“Man became a living [ḥaya] soul” – Rabbi Yehuda said: This teaches that He made him a tail like a beast [ḥaya], but then removed it from him for the sake of his dignity. Rav Huna said: He made him like an indentured servant to himself, so that if he does not toil he does not eat.37In that sense he is like a domesticated animal [ḥaya]. This is the like opinion of Rabbi Ḥanina, who said: “The Lord delivered me into the hands [biydei] of one against whom I cannot stand (Lamentations 1:14) – one toils at night and during the day,38For his livelihood. but never attains [enough].39The word biydei is read beyadi, into my own hands.
I am a slave to my own needs. Rabbi Shmuel, son in law of Rabbi Ḥanina, colleague of the Rabbis, said: Here it calls neshama nefesh,40“He breathed into his nostrils the breath [nishmat] of life, and man became a living soul [nefesh]” (Genesis 2:7). and elsewhere it calls neshama ruaḥ.41“Everyone in whose nostrils was the breath [nishmat] of the spirit [ruaḥ] of life (Genesis 7:22). From where is it derived that we should apply what is stated here there, and what is stated there here?42That is, all of these terms are referring to a single soul, and man does not have multiple souls. The verse states: Ḥayim ḥayim43The word ḥayim appears in both verses. as a verbal analogy.