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"וַיִּיצֶר ה"א אֶת־הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה" Genesis.2.7

Literally, the verse reads "God formed Adam dust from the earth", like if "dust" was an adjective. However all interpreters imply that the verse reads "וַיִּיצֶר ה"א אֶת־הָאָדָם מִן עָפָר־הָאֲדָמָה" - "God formed man from the dust of the earth".

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  • I'm not sure this is really a question with respect. But perhaps if you want to read it like you do it is worth noting the Sforno sefaria.org/… in which you can say that 'Adam dust' wasn't any ordinary dust but rather the choicest of the dust available on the earth. If you feel this suffices as an answer I'll write it up....
    – Dov
    Jul 28, 2021 at 22:13
  • @Dov THis Seforno fits perfectly my newer question about the difference between Adam and the animals. Here I ask specifically about the phrasing that all interpreters seemingly miss.
    – Al Berko
    Jul 28, 2021 at 22:23
  • The whole Torah reads like this with very shortened 'sentences', it is straight to the point. The translation might be because of 'dynamic equivalence'. biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/2-7.htm
    – Pabble Goobs
    Jul 29, 2021 at 0:56
  • According to Rashi it can be read "And G-D formed man (with) dirt from (all 4 corners of) the earth"
    – Chatzkel
    Jul 29, 2021 at 3:51
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    @PabbleGoobs Address I your comment like would. Supposed the Torah is to use grammar correct. Nothing it to do has with "shortened", the word מן displaced is merely.
    – Al Berko
    Jul 29, 2021 at 6:48

2 Answers 2

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Maybe you should look at the following verses:

Kohelet 3:20 הכל היה מן העפר והכל שב אל העפר

Bereshit 3:19 עד שובך אל האדמה כי עפר אתה ואל עפר תשוב

From these verses it becomes clear that Bereshit 2:7 should be understood the way the scribes and commentarors suggested.

The reason מן ‘out of’ is missing is probably because the verse starts with וייצר ‘And he formed’, who formed? יי אלהים whom did He formed? את האדם ‘Adam’, with what did He formed? עפר מן האדמה ‘dust of the earth/ground’. So although the word מן ‘out of’ ismisding begore עפר it is already implied in the sentence.

Verbs of creation and appointment often govern two accusatives, these may be thing made + materials (see for example Shemot 38:3 All its vessels he made of brass, Devarim 27:6 Build the altar of the Lord with fieldstones/unhewn stones).

[But another reason could be that Adam might not be literally made from earth, because let’s be honest, we humans are not clay dolls. It’s possible that this is not a story like Pinocchio. Maybe it is intended to leave the מן out before עפר because Adam wasn’t formed ‘out of’ the dust of the ground. Rather Adam was formed ‘as’ dust of the ground i.e. meaning Adam was formed up of the most tiniest elements of this material world that been given life, like atoms/molecules who are in fact different then the atoms/molecules of the earth; i.e. Adam wasn’t build from those same atomes/molecules for else we would be earth. But one could say to some extent that we are made of the same yet different building material as the earth. It’s also true that when we die our bodies do not return to nothing; rather our atoms return to this this material world].

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  • Biblical Hebrew often lacks a word for ‘of’, but which you could get from sentence structure. I also like the translation be read this way: The Lord G-d formed man; dust from the ground”, as if dust from the ground is an explanation for the first part namely that G-d formed man.
    – Levi
    Aug 28, 2022 at 16:41
  • Thank you, you proposed several ideas, but the one that seems to work is the example of Shemot 38:3 All its vessels he made of brass, Devarim 27:6, where the same structure is used. I think you should list it in the beginning and then proceed to other arguments.
    – Al Berko
    Sep 1, 2022 at 11:29
  • "כי עפר אתה" is far more problematic and may even deny the existence of a soul.
    – Al Berko
    Sep 1, 2022 at 11:32
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If you understand "formed" as shaping the raw materials, you could read it: And G-d formed the Adam, [which was] dust from the earth.

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  • What do you mean by "Adam was the dust", as different from "Adam was FROM the dust"?
    – Al Berko
    Aug 7, 2021 at 21:03
  • The meaning would be the same, but the grammar would fit better.
    – N.T.
    Aug 8, 2021 at 6:21

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