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effect to a distinction that is found in the Hebrew. Where "of" occurs in the A.V. the
Hebrew particle beth occurs, and this particle is generally translated "in". It will be
noticed that there is no "of" before "every man". Whatever the true translation may be,
the point for the moment is, that even in this particular, man is separated from the beasts.
The R.V. reveals the presence of the word "spirit" as well as "breath" here. The
expression "the n'shamah of the ruach" is the same as that used in Nos. 6 and 16 of the
list of quotations given above, where the reference is to God.
As the passage stands in the A.V. it appears that we are told twice over that all died:
"And all flesh died"; "of all that was in the dry land died." The word "of" in the
second of these passages is not the same word as those already alluded to. It means
"from" and sometimes suggests some out of a number. The translation suggested by
Dr. E. P. Woodward, whose researches along this line have been of considerable help,
is as follows:--
"And all flesh died that moved upon the earth (namely, all flesh), in fowl, and in
cattle, and in beast, and in every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And every
man (all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, from among all that was on
the dry land) died."
This translation, though perhaps inelegant, does recognize several features that are
blurred in the A.V., and their recognition leads to a distinction between the animals that
were destroyed in the flood, and man. In Gen. 7: 15, where there is no doubt that only
animals are enumerated, we read: "And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two
of all flesh wherein is the breath (ruach, not n'shamah) of life." It would not be true to
say that "all flesh" was exclusively used of the animals at the time of the flood, but the
full expression "all flesh wherein is the ruach of life" appears to be used of the animals to
the exclusion of man, while the other expression "n'shamah of the ruach of life" does
appear to be used of man to the exclusion of the animals. This being so, we have the
testimony of these twenty-four passages to prove that while man is physically a member
of the animal kingdom, he is severed from that kingdom by something distinctive, the
image and likeness of God, the personal touch of God at his creation, the possession of
the n'shamah, the breath of the spirit of life. This leaves the question of the immortality
of the soul untouched.