I was reading a book, with the section:
“First Adam” and “Second Adam” in 1 Cor 15:45-49 in the Light of Midrashic Exegesis and Hebrew Usage
by Menahem Kister, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in:
quote:
The New Testament and Rabbinic Literature
isbn:9004175881 - Google Search
Reimund Bieringer - 2010
FOUND INSIDE - PAGE 355
Note also Gen. Rab. 14:10 (ed. Theodor-Albeck, 134), where Rabbi Yehuda the son of Rabbi Hiyya infers from Gen 2:7c that Adam was first created with a tail like an animal. 14 “For not all flesh is alike, but there is one (kind) for men, another ...
Here is a broader quote
quote:
p.354-55
The Hebrew expression nepesh hayya and its Greek rendering, ‘, “living soul,” occur in Gen 1:24 and Gen 2:19 (cf. also Gen 1:21 in the Hebrew), and in these contexts it refers to the animals.
....
A plausible interpretation for he usage of this expression in Gen 2:7 could be that it was perceived as designating the lower faculties of the human being, common to both human beings and animals.13 Especially important is Gen 1:24, in which God’s actions on the sixth day of creation, before creating the human being(s), are described as follows: “And God said, ”Let the earth bring forth living soul according to its kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” A possible way to harmonize Gen 2:7 with Gen 1:24-27 is to assume that “living soul” in Gen 2:7c refers to human beings inasmuch as they have the same “soul” as non-human creatures.
Genesis Rabbah - Wikipedia
I found the text online:
(I looked like hell for the Neusner translation, but failed)
This is the actual Midrashic text.
quote:
And man became a nefesh hayyah (E.V.
'living soul'). Judah b. Rabbi said": This teaches
that He provided him with a tail, like an animal, but sub-
sequently removed it from him for the sake of his dignity.
I am not going to comment on any implications for biological evolution.
Or anything else (such as "soul" issues).
(actually, I thought of something)
Creationists have had a difficult time interpreting ER 1470.
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/lubenow_cg.html
In 1985, Gish said, ER-1470 "may not have been human-like at all", while the author of Bones of Contention: a Creationist Assessment of Human Fossils( Marvin L. Lubenow) said, it had "true human status".
I have learned that almost every inconvenient fact, to a theory, gets ignored. This Midrash might not be worth a wisper as it is just a small line in an ocean of ancient Jewish text.