popular style

Genesis 2:7 says "God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed a living being." Here as in much of Genesis, the author is obviously speaking anthropomorphicaly. (representing God acting in a human way), picturing God in a popular manner as working with clay, like a potter, and breathing as man would into the face of his modelled product.

Such anthropomorphisms are part of the author's popular style and need not be taken literally. This interpretation is confirmed by the similar popular way of describing the creation of man in an old Babylonian text in which "Mami". the mother-goddess, says: "Let him be formed out of clay, be animated with blood." A similar description is given in the Babylonian epic. Enuma Elish, where man is said to have been created out of the blood of the conquered god, Kingu: "Out of his blood they fashioned mankind."

With regard to the formation of the woman described in Genesis 2.20-24 the author's popular form of expression is obvious. From his anthropomorphic description of God leading the animals before "Adam" for "Adam" to impose names on them, the author passes to an equally anthropomorphic description of God taking a rib from "Adam" and "making" it into a woman.