Breath; Breath of Life; Life-Force. The account of the creation of man states that God formed man from the dust of the ground and proceeded to “blow [form of na·phachʹ] into his nostrils the breath [form of nesha·mahʹ] of life, and the man came to be a living soul [neʹphesh].” (Ge 2:7; see SOUL.) Neʹphesh may be translated literally as “a breather,” that is, “a breathing creature,” either human or animal. Nesha·mahʹ is, in fact, used to mean “breathing thing [or creature]” and as such is used as a virtual synonym of neʹphesh, “soul.” (Compare De 20:16; Jos 10:39, 40; 11:11; 1Ki 15:29.) The record at Genesis 2:7 uses nesha·mahʹ in describing God’s causing Adam’s body to have life so that the man became “a living soul.” Other texts, however, show that more was involved than simple breathing of air, that is, more than the mere introduction of air into the lungs and its expulsion therefrom. Thus, at Genesis 7:22, in describing the destruction of human and animal life outside the ark at the time of the Flood, we read: “Everything in which the breath [form of nesha·mahʹ] of the force [or, “spirit” (ruʹach)] of life was active in its nostrils, namely, all that were on the dry ground, died.” Nesha·mahʹ, “breath,” is thus directly associated or linked with ruʹach, which here describes the spirit, or life-force, that is active in all living creatures​—human and animal souls.

As the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Vol. VI, p. 336) states: “Breath may be discerned only in movement [as in the movement of the chest or the expanding of the nostrils], and it is also a sign, condition and agent of life, which seems to be esp[ecially] tied up with breathing.” Hence, the nesha·mahʹ, or “breath,” is both the product of the ruʹach, or life-force, and also a principal means of sustaining that life-force in living creatures. It is known from scientific studies, for example, that life is present in every single cell of the body’s one hundred trillion cells and that, while thousands of millions of cells die each minute, constant reproduction of new living cells goes on. The life-force active in all the living cells is dependent upon the oxygen that breathing brings into the body, which oxygen is transported to all the cells by the bloodstream. Without oxygen some cells begin to die after several minutes, others after a longer period. While a person can go without breathing for a few minutes and still survive, without the life-force in his cells he is dead beyond all human ability to revive him. The Hebrew Scriptures, inspired by man’s Designer and Creator, evidently use ruʹach to denote this vital force that is the very principle of life, and nesha·mahʹ to represent the breathing that sustains it.

Therefore, when God created man in Eden and blew into his nostrils “the breath [form of nesha·mahʹ] of life,” it is evident that, in addition to filling the man’s lungs with air, God caused the life-force, or spirit (ruʹach), to vitalize all the cells in Adam’s body.​—Ge 2:7; compare Ps 104:30; Ac 17:25.