7. Here the sacred writer supplies a few more particulars about
the first pair.
formed--had FORMED MAN OUT OF THE DUST OF THE
GROUND. Science has proved that the substance of his flesh,
sinews, and bones, consists of the very same elements as the soil which
forms the crust of the earth and the limestone that lies embedded in
its bowels. But from that mean material what an admirable structure has
been reared in the human body
(Ps 139:14).
the breath of life--literally, of lives, not only animal but
spiritual life. If the body is so admirable, how much more the soul
with all its varied faculties.
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life--not that the
Creator literally performed this act, but respiration being the medium
and sign of life, this phrase is used to show that man's life
originated in a different way from his body--being implanted directly
by God
(Ec 12:7),
and hence in the new creation of the soul Christ breathed on His
disciples
(Joh 20:22).
JFB.
Picture Study Bible