p. 2 | 3418.- Respiration or Life by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Apr 18, 1911

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 16.

3418.— Respiration or Life

By Editor

In the quotation stating that the breath returns to the One who gave it, does breath mean earthly life or does it simply mean respiration? T.

Our querist evidently refers to Eccl. 12:7, "The Spirit shall return unto God who gave it." It came from God as the breath of life (Gen. 2:7); it returns at death, as it came from God, as life, but not as a sentient, thinking entity. The original word is ruwach, rendered in our common version into "air," "blast," "breath," "wind," "spirit." It seems clearly to mean life, the life principle, called "the breath of life" in Gen. 2:7. The one text tells of man's creation, the other of his dissolution. Neither of the terms means more than simply life.