Tag Archives: Genesis 2:7 and 9

Hayyim and Hahayyim

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Hayyim and Hahayyim come from the Hebrew root word for life, Strong’s H2416. They are in a long list of words from the root hay. Strong’s Hebrew: 2416. חָי (chay) — Alive, living, lifezzz I am going to focus on words related to Hayyim. This study began because of Proverbs and linked back to my Tree of Knowledge study. For those of you well versed in Hebrew, please bear with my novice attempts at exploring this thought.

Jots, Tittles, Prefixes, and Suffixes

God bless translators, especially those who faithfully explore Scripture to glorify Him. Jots and tittles are the markings around the Hebrew letters, and they are more complex than my simple Hebrew understanding affords. Prefixes and suffixes come into this study; they may be just letters, but they add important meaning to the root word. Bring in surrounding words and letter/word divisions, well you get the idea.  Prefixes in Hebrew – Wikipedia

Genesis 1 and 2 and LIFE

The Beginning uses hay and its various forms many times. There is something about the first use of a word, phrase, or idea in the Bible that shines it light through the other 65 Books. I will use that in this study. Genesis 2:7 and 9 breathed hay into this study and it grew from there. Okay, God breathed Hayyim into Adam, and he became a living being. Hahayyim is the Tree of Life, and I see those as being connected. You will see many links in this post; I encourage you to follow them because they will fill in where I may have missed something. They are good for comparison also.

The suffix of yîm on the word hay is a “dual plural”, which means it is something that comes in pairs. I believe when God gave the pile of earth niš·maṯ (breath of life) man came alive (was born) both in spirit and body (2 things). Genesis 2:7 | The Making of Man | Commentary

The prefix ha on Hayyim or Hahayyim is a definite article (THE) that refers to a specific life. It makes sense that 2:9, and 3:22, 24 refers to the life in 2:7. Adam and Eve could eat from the etz hahayyim (tree of life) because they had that life in them. They lost the “Spirit-life” when they ate from the first etz, but would have gotten it back if they ate from the Tree of Life. (See John 3:5)

For the sake of my comments, I wanted to find many Hayyim and Hahayyim pairings. I did not. Leviticus 14:5 then 6 and 14:50 then 51,52 are what I came up with. Those two examples are about “living water” and birds.

The Etz of THE LIFE does not disappear from the Bible. Christians, it is in Revelation 22. I believe the best shadow for that woody plant is the olive tree.

My choice of woody plants to shadow the Etz of Knowledge of Good and Evil is the Vine Tree of Grape. That whole apple thing is from the active imagination of a talented medieval artist. Before you shut me down, study etz and everything to do with grapes, wine, drinking wine, raisins, and grape leaves in the Bible; there is a lot of good and evil associated with that woody plant. Yes, vine tree is in the KJV and other translations, see Ezekiel 15:2,6 and Numbers 6:4.

Breathed/Breath

This showed up because of Life, and I thought it was good to add into this study.

 Prefixes Add

These are Bible Hub and BibleGateway links. The verses are KJV; I added the bold to highlight the word in question for the first time use.

  • Hebrew Concordance: ḥay·yîm — 85 Occurrences Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
  • Hebrew Concordance: ha·ḥay·yîm — 27 Occurrences Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (In both Modern and Biblical Hebrew, the definite article (Ha) is used before a noun to indicate that the noun is specific, known, or previously mentioned.)
  • Hebrew Concordance: ba·ḥay·yîm — 6 Occurrences Deuteronomy 30 :19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. (The first life is Hahayyim.)The Hebrew prefix “ba“ (or “B”) is used to indicate a prepositional meaning of “in” or “with”
  • Hebrew Concordance: la·ḥay·yîm — 1 Occurrence Isaiah 4 :3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem  (la means no or not) לַחַיִּ֖ים
  • Hebrew Concordance: lə·ḥay·yîm — 5 Occurrences 2 Samuel 15 :21And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be. (Hay and wə·ḥê are the two liveth and are H2416.)   lə = to, for, onto The verses others are in Proverbs.
  • Hebrew Concordance: mê·ḥay·yîm — 2 Occurrences Psalm 63 :3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
  • Hebrew Concordance: wə·ḥay·yîm — 4 Occurrences Job 3 :20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul

Some other links and notes:

The best ending to this post on life is John 14:6 – Jesus said He was The Way, The Truth, and The Life.