God formed the man of dust from the elements of the Earth and then performed CPR on him, and Adam started breathing and his heart started beating and so, came alive.

 

[Tenchi]

Hey All,
I saw this topic being discussed, and it triggered an old question of mine I have never been able to satisfactorily resolve. So I am asking it again:

What does "breath into his nostrils" mean in Genesis 2:7?

breathed” (Strong’s 5301, “naphach”- to inflate or blow hard)
“breath” (Srong’s 5397, nahamah - divine inspiration, soul or spirit)
So these two slightly different words describe a forceful blowing into Adam’s body, which was a molded but lifeless form, and specifically into his nostrils, at which point the body came to life.
The question why has to be asked.

Why did God breathe into Adam's nostrils?

I think this is an anthropomorphic description of what God actually did, a figurative and poetic rendering of His bringing Adam to life. We associate life with breathing, of course; the two things, for human beings, are inextricably linked. What better way, then, to describe Adam's coming to life than by way of the "breath" of God filling him? Of course, God is a Spirit, and therefore has no lungs, or mouth, or breath, no respiratory system, from which issued actual breath into Adam.

The Bible doesn't say God breathed carbon dioxide into the the flora and the plants became living vegetation. God could have just said breathe. But God performed a different specific physical action. It has to mean something.

See above.

It is said that the sense of smell is supposed to be a gateway to our minds. Google the search, “Is the idea that the sense of smell the gateway to the mind?" It has an interesting article about how the ofactory glands actually bypass the brain in the Harvard Gazette, “What the Nose Knows” (How scent, emotion, and memory are intertwined — and exploited) It is well known, for example, that the scent of vanilla or lavender has a calming effect on the body.

As interesting as all this might be, God's word doesn't say much about God having "breathed" into Adam and thus made him a "living soul." It's all entirely speculation that happens in making more of what God did than the Bible does.

The breath of life, whatever that is, is something that, apparently, all mankind shares with living creatures that breathe air.

Well, the "soul" of Man is not like the consciousness of other creatures on the planet. As Scripture reveals, the soul of Man is eternal, self-aware, God-aware, capable of moral judgments, etc. Man's nephesh can be sad (Deuteronomy 28:65), grieved (Job 30:25), in pain (Psalm 13:2), distressed (Genesis 42:21), bitter (Job 3:20), troubled (Psalm 6:3) and cheered (Psalm 86:4). In fact, these things point to an "inner wo/man," something within the human being, distinct from the physical. This is consistent with verses like 2 Kings 4:27:

27 When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to push her away; but the man of God said, "Let her alone, for her soul is troubled within her...

Also Psalm 43:5:

5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me?...

No animal, insect, or plant shares this sort of inner consciousness, this "soulishness," with human beings.

Now, according to Gen 2:7, God gives the breath of life to initiate a living being/soul. However, at death, the breath of life returns to God who gave it, Job 34:14, Eccl 12:7.

Are these the same "breath"? Ecclesiastes, in particular, is a book written from the perspective of one "under the Sun," one who is apart from God, as Solomon was by his sinful living, and considering life from a distinctly ungodly, earthly perspective. In any case, these verses are to be understood within the whole counsel of God's word and, when they are, they cannot be taken to mean the abrupt cessation of the human soul. See Luke 16:19-31. Consider also:

Matthew 22:31-32
31 But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

Here, Jesus plainly declared that God was the God, not of the long-dead patriarchs of the Jewish people, but of the living Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Though these men had died millennia earlier, Jesus said they were alive in the moment in which he was speaking. Luke's account of Christ's words further secures this reading:

Luke 20:38
38 "Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him."

"Live" is in the present tense, not future, indicating that not only the patriarchs but all who have died physically are yet alive, as Christ's parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus illustrated.

One last verse:
John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

Don't you believe this passage is related to the Genesis 2:7 breath?

No. The Holy Spirit came upon already alive people all throughout the record of the Bible. In Genesis 2:7, however, the "breath" of God gave life to the not yet conscious, soul-invested body of Adam.

Why did Jesus breathe upon his disciples before He said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost:"

In signification of the life-giving nature of the Holy Spirit, spiritually.

This has to mean something.
There is a connection.
I know it is there, stareing right back at me.
But I cannot see it.
What am I missing?
How am I missing it?
Any ideas?
(I know. I ask such easy questions.)

??? Apart from your merely saying "This has to mean something" I see no scriptural reason why the divine "breath" of Genesis 2:7 and the imparting of the Holy Spirit in John 20:22 must be related in the way you seem to be implying that they are.

 

[Whatever]

God knew that in the future we would learn that you can do this to bring a lifeless body to life.

Earlier I posted the above regarding my belief that God simply did CPR on Adam.

There is another miracle in Scripture (Mark 8:22-25) that seems to have been done for the purpose of showing us (thousands of years in the future) something. Perhaps it was so that we would see a proof of inspiration through the medical details given by the human writer, Mark, but of which he could not possibly have known the significance. In this miracle Jesus healed the blind man in two steps instead of all at once.

Walking trees ...

Jesus healed a blind man in two stages

creation.com

I will try to summarize for those not wanting to go to the web page.
Agnosia is the loss of the ability to recognize objects. The author gives examples of people having regained sight after having loosing it very early. And then says:
From such case histories, it appears that when sight is suddenly restored, there is the need for the development of some new pathways in the visual cortex of the brain. Thus the story of the Bethsaida blind man who saw ‘people as trees walking’ is not a poetic account; it is a clinical description. Like Virgil, this blind man could see, but he had the additional complication of agnosia—he could not make sense of what he was seeing. Jesus, having given his eyes sight, then heals his agnosia—in one miraculous instant his brain was taught what the rest of us have learned from childhood.

Then he asks why did Jesus do it in this 2 step way?
We don’t know for sure, but perhaps it is because, in healing the Bethsaida man in these two stages, He has given a built-in stamp of authority to the authenticity of the account, one that is discernible only to modern-day readers. There is no way that an apocryphal or fabricated tale could have had these details: surgical correction of congenital blindness was not being done then, so the author could not have known about the problem of agnosia in the newly sighted.

 

[Barney Bright]

Hey All,
I saw this topic being discussed, and it triggered an old question of mine I have never been able to satisfactorily resolve. So I am asking it again:

What does "breath into his nostrils" mean in Genesis 2:7?

breathed” (Strong’s 5301, “naphach”- to inflate or blow hard)
“breath” (Srong’s 5397, nahamah - divine inspiration, soul or spirit)
So these two slightly different words describe a forceful blowing into Adam’s body, which was a molded but lifeless form, and specifically into his nostrils, at which point the body came to life.
The question why has to be asked.

Why did God breathe into Adam's nostrils?

The Bible doesn't say God breathed carbon dioxide into the the flora and the plants became living vegetation. God could have just said breathe. But God performed a different specific physical action. It has to mean something.

It is said that the sense of smell is supposed to be a gateway to our minds. Google the search, “Is the idea that the sense of smell the gateway to the mind?" It has an interesting article about how the ofactory glands actually bypass the brain in the Harvard Gazette, “What the Nose Knows” (How scent, emotion, and memory are intertwined — and exploited) It is well known, for example, that the scent of vanilla or lavender has a calming effect on the body.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (chay = life); and the man became a living (chay = life) person (nephesh = soul). [NASB] (Parentheses added for clarity from Hebrew words.)

man formed from dust + breath of life = living being/soul
The breath of life, whatever that is, is something that, apparently, all mankind shares with living creatures that breathe air. For instance:

Gen 1:30 - all the creatures created on the sixth day receive the breath of life
Gen 6:17 - all the creatures destroyed by the flood had the breath of life taken away
Gen 7:22, 15 - all the animals on Noah's ark were allowed to keep the breath of life
Num 16:22, 27:16 - breath of life exists in all mankind
Josh 10:40 - Joshua destroyed all the animals that had the breath of life
Eccl 3:19 - all men and beasts have the same breath of life
Eccl 11:5 - we do not fully comprehend the breath of life (Amen to that one)

Now, according to Gen 2:7, God gives the breath of life to initiate a living being/soul. However, at death, the breath of life returns to God who gave it, Job 34:14, Eccl 12:7.

Job 34:14-15 If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

So the first breath comes from God. The last breath returns to God.
And that's probably more about breathing than you care to know.
But there are a couple more examples.
Stephen:
Stephen's prayer to Jesus to receive his breath at death, Acts 7:59, which essentially quotes Ps 31:5.

Acts 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Psalms 31:5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

One last verse:
John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

Don't you believe this passage is related to the Genesis 2:7 breath?

CONCLUSION
We, as humans, cannot give life. We can do the biological. But we cannot make a baby breathe. The "breath of life" appears to be the difference between a dead body and a living person/soul: And that breath, that first breath, comes from outside into the body. The air we take in oxygenates the blood, purifying it, and pulls toxins from the blood, and is expelled as carbon dioxide. The last breath we breathe, is air transformed into carbon dioxide. It leaves the body different than what it was. Beyond that we cannot go because the Bible has no further information. But it has to mean something.

Why did Jesus breathe upon his disciples before He said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost:"
My gut tells me there has to be a connection with John 20:22, and Genesis 2:7.

John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

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.

This has to mean something.
There is a connection.
I know it is there, stareing right back at me.
But I cannot see it.
What am I missing?
How am I missing it?
Any ideas?
(I know. I ask such easy questions.)

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz

Genesis 2:7 says, "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." This scripture teaches me that God formed from the dust of the ground a physical human body, then God blew the breath of life into the physical human body and the physical human body became a living soul or living person. So I disagree with anyone saying the breath of life all on its separate from the physical human body is a living soul or living person, because It doesn't agree or have support with Genesis 2:7. It's only when the physical human body and the breath of life are combined or united together that a living soul or living person exists. I do not agree that a living person continues to exist when the breath of life is no longer combined or united with the physical human body, because that thought or idea doesn't have support of this scripture.

 

[Whatever]

The words "breath of life" only occur 3 times in the OT and all of them in Genesis.
I searched for all of the words.

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.
Gen_6:17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.
Gen_7:15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.

The words appear 3 other times but not together.

Gen_7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died.
Job_12:10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?
Job_33:4 The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

The Lord tells us:
Lev_17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.'

So, blood needs oxygen that it carries to all the other parts of the body. It gets oxygen from us breathing in and out by our lungs. Breathing in and out is the breath of life. Stop breathing and you die. All the animals that died in the flood were air breathing and drowned. All the other non-air breathing animals like fish might have survived or died simply from being crushed and beaten by stuff washing around in the water.

 

[Barney Bright]

The words "breath of life" only occur 3 times in the OT and all of them in Genesis.
I searched for all of the words.

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.
Gen_6:17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.
Gen_7:15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.

The words appear 3 other times but not together.

Gen_7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died.
Job_12:10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?
Job_33:4 The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

The Lord tells us:
Lev_17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.'

So, blood needs oxygen that it carries to all the other parts of the body. It gets oxygen from us breathing in and out by our lungs. Breathing in and out is the breath of life. Stop breathing and you die. All the animals that died in the flood were air breathing and drowned. All the other non-air breathing animals like fish might have survived or died simply from being crushed and beaten by stuff washing around in the water.

Well the Scripture at Genesis 7:22 said all who nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on dry land died. Scriptures don't say those that live in water died. Fish take in oxygen. They collect oxygen with their gills. Those other water creatures could just come up for air. We have to remember Noah wasn't told to take two of each kind of water creatures.

 

[follower]

What does "breath into his nostrils" mean in Genesis 2:7?
.....
The question why has to be asked.
Why did God breathe into Adam's nostrils?

The Potter Molds the Clay as He Desires, and Tosses it into the trash as He Desires, and reshapes it as He Desires, all as He Desires, as written in the Word of the Creator, the Bible.

The breath of Yhwh is one way His Spirit is referred to throughout Scripture and history.
The breath of Yhwh gives life, wisdom, understanding, hope, joy, peace, without price, without measure, without limits.
When Yhvh (or Jesus) breathed on someone who was without understanding, or without life,
they were given understanding, and they were given life. Instantly. Perfectly. Without any sin or darkness. Without any flaw, spot or wrinkle.

When Jesus breathed on His disciples, then or now, they receive understanding of Torah. They receive Light. The darkness is gone. The veil is removed. The Truth is clearly known.

Man, mankind, religion, comes along and brings darkness, clouds the minds of people, brings confusion.
Jesus clears it all up in an instant, perfectly, when the Father Directs Him so to do.
With no doubt. No conflict nor stress. Perfect Peace ; Perfect Rest, Perfect Joy; with Righteousness; even in the midst of trials, troubles and persecution.

 

[follower]

The words "breath of life" only occur 3 times in the OT and all of them in Genesis.
I searched for all of the words.

Pneuma (of Yhvh). Un-used, Un-helpful for religious peoples or doctrines.

On (God's?) Purpose Forgotten, Neglected, Ignored?

385 287
385 times in New Testament
287 times in Torah / Tanahk/ Old Testament
Accuracy Approximate
Strong's Concordance of the Bible

 

[follower]

Earlier I posted the above regarding my belief that God simply did CPR on Adam.

Go find a stone or a rock of any size,
Go find the best medical team, the best scientists, the best faith healers, the best of the best anywhere,
and just try, try to bring it to life !?!? Try with yelling and prayer and chants and electricity to get one breath out of the stone, or one heartbeat !?!?

no way. (unless as Jesus Said, God makes the stones one day to sing praises of thanksgiving to Him)

 

[journeyman]

Hey All,
I saw this topic being discussed, and it triggered an old question of mine I have never been able to satisfactorily resolve. So I am asking it again:

What does "breath into his nostrils" mean in Genesis 2:7?

It means Adam was brought to life with the ability to understand.

One last verse:
John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

Don't you believe this passage is related to the Genesis 2:7 breath?

No, because "receive" (or receiving) the Spirit can simply mean do what He tells you.
The Holy Spirit can direct a believer from outside with the intellect God breathed into all of us like Adam.

 

[Josef]

It means Adam was brought to life with the ability to understand.

No, because "receive" (or receiving) the Spirit can simply mean do what He tells you.
The Holy Spirit can direct a believer from outside with the intellect God breathed into all of us like Adam.

Hey All,
I believe that the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

If we ask, our Father will give us the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:8-11 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

This is my evidence that the Holy Spirit dwells within us as believers. The Holy Spirit is part of our personal relationship with the Father.

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz

 

[eddif]

Hey All,
I believe that the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

If we ask, our Father will give us the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:8-11 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

This is my evidence that the Holy Spirit dwells within us as believers. The Holy Spirit is part of our personal relationship with the Father.

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz

You finally answered your initial question.

Adam was a living soul. A physical body with mind will and emotions. The way he could live forever was to be in Eden eating of the tree of life. His behavior in the garden shows he was not a spiritual person. Adam and Eve were carnal. This is our first birth; kick started with a inflation of lungs.

The second spiritual birth (born again) occurred at Pentecost. The infilling of the Holy Spirit was hinted at when Jesus breathed on them. So. When the disciples heard the mighty rushing wind at Pentecost, they knew why Jesus breathed on them earlier.

Man wants to believe his physical birth is all he needs. Jesus said “you must be born again”. Eastern mysticism says man has god inside him and he just needs to find him. Revelation 3:20 says we need to open the door when he knocks. That is the entrance of God into us.

Repentance
Salvation in Christ and Christ in us
Receive the Holy Spirit that we might have power to witness.

A physical birth
A spiritual birth

Sorry no fancy words. No religious terms. Just plain.

We are first made in the image of God. Human anatomy. Twenty four elders bow before the throne. The tree planted on either side of a river. The snake on a pole. The eagle’s wing flying.

The second birth is the spirit of Jesus inside us. Word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, etc.

At the last trump, the final changes take place,

Mississippi redneck
eddif

 

[journeyman]

Hey All,
I believe that the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

He did after Jesus ascended to Heaven. Before that the Holy Spirit influenced the apostles from the outside,

for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. Jn.14:27 KJV

It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him untoyou. Jn.16:27 KJV

 

[Mark51]

Adam having his lungs filled with the “Breath of Life” (air) was not enough. This breath included a “life force” or "spirit" that sustained breathing. This life force is probably referring to the electrical charges in our bodies. These charges are transmitted through the nervous system of which stimulates specific functions to our muscles, brain, heart and so forth.-Genesis 7:22

 

[Enlightenedtruth]

Again, I know nobody wants to hear from the peanut gallery....but here I go again.

You are correct, there is more to it than what is given in the Book of Genesis. God created man in His own image Genesis 1:27 NKJV (both male and female). The breathe of life gave the "living soul"; and the nostrils (olfactory) do touch the brain specifically, which had nothing to do with the sense of smell. To put the "mind" of a "living soul" into a "physical body" here on the earth. God does breathe, and when He speaks any Word of Power; all manner of things can be done (such as Awaken).

 

[miamited]

HI Josef

I tend to use the simplest explanation. That it is describing the point at which God made Adam a living being. That MANKIND is the epitome of God's creative work, is likely why the Scriptures don't bother with telling us that He may or may not have done the same thing with the animals. However, one point that I will make is that this is likely why our spirit is different than all the other life forms that God made. Perhaps this is when God actually made man in 'our' image. He breathed into Adam the breath of His life. The animal and plant creatures don't seem to have this same spirit of God's life.

God bless,
Ted

 

[DavidT]

What does "breath into his nostrils" mean in Genesis 2:7?

Read Ecclesiastes 12:5-7 again. There's more there.

Eccl 12:6-7
6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
KJV

Solomon revealed there is "silver cord" involved that gets severed at flesh death. It is pointing to that "silver cord" being what keeps our spirit/soul together in our flesh body.

The New Testament Scriptures reveal more about our spirit and soul than the Old Testament Books do. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul even revealed that right now, we have another body in us not made with hands, from God, eternal in the heavens. He was pointing to our spirit body with soul. It is not of this earthly dimension. It is instead of the dimension of Spirit.

That idea of course scares many, when it should not. Too many are too comfortable in their flesh when Jesus said to not fear those who kill our flesh (Matthew 10:28).

 

[Tenchi]

Eccl 12:6-7
6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
KJV

Solomon revealed there is "silver cord" involved that gets severed at flesh death. It is pointing to that "silver cord" being what keeps our spirit/soul together in our flesh body.

When Solomon wrote of "the silver cord be loosed," he was, in context, writing very figuratively of the degeneration of the physical body over time and its termination.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8
1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no delight in them";

Here, Solomon contrasts "the days of your youth" with the "evil days" when his reader no longer delights in them as he did in his youth. Why doesn't the reader delight any longer in the passing days? Because the days of youth are well in the past, before the afflictions of old age, which Solomon goes on to describe in a very figurative and amusing way.

2 before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain;

This is a reference to the eyes that "darken" in their capacity to see, growing cloudy and dim, as aging eyes often do.

3 in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and mighty men stoop, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim;

Here, Solomon describes the legs as "the watchmen of the house" that tremble, the "mighty men that stoop" represent the shoulders, a perennial symbol of manly strength, and "the grinding ones that are idle because they are few" picture the decayed and absent teeth of an elderly person.

4 and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly.

Since the teeth are few, and eating is not as enjoyable, "the doors on the street are shut," which are the lips. Seniors often grow jumpy, too, as Solomon points out here, starting at the sudden trill of a bird, and so those caring for them "sing softly" around them.

5 Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags himself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street.

The elderly cease to find excitement in risk and so avoid "high places" from which they might fall and "terrors on the road," which are occasions of confrontation and aggression. Their hair "blossoms as an almond tree" turning white with age, and they go about like an injured or dying grasshopper, stiff and heavy, dragging itself along. As well, upon the elderly, the caperberry, an ancient eating stimulant, no longer works to produce hungriness.

6 Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;

In keeping with his figurative description of the aged person, Solomon continues to render their condition in an artful way, the "silver cord," "golden bowl," the shattered "pitcher," etc., all referring to the termination of life, the physical body no longer fit for purpose, returning to the dust of the earth.

7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
8 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "all is vanity!"

Does Solomon mean to indicate that there is a literal "silver cord" within a person that at death actually breaks? No, in context, he is just offering a figurative description of aging and death, nothing more.