7 then YHWH God
molded the earth creature from bits of earth. He breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life so that the earth creature came to life. (David L. Petersen, Genesis
[The Old Testament Library; Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press,
2025], 38)
The deity acts by “molding” the
earth person from bits of topsoil on the ground. As is well known, this involves
a wordplay in Hebrew. The earth creature, hā’ādām, is created from hā’ādāmâ.
That wordplay underscores the close connection between humans and the earth out
of which they are created, which they will farm and care for, and to which they
will return. Again, as is well known, the verb (yṣr) and related noun are used elsewhere
to describe the work of a potter (Isa 29:16) or worker of metal (Isa 44:10). In
Gen 2, however, the statue is “inspired” by the deity with “the breath of life,”
a phrase that the Priestly writer will appropriate in 1:30 to describe the life
force shared by humans and animals. (David
L. Petersen, Genesis [The Old Testament Library; Louisville, Ky.:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2025], 42)
