Many have argued on this subject for some time now due to their divergent opinions on it. It is said that man is a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body… others think man is a living soul in a body; this with no recourse to man being a spirit. Let us go back to the beginning…

Genesis 2 vs 7: 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. KJV
From the above, it implies that God’s breathe ¬+ man’s body = living soul.
Hence, when God’s breathe departs a man, the man returns to his former state – the state he was when he was formed of the dust of the ground before the breath of God came upon him. It is therefore logical to conclude that with the burial of man, the cycle is complete. Hence, the dust-to-dust ritual always performed at burials.

Genesis 3 vs 19: For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.

Since God did not directly create a soul, and I assume we know what the body is, let us examine the breath of life. It is the life-giving component of the two components brought together that manifested into the soul created.

Understanding the soul
In some other translations of the bible, the word “soul” is substituted with the word “being.” This implies that man became a living being when God’s breath entered his body. The word translated into “soul” in Hebrew is nephesh, meaning “an animated, breathing, conscious, and living being.”

Let us dive into the dictionary for the meanings of these words.
Soul: nonphysical aspect of person: the complex of human attributes that manifests as consciousness, thought, feeling, and will, regarded as distinct from the physical body.
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

The same above source says the meaning of the word being is “a human individual.”

What is the Breath of Life?
There is no specific definition whatsoever from the bible what the ‘breath of life’ is. However, evidences from the scriptures shows two main directions:
1. It is simply the rare gift – life.
Genesis 6 vs 17: "Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.

2. Spirit given to man by God.
Psalm 104 vs 29: You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust.
Isaiah 42 vs 5: Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it.

You will however recall the logical calculation done earlier; if you take away the breath of life in a man, he dies… let us consider what these scriptures have to say…
Ecclesiastics 12 vs 7: and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Psalm 104 vs 29: You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust.
The above scripture clearly state that the spirit in man is man’s. Hence, when man’s spirit leaves the body, the flesh becomes lifeless.

3. Job made mention of both the breath of life and spirit in same verse as can be seen in Job 34: 14-15.

Going back to Genesis 2:7; the soul of a man seem to be at a point in which both the spirit of man and his physical housing interact. The soul seem to be that portion where intelligence, will, emotions are made manifest.
Look at the diagram below…