John Calvin Commentary Genesis 2:7

"And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." — Genesis 2:7 (ASV)

And the Lord God formed man. He now explains what he had previously omitted in the creation of man: that his body was taken out of the earth. He had said that man was formed in the image of God. This is incomparably the highest nobility; and, so that men would not use it as an occasion for pride, their first origin is placed immediately before them, from which they may learn that this advantage was externally bestowed; for Moses relates that man, in the beginning, was dust of the earth.

Let foolish men now go and boast of the excellence of their nature! Concerning other animals, it had previously been said, Let the earth produce every living creature; but, on the other hand, the body of Adam is formed of clay, and initially without sensation, so that no one should exult excessively in his flesh. He must be excessively stupid who does not learn humility from this.

That which is afterwards added from another source places us under an equally great obligation to God. Nevertheless, he, at the same time, intended to distinguish man by some mark of excellence from brute animals: for these arose out of the earth in a moment, but the peculiar dignity of man is shown in this, that he was gradually formed. For why did God not command him immediately to spring alive out of the earth, if not so that, by a special privilege, he might outshine all the creatures which the earth produced?

And breathed into his nostrils. Whatever the greater part of the ancients might think, I do not hesitate to subscribe to the opinion of those who explain this passage as referring to the animal life of man; and thus I interpret what they call the vital spirits by the word breath.

If anyone objects that, in that case, no distinction would be made between man and other living creatures, since Moses here relates only what is common to all, I answer: although only the lower faculty of the soul is mentioned here—which imparts breath to the body and gives it vigor and motion—this does not prevent the human soul from having its proper rank and therefore being distinguished from others. Moses first speaks of the breath; he then adds that a soul was given to man by which he might live and be endowed with sense and motion.

Now we know that the powers of the human mind are many and various. Therefore, there is nothing absurd in supposing that Moses here alludes to only one of them, but omits the intellectual part, which was mentioned in the first chapter. Indeed, three stages should be noted in the creation of man:

1. His lifeless body was formed out of the dust of the earth.
2. It was endowed with a soul, from which it would receive vital motion.
3. On this soul, God engraved His own image, to which immortality is joined.

Man became a living soul. I understand נפש (nepesh) to mean the very essence of the soul; but the epithet living is appropriate only in this context and does not generally encompass the powers of the soul. For Moses intended nothing more than to explain the animation of the clayey figure, by which man began to live.

Paul makes an antithesis between this living soul and the quickening spirit which Christ confers upon the faithful (1 Corinthians 15:45), for no other purpose than to teach us that the state of man was not perfected in the person of Adam. Instead, it is a special benefit conferred by Christ that we may be renewed to a life which is celestial, whereas before the fall of Adam's, man’s life was only earthly, as it had no firm and settled constancy.