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Genesis 2:7
New Catholic Bible
Genesis 2:7
New Catholic Bible
7 Then the Lord God formed man[a] out of the dust of the earth and he breathed his breath of life into his nostrils and man became a living creature.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 2:7 Man, in Hebrew adam, is the common name of the human species; only beginning in Gen 4:25 and 5:1 will it be regarded as the proper name of the first male. Here and in 3:19, 23, the author connects it with Hebrew adama, “earth.” This is not a scientific etymology but a popular one, based on assonance. In fact, it seems that adam derives from Sumerian ada-mu, “my father.” His companion, too, is initially called “woman” and receives the proper name “Eve” only from Gen 3:20 on. It seems that this name, haua in Hebrew, derives from Sumerian ama, “mother.”
Ecclesiastes 12:7
New Catholic Bible
Ecclesiastes 12:7
New Catholic Bible
7 and the dust returns to the earth from which it came
and the spirit returns to God[a] who gave it.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 The dust returns to the earth . . . and the spirit returns to God: the part of human beings that is earthly (dust) returns to earth, but the part that comes from God (spirit) returns to God who gave it—which foreshadows the continuation of life with God.
