James Jordan has pointed out that Adam is first called “man” (Heb. ‘ish ) when Eve is presented to him (Genesis 2:22). He further suggests that ‘ish is punningly connected with the Hebrew word for fire, ‘esh . Adam, the man of earth, becomes enflamed, burns with Pentecostal flame, when he sees his bride. Enflamed, he turns poet, and sings.
The same sequence is replicated in the sacrificial system. When an adam wants to draw near to Yahweh, He needs to do it through an animal, an animal that gets divided and turned into smoke in the altar fire (Leviticus 1:2). Each Israelite adam, made from earth, has to be divided in two and inflamed before he can be near Yahweh. He must be transformed from adam to ‘ish through the ‘esh of Yahweh. He has to be transformed by fire into bridal food, ishishah .
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