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1 In the beginning[a] God created the heavens and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and a wind[b] from God moved over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

4 And God saw that the light was good, therefore God divided[c] between the light and between[d] the darkness.

5 And God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. And there was morning and there was evening: day one[e].¶

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament[f] in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament[6f], and divided between the waters which were under the firmament and between the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament[6f] “heaven”; and there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place[g], and let the dry land appear,” and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land “earth”; and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”; and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth green herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seeds inside, upon the earth; and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth green herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with seeds inside, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament[6f] of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them serve as signs, and for seasons, and for days and years,

15 and let them serve as luminaries in the firmament[6f] of heaven to give light upon the earth;” and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night and the stars.

17 And God set them in the firmament[6f] of heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 and to govern over the day and over the night, and to divide between the light and between the darkness; and God saw that it was good.

19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the waters teem with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open firmament[6f] of the heavens.”

21 And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, with which the waters teemed after their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply; fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.”

23 And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind,” and it was so.

25 And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that moves upon the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens[6f], and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that moves upon the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

28 And God blessed them, and said unto them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth; and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens[6f], and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every green herb bearing seed upon the face of the earth, and every tree bearing fruit yielding seed; to you it shall be for food;

30 Likewise to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens[6f], and to everything that moves upon the earth, wherein there is the breath of life[h], I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day[i].

[1] BERESHEIT – 7225.rê·šîṯ also means “choice” as well as “first”, so this passage can also read “God created heaven and earth with free will”. This teaches that what is most fundamental to God's creation is free will. (See lecture Who is Amalek? 30:00 and on, or so). xf. Exodus 23:19, 34:26 (the choice of the first fruits) and many others ex. 1 Sa. 15:21

[1] HEAVENS, THE EARTH – 8064.haš·šā·ma·yim – is plural. 776.hā-’ā-reṣ.

[1] 7225.bə-rê-šîṯ 1254.bā-rā 430.’ĕ-lō-hîm – Why is God's name plural? The point here is that it is a name – both BERESIT and BARA are singular forms, indicating the singular entity with the name Elohim. This is in fact not English and names in Hebrew are similar to names in Chinese, in that they have an intrinsic meaning. In English one would not call someone “The Might of God” or “Mighty God” in some translations, but this is in fact the meaning of the name Hezekiah. Another example would be “Hashem is my God” (Elijah). Another example would be Isaiah, which means “Hashem is my Saviour.” In English a name operates like “Don” or “Gary” which does not carry a direct meaning in this sense. Thus analyzing the hebrew grammar for what it is, we see definitively Elohim is a name and the plural nature of the name is not interesting to us from an analytical standpoint. We also note the idea of an uncountable noun such as “mayim” (water) which may refer to an uncountable body of water.

[1] In the beginning – In addition to what Rashi writes, 'gave to whom he pleased' includes the Noachide covenant. The telling of the Noachide story and of the eternally binding Noachide covenant is of vital importance in bringing light to the world; it shows that all men have a responsibility for their relationship with God. It provides a starting point for our daily lives; “start here; this is the least of what you must do.” Genesis teaches us that every man can have a relationship with God, as we are all sons of Adam, and sons of Noah.

[2] a wind from God – In Hebrew, 'Ruach Ha-Kodesh'; lit. a wind of God. The Christian translation is usually “the Spirit of God” (compare with Deuteronomy 4:15 et.) As far as I am aware this rationale for the tn is original among English versions.

[2] and – the principle for translation here is to show the beginning of creation before time; in any case, the “and” for “and a wind from God…” does not necessarily need to be capitalized, but can be considered a continuation of the sentence. In any case we saw 'and' in the KJV or ASV we kept it for the purpose of maintaining proper context.

[4] separating – Knowing God through his actions, we see that one of God's actions is the act of separating the light (which was found to be good) from the darkness. Therefore, one of God's actions is to choose good over what is not good.

[4d] between and between – This follows the Hebrew word order and supports cross references and commentary such as Isaiah 45:7. Also see 1:7, 1:14 etc. which has the same “ū-ḇên” (and between) as noted.)]

[5e] day one – The Hebrew text uses the ordinal number 'one' versus the cardinal number 'first' to indicate God's oneness; the grammar is different than the other markings such as 'the second day'.

[5] How could there be a day even though there was no sun and moon? In this case the text gives us a clear answer. Initially, the only light came from God ('let there be light,') Then, God separated the light from the darkness. He then called, or named this as day and night. But it was not the “day” and “night” of the solar calendar, it was the day and night of the first day of creation in God's time. Science tells us the universe is many billions of years old, and that light itself did not appear until billions of years after the 'big bang'. There is nothing contradictory here, and in fact it is somewhat interesting to note that the Bible tells us that light surely existed before our sun was created! Also the concept of day and night as heavenly bodies began to rotate around each other, was surely in place billions of years before any life appeared on Earth. Thus a careful reading of Genesis does not appear to conflict with science, but to confirm it.

[6f] 'a firmament' is h.7549, “rā·qî·a‘”. This is the same word found in v.7, 8, 14, 15, 17, 20 and other places marked in cross reference. If we are looking to understand this word, from Genesis 1:20 we see the word means “sky” in an exact sense, but may be considered to have a more general meaning of “heaven” in the sense of the physical “space” – the universe, the stars, and so forth. Later, in v.26,28,30 the firmament will be referred to in another way, “‘ō-wp̄ haš-šā-ma-yim” i.e. birds of the air, implying again that this firmament is in some sense the sky.

[9g] into one (a; their) place – Just as God set the proper limits for the level of the water, he set the proper limits for everything else; the right amount of oxygen in the air, for example, to support the rest of his creation. I.E. he had the rest of his creation in mind when he did this (including Human beings).

[30h] 'the breath of life' (ne-p̄eš ḥay-yāh) is the same language used in Genesis 2:7 and 9:4. See cross reference.

[31i] sixth day – There are seven days in the creation narrative, but Genesis 1 only discusses the first six days, leaving the seventh for Genesis 2 (see notes for Genesis 2).

[2] Isaiah 45:7

[2a] Genesis 8:1, Deuteronomy 4:15-18

[2b] Deuteronomy 32:10-11

[26] Leviticus 11:44-45, Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 20:7, 1 Peter 1:16

[6a] v.7,8,14,15,17, Psalm 19:1, Psalm 150:1, Ezekiel 1:22,23,25,26, Ezekiel 10:1, Daniel 12:3.

[6a] 'firmament' later referred to in v. 26, 28, 30 and other places ex. ‘ō-wp̄ haš-šā-ma-yim “birds of the air”

The goal of the commentary section is to twofold; to provide insight into the text in order to promote further study, and for myself to record and remember material I like to go over in the form of sermon notes. My commentary is not inspired, it is merely the work of someone who is interested in the Bible for what it is – for what it claims to be, for what it appears to be – the word of God. My aim is to approach the text as a learner, with respect and honesty in my studies.

In this chapter we see the initial creation of Man, upon which three statements are made; One, that instead of 'after their kind,' Man is created 'after (our kind)' i.e. “in our image”. This primarily refers to those qualities we observe in the first part of this chapter, but could be expended to other qualities of God expressed later (ex. ‘Be holy for I am holy.’). Therefore our first consideration is that human beings are not mindless animals but instead have a capacity and responsibility to act in accordance with discernment – not to blindly seek hedonism and self-interest.

Part of the observed qualities of “in the image of God” are underlined by the act itself; instead of animals acting on instinct, God discusses the creation of man with the angels; this requires language, conscious thought, judgement, capacity, agency, patience, care and respect for others. All of these and more are the traits which separate man from the animals.

Thus we conclude that since humans were created with language, free-will, and the capacity to discern (ex. light from darkness). that even though Adam did not have an evil inclination, he was aware that it was better (proper) to follow God's commands than to immediately set out to fight against him; nevertheless he was able to be deceived (or tempted) as he had possession of free-will. The difference here is that Adam and Eve did not consciously choose to disobey God as the impetus for their actions; the impetus for their actions was some secondary or “other” idea, disconnected from the idea of willful disobedience.

1. Humans were created in the image of God instead of “after the kind” of an animal. What are some of the differences between Humans and Animals?

2. What other qualities of God do we see revealed in Genesis?

Secondly, we see that God has blessed us and commanded (said unto us) “be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion…' These statements are so important they are repeated twice, which may be taken as giving them extra significance (see Genesis 8:21).

This also reflects the image of God; He creates and creates (this is his nature in creation) and does not act in a destructive (or self-destructive) manner. This is an interesting command because we have been blessed to accomplish it, yet the command is not to be fruitful but to be fruitful and multiply. It is not enough to simply desire to do this commandment or to engage it in purely for pleasure. It is still a commandment, and the fruit of the commandment (to multiply) is equally as important to keeping it as to be fruitful. Thus we learn that God can lead us and guide us but it is ultimately up to us to make the right decisions and to keep his commandments in a proper, righteous manner. Also as God has a plan for his creation one must be mindful of the result's of one's actions and plan them carefully. In this instance as one's goal is to bring Children into the world (also teaching us that God's goal was to bring Man into the world) we must be mindful of the principals of family planning from the beginning.

1. God said “be fruitful and multiply”. He did not ask us to do it, it is not part of a covenant. How is God's commandment to be fruitful and multiply enforced upon us?

2. The commandment is to “be fruitful” and multiply; what aspect of this commandment is within our free will to accomplish?

3. In what ways can this commandment be violated under our free-will, despite our desire to accomplish it?

'To have dominion,' is another interesting statement. It is also phrased as a command. What is the mode of observance? We learn this from more specific passages later on, such as 2:15 (“to dress it and to keep it”) but it also may be seen from the passage “after the likeness (in the image of) God”. In what sense we are like God is the sense that we may know God from his actions, and in this sense we can get a clear picture of how God wants us to exercise dominion over the earth:

a. God first observed, and then separated between the good and the evil (day 2). God is careful, and decisive over the choice of good and evil. For example, do not play at evil; do not for example have friends that entice one into (even a mild) evil.

b. God creates and creates, which is his work, but does not destroy and destroy (for his good work). From this we learn that our goal here is not to destroy the earth or deplete it of resources for personal financial gain. We know then that we must protect the earth, but also the basic principles of social interaction with other peoples and cultures; we must be friendly and amicable in all our relationships, and seek friendship and not war whenever possible.

c. Being created in the image of God means that we are to act in accordance with God's approval. It would not make sense for us to be created in the image of God and as such desire to act opposite to his own nature. Instead, being in his likeness means our nature is similar to his nature. Thus, being given dominion over the earth, we already know this means to care for and protect God's creation, for his intention in creating it was to have it be created, and not destroyed.

Thus even without strong statements or commandments, much can be inferred by the statement that we have been created in the image of God. In every case where God makes a judgement or a statement deciding morality or practice, we are to assume that it is God's wish that we follow his example.

44 For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. 45 For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”Leviticus 11:44-45

This commandment is repeated twice; once for all men, “I am the LORD your GOD [Elohim; as used in Genesis 1]” and now again especially for the Hebrews at Mt. Sinai “I am the LORD who brought you out of Egypt…” Therefore we may take from this a clear meaning of Genesis 1. Also see: Leviticus 19:2, 20:7, and also NT 1 Peter 1:16 which quotes these passages. We may also see that the first time is given less of a commandment as the second time; the second time is a therefore; the first time is merely a 'should'! This is in line with what we expect from the statements in Genesis 1.

1. As human beings, what is our responsibility towards the earth?

2. In what ways can we accomplish this responsibility as a group, and as individuals in our daily lives?

3. What are some ways in which people reject or go against this commandment?

Often given using the example of being fruitful without multiplying; to use the existing analogy.

May we spend our time on off-duty assignments, such as the pursuit of resources at the expense of the environment? Or to pursue a career in lieu of raising children? Or in the practice of idolatry? Even if we say, there is still time before the end of the day to get our work done? No we may not, because we do not know if there is still time, therefore the time is now, to be sure; this is reflected in that when God did work he did his work at the proper time, and did not rest from it until his work was finished. As God did not rest during work-time, neither should we, and this is of course just one of the many lessons we can learn from God's actions here. Thus, “no work, no food”; one must not put off until tomorrow the work that can be done today, one must finish his work before taking a holiday, and so forth.

Selected commentary.

[1] h.בראשית IN THE BEGINNING — Rabbi Isaac said: The Torah which is the Law book of Israel should have commenced with the verse (Exodus 12:2) “This month shall be unto you the first of the months” which is the first commandment given to Israel. What is the reason, then, that it commences with the account of the Creation? Because of the thought expressed in the text (Psalms 111:6) “He declared to His people the strength of His works (i.e. He gave an account of the work of Creation), in order that He might give them the heritage of the nations.” For should the peoples of the world say to Israel, “You are robbers, because you took by force the lands of the seven nations of Canaan”, Israel may reply to them, “All the earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it and gave it to whom He pleased. When He willed He gave it to them, and when He willed He took it from them and gave it to us” (Yalkut Shimoni on Torah [18]7).

[1] h.בראשית ברא IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED — This verse calls aloud for explanation in the manner that our Rabbis explained it: God created the world for the sake of the Torah which is called (Proverbs 8:22) “The beginning (ראשית) of His (God’s) way”, and for the sake of Israel who are called (Jeremiah 2:3) “The beginning (ראשית) of His (God’s) increase’’. If, however, you wish to explain it in its plain sense, explain it thus: At the beginning of the Creation of heaven and earth when the earth was without form and void and there was darkness, God said, “Let there be light”. The text does not intend to point out the order of the acts of Creation — to state that these (heaven and earth) were created first; for if it intended to point this out, it should have written 'בראשונה ברא את השמים וגו “At first God created etc.” And for this reason: Because, wherever the word ראשית occurs in Scripture, it is in the construct state. E. g., (Jeremiah 26:1) “In the beginning of (בראשית) the reign of Jehoiakim”; (Genesis 10:10) “The beginning of (ראשית) his kingdom”; (Deuteronomy [18]:4) “The first fruit of (ראשית) thy corn.” Similarly here you must translate בראשית ברא אלהים as though it read בראשית ברוא, at the beginning of God’s creating. A similar grammatical construction (of a noun in construct followed by a verb) is: (Hosea 1:2) תחלת דבר ה' בהושע, which is as much as to say, “At the beginning of God’s speaking through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea.” Should you, however, insist that it does actually intend to point out that these (heaven and earth) were created first, and that the meaning is, “At the beginning of everything He created these, admitting therefore that the word בראשית is in the construct state and explaining the omission of a word signifying “everything” by saying that you have texts which are elliptical, omitting a word, as for example (Job 3:10) “Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb” where it does not explicitly explain who it was that closed the womb; and (Isaiah 8:4) “He shall take away the spoil of Samaria” without explaining who shall take it away; and (Amos 6:12) “Doth he plough with oxen,” and it does not explicitly state, “Doth a man plough with oxen”; (Isaiah 46:10) “Declaring from the beginning the end,” and it does not explicitly state, “Declaring from the beginning of a thing the end of a thing’ — if it is so (that you assert that this verse intends to point out that heaven and earth were created first), you should be astonished at yourself, because as a matter of fact the waters were created before heaven and earth, for, lo, it is written, (v. 2) “The Spirit of God was hovering on the face of the waters,” and Scripture had not yet disclosed when the creation of the waters took place — consequently you must learn from this that the creation of the waters preceded that of the earth. And a further proof that the heavens and earth were not the first thing created is that the heavens were created from fire (אש) and water (מים), from which it follows that fire and water were in existence before the heavens. Therefore you must needs admit that the text teaches nothing about the earlier or later sequence of the acts of Creation.

[1] h.ברא אלהים GOD [AS JUDGE] CREATED — It does not state 'ברא ה “The Lord (the Merciful One) created, because at first God intended to create it (the world) to be placed under the attribute (rule) of strict justice, but He realised that the world could not thus endure and therefore gave precedence to Divine Mercy allying it with Divine Justice. It is to this that what is written in (Genesis 2:4) alludes — “In the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven”.

h.תהו ובהו DESOLATE AND VOID — The word תהו signifies astonishment and amazement, for a person would have been astonished and amazed at its emptiness.

h.תהו is estordison in old French.

h.בהו VOID — The word signifies emptiness and empty space.

h.על פני תהום ON THE FACE OF THE DEEP — i. e. the waters which were upon the earth.

h.ורוח אלהים מרחפת AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD WAS HOVERING — The throne of Divine Glory was standing in space, hovering over the face of the waters by the breath of the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, and by His command, even as a dove hovers over its nest. In old French acoveter.

h.וירא אלהים את האור כי טוב ויבדל AND GOD SAW THE LIGHT THAT IT WAS GOOD, AND GOD CAUSED A DIVISION — Here, also, we must depend upon the statement of the Agada: He saw that the wicked were unworthy of using it (the light); He, therefore, set it apart (ויבדל), reserving it for the righteous in the world to come (Chagigah 12a). But according to the plain sense explain it thus: He saw that it was good, and that it was not seemly that light and darkness should function together in a confused manner. He therefore limited this one’s sphere of activity to the daytime, and this one’s sphere of activity to the nighttime (see Genesis Rabbah 3:6).

h.יום אחד THE FIRST DAY (literally, one day) — According to the regular mode of expression used in this chapter it should be written here “first day”, just as it is written with regard to the other days “the second”, “the third”, “the fourth”. Why, then, does it write אחד “one”? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, was then the Only One (Sole Being) in His Universe, since the angels were not created until the second day. Thus it is explained in Genesis Rabbah (Genesis Rabbah 3:8).

h.יהי רקיע BE THERE AN EXPANSE — Let the expansion become fixed; for although the heavens were created on the first day, they were still in a fluid form, and they became solidified only on the second day at the dread command (literally, rebuke) of the Holy One, blessed be He, when he said “Let the firmament be stable” (Genesis Rabbah 4:2). It is to this that allusion is made in what is written in (Job 26:11): “The pillars of heaven were trembling” (i. e. they were unstable) — this was during the whole of the first day — and on the second (Job 26:11): “they were astonished at His rebuke”, like a man who stands immovable, amazed at the rebuke of one who terrifies him.

h.בתוך המים IN THE MIDST OF THE WATERS — In the exact centre of the waters; because there is the same distance between the upper waters and the firmament as there is between the firmament and the waters that are upon the earth. Thus you may infer that they (the upper waters) are suspended in space by the command of the King (Genesis Rabbah 4:3).

h.ויעש אלהים את הרקיע AND GOD MADE THE EXPANSE — He put it in proper condition in its place: this is the meaning of “making” it. Similarly (Deuteronomy 21:12) ועשתה את צפרניה “And she shall let grow (literally, make) her nails”.

h.מעל לרקיע ABOVE THE EXPANSE — It is not said here על הרקיע “upon the firmament״, but מעל “hanging from above”, because they (the waters) were suspended in space (Genesis Rabbah 4:3). Why is it not stated in reference to the work of the second day “that it was good”? Because the work associated with water was not completed until the third day — He only began it on the second — and anything that is not completed is not in a state of perfection and at its best (and so cannot be termed “good”). Therefore on the third day when He completed the work associated with water and another work was commenced and finished, the words כי טוב are repeated, once in reference to the completion of the work of the second day, and again in reference to the completion of the work of that day (Genesis Rabbah 4:10).

h.ויקרא אלהים לרקיע שמים AND GOD CALLED THE EXPANSE HEAVEN — The word “שמים”, Heaven, may be regarded as made up of שא מים “Carry water”, or שם מים “There is water”, or אש ומים “Fire and water”. He mingled fire with water and of them He made the heavens (Chagigah 12a).

h.יקוו המים THE WATERS SHALL BE DRAWN TOGETHER — For they were then spread over the surface of the whole earth, and He now gathered them together into what now constitutes the Ocean, which is the largest of all seas (Genesis Rabbah 5:2).

h.קרא ימים CALLED HE SEAS — But does it not form one great sea? But it speaks of seas because the taste of fish which comes up from the sea at Acco is not the same as the taste of fish which comes up from the sea at Aspamia (Genesis Rabbah 5:8).

h.תדשא הארץ דשא עשב THE EARTH SHALL SPROUT FORTH SPROUTS, HERB — דשא does not mean the same as עשב nor does עשב mean the same as דשא so that it is not a correct expression in Biblical Hebrew to say תעשיב הארץ, for the species of דשא are all different, each by itself being called this or that עשב, and it would not be linguistically correct for a speaker to say this or that דשא, for by דשא is meant that which forms the covering of the ground when it is filled with herbage.

h.תדשא הארץ THE EARTH SHALL SPROUT FORTH [SPROUTS] — Let it be filled and covered with a garment of different grasses. In old French דשא is called herbaries; English herbage, meaning all species of herbs growing together collectively whilst each root by itself is called an עשב.

h.— מזריע זרע YIELDING SEED — that its seed should grow within itself, so that some of it may be sown in another spot.

h.עץ פרי FRUIT TREE — that the taste of the tree be exactly the same as that of the fruit. It did not, however, do this, but (v. 13) “the earth brought forth a tree yielding fruit” and the tree itself was not a fruit; therefore when Adam was cursed on account of his sin, it (the earth) was also visited (because of its sin) and was cursed also (Genesis Rabbah 5:9).

h.אשר זרעו בו WHOSE SEED IS IN ITSELF — This refers to the kernels of each kind of fruit from which the tree grows when they are planted.

h.ותוצא הארץ וגו AND THE EARTH BROUGHT FORTH etc. — Although the expression למינהו according to its kind, was not used when the various kinds of herbage were bidden to come forth, they heard that the trees were so commanded and they applied to themselves the argument à fortiore (ק“ו), as it is explained in an Aggadic passage in (Chullin 60a).

h.יהי מארת BE THERE LUMINARIES — They had been created on the first day, but on the fourth He commanded them to be suspended in the firmament (Chagigah 12a). Indeed, all the productions of heaven and earth were created on the first day, but each of them was put in its place on that day when it was so commanded. In reference to this it is written את השמים (v. 1) In the beginning God created that which was את with the heavens etc., in order to include all the productions of heaven, ואת הארץ to include all its (the earth’s) productions (Genesis Rabbah 12:4).

h.יהי מארת The word is written without the ו after the א (so that it may be read מארת, cursed), because it is a cursed day when children are liable to suffer from croup. In reference to this we read (in Taanit 27b): On the fourth day of the week they used to fast to avert croup from the children (Yerushalmi Taanit 4:3).

h.להבדיל בין היום ובין הלילה TO CAUSE A DIVISION BETWEEN THE DAY AND THE NIGHT — This took place after the primeval (divine) light was conserved for the righteous; but during the first seven [another reading is “three”] days of Creation the primeval light and darkness functioned together both by day and by night.

h.והיו לאותות AND THEY SHALL BE FOR SIGNS — When the heavenly luminaries are eclipsed it is a sign of ill-omen for the world, as it is written, (Jeremiah 10:2) “Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven” — when you carry out the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, you need apprehend no calamity (Sukkah 29a).

h.ולמועדים AND FOR SEASONS (FESTIVALS) — This is written with a view to the future when Israel would receive command regarding the festivals which would be calculated from the time of the lunar conjunction (Genesis Rabbah 6:1).

h.ולימים AND FOR DAYS — The sun functions half a day and the moon the other half — together a full day.

h.ושנים AND FOR YEARS — At the end of three hundred and sixty five days [another version: 365¼] they complete their course through the twelve signs of the Zodiac that attend them, and that is one year [another version: and this makes 365¼ days]; they then begin to revolve a second time in a circle similar to their first cycle.

h.והיו למאורות AND LET THEM BE FOR LIGHTS — They shall serve also this purpose, namely, to give light to the world.

h.המאורות הגדולים THE GREAT LUMINARIES — They were created of equal size, but that of the moon was diminished because she complained and said, “It is impossible for two kings to make use of one crown” (Chullin 60b).

h.ואת הכוכבים AND THE STARS — Because He diminished the moon, He increased its attendant hosts to mollify it (Genesis Rabbah 6:4).

h.נפש חיה LIVING CREATURES — Creatures that shall have vitality.

h.שרץ Every living creature that does not rise much above the ground is called שרץ, e. g., of winged creatures — flies; of abominable creatures — ants, beetles and worms; of larger creatures — the mole, snail and others of the same kind, and all fishes.

h.התנינים THE HUGE CREATURES — the large fishes that are in the sea; and according to the statement of the Agada (Bava Batra 74b) it means here the Leviathan and its consort which He created male and female. He, however, killed the female and preserved it in salt for the benefit of the righteous in the time to come, for had they been permitted to be fruitful and to multiply the world could not have endured because of them.

h.נפש חיה — that have vitality.

h.ויברך אותם AND HE BLESSED THEM — Because people decreased their number, hunting them and eating them, they needed a blessing (Genesis Rabbah 11:2); it is true that beasts also were in need of a blessing, but on account of the serpent that was to be cursed in the future, He did not bless them, in order that it might not be included in the blessing.

h.פרו BE FRUITFUL — פרו is of the same root as פרי, and means bring forth fruit.

h.ורבו AND MULTIPLY — Had He said “Be fruitful” only, one creature might have brought forth a single one, and no more, therefore He added ורבו “and multiply”, implying that one should bring forth many.

h.תוצא הארץ THE EARTH SHALL BRING FORTH — That is what I have explained (v. 14) that all things were created on the first day, and it was only necessary to bring them forth from the ground.

h.נפש חיה — that have vitality.

h.ורמש — It means creeping swarms that creep low upon the ground; they appear as though they are dragged along, for how they move is not discernible. What we call רמש and שרץ in our (Hebrew) language, they call in old French mouvoir; English to move.

h.ויעש AND HE MADE — He formed them with their full volition and in their full stature (Chullin 60a).

h.נעשה אדם WE WILL MAKE MAN — The meekness of the Holy One, blessed be He, they (the Rabbis) learned from here: because the man is in the likeness of the angels and they might envy him, therefore He took counsel with them (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot [18] and see Genesis Rabbah 8). And when He judges the kings He likewise consults His heavenly council, for thus we find in the case of Ahab to whom Micha said, (1 Kings 22:19) “I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left.” Has God, then, a right hand and a left hand? But it means that some stood on the right side to plead in favour of the accused and others stood on the left side to accuse; and similarly we read (Daniel 4:14), “the matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones”, — here, also, He consulted His heavenly council and asked permission of them, saying to them: “There are in the heavens beings after My likeness; if there will not be on earth also beings after My likeness, there will be envy among the beings that I have created” (Sanhedrin 38b).

h.נעשה אדם WE WILL MAKE MAN — Although they did not assist Him in forming him (the man) and although this use of the plural may give the heretics an occasion to rebel (i. e. to argue in favour of their own views), yet the verse does not refrain from teaching proper conduct and the virtue of humbleness, namely, that the greater should consult, and take permission from the smaller; for had it been written, “I shall make man”, we could not, then, have learned that He spoke to His judicial council but to Himself. And as a refutation of the heretics it is written immediately after this verse “And God created the man”, and it is not written “and they created” (Genesis Rabbah 8:9)

h.בצלמנו IN OUR IMAGE — in our type.

h.כדמתנו AFTER OUR LIKENESS — with the power to comprehend and to discern.

h.וירדו בדגת הים AND THEY SHALL HAVE DOMINION OVER THE FISH … [AND OVER THE BEASTS] — The expression וירדו may imply dominion as well as descending — if he is worthy he dominates over the beasts and cattle, if he is not worthy he will sink lower than them, and the beast will rule over him (Genesis Rabbah 8:12).

h.ויברא אלהים את האדם בצלמו SO GOD CREATED THE MAN IN HIS IMAGE —in the type that was specially made for him, for everything else was created by a creative fiat, whilst he was brought into existence by a creative act (literally, by hand), as it is said (Psalms 139:5) “And Thou hast laid thy hand upon me.” He was made by a seal as a coin that is made by a die that is called in old French coin. It is similarly said, (Job 28:14) “it is changed as clay under the seal” (Sanhedrin 38a).

h.בצלם אלהים ברא אותו IN THE IMAGE OF GOD CREATED HE HIM — It explains to you that the form prepared for him was the form of the image of his Creator.

h.זכר ונקבה ברא אותם MALE AND FEMALE CREATED HE THEM — And further on (Genesis 2:21) it is said: “and He took one of his ribs etc.” (The two passages appear to be contradictory.) But according to a Midrashic explanation, He created him at first with two faces, and afterwards He divided him. But the real sense of the verse is: here it tells you that both of them were created on the sixth day, but it does not explain to you how their creation took place; this it explains to you in another place (Genesis Rabbah 8:1 and see Eruvin [18]a).

h.וכבשה AND SUBDUE IT — The word lacks a ו after the ש so that it may be read as meaning: and subdue her (i. e. the woman), thereby teaching you that the male controls the female in order that she may not become a gad-about; teaching you also that to the man, whose nature is to master, was given the Divine command to have issue, and not to the woman (Yevamot 65b).

h.ולכל חית הארץ AND TO EVERY BEAST OF THE EARTH — Scripture places cattle and beasts on a level with them (human beings: that is, it places all alike in the same category) with regard to food, and did not permit Adam to kill any creature and eat its flesh, but all alike were to eat herbs. But when the era of the “Sons of Noah” began He permitted them to eat meat, for it is said, (Genesis 9:3) “every moving thing that lives should be for food for yourselves … “even as the herb” that I permitted to the first man, so do “I give to you everything” (Sanhedrin 59b).

h.יום הששי THE SIXTH DAY — The letter ה, the numerical value of which is 5, is added to the word ששי when the work of Creation was complete, to imply that He made a stipulation with them that it endures only upon condition that Israel should accept the five books of the Torah (Shabbat 88a). Another interpretation of יום הששי THE SIXTH DAY — The whole Creation (the Universe) stood in a state of suspense (moral imperfection) until the sixth day — that is, the sixth day of Sivan which was destined to be the day when the Torah would be given to Israel (Avodah Zara 3a).