Life חַיִּים‎-chayyim

In the Genesis account of G-d’s creation of man, verse 7 states that “the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

An important principle is established here. YVHW and only YVHW alone is capable of creating life. All of the scientists in the world with their wacky and wild Frankenstein experiments are never going to get anywhere. It is the L-rd alone who gives life and as the author of life He also reserves the right to end life as we see it happen many times in scripture such as when Onan was killed by G-d for attempting to subvert the line of Shem or Aaron’s sons when they offered unholy fire at the tabernacle.

The word chayyim also has other interesting uses that we see throughout Scripture. For example, the expression “living water” is “mayyim(water) chayyim”. In terms of the modern evolution of the word, it is also now a common Hebrew name. Gene Simmons’ (bassist for the rock band Kiss), original Israeli name is Chaim Witz. Another interesting tidbit is that Hebrew letters are also used as numbers and since the root form of chayyim which is “chai” comes to a value of 18, in Jewish culture this number is considered to represent good fortune. Hence, monetary gifts or contributions made to charity are usually in multiples of $18.

Finally, if you recall from the lesson on “elohim”, whenever you want to pluralize a word, all you have to do is add the two letters “im”. So actually rather than meaning “life”, chayyim means “lives”. If that’s the case, why do our English Bibles say “breath of life” instead of “breath of lives”? Well, just as the word “elohim” in reference to G-d gives us a clue concerning the plural nature of G-d, “chayyim” is also a clue that we have more than one type of “life” in us. Could this be referring to the body, soul and spirit dichotomy? Well, possibly.
L-rd, thank you for infusing us with your wonderful chayyim and thank you for the mayyim chayyim provided by your Son Jesus.

Amen