Genesis 2:7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
7 then the Lord God formed the man[a] out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.(A)
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- 2:7 God is portrayed as a potter molding the human body out of earth. There is a play on words in Hebrew between ’adam (“human being,” “man”) and ’adama (“ground”). It is not enough to make the body from earth; God must also breathe into the man’s nostrils. A similar picture of divine breath imparted to human beings in order for them to live is found in Ez 37:5, 9–10; Jn 20:22. The Israelites did not think in the (Greek) categories of body and soul.
Zechariah 12:1
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 12
Oracles Concerning the Nations and Judah.[a] 1 An oracle:[b] The word of the Lord concerning Israel—oracle of the Lord, who spreads out the heavens, lays the foundations of the earth, and fashions the human spirit within:(A)
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- 12:1–10 The oracles deal with (1) the status of Judah in relation to other political powers in the world that threaten its existence and (2) the reordering of Judah’s internal structures so that its future can be realized. That future is linked to the fortunes of the house of David, which is mentioned five times between 12:7 and 13:1 (12:7, 8, 10, 12; 13:1).
- 12:1 An oracle: part two of Second Zechariah begins with the same heading as that of part one (9:1; also Mal 1:1), suggesting two distinct blocks of material. The unusual cluster of introductory terms that follow the heading greatly intensifies the claim of prophetic authority, apparently an issue in postexilic prophecy.
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