The Power of Speech

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7

A person should not profane the valuable power of speech with which man alone was endowed. It is this ability to speak which manifestly symbolizes the uniqueness of the human being. The supremacy of speech and the power it gives humanity does not stem from the mechanics of articulation. The movements of tongue and lips are only facilitators of speech. It is rather the intelligence capable of creating the spoken communication that marks the distinction between man and animal and endows him with his crown of humanity.

The attribute of speech with which man alone was endowed is like an intelligence unto itself, coming to him directly from the Creator, and has not evolved or been synthesized from other factors. This is revealed clearly in the verse, “And He blew into his nostrils the spirit of life, and Man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). Onkolos translates this, “And He blew into his nostrils the spirit of life, and it was transformed within man to the spirit of speech.” And the Ramban explains that he who blows into the nostrils of another instills in him his own soul, and that is as it says, “And the soul of God shall make them understand.”

For it was the intelligent soul which God instilled, so to speak, in his nostrils, that became the speaking soul with which he could be clever and speak, etc.

(Kaplan, Aryeh, ed. 1991. The Torah Anthology, Book Fourteen. Brooklyn, New York: Moznaim Publishing Corporation., pg xv)