Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Genesis

[Empirical Empire]

Gen 3:21 - Could this be where a spiritual body entered the world in physical form?

Gen 3:21 - The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

Just a wild theory, but what if before the fall, we were a very different kind of being in a still spiritual form. And then, after the fall, the animal skins that were made for us were actually Neanderthals or some other early human ancestor? This is when the soul inhabited the human form and how this form of being was able to become so advanced?

I heard this from someone once, and while I may not agree with it, it got me thinking.

What are your thoughts?

[jimwalton]

It can't be so. As you are suspecting, it's too wild a theory. Here's my case.

1. Genesis 1.29 mentions eating for physical sustenance, just as the animals eat (1.30).

2. Humans were expected to sexually reproduce and fill the earth (1.28). The prospect of bearing children is fundamental to our gendered natures.

3. The statement in Genesis 2.7 that we are made of dust is a reference to human mortality. Gn. 3.19; Ps. 103.14. Human nature at this point was material (confirmed in 1 Cor. 15.47).

4. Genesis 2.24 mentions flesh, and 2.25 mentions bone and flesh. The Hebrew word is basar, denoting a body. Though the meaning of vv. 24-25 go far beyond flesh, we can be certain they aren't speaking of a different kind of being in a still spiritual form.

5. Genesis 3.6. The woman sees that the fruit was good for food and she eats it, as does the man.

Now on to the verse in question. The understanding of the animal skins as Neanderthals or some other early human ancestor goes against all rules of exegesis and hermeneutics. In the context it's an act of grace on God's part, clothing them (often in Scripture an act of investiture, but here an act of grace despite their sin [demotion rather than promotion]). It shows God's care for them even in their sin. Symbolically God is covering their sin and its degradation. It's an action of restoration. There is nothing in the text that would lead a reader to your conclusion, especially in the ancient world. (Though the text was also written for us, it was written to them.)

As far as when the soul inhabited the human form, that would have been in 2.7, but "inhabited the human form" may be a misunderstanding. In Gn. 2.7, man (humanity) didn't acquire a soul, and is therefore now inhabited. The text says the man (humanity) became a living soul—"soul" is the characteristic of his being.