[chapter] Genesis 1

[version] NSV

[license] Please see License for Copyright notice and Licensing information.

[0 h3] The First Book of Moses, called Genesis.

[1 h3] In the Beginning,

[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[a] from God moved over the waters.

[3 h3] The First Day

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

[4] And God saw that the light was good, therefore God divided[a] between the light and between[b] 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[a].

[6 h3] The Second Day

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

[7] And God made the firmament, 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 “heaven”; and there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

[9 h3] The Third Day

[9 h3] He separateth the water from the earth.

[9] And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place[a], 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 h3] The Fourth Day

[14 h3] He createth the sun, the moon, and the stars.

[14] And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament 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 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 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 h3] The Fifth Day

[20 h3] He createth the fish, birds, beasts,

[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 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 h3] The Sixth Day

[24 h3] He createth man, and giveth him rule over all creatures,

[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, 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, and over every living thing[a] that moves upon the earth.”

[29 h3] Plants for Food

[29 h3] And provideth nurture for man and beast.

[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, and to everything that moves upon the earth, wherein there is life[a], 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[a].

.notes

[1a] In the beginning – In addition to what Rashi writes, 'gave to whom he pleased' will here include the Noachide covenant, for the telling of the Noachide story and of the eternally binding Noachide covenant is of vital importance in bringing light to the world; in the least 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, to be righteous; to be like Noah, and also to strive to be like Abraham. In this the book of Genesis demonstrates every man can have a relationship with God, as we are all sons of Noah.

[2a] 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.

[4a] 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. also see 1:7 and 1:14 which has the same “ū-ḇên” (and between) as noted.)]

[4b] between and between – This follows the Hebrew word order and supports cross references and commentary such as Isaiah 45:7.

[5a] 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'.

[9a] 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).

[31a] 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).

[crossref]

[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

[commentary]

[0] 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”. In this, human beings are not mindless animals but instead have a capacity and responsibility to act in accordance (ex. ‘Be holy for I am holy.’) and not to seek only hedonism and our own self-interest.

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). Thus what may the Noachide infer from these passages?

a. We are created in the Image (likeness) of God. We are “like” God in the sense that we have a language and have the capacity for conscious thought; free will. b. We have been given dominion (control) over the earth. c. We are blessed to, and commanded to, be fruitful and multiply.

All of these are responsibilities for us to bear as they are commandments; but in the one which we were blessed to do, we have a great desire to accomplish! Yet, it is still a commandment, as we must to be fruitful and also to multiply; it is not enough to have desire to do the commandment if the commandment is done improperly. Secondly then how may we know in which manner to exercise dominion over the earth? There are 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:

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 a destroyer is not respected. We know then that we must protect the earth, but also that 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, but being given no commandment, carries with it some responsibility; God has ultimate responsibility, and the nature of our conscious thought and the nature of our dominion over the earth implies that some of that responsibility has fallen into our cups. For example, if we know that God is our father we must respect him as a father! It is unstated but true that we must understand God created the universe, and is the all-powerful eternal creator and ruler of the universe. This is not so much a commandment but an expectment; in such a sense we may state this is not a Noachide “Law” but a Noachide “Knowledge” or a Noachide “Expectation”. If one does not even know that the LORD God is the Creator of heaven and earth and all things within, or rather if one does not first make that connection, there is no other starting point. First one may say, that the creator of heaven and earth and all things is the LORD God, and then from there one may infer most other things as a result of being in the image of God; such that He is all-powerful, and that we were created by him specially (“Let us make…”) for the purpose of acting out his (“in our image”) will (“dominion”) upon the earth; and so forth.

Although there are yet no easily definable statements, one may at least state that one is to honor, love and respect the LORD God as our father and not just creator, as we were not merely created by him after our kind but created in his likeness; Secondly, we are commanded to have at least two and better three children (to multiply). And also therefore to take care of them and the world (dominion, or responsibility).

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. Therefore I will add this as a general observance as well, for God also says

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.

[rashi] [text] 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 187).

[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”.

[2] desolate and void 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.

[4] “…saw the light…caused a division…” 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).

[5] first day 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).

[6] an expanse 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).

[7] “…and God made…” 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).

[8] “…called the expanse Heaven…” 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).

[9] “the waters shall be drawn together” 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).

[10] “…he called seas…” 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).

[11] sprouts, herb, 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.

[12] “…according to its kind…” 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).

[14] ”…luminaries…“ 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.

[15] ”…let them be for lights…“ h.והיו למאורות AND LET THEM BE FOR LIGHTS — They shall serve also this purpose, namely, to give light to the world.

[16] ”…great luminaries…“ 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).

[20] ”…living creatures…“ 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.

[21] ”…huge creatures…“ 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.

[22] ”…blessed…“ 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.

[24] ”…earth shall bring forth…“ 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.

[25] ”…made…“