Genesis 7:22

7:22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life ¹  in its nostrils died.

Genesis 26:19

26:19 When Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well with fresh flowing ²  water there,

Genesis 2:7

2:7 The Lord God formed ³  the man from the soil of the ground ⁴  and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, ⁵  and the man became a living being. ⁶ 

Genesis 7:15

7:15 Pairs ⁷  of all creatures ⁸  that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah.

Genesis 6:17

6:17 I am about to bring ⁹  floodwaters ¹⁰  on the earth to destroy ¹¹  from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. ¹²  Everything that is on the earth will die,

Genesis 27:46

27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am deeply depressed ¹³  because of these daughters of Heth. ¹⁴  If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!” ¹⁵ 

[7:22]  ¹ tn Heb “everything which [has] the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils from all which is in the dry land.”

[26:19]  ² tn Heb “living.” This expression refers to a well supplied by subterranean streams (see Song 4:15).

[2:7]  ³ tn Or “fashioned.” The prefixed verb form with vav (ו) consecutive initiates narrative sequence. The Hebrew word יָצַר (yatsar) means “to form” or “to fashion,” usually by plan or design (see the related noun יֵצֶר [yetser] in Gen 6:5). It is the term for an artist’s work (the Hebrew term יוֹצֵר [yotser] refers to a potter; see Jer 18:2-4.)

[2:7]  ⁴ tn The line literally reads “And Yahweh God formed the man, soil, from the ground.” “Soil” is an adverbial accusative, identifying the material from which the man was made.

[2:7]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew word נְשָׁמָה (nÿshamah, “breath”) is used for God and for the life imparted to humans, not animals (see T. C. Mitchell, “The Old Testament Usage of Nÿshama,” VT 11 [1961]: 177-87). Its usage in the Bible conveys more than a breathing living organism (נֶפֶשׁ חַיַּה, nefesh khayyah). Whatever is given this breath of life becomes animated with the life from God, has spiritual understanding (Job 32:8), and has a functioning conscience (Prov 20:27).

[2:7]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person. The phrase נֶפֶשׁ חַיַּה (nefesh khayyah, “living being”) is used of both animals and human beings (see 1:20, 24, 30; 2:19).

[7:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”

[7:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “flesh.”

[6:17]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew construction uses the independent personal pronoun, followed by a suffixed form of הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) and the a participle used with an imminent future nuance: “As for me, look, I am going to bring.”

[6:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “the flood, water.”

[6:17]  ⁷ tn The verb שָׁחָת (shakhat, “to destroy”) is repeated yet again, only now in an infinitival form expressing the purpose of the flood.

[6:17]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew construction here is different from the previous two; here it is רוּחַ חַיִּים (ruakh khayyim) rather than נֶפֶשׁ הַיָּה (nefesh khayyah) or נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים (nishmat khayyim). It refers to everything that breathes.

[27:46]  ⁶ tn Heb “loathe my life.” The Hebrew verb translated “loathe” refers to strong disgust (see Lev 20:23).

[27:46]  ⁷ tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.

[27:46]  ⁸ tn Heb “If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, why to me life?”