B'reshith/Genesis
CHAPTER 1
1. Originally [b'reshith], Elohim formed the heavens and earth:
Originally: or "in a beginning" (not necessarily the very beginning of all things). In fact, the word is based on "head", but comes from a root meaning "to shake", as a head of grain and the head of a human being can shake. The language indicates that it was the shaking of something that had existed before (see v. 2 and compare Haggai 1:6). In addition to making or “creating” men, this term “formed” is used of cutting down a forest to carve out more living space (Y’hoshua 17:18), making oneself fat (1 Shmu’el 2:29), eating (2 Shmu’el 12:17), renewal of a pure mind and right attitude within a man (Psalm 51:10). This does not mean his old physical heart was taken out, but that something changed within him, and these other usages all describe drastic changes in either the form or usage of a thing. It is more of a drastic change in form or re-forming of what was already present, a transformation into something useful—something we can identify with more readily than creating something out of nothing. The raw materials are already present, but Elohim now gives it definition and order.
2. Now the earth had become a [chaotic] ruin and an [empty] desolation, with an obscuring darkness over the surface of a [primeval] depth; and a mighty wind was fluttering intensely over the surface of the waters.
Had become: the verb is usually not used if it simply means "was", with no change involved. The creation described here is really a reconstitution after some sort of catastrophic disaster--probably related to Heylel (Lucifer) and accomplices being cast down to earth and judged. (Yeshayahu 14:12ff; Y’hezq’el 28:13-19) The "depth" or "deep" often refers to an ocean or a surging, uproarious mass of water, but in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) it is translated "abyss" (a scene of disaster or place of punishment). Such an age may have included the reign of a now-disembodied race of angelic beings (compare chapter 6), and may explain the appearance that the earth is more ancient than the 6,000-year history of mankind. Yeshayahu/Isaiah 45:18 tells us that YHWH did NOT create the earth "a chaotic ruin"--the same word used here, which is the direct antithesis of the forming in verse 1. It is like a blob or lump of clay that has not yet been given definition. “Ruin and desolation” both refer to something lying in waste—something that once had a shape but no longer does. (In Deut. 32:9 it describes a desert wasteland.) So we know something changed. It became confused and was emptied out as something that came before was destroyed. This is the aftermath, compared to the result of YHWH’s vengeance on another occasion (Yeshayahu 34:8-11) when the end result is also chaos and emptiness—the same words used here, with numerous other examples of destruction and desolation given in the same context. This is the state the Northern Kingdom was in for ove 2,700 years, but now we have become willing to ask YHWH to out us back in order. A mighty wind: like a cleansing breath that allowed the world to start over. "Fluttered" can also be translated “hovered” or "brooded", as a dove waits over her hatched young until all is in readiness. (Compare Deut. 32:11, in which what took place at creation also takes place with Israel.) Elohim seems to be pondering how to bring order from this mess, for the word for “formed” in verse 1 often has the sense of conceiving the idea mentally and deciding to do it, a step that precedes physically giving it shape.
3. Then Elohim said, "Let there be light", and light came into existence.
4. And Elohim gazed at the light, because it was right, so Elohim made a distinction between the light and the darkness.
Before this even light and darkness were united. He separated the light out from the darkness, breaking the unity that once existed as a mechanic must take a damaged machine apart before he can repair it. It will all be put back together when the right elements are all reconditioned or replaced. He was sorting through the mess and setting things aside to be put in their appropriate places. Avraham saw this light only when he was put in a position of darkness. As we, too, enter into darkness and chaos for the purpose of bringing order, this separation and further clarification can continue. It is up to us to participate in finding the light in our dark, seemingly profitless places.
5. And Elohim called the light "day", and the darkness He called "night". And the evening and the morning [together] constituted one day.
Note that biblically the day begins at sundown, with the evening first. * * *
6. Then Elohim said, "Let there come to be an expanse between the waters; let it divide the waters from the waters."
7. And Elohim organized this expanse and divided the waters that were below it from the waters that were above it, and so it came to be.
8. And Elohim called the expanse "Heavens", and there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
* * *
9. And Elohim said, "Let the waters from under the heaven be gathered together into one place, and let dry land appear." And so it came to be.
10. And Elohim called the dry land "Earth", and the gathering of waters He called "Seas", and Elohim saw that it was right.
11. Then Elohim said, "Let the Earth bring forth tender sprouts, green plants that yield seed, and fruit trees producing fruit akin to itself—the seed of which is within it—on the earth. And so it was.
12. And the earth bore tender sprouts, the herb yielding seed according to its own kind, and the tree producing its fruit which has its seed in it according to its species. And Elohim saw that it was right.
13. And the evening and the morning became a third day.
14. And Elohim said, "Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to divide between the day and the night, and let them be for signs and for appointed times, and for days and years.
The root word for "sign" means "to be in agreement". In our day, when there are many calendars, only the sighting of the new moon can bring us to agreement on when a time or season actually begins. That is YHWH’s calendar rather than man’s; all it requires is looking at the sky and bringing some order and separation as He does. Appointed times: or appointments (Lev. 23:2), the first of which is the Sabbath, which is reckoned by cycles of the sun’s setting. The heavenly bodies were given not as things to be worshiped, but as reminders to keep YHWH's appointments. Even within a given day there are seasons; there are some things that are to be done in the daytime, and others at night.
15. "And let them come to be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to illuminate the earth", and this is exactly what took place.
16. Moreover, Elohim appointed the two great luminaries, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and also the stars.
17. And Elohim set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
What is heavenly is meant to shed light on earth, or it’s practically worthless.
18. to regulate the day and night, and to make a distinction between the light and the darkness; and Elohim saw that it was right.
19. And the evening and the morning became the fourth day.
* * *
20. And Elohim said, "Let the waters teem with an abundance of lively animals, and let birds fly above the earth, upon the face of the expanse of the heavens.”
21. Then Elohim created the great reptiles, and every amphibian with which the waters swarmed, each according to its category, and every species of winged bird according to its kind. And Elohim looked [intently] because it was right.
22. And Elohim blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the sea, and let the birds multiply on the earth."
This is the first blessing and also the first command to living things. We need to look at all of YHWH’s commands not as rules, but as a special gift.
23. And there were evening and morning, the fifth day.
* * *
24. And Elohim said, "Let the earth bring forth living animals as befits its nature: quadrupeds, creeping things, and, from the earth, its living things, each after its own kind.” And so it came about.
25. And Elohim fashioned from the earth its living things, and likewise the beasts, as well as everything that moves on the ground, each reproducing true to its own kind—and Elohim saw that it was right.
26. Then Elohim said, "Let Us make Mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness—and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts, and all the earth, and all the living things that crawl upon the earth."
Us: the “majestic plural” (see note on v. 1), a manner of speaking that shows that the one speaking is very great. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan says He was speaking to the angels who minister before Him and were created on the second day. It is not to be read as a literal plurality.
27. So Elohim created the Man in His own image. In the image of Elohim He created him; male and female He created them.
The word “image” really means "shadow", and indeed we present an "outline" of what He is like, but in Scripture, "shadow" is often used to mean being under His protection. Likeness: resemblance of character; similarity, but not identity. However, in v. 27, only the image is mentioned again. Not until chapter 3 do we see another appearance of the concept of being "like Elohim", but there it was coveted wrongly. Still there is nothing we can see that bears His likeness (Yesh./Isa. 40:18); David does not even expect to bear His likeness until He is resurrected. (Ps. 17:15)
28. And Elohim blessed them, and told them, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and bring it into subjection to yourselves, and rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the heavens, and over all living things that crawl on the earth."
29. And Elohim said, "Here, I have given you every seed-bearing herb on the face of the earth, and every tree on which there is seed-bearing fruit; this will be your food.
30. "Also, to every earthly creature, and to every bird of the heavens, and to every creeping thing in which there is a living soul, [I have given] every green plant for consuming." And so it was.
31. And Elohim looked at everything He had made, and, behold, it was just right. And evening and morning became a sixth day.
The reason six is “the number of a man” (Rev. 13:18) is because man was created on the sixth day. Just right: This is due to the creation of Adam, whose job is to bring order to all the rest of creation.
CHAPTER 2
1. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, along with all those that issue forth from them.
2. On the seventh day, Elohim fulfilled the workmanship that He had been constructing: He ceased on the seventh day from all His work that He had accomplished.
3. And Elohim gave the seventh day His blessing and set it apart [from the others], since on this day He had rested from all the work in which He had [been] shaping to produce.
The holiness of the Sabbath ("ceasing") was established from the very start. He blessed it but did not tell it to multiply this time, for there is only to be one Sabbath each week; because without common things to be set apart from, nothing can be holy. This blessing belongs to no other day, and man cannot move it to another day, try as he might. YHWH Himself established the Sabbath, and no one has the right or authority to change it. Yahshua certainly did not; he made it his habit to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath. (Luke 4:16) YHWH has no respect for anyone else’s Sabbaths; to be in tune with Him, we must rest the same day He rests.
4. These are the births of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the Day when YHWH Elohim set the heavens and the earth in readiness,
5. when there was not yet any shrub of the field upon the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprung up, for YHWH Elohim had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the soil.
6. But a mist ascended from the earth and watered the entire surface of the ground.
7. And YHWH Elohim formed the man [adam] from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.
If the mist watered the whole surface of the land, how could there be dust? The water makes the dust bond together. This in itself is an important allegory, because water is a picture of YHWH’s word (Efesians 5:25) and dust is a description of the descendants of Avraham and particularly Israel. (13:16; 28:14) But it sounds very much like He is working with clay, and indeed He often likens His creation of man to a potter working with clay who has the right to restart the job at any point. (Yeshayahu 64:8; Yirmiyahu 18, 19) Ground: Heb., adamah, which is related to Adam’s name.
8. And YHWH Elohim planted a garden in Eden from the east, and there He placed the man whom He had formed.
Qedem, which sometimes means “east", means "ancient" at its root, so the garden could have been planted from a remnant of the world that had preceded this one, the seeds being still left in the soil, as verse 5 suggests. All the Aramaic targums take it this way. It is from a place closer to YHWH’s essence, for He is called “Ancient of Days”. "Eden" means luxury or delight. Note that the man was not formed from the ground IN Eden, but outside it, then put into the garden. (3:23) It may have been a prototype for how he could then bring order to the rest of the earth.
9. And YHWH Elohim caused to spring up from the ground every kind of tree that is aesthetically pleasing, and appropriate for food. The Tree of Life was in the middle of the garden, as was the Tree of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong.
Here, man appears before the trees. This clues us in that something else is being discussed. And indeed, the context here is the garden, not the world at large. These are not the recently-created trees of the earth, but trees planted anciently and now transplanted here for Adam’s sake.
…
15. And YHWH Elohim took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden, to cultivate it and care for it.
16. And YHWH Elohim gave the man orders, saying, "You may freely eat of any tree in the garden,
17. " "except [that] of the Tree of the [Experiential] Knowledge of Right and Wrong you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you will certainly die."
YHWH did not intend for us to make this distinction. (Compare verse 25.) We have come to see individual actions or words as right or wrong, wanting to be individual moral agents in our own right. He instead wanted us to remain in relationship--to come directly to Him for instruction with each decision, so that we could determine how best to love one another in each season. Everything was to be seen as useful at its proper time. (Qeoheleth/ Ecclesiastes 3.)
18. And YHWH Elohim said, "It is not fitting, the man in his aloneness. I will make a helper suited to him."
This is the first thing declared to not be right. The Hebrew word for “alone” is “bad”! In the context of earth, everything was right, but now that Adam is in a new context, his aloneness became more clear. Was he one of many humans created at first, then taken alone into the Garden? When in the ancient place, it is not right to be alone, for who can we then serve? As individuals we cannot fully follow YHWH. To get back to the ancient, we need to recognize that we need help. Suited: correlated as a counterpart, or "opposite". The opposing pressure keeps him in the upright position. If she were just like him, they would both fall into the same traps. He needs her different perspective on things to keep him balanced (but never through nagging—because he reserves the right to decide which aspects of her unique angle on things will be used in the final analysis.) She will think of things he never could. He is not obligated to go with them, but where her views are wise, why wouldn’t he?
19. And out of the ground YHWH Elohim fashioned every living being of the field and every bird of the heavens, and brought each to the man, to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called each living being, that became its name.
20. And the man gave names to every animal and bird of the heavens, and every being that lives in the field, but as for Adam, no helper suited to him could be found.
21. So YHWH Elohim caused a deep numbing to fall upon the man, and he fell asleep. And He took [out] one of his ribs [sides]. Then He closed up the flesh in its place.
22. Then YHWH Elohim built up the side that He had taken from Adam into a woman, and brought her to the man [adam].
23. And the man said, "[This time] At last, this is now bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh! For this one, the name shall be 'Woman', because this one has been taken out of man!"
24. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cling closely to his wife, and the two of them shall be turned into one [unit of] flesh.
Leave his… mother: Many marriages fail because a man chooses another mother as a wife. His parents have helped balance and support him, but now he must transfer this job to his wife.
25. And both the man and his wife were naked, yet they were not ashamed.
CHAPTER 3
1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any living creature of the field that YHWH Elohim had made. And he said to the woman, "Although Elohim has said, 'You may not eat from any tree of the garden'…"
2. But the woman told the serpent, "We may eat from the trees of the garden,
3. "but from the tree which is in the center of the garden, Elohim has said, "You shall not eat from it, nor shall you reach out to touch it, or else you'll die."
She had never thought to judge whether YHWH’s words are true or not, but the serpent presents as from YHWH what He never said. She denies it, but it puts doubt in her mind as to whether that is really what YHWH said. She added a "fence" to what Elohim said—generally a healthy practice which can keep us one step away from sinning, but which can breed discontentment with Elohim's protective commands if we forget all that we really are offered. It was the man’s job to guard, so Adam was probably the one who had added the fence, and she understood his ruling to be from Elohim.
4. And the serpent said to the woman, "You won't really die as in 'death',
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan explains that the serpent was slandering its creator—that is, casting the truth in such a light as to make His motives look evil: “He doesn’t want you to have what He has! You can be Elohim if you overcome these chains He has put on you! Do what your heart tells you!” It plays on her envy and selfishness, and we have been fed this lie many times since.
5. "because Elohim knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like Elohim—[intimately] knowing [both] right and wrong.
He deceived her with the truth. While YHWH "understands" evil better than anyone (since it is anything that is contrary to His nature), He has never experienced it in the way Adam's race does now. He does not want to take away their innocence.
6. And when the woman perceived that the tree was beneficial for food, and that to the eyes it aroused a craving, and that the tree was intensely desirable to bring insight, she took some of its fruit and ate it, and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
If he was with her, why did he not stop her? Like Aharon when Moshe struck the rock, he stood by and let her do wrong.
7. And the eyes of both of them were indeed opened, but [only in such a way that] they realized that they had been stripped. And they sewed together leaves from a fig tree, and made for themselves loin coverings.
While Adam and Chawwah did not fall over dead during the same 24-hour period, the process of physical death did begin, along with the immediate psychological fragmentation evidenced by their shame, terror of Elohim, and blame of one another. They went from being immortal to being mortal; they lost their “forever”. They were separated from their Source like an unplugged electrical appliance. But by the logic of Ps. 90:4 and 2 Kefa/Peter 3:8, man cannot live more than 1,000 years. Though antediluvian conditions allowed very long lives, still they "died the same day". The real issue was not necessarily the kind of fruit, as if it held some magic or poison, but the fact that this was a test: did they love and trust Elohim or not? She had only one prohibition; would she incline toward obedience or toward the whisperer and what her heart was telling her she needed? Disobeying was like pulling one card out of the bottom of a pile, and it all collapsed. They found out very quickly what “wrong” was. And their punishment would begin right away; fig leaves secrete a very itchy, acidic juice that would burn their skin.
8. And they heard the sound of YHWH Elohim walking around in the garden in the breezy part of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the face of YHWH Elohim among the trees of the garden.
What used to attract them now made them run away.
9. And YHWH Elohim called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"
10. And he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked, and I hid myself."
11. And He said, "Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten from the tree about which I gave you orders so as to prevent you from eating?"
Contrary to popular belief, though they have missed the target, they have not yet committed the sin that would get them in trouble. By asking him the question, YHWH gave him the option of owning up. Though difficult at first, confession ultimately frees us from the weight of the guilt and strengthens us so we can more easily say “no” the next time and strengthen others against temptation as well. Had he admitted his fault, his penalty might have been reversed, or at least mitigated like David's. Instead, he presented himself as the victim and ultimately laid the blame on YHWH:
12. And the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
13. So YHWH Elohim said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent enticed me, and I ate."
She, too, makes excuses for doing what something in herself wanted. “The devil made me do it” is the same kind of failure to take responsibility, and this, not the initial disobedience, was what earned them such severe punishment. This is what cost them—and us—the Garden. All they would have had to say was, “I did the wrong thing; I am guilty. What can I do to fix what I broke?” YHWH would have found a way to fix it, and they would have been closer to Him than before.
14. So YHWH Elohim said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any beast, and more than any animal of the field. You will go around on your belly, and eat dust all the days of your life.
Like the Gentiles who have no covenant, the serpent had not been given any command, but since it impinged on those who did have a relationship with YHWH, it was given a penalty as well.
15. "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed: He will bruise your head, though you shall bruise His heel."
To put it simply, people don’t like snakes and snakes don’t like people. But the serpent acted as adversary until she had within herself an evil inclination that we all have had since—and that is enough of an adversary.
16. To the woman He said, "I will greatly increase your pain and your [frequency of] conception; in pain you will bear sons, and your husband shall be your desire, but he will have authority over you.
17. And He said to the man, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it', the ground shall be cursed because of you; you shall eat from it in hard labor all the days of your life.
YHWH had given Adam her voice to add to his insight, but it is never meant to override YHWH’s voice—or even his own. He is the one who is to make the final decisions, and that is what women really want and need. When the two were still one entity, they were called Adam, not Chawwah. She was meant to bring balance to him, but still to submit, so everything was thrown off kilter.
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23. YHWH Elohim sent him out of the Garden of Eden as well, to work the ground out of which he was taken;
Adam could have direct communication with YHWH before he decided he wanted to be an independent moral agent. Now he was divorced as haSatan had been. The communication line was cut. Now only YHWH's Word came to mankind, because His direct presence would destroy us. But he could now earn back what he was given the first time by trying to get as close to the Garden again as he could.
Commentary on
Parashat Breshith
The Sin
That Counts Most
