When does the idiom 'breathed new life into' originate from?

Solution 1:

The expression appears in writing, according to Google Books, from the late 18th century, but there are probably earlier usages, one that is worth mentioning is from Shakespeare’s “All's Well That Ends Well” Act 2, scene 1, 72–78:

I have seen a medicine

That's able to breathe life into a stone,

Quicken a rock, and make you dance canary

The site enotes.com comments that:

Applying poetic images to convince the skeptical king, Lafew claims that Helena's medicine can "breathe life into a stone" and, synonymously, "Quicken a rock" (the images may derive from Genesis 2:7).

From Genesis 2:7

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

bibblehub.com