Portion B'REYSHITH |
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INTRODUCTION:
The book of beginnings chiefly focuses on how YHWH brings order out of chaos. This is portrayed through the creation account, through a re-starting after a great deluge, and through the creation of the people of Israel after yet another setback. The rest of Scripture indeed shows how every time we reintroduce chaos and confusion back into the mix, YHWH makes a way to restore order. The purpose in it has always been so He could have relationship with the people He made in His image. As we bear this simple truth in mind, it brings clarity to the often-complex themes that run through the whole book.
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". The language indicates that it was the shaking of something that had existed before (see v. 2 and compare Khaggai 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), and 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 transformation into something useful than an initial creating out of nothing. The raw materials are already present, but Elohim now gives it definition and order. Elohim is the title or category emphasizing the Creator's judgment, which comes out during each day of creation, when He looks upon His work and judges it to be appropriate. Elohim is a generic term that can also refer to a whole gamut of other beings from angelic entities to simply human judges. (Yoch. 10:34, based on Psalm 82:6) It literally means "mighty ones", and is a plural word. But the verbs are all singular, showing that YHWH (the specific name of this Elohim who created, as seen in 2:4) is so extraordinarily superior to His creation that a plural word is used to describe Him, much like the Queen of England's quip, "We are not amused." (See also note on v. 26.)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. 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. Obscuring darkness: like that which protected YHWH's people during the Exodus, in which we also see the other elements mentioned here of "an ancient wind", water, dry land being brought out of the waters, confusion for the pursuers, and the revelation at daybreak that they were all dead. Iyov 10:20ff notes that there is no order in death, so the converse is that we need order to truly have life. In that act, YHWH transformed a group of slaves into a new nation which would be the vessel for bringing still further order to the world. (Ex. 14:19ff) Darkness is called YHWH's temporarily dwelling in 2 Sam. 22:12, yet still there is said to be a brightness that precedes Him; compare Iyov/Job 36:23) A mighty wind: This sentence could read "a spirit of Elohim intervened deliberately upon..." There is no definite article here, and Elohim is sometimes used as a superlative adjective (paralleled in English with words such as "god-like"). Yet there seems to be a contrast here already with the chaos. "Fluttered" can also be translated "hovered" or "brooded", as a dove waits over her hatched young until all is in readiness. 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. On a more metaphorical level, "a ruin and desolation" could be translated "an empty space and a void". The mystical retelling continues: the Endless One, wanting to share Himself, yet being all that there was, had no one to communicate with, so He created a "vacuum"--a space within Himself, which was "not Himself", so He could fill it with creatures who could know and enjoy Him. A mother's womb is an excellent illustration of this idea. Into this empty space, He sent a single point of light, the maximum amount of His nature that this new universe could as yet tolerate: 3. Then Elohim said, "Let there be light", and light came into existence. Said: The Law of entropy says that everything when left to itself becomes more chaotic; the only exception is the life force, which creates more energy than it takes in. Yochanan 1:4 tells us that life itself is in none other than YHWH's Word, which was needed to revive this desolation. This context as well as Psalm 36:9 juxtapose light with life. 2 Ezra 6:38 and 43 describe YHWH as speaking a word at the beginning of creation, and the word itself completing the work or carrying it out. YHWH's "Word", which expresses His thoughts and nature precisely, is also categorized as Elohim (Yoch. 20:28), since it is our judge and since this Word "participated" in the creation of all else. (Yochanan/John 1:1-5) This "means by which He created" is also called YHWH's arm, right hand, branch, and associate. The Aramaic targums (interpretations of the Hebrew Scriptures translated in the final centuries B.C.E.) commonly use the term Memra as an athropomorphization of this "living word" by which YHWH Himself can have a less-threatening interface with mankind. The targum adds to this verse, "according to the decree of His Memra." The writings called the Renewed Covenant describe how this chief messenger and agent "came down from heaven"; that is, a man so perfectly embodied what YHWH had in mind when He spoke (Yoch. 5L19, 30) that he could say "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Yoch.14:9). This must, of course, be read within parameters set by the Torah in regard to the worship of none but YHWH and the clarifications that this "Word" is the firstborn of creation (Colossians 1:15) and the "beginning [first in a series or leader] of the creation of YHWH" (Rev. 3:14), having proceeded (as the light in v. 3) from the One whom even after his resurrection he still calls "my Elohim" (20:17)--i.e., he is clearly subordinate to YHWH. This separating of YHWH's word from Himself so that we could grasp something of His unfathomable nature was the first of many divisions that were part of creation, and the second is seen in the distinction made in verse 1 between heaven and earth. Thus began a great "expansion" seen over and over in this book, which continued with the distinction between Israel and the nations, the division of the Kingdom into "two witnesses" for YHWH, and He continues creating until a "fullness" is reached (Rom. 11:25), but then when it is at the limit, there is a rapid "contraction" back to the ancient ways is seen, culminating in Yahshua himself giving the Kingdom back to the Father after He puts everything under His feet, so He may again be All in all (1 Cor. 15:28). "In that day, YHWH will be one and His Name one." (Zkh. 14:9) Like a stretched-out rubber band, YHWH's response to chaos is to expand the universe so that the surface can be drawn out, revealing more clearly what is already there at its heart (as a microscope does), so that what is hidden in the depths can be isolated and brought forth, and thus made useful toward that end. As we approach that time, men's philosophies such as feminism and every movement that emphasizes the "rights" of those who really need to be ruled over (like children) add to the disorder that forms the toes of clay which will not adhere to iron (Dani'el 2:33-34, 41-43), making it all the quicker a job for the coming Kingdom to shatter and displace to counterfeit, since a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. (Mat. 12:25). Let there be light: or, there will be light! This "light shining in darkness" is the description of creation within Jewish mysticism, which correlates well with the Renewed Covenant's "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with Elohim...In it was life, and the life was the light of men... The light shone in darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." (Yoch. 1:1-5). "Light" here is not a source of illumination, but that which it emits; it could just as well be translated "energy". The "light-bearers" were not created until the fourth day; until then, this light--possibly the light of YHWH in which we see light (Ps. 36:9)--is what enlightens the world in the meantime. Waters: It is interesting that human science also speculates that all life originated from within water. (Compare 2 Keyfa/Peter 3:5.)4. And Elohim gazed at the light, because it was right, so Elohim made a distinction between the light and the darkness.
Gazed at: with satisfaction. It was right: Previously something had gone wrong with it. He would not have brought it forth if He had judged it to be inappropriate. Before this even light and darkness were united. The light was there all along, but could not be seen until the right measure of expansion had taken place. When He exposed and isolated the light, it was still part of the darkness. (2 Korinthians 4:6) Now it was no longer so gloomy, and some of the confusion was ended. 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. In chapter 15 we will again see a light connected with division; 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. The epistle of Yaaqov (James) begins the same way, with the chaos of the twelve tribes still scattered, and tells us to rise to the occasion rather than hesitating when the trials come, because they harbinger the drawing forth of patience which leads us to completeness and perfection. If we doubt, he says, we will be unstable like the waves driven by the wind (compare verse 2 here), and all we will experience is confusion. We cannot expect the Kingdom to come if we do not get into the proper order. One does not light a match before gathering kindling and firewood, for the fire will go out too soon. The Torah (studied in depth in the context of community) is the road map to that proper order. It is the light that leads us toward His set-apart mountain--that is, it draws us toward His Kingdom. (Ps. 43:3) Taking His word out of that context sows more confusion back into it. If we do respond in the right way, we will have light--that is, be able to see what is really going on, as Yahshua recognized that a man was born blind not because of his own sin or his parents', but so that YHWH could be given greater authority. (Yochanan 9:1ff) As we encounter darkness in each area, we can bring each into the realm of light.5. And Elohim called the light "day", and the darkness He called "night". And the evening and the morning [together] constituted one day.
Day: from a root meaning "to be hot". Evening: the root meaning is mixing or "transition"; morning: dawning, daybreak, that which is sought after or looked for, when things are distinguishable from one another. This was prior to the creation of the sun, so the measure of time would have had to be from YHWH's own perspective alone. Note that biblically the day begins at sundown, with the evening first. Thus each day is a repetition of creation in which light shines out of darkness. If the day consists of evening and morning (but not night), there is no darkness in the day, according to this text. (Compare Yochanan 9:4; 12:35)
6. Then Elohim said, "Let there come to be an expanse between the waters; let it divide the waters above from the waters below."
Expanse: space, vault, dome, spread or stretched-out surface "beaten out very thin".7. And Elohim organized this expanse and divided the waters that were under it from the waters that were above it, and so it came to be.
Organized: or "made", but it is a different verb from "created" in v. 1. It means "produced", "prepared", or "accomplished"--i.e., He took the raw materials He had made and set them in their proper order. Waters...above it: This "firmament" has the sense of being solid in Hebrew; there may have been a crystalline "window" of ice in a heat sink 11 miles above the earth's surface, where extra water was held in reserve for a special contingency (7:11). It would also act as a receiver for the "music of the spheres", screen out much of the sun's harmful radiation and produce a stable, "hothouse" climate, even-tempered throughout the world; these allowed for the radically-longer lives seen in the chapters ahead.8. And Elohim called the expanse "Heavens", and there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
"Heavens": or "skies"; the word is dual rather than plural in form, indicating that there is a pair of two matching things that are described thereby. In traditional Hebrew thought, it refers to the sky and something "behind" it which in some way matches it. YHWH has concealed some concepts in His word that He intends for us to search out. (Prov. 25:2) In verse 1 the heavens already existed, but now YHWH gave it a more specific meaning. Psalm 68:33 tells us that YHWH rides on the "Heaven of heavens"--a Hebrew idiom for a "heaven" superior to or higher than the one we can see--"which were of old", so this is what we are dealing with here at this most ancient point of the revealed history of the universe.
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.
Gathering: or pooling; Heb. miqveh, usually used for ritual purification pools. The root word also has the sense of waiting in expectation, and from it is also derived the word tiqvah, or hope. Note that on the first two days, before the scene of punishment was washed clean of its defilement, was this creation called "right". This is like a tidal wave that does not destroy us, but completely washes away the old order of confusion. From under heaven: "waters" seem to describe the beings that lusted for YHWH's position, overrunning the mountains (a symbol of YHWH's throne) before being confined to the "deep" (v. 2; Psalm 104:6-9). The final uprising of this age also begins from "the sea" (Rev. 13:1). Earth: Yet there was already an earth in verse 1. Now He narrows its definition to the dry ground. Later, the same word would come to have the specialized meaning of the Land of Israel in particular, for all of this creation is ultimately for the sake of Israel, because the whole point of all of this is to draw out a people for Himself. Seas is plural, but earth is singular, for it was not until the day of Peleg that the land was divided into the continents as we know them now. (10:25) In the same way, Israel was scattered. Earth can only be unified again as Israel is unified, though there is a great counterfeit afoot.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.
Signs: distinguishing marks (see 15:5; Psalm 19:1; Rev. 12:1). The Sabbath is also called a "sign" (Ex. 31:13). The Sabbath and new moon are often grouped together in Scripture. 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. 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. Years: the root meaning is "to fold over" or "reduplicate", since the end of the year brings us back to the place we began, only wiser. There are repeating patterns of cold and heat, and a season for growth in each; if we remain in the same place from year to year, we are out of order. As the Hebrew word for night means at its root "a spiral staircase", even YHWH's calendar includes times of darkness which forge brighter light (like Hanukkah and Purim). The spiral brings us closer to YHWH with each round, and each time we can bring more light out of darkness. Plants existed before there was a sun (v. 11), so these days are not likely to have been long ages. But how was there light before there were light-bearers? Halley's telescopes discovered that gaseous nebulae do give off light before they form into stars. But at this point it was possible to have set times and seasons.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.
Lesser one: Carl Baugh suggests that this was not the moon, which is not always visible, but a softer, more diffused "lighting effect" refracted by the "waters above", which would act as a natural tranquilizer, while this was still intact. In any case, these two lights were not given names here, only descriptions, because men tended to worship them. Much of Christianity as it has become is based on sun-worship, Islam has moon-worship at its root, and the sun-worshippers condemn the moon- and star-worshippers, and vice versa. The later Hebrew terms for the sun and moon are simply "the servant" and "the white one". They work for YHWH; He does not work for them. They are only to rule the times and seasons, not us. They tell His story (Psalm 19), tell us when to plant and harvest, and show what is going on in the unseen realm that will soon be manifested in the physical world. We are to watch them, like a clock, for they affect our lives, but we are not to fear them. As the one actually reflects the light of the other, Yahshua said that we, like Himself, could be the "light of the world", having been "chosen in Him before the foundation of the world". (Eph. 1:4)17. And Elohim set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
Their purpose is not to be masterpieces of art, though that they are, or fascinating scientific studies, though again they are that too as a side benefit. They have a simple, practical, important purpose--to give the earth light. 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.
The creation week is often seen as a microcosm of human history, in which each "day is as a thousand years" (Ps. 90:5); the Messiah, the Light of the World, entered the scene at the end of the "fourth day" of this "world week". A 6,000-year-old universe need not conflict with the appearance of age. Trevor Norman and Barry Setterfield compared 163 measures of the speed of light through the centuries and found it (well beyond expected margins of error) to be slowing down in a cosecant-squared curve. Graphs of "light-year"- based accounting and earth-revolution-based time converge about that long ago by this measure. The electric permittivity of space has not changed, but the magnetic permeability has been "stretched out" (cf. Yeshayahu 42:5; Yirmiyahu 10:12). The "red shift" may be caused by this decay in the speed of light. The reason for such universal entropy is found in. 3:17ff.
Waters: Targum Pseudo-Jonathan says "alluvial mud of the waters". The first place we see life is in the waters. Then we see birds--supposedly what dinosaurs came from. Orderwise, this reconciles with what science has been able to legitimately hypothesize. But which waters are being discussed here? Clearly, the waters below the expanse--the waters we can see regularly--have such creatures in them; we need to watch in Scripture to see whether any counterpart in the waters above the expanse turns out to have been created as well. Lively animals: literally, "swarmers having a soul of life", with the nuance of merriment; LXX, reptiles. Birds: LXX, winged creatures. Face of the expanse: i.e., the inner atmosphere, the "sky", our interface with 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.
Reptiles: alternately translated elsewhere as dragons, serpents, or sea monsters. This may be a reference to dinosaurs. Is that why they are worthy of being singled out here? Or is there a different reason? Targum Pseudo-Jonathan calls them "Leviathan and his mate, which are designated for the day of consolation". The Hebrew word is taninim, and As we have seen, the Hebrew word for "created" means "drastically altered". An ancient Akkadian myth says Marduk created a great sea creature named Tiamat, then became angry at her and killed her and split her dead body into the sky and water, formed nations for the elohim in the constellations, then stated his plans to make mankind, initially savages, in order to serve the elohim and allow them to be at ease. This has some strong parallels with the creation account here, especially if we see in the sea monster's death a parallel with the scene of judgment seen in verse 2. Later in Scripture, taninim do show up in conjunction with Leviathan (Yeshayahu 27:1) and some are said to be as poisonous as the cobra (Deut. 32:33), which is the symbol on Pharaoh's head. Note that it is the great taninim spoken of here. Smaller ones do appear in the first sign given to Pharaoh (Ex. 7:9)--not serpents, as in the sign YHWH gave to Moshe in the desert, but probably crocodiles, which the Egyptians considered creators of the Nile. In Y'hezq'el (Ezekiel) 29:3 the "great tanin" (phrased exactly as mentioned here) that says it created (transformed) his river itself is indeed linked with Pharaoh. (Compare Y'hezq'el 32:2.) Most Scriptures about taninim and Leviathan do hearken back to the Exodus (Psalm 74:13, 14; Yeshayahu 51:9), yet they are spoken of in terms of being "ancient", which suggests a connection with this creation account. But as in the targum, Yeshayahu 27:1 speaks of YHWH again punishing and slaying them "in that Day", an idiom for the Messianic Kingdom. So there is something behind Pharaoh that both predates and outlives him and remains YHWH's enemy throughout history. Here we are reminded that even YHWH's enemies were created by Him and answerable to Him. He spoke, then created, for He always states His intention before He acts. He says He does nothing before revealing it to His prophets. (Amos 3:7) He even gave Pharaoh a fair warning. If He says He is going to bring judgment, He generally gives us time to repent if we do not like what we hear. His word has never failed, though some of what He promised is still in process. He has said He will regather and bring Israel back home, but there is still some formation that has to take place. Our job is to flesh it out. Amphibian: "living soul that creeps". According to its kind: Cross-bred species are possible but last only one generation, being sterile. Category: Ps.-Jon. Says this refers to "both clean and unclean".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."
Blessed: the verb form indicates intensity or even "caused them to be a blessing". "Blessed" literally means, "bent the knee"; i.e., in His case, He is not recognizing them as superior to Himself, but is stooping to their level to pay attention to them as a parent does with his children. This is the first blessing and also the first command to living things. He makes them able to procreate, and expects them to. Indeed all creatures have within them the desire to do so, and if we are walking in His Torah in other areas, this is indeed a blessing.23. And there were evening and morning, the fifth day.
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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.
From the earth: Again we see another aspect of creation being drawn out of something that was visible earlier. Did living things come from the inanimate soil? Does this just mean He made them from the same elements and added the aspect of life? The point of this account is not so much to enable us to explain the mechanics of creation, but to see this as something not just historical, but ongoing, and to discover what it tells us about our part in carrying it on. The pattern is that whatever He tells us that He wants us to do, He gives us the raw materials for it in advance, whether they be motivation, energy, resources, or an open door. What will we do with them? If we do not do our part to reshape our priorities into His and bring them forth, they will not get done.
Us: again, 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, for every other deity worshipped by the pagans is called an elohim as well (1 Shmu'el 5:7, 1 Kings 11:33), and each of these was considered a singular entity. It would too greatly diminish the One who is greater than all else if we were not to use the "royal we". Should we see Yahshua as being included in this? Not in the way Christian doctrine postulates. While the "word" to which Philo also referred the Word was made flesh and dwelt temporarily among us." (Yochanan 1) This is not saying Yahshua was the logos; it is saying instead that the "word"--the all the ideas that constitute both creation and the Torah--was "stuck" inside YHWH's mouth, so to speak, until it was fleshed out and brought back "down to earth"--at least for us, who were no longer in a position where the word was so near to us, "on our tongues and in our hearts". We had been so long in a pagan context where the deeper things were always seen as mysterious and far away, so it was as if the word had moved back to heaven, part of YHWH's hiding His face from us because of our sins. If the Father was not manifested again for the House of Israel, how could we know Him? So we are told that the "son" manifests Him. (Yoch. 1:18, the same verse that severely restricts how verse 1 of the same chapter can be understood.) He embodied the Torah by living it out. He makes known to us as much about the Father as our finite beings can tolerate, so that Yahshua can indeed say "He who has seen me has seen the Father" without contradicting the fact that he is another entity sent by the Father, who worships the Father as his Elohim and promises to one day raise us to his level. (1 Yochanan 3:2) He said, "I am the light of the world", and Christians made a mystery doctrine out of that. But he also said, "You are the light of the world." So his "incarnating" of the "word" was not meant to be unique. Yahshua did not intend to be the lone focus, but to be "the firstborn among many brothers" who are conformed to His image. (Romans 8:9) That again emphasizes being brought back into the orderly form that we allowed to become distorted. Not until we flesh out "the word", in the form of the Torah, can it benefit other lost Israelites who are groping in the dark for the way back home. When we live as YHWH said to live, we are again living in His image and we, too, make the Father manifest to them, and the new creation for which they long can begin, because He Himself is that light they are searching for. As Yahshua said, "This is eternal life: that they may know You." (Yochanan 17) In our image: i.e., able to relate to "Us". 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 moral 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) Rule over: guide toward the fullest potential and benefit of all.27. So Elohim created the Man in His own image. In the image of Elohim He created him; male and female He created them.
Man: Heb., Adam, which includes the concept of a single particular person ("him") or the entirety of Mankind ("them"). At this stage both were the same. Again, the two are both a description of The "Ancient Adam" once bore the "full image of YHWH", which has in it both masculine and feminine qualities, until the two were separated (see 2:21 below) in order to be able to voluntarily come back together. Thus the image was lost (more completely in ch. 3), but at the right time in history the messenger and Message of YHWH was "made flesh" (by YHWH) and there again existed a Man "in whom the fullness of Elohim's nature dwelt bodily", who could rightfully be called "the image of the invisible Elohim" (Colossians 1:15; 2:9), who revealed and manifested as far as possible the One no one can ever see. (Yochanan 1:18) His obedience (at the precise point at which the first Adam failed, see Philippians 2:6) made it possible for others to have the hope of sharing the restoration in the Day in which we see him. (1 Yochanan 3:2) Male and female: the root words themselves mean "marked" and "pierced"--the very description of the one who later did what was necessary to restore the full image of Elohim. (Yesh./Isa. 53; Zkh. 12:10) Because he made a way to get us back to "oneness", restoring the possibility of relationship that Adam had with YHWH, we are told that in him there is neither male nor female. (Galatians 3:28) We see in Yahshua a perfect balance, both taking on what was profitable from the P'rushim (Pharisees) and rejecting much of what they did.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."
Be fruitful and multiply: Part of His blessing to Avraham would be to multiply him exceedingly (17:2), and He made this possible in a very vivid way after it had not previously been possible. Fill: or (in light of v. 2), "replenish" (as also used in 9:1, after the Deluge when a new beginning is also needed). This is an additional command not given to the animals in v. 22. Bring into subjection: subdue, have dominion over, or "scrape out" its bounty and find the appropriate uses for it. It does not refer to forcing his way to their detriment, but making sure they are properly cared for, like a shepherd. YHWH gave humankind, unlike the animals, responsibility over other things.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.
This will be your food: After another great reworking of the earthly order, meat would also be permitted (9:3), but limits are also placed on which types of meat the righteous person--or anyone wanting to be in covenant with YHWH--will eat (Lev. 11:3ff), and an inkling about this distinction was already available prior to the mandate for one who had discernment (See 7:2). Seed-bearing fruit: or, fruit with its seed in itself--the seeds themselves being a source of protein and an anti-disease agent. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan also says He gave us non-fruit-bearing trees for building and burning. The leaves of trees that do not bear fruit are not said to be appropriate for us to eat, being a picture of the fact that He does not want our lives to fruitless.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.
Not just human beings, but every animal was vegetarian at this time; none was a carnivore, including lions and wolves. This has less to do with not eating flesh than with not shedding blood. At present, it is said that once dogs acquire a taste for blood, they remain bloodthirsty. How we arrived at that point will be seen in the next few chapters. One day the scenario seen here will be restored, during the Messianic Kingdom, and the animals will again lose their taste for blood. (Yeshayahu 11:6; 65:25) Implements of war will be converted into gardening tools. After Yahshua's resurrection, he appeared to be a gardener. (Yochanan 20:15) That was the first step back toward the conditions seen here. As we carry out our role as Israel, this can be brought closer to becoming reality again.31. And Elohim looked at everything He had made, and, behold, it was just right. And evening and morning became a sixth day.
Just right: Targum Onqelos says "very proper". This is due to the creation of Adam and the fact that everything was now put together, and the whole was greater than any of its parts. Note the parallels between the two sets of three days in creation:
Day 1 - lights; Day 4 - light bearers
Day 2 - heavens and waters; Day 5 - their inhabitants
Day 3 - land; Day 6 - its inhabitants.
Completed: The root word is related to both "bride" and "being finished off" or "destroyed". In the latter we can read a prophecy of the new heavens and a new earth, because we see another creation account in this chapter. But we also see a bride emerge in this chapter. Since Israel is called to be YHWH's bride, we choose each day by our priorities actions, and attitudes whether we will move toward being the bride or toward chaos and destruction again. YHWH tells us to choose life, not death (Deut. 30:15), and calls this completed heaven and earth as His witnesses. Those that issue forth from them: or, are mustered; literally, armies or soldiers. He thus had called up all the "troops" He might need for His purposes in this world.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.
Fulfilled: or finished. He has begun the process of being done, but He is also putting the finishing touch on creation with this final act of disengaging from the forming and setting in order. What did He finish on the seventh day? Holiness. (It is the first thing He declared holy, verse 3.) On this day He brought forth a new spirit--one of cessation from everything else, so that He can actually enter into what He has created. The rest that was created on this day was the fruition of the other six days, as a ring of six circles naturally creates a seventh of the same size in its center. The Sabbath is said to be "last in creation, but first in YHWH's intention". It closes off the rest of the week, and now everything is different. There is more provision as we shut out the other days; sealing it off creates a window by which we can receive from the coming Kingdom, the seventh millennium, which it foreshadows (see note on 1:19), for there "remains a rest for His people". (Heb. 4:19) It is the training ground for that Kingdom. Ceased: the verb form of "Sabbath". The Sabbath is a time to stop learning and teach, thus serving others, which is allowable on this day. "Workmanship" (mal'akhah) can also be translated "message", because the creation is our teacher. But this is also the type of work we are commanded to refrain from on the Sabbath. (Lev. 23:3) It is from the same root word as a messenger--one who represents someone else. It is the type of work which we do for someone else for the sake of pay. There is another Hebrew word also translatable as "work" (avodah), and it means service, the kind of work we do not do with the intent of receiving something back from. This kind of work remains valid on the Sabbath, as the priests worked twice as hard in the Temple on this day. In fact, by stopping the mal'akhah, we make room for the avodah, which is established firmly on the Sabbath, to come forth--and it should certainly spill over to the other days. To participate in the Sabbath makes us its co-creators as we build what Rabbi Heschel has called "a palace in time". This is the finishing work--to "serve one another through love." (Gal. 5:13)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.
Note that it is not "a seventh day", but "the seventh", for if we decide where to start counting, we rae not following the pattern. We must start where YHWH starts. 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. This crowning moment of YHWH's creation seals the order He is re-establishing. Indeed, the twelve loaves of bread that represent the tribes of Israel are "set in order" every Sabbath. (Lev. 24:5) Each tribe is to be in its proper place so YHWH can dwell among us, for the Sabbath is to be a holy gathering, not just a rest. (Lev. 23:3) The new moon and the Aviv barley also set us in order to keep YHWH's appointments at the right time, so we will be there when He is. The Hebrew word for "commandment" also means "order" in a military sense. Obeying His commands sets us in an order that can have a powerful effect. They are not restrictive, but are guard rails that keep us from many dangers and allow us to travel safely. With every one that we obey, we bring more order back into the world and repair what is broken. Kerry Alexander points out the connection between the prohibitions of work on this one day (a test, Exodus 16:4, 25; 35:2) and of eating the fruit of just one tree in the garden (v. 17 below). "He who watches Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps." (Psalm 121:4) He was refreshed by it (Ex. 31:17), and if one takes this break, he is able to be more fruitful when he begins working again. But all the energy that ever has been emanates from YHWH as if it were mere excess. So how would it benefit Him to rest? He rested so that we could follow His example. Yahshua said, "The Sabbath was made for man." (Marqos 2:27) It is a specially-crafted gift from Him, which is all the more reason we should not despise it. The Sabbath is credited with being the only thing that preserved the Jews as a people while the other tribes lost their identity. As the rest of us take our place again as Israel and stop creating and serving other things on the Sabbath and serve one another, we can rebuild ourselves into a people so that there will be enough drawn out of the darkness to bring the Kingdom about.
[YEAR 1 / 4000 BC]
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,
Births: or generations, begettings, i.e., history; Targum Onqelos, outgrowths--that is, what was drawn forth from the original substance; Targum Neofiti, genealogical pedigree; LXX, origins. YHWH: the name by which He revealed Himself to Moshe (Moses) and the prophets. This is the first place it appears in the Hebrew text. Though opinions as to pronunciation vary, the archaeologists most skilled in ancient linguistics say that Yahweh or Yahuweh is most likely the way it was said during the Biblical times when its usage was not forbidden due to inbfluence from Babylonian customs. There is no biblical reason we should follow this taboo, except when its use would be flippant, and Scripture rather tells us not to "make His Name nothing" (Ex. 20:7), which refraining from pronouncing it would certainly do. YHWH Elohim: Mystically, this combination of name and title is a special designation for the combination of His attributes of understanding and strength.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.
Till: literally "work" or "serve" (from the same root as avodah). Upon the earth: i.e., on top; the plants had not yet sprung up, but they may have been present in the soil in seed form. Being diligent to find and bring forth what is hidden inside is one way we continue the process of creation. (Prov. 25:2-3) But we could argue, the trees and plants were created in chapter 1. This is a flashback to , where the structure of the account did not lend itself to stating this detail regarding the separation of the waters above from the waters below. The earth cared for itself without the waters above, but there was no greenery, only mud. But it was this from which the physical part of man was taken, and it existed before the other aspects of creation were fleshed out, giving man a basis for his right to rule the things that would come into being later.6. But a mist ascended from the earth and watered the entire surface of the ground.
Mist ascended: or, "a surge welled up", probably from the "fountains" reserved for the event described in 7:11. (Compare 2 Keyfa/Peter 3:5-7.) The targums say this was a cloud that emerged from under YHWH's throne.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.
Breath [n'shamah]: from the idea of panting; the act of exhaling as opposed to inhaling. Thus he inhaled something that YHWH exhaled. In Hebrew anthropology it is something included in the direct image of Elohim having to do with intellect, distinct from and higher than the kind of soul (drive, appetite) that animated the other creatures, and the ruakh or spirit (which motivates on another level). It is sometimes called the "second soul", now said to be imparted to man only on the Sabbath day so as to be better able to commune with YHWH, as a foreshadowing of how our full nature will be restored in the 7th millennium, the Messianic Kingdom. (Note the parallel with the two stages seen in Yochanan/John 20:22 and Acts of the Envoys chapter 2.) Thus having YHWH's own breath is part of what it means to be human. It gives us something in common with Him. Our spirit (which also means "breath") is how the common life (soul) can again take on the higher nature that more fully bears the image of YHWH. In Yahshua, that connection remained stronger than it does for most people, because he never damaged or interfered with this "hotline". But it can be strengthened in each of us to the extent that we give it space to do so. Dust: tiniest particles, possibly a description of atoms. But 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. A living soul: Aramaic, a spirit uttering speech.8. And YHWH Elohim planted a garden in Eden from the east, and there He placed the man whom He had formed.
Garden: "Paradise" in the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. East, not north, is the true "orientation" in Hebrew thought. But the term here (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, rendering it alternately "from the beginning", "in ancient times", and "before the creation of the world". "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)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
The order of creation appears different from that in chapter 1. 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. How YHWH treasured this epitome of His creation, to put him in such a special place prepared long beforehand! It was like a husband planting and walling off a pleasure garden for his wife, then presenting it to her as a gift. The tree of life, says Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, had a height that was "the journey of 500 years"! In any case, the man is new but the garden is not. And YHWH had now breathed something ancient into the man as well, and put him in this place full of life that emanates directly from YHWH. There are also some implied contrasts here. The Tree of Life was apparently not aesthetically pleasing, and indeed the sight of the Messiah dying on a tree that brought the potential for life back to us was not pleasant. Taking hold of life as YHWH intended it does not look pleasant to our fleshly eyes, but once we embrace it, like the Sabbath and all of the Torah, it is the most delightful thing. And, as we will see more clearly below, the Tree of Knowledge of Right and Wrong was not appropriate for food.10. And a river went out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it was divided and became four heads.
The imagery of four heads shows up often in Scripture: notably the appearance of the angelic beings called kh'ruvim, which first appear in chapter 3. (Yechezqel/ Ezekiel 1:6; 10:14; Rev. 4:7). Note that the garden is not in Eden, but the river flows from it into the garden. A river that divides rather than converging is an example of how it formed a reverse "mirror image" of how things on earth operate--or rather, the earthly is really the mirror of the heavenly. Hebrew tradition says Eden hovered directly over Yerushalayim, based on the wording in Psalm 122:3, which says it is a "city joined together". Here it is said that heaven and earth--the "waters above" and the "waters below"--meet. This is substantiated in verse 13 below. Y'chezq'El (Ezekiel) 44 tells us that a river will one day again flow from the Messiah's throne--where else but in Yerushalayim?--and divide into two flows, eastward and westward. In the Time of the Restoration of All Things, the original heaven and original earth will again meet here.11. The name of the first was Pishon ["spreader", "increase"]. (It is the one that makes a circuit encompassing the land of Chavilah, where there is gold,
Targum Neofiti identifies Chavilah as India, but this river probably changed its course during one of the catastrophes in Scripture. Chavilah was one of the sons of Kush (10:7). Since Nimrod, who built Babylon (10:10), is called a "son" of Kush, yet is not listed with the rest of his sons, but mentioned later, the Hebrew allows for it to simply mean "descendant". Since we are not certain who his direct father was, this verse strongly suggests that it could have been Chavilah. In Mikha 5:3ff we see the Messiah defeat "the land of Nimrod" (5:6), and Yirmeyahu 51:41ff tells how the nations will no longer flow to Babylon, but it would be judged, allowing Israel to go freely back to her Land. Babylon will no longer swallow up the nations. In fact, we see a serpent spewing out a flood against Israel in Revelation 12, indicating that this flood is those nations it has swallowed. (More on this warfare in the next chapter.) Note how the names of all four rivers carry the theme of expansion (see note on 1:1), but this one specifically circles back like a lasso, reining in what may be the land of Nimrod and thus picturing the fact that by heading back to our origins as Israel is the way we can strangle the influence of Nimrod, which is still strong today. In any case, the next river forms the noose for all of Kush's descendants (v. 13)12. and the gold of that land is excellent; there are also bdellium gum resin and onyx stone there.)
Bdellium: The only other place in Scripture it is mentioned is in referring to the color of manna in Numbers 11:7. The root word is the same as the "distinction" between light and darkness seen in 1:4. Onyx represents the tribe of Yoseyf (Ex. 28:20) and supported the high priest's whole breastplate. The stone was first worn by Lucifer--in Eden (Yechezqel/Ezek. 28:13ff; cf. Gen. 3:1).13. And the name of the second river is Gihon ["Gusher", "bursting forth"]. (It is the one that surrounds the whole land of Kush).
Gihon: Hizqiyahu/Hezekiah channeled this river right into the city to enable it to withstand an Assyrian siege--a picture of hiding YHWH's Word within our hearts so we have access to it under any circumstances (Ps. 87:7; 119:11; Yoch./John 7:38). Its terminus formed the Pool of Shiloach ("sent"), where healing was found when Yahshua sent a blind man there to wash (Yoch./ John 9:7). This internal water source travels underground and remains hidden until it reaches the place it is needed. Thus it pictures the waters of Eden, which are now hidden, but will re-emerge when the time comes for full healing and restoration. (See also note on 3:24.) The root meaning of "river" in Hebrew (nahar) is to flow together or to assemble. These rivers flow apart, but by definition they must reconverge. We will see the return of this river where Israel assembles. Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 45:18ff tells us that the One who made heaven and earth does not speak in vain when He tells us to seek Him and reassemble. What the nations that oppressed us did not know (hence their defeat) He declared from ancient times (qedem, where He planted the Garden!). Psalm 122:4 tells us that Yerushalayim is the place the tribes will come up to and where the thrones of judgment are to sit. The Torah goes forth from here, and the result is that all nations will flow up to it, and the creation will be put back in order. (Yeshayahu 2:2ff) Everything that was drawn out from here will return here. Adam could freely go back and forth from the garden to govern the earth that he was given charge of. But where is this garden now? How can we get back to it? We have a king who now lives there, and will regather Israel, letting us stream back with our souls feeling like a well-watered garden. (Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 31:10ff) He will create a new thing--a woman will encompass a man. (So much of the same imagery as here!) We are the ones who are told to set up signposts to show the way back. How? By assembling again as Israel and loving one another, which Yahshua said would be the sign that we are His students. (Yochanan 13:35)14. And the name of the third is Chiddeqel ["rapid"] (it is the one going east of Assyria), and the fourth river is the Ferath [Euphrates, or "Fruitfulness"].
The Chiddeqel is the Hebrew name for the Tigris. The meanings of the names of the four river branches (increase, bursting forth, rapid, fruitfulness) reiterate the only command that had been given to mankind thus far, and His first blessing, already spoken, thus comes out of this "river of life" which is not part of this creation, but flows into it. These are not the waters of the earth, but those from above the firmament, yet they flow back into the waters below. (More will come for a diffeent purpose in chapter 7.) The restoration back "upstream" to Eden will also take place "in rapid succession". (Rev. 1:1)15. And YHWH Elohim took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden, to cultivate it and care for it.
Took the man: Targum Pseudo-Jonathan adds "from the mountain of worship, the place where he had been created. Cultivate: literally, serve, ut not for gain (avad). Until we serve one another, we cannot be part of the Man who is designed to live in this Garden. And the Torah shows us how. The Hasidim have long said that we will hasten the coming of Messiah by keeping Torah, and this is substantiated here, for the termhere for "care for" or "keep" (shamar) literally means to guard it. We are likewise told to guard both the Sabbath and the commandments. (Deut. 6:17ff) So they are gates back to the Garden. We cannot see it until we keep them. (Deut. 6:24)16. And YHWH Elohim gave the man orders, saying, "You may freely eat of every tree in the garden,
Later in Scripture, trees are a metaphor for men, so this suggests benefitting from one another's gifts.17. "but 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"! When in the ancient place, it is not right to be alone, for who can we then serve? Suited: correlated as a counterpart, or "opposite"; Pseud-Jonathan, a support alongside him. This is seen in the opposing sexual complementation, but Avi ben Mordechai also brings out the sense in which the wife is "opposed to" her husband, as a paper held in the air is too flimsy to write anything on, but when there is something inclined toward it (see 3:16) to prop it against, it not only is "grounded" in a specific place, but has a "backing" which finally makes it useful rather than existing abstractly as in a vacuum. 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 the "helper" part comes first!) The Hebrew word for "bride" (kalah) also means "one that completes". The "helpful opposition" (which includes refutation and rebuke) is about upholding one another, not belittling each other's differences. The same must hold true for the two houses of Israel--and for YHWH and His bride, which Messiah escorts to Him. It is actually made up of many "brides"; we cannot build the Kingdom without Him, and He has given us a role to play in birthing it too.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.
They were all renamed in Latin, but the Aramaic targum notes that this was "in the language of the sanctuary" (i.e., Hebrew).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.
The memory and insight required in classifying so many creatures demonstrates Adam's original mental capacity. Naming also implies authority over the one named. But Elohim's main purpose here was to show Adam that he had no counterpart as each of the animals had. His recognition of this is evident in v. 23. The Hebrew pattern ls to put the syllable –ah at the end of the masculine name when its feminine counterpart is named. But adamah already meant "ground" or "soil", and this clearly, though like a mother to him, was not his spouse!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.
Numbing: trance, stupor, or deep sleep. The Second Adam, too, had part of His Body separated from Himself in a spiritual sense, and they will be reunited again in the end of days. They both have the same name (Yirmiyahu/ Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16). The "sleep" of Messiah was also necessary for His bride to be formed. The same term is used in Yeshayahu/Isaiah 29:10, the verse that Sha'ul quotes in Romans 11:8 in speaking of the "spirit of insensibility" that came over Israel so that YHWH could have two kinds of witnesses. Ribs: translated "sides" everywhere else the term is used, having to do with the sanctuary or its implements in every case, indicating that not only a bone, but a psychological "side" of him also, was made into another person, so that he would not be alone and so that each mindset could be carried to its full extent, much as the separation of the two houses of Israel was "of YHWH" (1 Kings 12:15) and enabled two themes of His to be taken further, even though it caused significant lack of unity much of the time due to the incompleteness of each when they tried to act on their own rather than in tandem with the other. Closed up: stopped up, or repaired. It could also mean that He replaced the missing side with flesh--which often biblically means carnal desire or over-fatness (especially over the "heart", needing to be "circumcised" away)--possibly the reason men are generally less spiritually sensitive than women and need more reminders to be holy. A wife is given to lend men support in the battle against their own flesh.22. Then YHWH Elohim built up the side that He had taken from Adam into a woman, and brought her to the man [adam].
He did not have to breathe into her the breath of life as He had done with Adam, because she was part of Adam at the time that He did.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!"
Bone: can also mean "body (part)" or "the selfsame" or "bound tightly to". Flesh: basar, which can also mean "glad news". It certainly was to him! Woman: Hebrew "Ishah", the feminine form of "ish" (male human being). The term "ish" is not used until here, when the two have been separated. It is the shortened form of "enosh", which means "mortal" or "frail", for now that he was separate, he no longer bore the full image of Elohim, which included both male and female. In the restoration of Adam, the unification of unlike elements is also necessary. Note that he named himself as well. YHWH had called him Adam, emphasizing his connection to the dust and thus his fragility like a clay vessel. We see ourselves as men with rights, but it is He who decides whether each is a vessel for honor or a vessel fit for destruction.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.
Thus the image of Elohim was divided, and no longer could any one person bear the complete image unless they were brought back together to operate in unified symmetry. Their flesh is intertwined, but it is important to note that they are not one soul. The two are meant to combine their differences in a special way to serve YHWH's purposes. Finding one's "soulmate"--one who thinks just like him--may not be so helpful after all, and may actually only be an excuse to be unfaithful to the one YHWH has joined him to. Leave his… mother: Many marriages fail because a man chooses another mother as a wife. This argues against both polygamy and celibacy. Compare Yahshua's call to leave parents and follow him (Luqa 14:26), thus gaining much, and growing closer to the image of YHWH by uniting with the Head of the reconstituted image. Cling: He is to cherish her, remembering that she is really a part of himself.25. And both the man and his wife were naked, yet they were not ashamed.
Targum Neofiti: did not know what shame was. They were vulnerable (another meaning of the word "naked" in Hebrew) but neither did anything shameful, not "knowing evil" (v. 17) nor even seeing any potential for the kinds of abuse that now ruin nearly every attempt to highlight the aesthetic beauty of the human body. (See 3:7.) Metaphorically, the closer we move through community back to the kind of fellowship YHWH had with Adam, and the priorities and lifestyles that come with it, the less shameful it will be to bare our souls, for the less and less greed and selfishness we will have to hide. Right and wrong were not yet separate concepts to those whose minds and hearts were still innocent, not having eaten of the Tree that so seductively promised to let them in on that secret:
Serpent: literally whisperer, practicer of divination (one able to cast a spell; how could we ever apply such a term as divine to Yahshua, or even YHWH?) Whispering catches the attention better even than shouting, for it hints at intimacy and being taken into one's confidence. The word is also related to the word for bronze--and indeed, it was a dazzlingly impressive creature at that time (Y'hezq'el/Ezek. 28:13ff). Another animal speaks in Numbers 22:28-31, but here the woman does not seem surprised; in an uncursed world there may have been nothing unusual about talking animals, though if we place too much on whether this was literal or not, we may miss the main point of what we are meant to learn from the story. But apparently this talking snake was either inhabited or influenced by haSatan (the Adversary), the former archangel and "kh'ruv who covers", who had become the sworn enemy of Elohim and who was jealous of mankind's being given the rulership of earth which Heylel (Lucifer) had once possessed. More crafty: And there are some other crafty creatures, such as the fox, the monkey, and the lion that crouches still for hours waiting to pounce. Than any: The contrast may be between the field and the garden; the animals of the field were from the new creation, while the serpent, like everything else in the Garden, was from the prior creation. (YHWH placed new things into an old setting to see if the result would be any different.) The serpent's craftiness is shown in its reframing of the prohibition in an exaggerated form, throwing her off balance and influencing her to overreact. It appears to be leading up to the suggestion they that can make an exception to the commandment, but already it is casting YHWH in a bad light. But what we miss in English is the interesting play on words, for the word for "naked" in the previous verse is from the same root as "crafty" here. The serpent had indeed lost a far more glorious covering than mankind had (Y'chezqel 28). Its covering is described just like that of the New Yerushalayim (Rev. 21), which is described as YHWH's bride, as Israel also is. In this context, the kh'ruvim atop the Ark of the Covenant are considered to represent YHWH and Israel in a close relationship. Humanity, at first, and later Israel in particular, is thus a replacement for a rebellious bride, which is why haSatan was so eager to have Adam and Chawwah disqualified from this position. We can sense the bitterness in "her" leading statements that reflect "her" own experience of YHWH's ill will. We can well imagine her saying under her breath, "Just watch; He won't let you have anything you want!"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 interrupted the serpent to clarify the ambiguous "any", which in Hebrew can also mean "all". 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, and seek greater fulfillment through going outside the bounds He really has set. 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. This fence, though, may have been counterproductive, since, as she did not die when she touched the fruit, she may have thought there would be no harm in eating it either. Center: the tabernacle, likewise, would later be an "off-limits" zone in the center of the camp of Israel. It is in the center, yet somehow it is not included among the trees of the garden.4. And the serpent said to the woman, "You won't really die as in 'death',
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan adds, "But every craftsman hates his fellow craftsman" and explains that the serpent was slandering its creator--that is, casting the truth in such a light as to make His motives look evil.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.
This is both a deadly truth and a lie at the same time. (We would expect half-truths from Satan.) 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. This is not referring to being able to distinguish between right and wrong. Thus far nothing had been proclaimed wrong; only one thing had been "not appropriate", and that had been remedied. There was nothing to discern--except this serpent. So was it evil that caused the chaos and destruction that preceded tyhis beginning? We must not give too much credit to haSatan, who also serves YHWH (albeit reluctantly) and must ask His permission to do any damage. (Iyov/Job 1:6ff) YHWH lets him oppose us in order to strengthen us, but our main focus must be on obedience to YHWH rather than on directly targeting the "devil" or demons (which seldom appear in the Torah) for attention. But it is no small thing that the Hebrew word for wrong or evil became the name of the primary ruling spirit of the Egyptians (Ra). But there was no way to know evil in this pleasure garden unless she ate of this tree. Since the serpent has experienced YHWH's punishment, "she" wants this same familiarity to affect the woman as well, possibly so she can commiserate. She was already intimately familiar with what was right, for everything was; the only thing this fruit really offered was the intimate knowledge of wrong. Why would anyone want this? Yet the crafty serpent made it look desirable. Like Elohim: or, the elohim (the general category); Pseudo-Jonathan has "the great angels".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.
"Beneficial...to the eyes...insight": Compare these three areas of temptation as seen in Matt. 4:2-10 and 1 Yoch./John 2:16. Actually the first two characteristics were true of every tree in the Garden (2:9), and the third was only her perception, for this would not be inherently visible in the fruit itself. Satan took advantage of the innate traits in the woman that were necessary for sympathetic mothering, but her husband, who had been placed in authority over her to protect this area of vulnerability, knew better, and thus bore the greater guilt (1 Timothy 2:14). If he was with her, why did he not stop her? Maybe he could argue that he did not get the fruit from the tree, but from her; but it may be that at this point he loved her enough to wish rather to be condemned along with her than to retain his purity but lose her to Elohim's judgment. Thus, in a way, Adam left his Father to cling to his wife (2:24). A cravin: or, lust; the serprent made it look as if this was something it should want.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.
Stripped: Targum Pseudo-Jonathan adds, "of the clothing of fingernails in which they had been created, and they saw their shame". The fingernails are the only part of our bodily covering that still reflect light, as is highlighted in the chavdallah service that closes out the Sabbath. While Adam and Chavvah 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 died spiritually, separated from their Source like an unplugged electrical appliance. But by the logic of Ps. 90:4 and 2 Keyfa/Peter 3:8, man cannot live more than 1,000 years. Though antediluvian conditions allowed very long lives, no one reached 1,000 years; thus they "died the same day". At this point, some aspects of Elohim's image (1:27) were lost, so there may have been a perceptible change in their appearance, which was once mostly light. Satan's rule of the earth had been justly removed from him and given to Adam, but now he had usurped it again. But the Kingdom of Elohim could not be given to Satan; it was withdrawn to heaven until another Man could win it back (see 3:15). Their eyes were only opened to their guilt, and they were therefore just like the serpent (rather than just like lohim) in this regard. Fig leaves: Does this mean it was a fig tree they ate from? Quite possibly, for 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 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? They were trying to pretend they were not really naked after all (compare Rev. 3:17) rather than admitting guilt and doing something about it.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.
Sound: or voice. Breezy part: literally "spirit". This seems to have been a special time when He would regularly visit them. Face: or presence. They even used camouflage to blend in with the trees, as if it was natural to know evil. Interestingly enough, trees are often a symbol for people in Scripture. Maybe He would not see them. This is the very reason the Babylonians would not say voice the names of their ruling spirits, and the Jews brought this practice back from Babylon.9. And YHWH Elohim called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"
It was not that He needed to know; He wanted the man and woman to stop and take stock of their condition. Each year forty days before Yom Kippur, we begin a special time of self-examination to inquire about where we stand.10. And he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked, and I hid myself."
Heard your voice: yet his response makes it clear that he really only heard the noise, not what He was really saying. (Voice and sound are the same word in Hebrew, and this suggests a connection with the sound of the shofar blown each day as the Day of Atonement approaches, reminding us of ourneed for YHWH's covering--the Hebrew meaning of atonement; cf. Rev. 3:17ff). I am naked: not "I was". Though he was now physically clothed, every aspect of his being came to be out of balance. They were now more focused on themselves than on what was around them. Hid: or withdrew. The Hebrew word is khaba'. If we change the final alef to the letter beyth, which means "house", we get a word that means "hide away" in the sense of cherishing. The difference between hiding oneself and hiding away in YHWH's love is one of motivation--are we about ourselves or about His House? Adam was a member of YHWH's household, but went out and got mixed up with the whisperer, who turned his priorities toward interest in his own prestige instead. We were made to experience pleasure, yet to exist for YHWH's pleasure as well. (Rev. 4:11) To experience His presence is pleasure, yet that is just what they ran from. When we are in His presence, He is pleased, and everyone benefits; if not, we are intimate with Ra.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?"
His fatherly prohibition had been intended to preclude such a predicament, not to withhold anything beneficial from them. 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."
"The light shone in darkness, but the darkness did not overcome it (or admit it)." (Yochanan 1:1-5) A failure to "admit" the light would parallel another mystical metaphor, that of golden light being poured into earthen vessels (a metaphor for humanity, cf. 2 Corinthians 4:7) and causing them to shatter because it is too intense. Adam and Chavvah desired something that they could not contain. The job of Israel, the mystics say, is to regather the millions of shards of light from wherever they are found and reassemble the fallen Adam. They couch this idea in another metaphor, that of the "Most Ancient Adam", a symbolic "body" built of all the isolated aspects of Elohim's image--that "point of light" (in 1:2, 3) refracted into many different colors so we could know Him in many ways. But although "all the king's men" have tried unsuccessfully to do put him back together again, "Israel" (the entity ordained to bring the restoration) is also one title of the Messiah (promised in v. 15 below), who would indeed make this regathering of Adam's seed possible. Understanding this imagery makes Rav Sha'ul (Paul)'s deep teachings understandable, for he ties all of these metaphors together by describing Yahshua the Messiah as "the second Man" (1 Cor. 15:47) and "the last Adam" (15:45), as well as the "firstfruits" and the "head of the body, those called out" (Col. 1:18). The head is what is born first, and the word "first" in Hebrew is based on "head". After him comes the rest of the body; it is our job to complete the picture of recovering what Adam lost. This is the theme of the rest of Scripture, though the account runs on "fast forward" until it reaches the beginning-point of Israel, the exception to the rule of "vanity of vanities" which began here in the garden, and the embodiment of YHWH's glorious solution to this tragedy. He finishes His work of repair by again pouring the same "light that shone out of darkness" into once-shattered human hearts (2 Cor. 4:6). The darkness at the time of Yahshua's crucifixion was also a harbinger of this "reconstitution" of the human race--the light that again shone out of this darkness.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.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.
Since the serpent did start the process, YHWH sentences it first and most severely. Belly: the part of a reptile's skin that "bursts forth" to let it moult off. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan adds, "Your feet will be cut off, and you will suffer pain in the casting off of your skin every seven years, and the poison of death will be in your mouth." Snakes do indeed have what appears to be the vestiges of bones at the point where lizards have legs.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."
Heel: aqev, which can also mean "rear guard of the troops", reminding us of Amaleq, who attacked those in the rear who were weak or slack. (Exodus 17:8) The myth of Achilles' heel probably originated from a memory of this promise. Yaaqov's name is also based on this word for "heel". His line was the one that made this defeat possible. In crucifixion, one's heel was literally worn away as he pushed himself up to breathe. The theme of the serpent's seed is picked up again in Matithyahu 3:7 and Yochanan/John 8:44. The serpent's seed almost crowded out the human, but Elohim preserved it (Gen. 6:4, 9), The seed normally comes from the male, but if the Gospel accounts as we now have them are still correct, Messiah did not have the seed of man in him. Geneticists have found that the reproductive cells carried by women are actually immortal until they are "poisoned" at fertilization by something carried by the sperm. Arthur Custance suggested that this may be due to a mutation acquired from the forbidden fruit itself which affects both genders but is carried only by the male. By being the "seed of woman" apart from a man, the Messiah could be free from this, and thereby be back on the same truly innocent footing as Adam until he became righteous instead by passing the same tests Adam failed. When haSatan the usurper was allowed to kill this Second Man, he lost his legal rights to earth, for he had become a murderer by killing one who had no sentence of death on him, since he had not sinned. Thus the legal deed to the earth could be given back to a Man. Somehow, as Adam's sin put us all on the wrong footing, Messiah's obedience can set us back on the road to recovery. (1 Yoch./John 3:9; Isaiah 53:10, 11; Romans 8:29; Heb. 2:10)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.
Increase: since, due to the presence of death, mankind would now have to replace itself each generation, not just fill the earth once. Her desire for her husband and for children would overrule her fear of this pain. But this word for "desire" can mean "ambition"; she would strive for dominance over him--for his position--but would not achieve it. She chose to use her inclination toward her husband to oppose him rather than help him, so now the balance is tipped against her. Today's effort to put women on equal footing with their husbands must take this into account. She knew first that she was naked, and yet still chose to pass this on to him, and she has a price to pay for that. But 1 Tim. 2:15 says the woman's salvation comes through her bearing children, so the remedy is included right in the chastening. Simply overlooking it could never demonstrate YHWH's mercy as well as this, for this actually gave her a way to learn to overcome the other desire that had gotten her into this initial trouble. We should not look at this as a punishment, but as for her protection, because if she continued to listen to everything that whispers, she would get us all into even more trouble. She was too naďve because of her emotional tendencies, so YHWH put her husband in charge.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. If "the other side of the coin" is in any way contrary to His word, it is the man's responsibility to shut down his wife's voice in that regard. King Ahav also listened to his wife Yisabel's advice and killed a man so he could have, of all things, a garden. But the serpent was the prototype for Yisabel (Jezebel), for "she" wanted her garden back. Ground: the feminine version of Adam in Hebrew. Thus, not the Garden, but "mother earth" out of which he had come, was also cursed (giving us even less reason to worship it), for he listened to what the world said rather than YHWH's word.18. "And it shall bring forth thorns and thistles for you, and you shall eat the grasses that are on the surface of the field.
Notice that it was not Adam that was cursed, but the ground, and he was then thrown down to it. But even the thorns seem more to be a statement about the course nature must now take, rather than a curse in themselves. They result when an area once cultivated by man is abandoned again to nature. (Custance) Elohim's mercy does shine through in that He did not rescind provision of food, but it would no longer come with the ease or joy he knew in the garden. Barley and wheat, the staples of the Israelite diet, are actually grasses--from the ground rather than from the trees. The first two pilgrimage festivals actually focus on these two grains; only the third focuses on fruit, for Sukkoth is about the healing of the nations (which lies in the leaves of the tree of life) and is thus a foretaste of being back in the Garden. In the days to come, the tree of life will bear fruit year-rounbd; now we are only given one season to remember Eden. The rest of the time we are reminded of the curse so we can deal with its causes. Because of our trading (which was how the King of Tzur, who was reminiscent of haSatan, profaned the whole world, according to Y'hezq'el 28:16), we are able to have any fruit at any time of the year that we wish, perpetuating the myth that we are "like elohim". Targum Pseudo-Jonathan infers that Adam interposed at this point and asked YHWH to let him grow grain by means of agriculture rather than just foraging, so that a distinction would still be made between humans and animals.19. "By the sweat of your face shall you eat bread until you return to the ground--for out of it you have been taken, because you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Unfallen man, with no fears or emotional stress and a perfect physical efficiency, must have had a slower metabolic rate and hence little need for sweat. (Custance) Animals react to us with hostility chiefly because they detect sweat, whereas they are friendlier toward children who do not know enough yet to fear them. Linen garments, which symbolize purity, do not produce sweat (Y'hezq'el 44:18), and that is what will be given to the saints in the resurrection. The intensity of the Messiah's sweat (Luk. 22:44) made the true bread (Yoch./John 6:50ff) available to us again. Dust: the very thing the serpent was told he would consume (v. 14), and in a way it did so.20. And the man called his wife's name Chawwah, because she became the mother of all who are alive.
It was not Chawwah who ate the fruit (for she had not yet been named that yet); Ishah did. Adam now changed her name, and it was no longer a feminine version of his. Now her name is related to the word chai, meaning "life" or "alive". She had not yet had any children of her own. So "mother" may have been metaphorical at this point. As Adam was the gardener, perhaps she was more involved in animal husbandry--a division of labor we see in their first two sons. But if the word "alive" is read as "living creatures" (as it is the same word used in verse 1), this is not a compliment at all, for it suggests that because of her, their offspring would be like the beasts of the field--as some have indeed turned out to be.21. And YHWH made garments of skin for the man and his wife, and thus He clothed them.
Fig leaves were the worst thing to wear, because they secrete juices that are strong enough to eat holes in the skin if left there long enough! Skin: possibly of an animal that He slaughtered so its blood could provide temporary atonement, or simply skin as we now know it: what formerly ran through their veins was more like light, and their bodies held a glow which was now missing. Blood as we now know it, which carries the soul in it, is the corrupted form of this light which bore Elohim's image in a much fuller way. The words for "light" and "skin" sound the same in Hebrew (owr), though they have a different spelling. So we could say their lack of "'owr" was covered up with "owr". The word used in Aramaic also means "chaff"--that which covers the edible part of the wheat. Now the fact that we were ever in YHWH's presence is hidden (as Moshe's face shone after having been in YHWH's presence, Ex. 34:30ff; 2 Cor. 3:7ff.) Guilt needs to be covered, but this creates a useless layer between ourselves and Him. Adam could have offered to hunt down and destroy the serpent or do whatever he needed to do to demonstrate repentance, but instead he just decided to suffer whatever he needed to instead of actually repenting, so his light was diminished by this extra layer. Yahshua did not try to find a way around his suffering once he knew there was none. He had no "chaff" obscuring his connection to the Father, so he could be the "light of the world". We can be, too, if we are after obedience no matter what. Removing this chaff, we can again be "naked and not ashamed". Targum Pseudo-Jonathan says YHWH clothed them with the skin that the serpent had cast off. In fact, the high priest's breastplate does bear a strong resemblance to what this creature had looked like in Eden. (Compare Y'hezq'el 28:13 with Exodus 28:17ff; along with Revelation 21, we can see the common theme of the divesting and replacement of rebellious Heylel with Israel through its Messiah, just as Hadassah/Esther replaced the disobedient queen Vashti.) Like Adam, the high priest stood as a representative of a whole people, and thus restored his original position to the greatest extent possible prior to the Messianic Kingdom.22. Then YHWH Elohim said, "Look! The man has become like one of Us, able to know right and wrong, therefore, so he doesn't stretch forth his hand and take from the Tree of Life also, and eat, and live forever--"
They now officially had intimate knowledge of evil, yet were they satisfied? Look where it got them! YHWH did not want him to remain in that double-minded state forever, so He mercifully kept us from eating of the tree of life until the process of true repentance had been brought to fruition. If he could live forever without having to stop sinning, what motivation would he have? YHWH had opened every door to repent, and he did not, so why should He make it easy on us any longer? We have to learn just how evil the "Ra" we had chosen really is. He hopes that by finding out just how everything else treats us, we will want Him again, like the Prodigal Son. David got the point: "It is better to be a doorkeeper in YHWH's house than to dwell in the tents of Wickedness." (Psalm 84:10) However, there are ways in which we can get tiny tastes of it during the journey back. In the Torah, YHWH says, He sets the choice of life or death in front of us--and our seed! (Deut. 30:19; cf. v. 15 above.) If we choose obedience now, at whatever point we are, we can start heading back toward life. But the book of Proverbs calls several other things a tree of life: wisdom (3:18); the fruit of the righteous (11:30, where it is compared to the wisdom of acquiring souls, as Avraham did in Gen. 12:5, which became his household and community, his "true brothers and sisters and mother"); the reaching of what is desired (13:12, as contrasted with deferred hope); and a healing tongue (15:4). And Yahshua promises that the one who overcomes libertarian doctrines and returns to the first love from which he had fallen, doing his first deeds again, can eat of the tree of life. (Rev. 2:7)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. Now that the price has been paid, the Spirit of Messiah gives us a temporary connection for more direct revelation until we again become a complete Adam.24. indeed, He drove the man out. And He stationed the kh'ruvim from the east to the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword whirling around, to guard the way to the Tree of Life.
Yerushalayim's eastern Gate
Kh'ruvim: a class of angels associated with guarding holy places (like the holiest part of the Temple--which is the way YHWH gave us to get back to the Tree of Life). They are more like winged sphinxes than the unthreatening baby "cherubs" of Western art, though they are also innocent like children. From the east: or, possibly, from the ancient (world that had preceded this one). Notice YHWH's mercy in not allowing mankind's bodies to become immortal by eating of the Tree of Life in their fallen condition. He thus gave them hope of regaining their lost estate when they would die physically. (Rev. 22:2 seems to say the Tree of Life, to be restored when the curse is gone, is a species that will bear a different kind of fruit each new moon, and says its leaves are for the healing of the nations. So it may be that the tree had to be eaten of on any occasion of injury in order to maintain life rather than making the eater immortal once and for all.) The Gihon (2:10-14) originates just east of Yerusahalayim. So this is another evidence that Eden was right there above it. (See note on 2:10.) Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on verse 23 said Adam went and settled on Mount Moryah, which is where the Temple would later sit. Revelation 21 speaks of a Heavenly Jerusalem, and Hebrews 9:8-24 tells us that the Temple on earth was a copy or shadow of the one above it. Thus YHWH would have shown His greatest pictures of redemption--the provision of a ram in place of Yitzhaq (22:8-14) and the Temple sacrifices (an exact replica of what is in heaven, Heb. 8:5)--at the same location, and set in motion the final solution for the problems Adam started on another "tree" which was erected on this same mountain! He stipulated that pictures of kh'ruvim be woven into the veil guarding the way to the Holy of Holies to strengthen this reminder of what it was all about. The main gate to the Temple was visible from another garden directly east of the city, where the final battle for the restoration of Israel was won, and angels participated in that drama. (Markos 14:32-36) Though the main gate to Eden is closed off, there is another way back to fellowship with YHWH, but it is a long, roundabout one. As the eastern gate to Yerushalayim is now blocked off, and in Yahshua's day the Temple was usually entered from the south after a ritual washing, entering through long tunnels and crossing a wide courtyard, likewise, after repentance, the cleansing by Yahshua's blood, dying to self, and re-learning the right patterns of life through the Torah, we are only then back at the starting point for what it really means to worship YHWH. In Jewish tradition, Adam continued to ritually bathe in the rivers that flowed out from Eden, thereby maintaining a connection to it. The Tree of Life is hidden until we (corporately) are obedient. No single one of us can experience it. But as we At least one aspect of what keeps us from it is time, an illusion that would have meant nothing had Adam remained immortal. Now that he had only one "day"--no more than 1,000 years--left to live, suddenly time mattered. He could not live forever. Time limited him. The pain of exile was meant to drive us to seek the way back. Paradoxically, the way YHWH gives us to get back to it is His appointed times. There we are in His presence again in a limited way. By walking in the proper times we can get a taste of eternity again, and thus can eventually overcome time. Obedience is what kept us in the Garden. If we want to hear His voice again, we can do so if we walk in the Torah where it has been recorded. It might not be as spectacular as some alternatives available today, but it will be real. The Torah is to be guarded like the Garden, and it is what teaches us to love YHWH's presence again. It even holds the command not to eat of the fruit of trees for a certain period (Lev. 19:23ff)--a vivid reminder of where we came from and a test of whether we will obey this time. It teaches us to establish community, where we can be closer to Him more often. As we work toward establishing a better resting place for Him, it no longer matters if we die, because we can enter back in by means of resurrection, if we have made the right choices while we live. Our hope is in Yahshua's resurrection, insofar as it was one part of the path back to the lost relationship with YHWH. But we cannot take it as something that cancels our responsibility, write our own version of the contract on that basis, and expect YHWH to honor it if He never signed it as well! He has covenant only with Israel, but as we become part of that entity, we can, as a restored Adam, a unified new man, return to what the ancient Adam lost.
They were obedient to the command to be fruitful. Yahshua also constantly spoke about planting the seeds of the Kingdom, and emphasized how important it is to hav ethe right kind of ground--community--to grow it in. The Torah teaches us how to discern the soils and, to change the analogy, how to operate as a team in synchronized motion so as not to waste our efforts in getting back to the Garden. Because Chawwah did not take responsibility for her wrongdoing, childbirth became painful for her. To expand her family requires contractions! The time just prior to Israel's return to the Land is called "the birthpangs of the Messiah". Even those who go down to the dust (a reference to the curse in chapter 3) will worship Him; those who cannot live on into the Kingdom will be represented by their seed as if they themselves were there. (Psalm 22:28-31) A child will be born who will know to refuse the evil and choose what is right--the opposite of what took place in the Garden. He will eat curds--the result of separating the solids and liquids in milk. (Yeshayahu 7:14-25) Milk is a picture of the Torah (1 Keyfa 2:2) By rightly dividing the Word of YHWH, we can learn to not be intimate with evil. As at creation, all will be shaken out of place as this "woman" is in childbirth, bringing great desolation to those who are not walking in Torah. (Yeshayahu 13:6-13) This cleansing must take place before the proper rule can be established in the earth. Be sure you are on the right side! It will seem like we cannot accomplish the delivery, the job that we know has been given to us; we need the rest of Israel, so YHWH will raise those who have died in order to complete the army so we have enough to subdue the earth. (Yeshayahu 26:17-19; compare Y'hezq'el 37:1-14) That is the purpose of the resurrection. The Messiah himself came forth before the labor pains began (and his mother may have escaped some of the curse of such suffering, for she was called "most blessed among women"). But there are plural children yet to be born as soon as the labor begins. Streams that went out from Yerushalayim will flow back to it from all the nations. (Yeshayahu 66:7-12) The Labor pains--or at least the "false labor" that conditions the body to give birth--have begun already. There is still much vengeance and retribution for the earth to go through, but the children of Tzion are already being revealed. Our numbers seem very few now, for it is contraction that brings about the birth; but one day there will be too many to fit in the Land of Israel. (Yeshayahu 49:18-22) If YHWH has to do such damage to the earth so that His children will be born, then He will not close up the womb. He will not stop the progress until it is accomplished. We are created for intimacy with YHWH, and when we are pleased to be pleasing Him, we are maturing and on the road back toward the Garden. With YHWH: i.e., with His help; she thought he might already be the redeeming seed promised in 3:15, but the right time was not to come for another 4,000 years. Qayin means "possession", and is related to the word "acquired" here.2. And she continued to bear his brother, Hevel. And Hevel became a keeper of flocks, and Qayin a tiller of soil.
Hevel means "a breath", "vapor", or "vanity", a harbinger of the fleetingness of his life. It seems Qayin took up his father's occupation (participating in the curse of 3:17-19), and Hevel his mother's (if being called "mother of all living" in 3:20 before she bore children could mean she practiced animal husbandry). This parallels with another set of twins: Esau, the elder, whose occupation pleased his father but not YHWH, and Yaaqov, a "man of tents" (symbolically one who learned all he could about the way of righteousness) who was favored by both his mother and YHWH. Apparently the animals had begun to be predators already, and sheep were already domesticated. Hevel saw that they needed to be guarded, and took it upon himself to do so. A "keeper of flocks" also symbolically means one who watches over the welfare of others (see v. 9), while Qayin was literally a "servant of the ground" (see v. 5) This is what false prophets will claim to be when they begin to be punished. (Zkh. 13:5) The only alternative to toiling with the earth was to tend flocks. (The term includes only the smaller livestock like sheep and goats.) If we concentrate our focus on caring for YHWH's people, the cares of this world will not weigh so heavily upon us, and the outside world will not have as much power over us. (Mat. 6:25-33) This is what we should invest our sweat in, rather than the ground out of which we came (the environment in which we grew up while still outside of Torah).3. And in the course of time, it came about that Qayin brought a grain offering to YHWH from the fruit of the ground,
Course of time: literally, "from the utmost end of days", so this is a prophecy of something to come later as well. According to Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, a widely-held opinion in the second Temple period was that this took place on the 14th of Nisan, the day on which the Passover lamb would later be slain, and just before the day that would later be the firstfruits of the barley harvest As the expansion seen in chapters 1-2 is beginning to reverse in our day, unity is the byword, and it will take place on both the "heavenly" and "earthly" levels, so that while all of true Israel unites, all that is not Israel will also unify against it, so that in the end there are only two real entities, symbolized here by these two brothers, one of whom has his eyes on YHWH, and the other who worships the earth and his own skilfulness. This is the essence of the "beast" of Revelation.4. And as for Hevel, he also brought a tribute from the firstborn of his flocks--indeed, the finest of them. And YHWH had regard for Hevel and his tribute,
Had regard for: paid attention to, respected, gazed long upon (with satisfaction); Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, turned a friendly face to. Note that though in Eden they were given the vegetation alone as food, they have already begun slaughtering, and YHWH accepted this offering of life and blood. YHWH said He would give us grass for our livestock so that we could eat and be filled. (Deut. 11:15) Even in the Kingdom, there will at least be offerings made in the Temple; if anyone but the priests will eat meat at that time remains to be seen.5. but He did not show regard for Qayin or his tribute. So Qayin burned greatly with anger, and his face was downcast.
The problem was not so much that it was not an animal; in the Temple, grain offerings were accepted as an added gift, supplementary to the blood slaughter--a contribution really to the priests and not to YHWH--or the offering of those who could not afford anything better (being thus the lowest of offerings). Thus Qayin's tribute (which Targum Pseudo-Jonathan says was flax) was not necessarily the firstfruits or the best (like Hevel's), but just a sampling or token, so to speak--just something he grew, like one who washes his hands to come into a king's presence while the rest of his body is still filthy. He was bringing a gift without the relationship to back it up, meaning he was just wanting something from YHWH (approval, in his case). Thanking Him without giving His whole life to Him is profaning His word. What his brother brought (v. 4) was the firstfruits, which is what He later did require, while a grain offering is something voluntarily given over and above what is required. But Qayin was just like Christians who give YHWH something that is part of what is theirs (Sunday) but not what He actually asked for (the Sabbath). If there has to be a choice, He would rather only have what He asked for than only something extra but not what He specifically requested. Qayin gave of his labor, but not of his life; he still wanted to approach YHWH his own way. There was no atonement in it. It was not even the fruit of a tree, but from directly on the ground, which is precisely what was cursed. This tells us that YHWH only pays attention when we bring Him our first and best. Can we ask and beg Him for everything that we want, then give Him leftovers? (See Mal'akhi 1:6-9) This is not a bribe, but an evidence that He is our priority. Anything less is not acceptable. He wants us to participate in His perfection, and this is the only way we can get there. Adam and Chawwah gave the serpent priority. Kornelios gave to Israel instead of to Roma, and YHWH took notice, and he received credit--and the Kingdom--for it. (Acts 10:2-4) Nothing is directly said about slaughter here, but it is likely that this was the form this tribute took, as it later would in the Temple. Although Qayin was not a shepherd like Hevel, both had to shed blood (Heb. 9:22). Nothing originating from earth can substitute for the payment of the soul, which is given by Elohim, and contained in the blood (Lev. 17:11). Downcast: toward not toward YHWH but toward the ground that he served (v. 2). He had a "long face"! He took his eyes off the giver and onto the gift--the classic root of all idolatry, which does not always despise YHWH, but sidelines Him.6. So YHWH asked Qayin, "Why are you so furious, and why is your face downcast?
7. "If you make it right, [there is] a higher position [for you]. But if you do not make it right, sin is crouching at the opening; its desire is to [overwhelm] you, but you can take dominion over it."
Make it right: something Adam and Chawwah had not done when given the open door. Would Qayin "do better" (another way to render the phrase)? YHWH would not condemn him unless he was not interesting in fixing what he had broken. It he made it right, YHWH could make what came before to be of no consequnce. Repentance renders sin powerless. He was given the occasion to try again--to shoot another arrow where he had missed the target the first time. We do not need to cry over the past, but take another shot. The Torah shows us how. How many shots YHWH allows us is up to Him. But His Torah has posted beards, peoth (hair on the sides of our faces), or tzitziyoth (regulation tassels) at each doorway into our hearts (our eyes, ears, mouths, and sexual organs) to remind us to guard against what may approach us. Higher position: acceptance, elevation, or exaltation/majesty, but the Hebrew term is also used of the swelling of skin on a leper (Lev. 13:2), who had a disease given as a punishment when one sought a position that was not rightfully his. Yehudah (Jude) 11 ties Qayin's sin to Bilaam's greediness and Korach's slander of properly-constituted authority. The opening or door was the place on which the lamb's blood was later applied in order to keep the death angel from one's house (Exodus 12:7). Crouching: ready to pounce like a lion, not just lying there idly. If he did not deal with the one sin that was blocking the opening to the tent of meeting with YHWH (lack of repentance), a worse one waited to devour him. He paved the way for the next sin by not undoing the first. Whatever sin we perpetrate on others will wait to eat us up if we do not do better, just as Pharaoh's slaughter of innocent boys led to his own firstborn son having to die. Take dominion over it: Note the similarity to 3:16.8. But Qayin challenged Hevel his brother, and while they were in the field, Qayin rose up against his brother Hevel, and killed him.
Challenged: or simply, spoke to. "You think you're special, don't you?!" Why does he speak to him if he wants him dead? We can kill in more than one way. The rabbis say that if we bring the blood to someone's face (by shaming him undeservedly), it is tantamount to shedding his blood. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." (Prov. 18:21) Targum Pseudo-Jonathan says Qayin complained to his brother that his judgment was unjust, but Hevel said YHWH's favor was his because the fruit of his deeds was better and more prompt. Then Qayin drove a stone through his forehead.9. Then YHWH said to Qayin, "Where is your brother Hevel?" And he said, "I don't know; am I my brother's keeper [as in, shepherd]?"
Where? Again, YHWH already knows the answer, but wants him to see where he stands. Instead, this first child ever born already exhibits the human tendency to lie. Am I my brother's keeper? This is the most profound question in Scripture, and the rest of Scripture is YHWH's answer to it: absolutely! Not everyone is our brother, but if we have the same father (YHWH) and mother (Torah), we are indeed responsible for one another. Keeper: or guard. We guard the Torah by guarding one another, and vice versa. We don't naturally like being guarded or having to watch out for one another, but when the trouble is obvious, like on a battlefield, we are more ready to do so. We have to get the weapons out of the hands of those who are inept or immature so that they do not kill themselves, and we must guard them from anyone else who may wish to harm them. If Aharon had stopped Moshe from striking the rock a second time, he, too, probably would have been able to enter the Promised Land.10. And He said, "[Don't you realize] what you have done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.
Who will take care of Hevel's sheep now? How will you make that better? You are their keep now, too! Blood cries out: This is the first mention of blood in Scripture, and we are told that when it is in the earth it makes a sound that YHWH can hear. Once we realize we can remove the life by letting the blood go, everything changes. Blood is bright red, and gets our attention effectively. It speaks to us and tells us there is big trouble! Part of the purpose of the blood is so that we can be spoken to. Such an outcry is seen again in 6:13 and 18:20, as well as in Rev. 6:9ff. All unjustly-spilled blood will be disclosed, and YHWH will bring about complete justice for these victims at a time like the first Passover (Ex. 12:21ff), as the birthpangs of the nation begin again, when He tells us to go into our rooms and shut the door until His indignation is past, so that the destroyer cannot affect us. (Yeshayahu 26:20-21) Passover cannot be done alone; it is an event that must be shared with a number of intimates. The place of safety is in community. The purpose of Passover is to prepare our children to ride out the birthpangs. When the plagues began, all Israel assembled in Goshen after having been spread throughout all Egypt. When the plagues begin this time, the door to regather will be opened again.11. "And now you are cursed in a worse way than the ground which [at least] opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
Cursed in a worse way: since he did not try to make things better, the ground would no longer even respond to him (v. 12) --a far worse punishment than that given his fathein regard to the soil (3:19).12. "When you till the soil, it will no longer yield its potential to you. You will be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth.
This curse has a name: exile. The Deluge would come because men were violent against each other; the sages say the Temple was destroyed because brothers hated one another for no reason, but were only interested in having their own opinions heard. We, too, have been in exile for 2,730 years. Do we want to go home? If we do right, won't we also be accepted? (See Y'hezq'el 3:17-21; 18:4-24) That can be the end of the story--if we allow it to be.13. And Qayin said to YHWH, "My punishment is more than I can bear.
LXX, my crime is too great to be forgiven. The Aramaic targums add, "but You are able to forgive it."14. "See here, You have evicted me from the land, and I will be banished from Your very presence! On top of this I will be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth. And anyone who finds me will kill me, for sure!"
So despite his pride and stubbornness, Qayin really did enjoy YHWH's presence. He understands that there is safety there, yet still does not take responsibility. Anyone: literally, "everyone"! Of course, he might live to see many more people born, but who was there at this time but his own parents? They would have to be his judges, and like Rivqah (27:45), they would be expected to have to do justice and thus see both of their sons die the same day. Who else there might be to kill him, we do not know, but he knew that being away from YHWH's presence would mean trouble. But YHWH would not let him use this as leverage against Him.15. And YHWH said to him, "If anyone kills Qayin, he will be avenged sevenfold." And YHWH set a mark on Qayin, so that anyone who found him should not kill him.
Talk though he might, YHWH would still make him go through this. If he were to be killed, the lesson of exile would not be there for others to learn from. He ust multiply before he dies so that more people can see this example of what not to be like. This is where sin gets you! This is why YHWH allows some things that we think should be removed to remain standing. Yet though out of His presence, he still had YHWH's watch-care. A mark on the forehead is seen as a special seal of protection in Song of Songs 8:6; Yochanan/John 6:27; 2 Tim. 2:19; Eph. 4:13; Rev. 7:3. In Y'Hezq'el/Ezekiel 8 and 9, the mark of protection is given to those who do not participate in the prototypes of "Easter" sunrise services, but rather lament them, and they are passed over like those spared at Passover when YHWH's wrath came on the idolaters. Thus Qayin, the man who would not kill a lamb, had to be taught the "way of Passover".16. And Qayin went out from the presence of YHWH, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Presence of YHWH: geographically, the place bearing His name (Deut. 26:2; 2 Chron. 6:20). "Nod" means vagrancy, exile, wandering. Though Adam and Chawwah had sinned, they had a goal to work back toward; Qayin's life was now aimless.17. And Qayin knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Hanokh. And he built a city, and he called the city by the same name as his son, Hanokh.
The gene pool was still relatively unblemished, and inbreeding with his sister (5:4)--apparently the only possible source of a wife at that time--would not be a problem. This was not overtly forbidden until Moshe's time. However, if we read "east of Eden" in v. 16 as "the ancient part of Eden", we could speculate that he found a wife from the same previous creation from which the serpent had come, which might have had some of the same kinds of results as those seen in chapter 6. Hanokh: Early cities were often named for their first settler, 11:32. Near eastern documents added a cuneiform notation to a proper name if it referred to a city, except in the case of Unuk, which is linguistically similar to Hanokh (Enoch). If it were the only city in existence when built, no such classifier would have been needed. This name also ties directly to the word for city in earlier languages (Uruk > Ur > Ir). The Deluge would have destroyed the original, but it was common to rebuild on an ancient site. But the significance of Hanokh's name may be that it is the root from which we derive Hanukkah, and means "dedicated". Was Qayin starting to learn from his mistakes after all by dedicating his own firstborn to YHWH? Or was he building a permanent settlement to try to break the curse of havingto wander all his days? Even if so, he would have to guard a city, and in learning to guard, he would bring reparation for his unwillingness to guard his brother. (v. 9) The purpose of our exile is that we will learn to repent.18. And Irad was born to Hanokh, and Irad fathered Mechuya'el ["smitten of Elohim"], and Mechuya'el fathered Methusha'el ["one of the few men associated with Elohim"], and Methusha'el fathered Lamekh ["Despairing"].
19. And Lamekh took two wives to himself: the name of the first was Adah ["Ornament"], and the name of the second was Tsillah ["Shade"].
20. And Adah gave birth to Yaval ["Conduct", "Lead along"]; he was the father of those who live in tents and possess [livestock].
Wasn't Hevel the first who had livestock? Yes, but he regarded them as something to protect rather than a possession to acquire. Actually, the term used here could siply mean he began to acquire possessions; alternately it could mean "live in tents along with his livestock"!21. And his brother's name was Yuval; he was the father of all of those who play the harp and the pipe.
Yuval: the root word for "jubilation" and the year of release; probably tied more to lively music here. Pipe: probably the bagpipe.22. And Tsillah also gave birth to Thuval-Qayin, the hammerer of every engraving tool of bronze and iron. And the sister of Thuval-Qayin was Naamah [pleasantness].
The relative strength of the earliest patriarchs would make them seem like gods to "descendants" who were showing signs of the gradually-debilitating fall into sin. Hammerer of every engraving tool: or, instructor/sharpener of every craftsman working in bronze and iron. THUVAL-QAYIN was probably the real personage behind the legend of Vulcan, the god of fire and metal-forge, the smith of the Roman TUBIListrum. In other words, his reputation grew larger than life, possibly because he taught the skills needed by those who wanted to make idols. Qayin means "smith", and near eastern smiths even today refer to iron splinters struck off the anvil as "TUBAL". The Sumerian word for "iron" is BARZILLU, the Assyro-Babylonian way to say "son of Tsillah". (The Hebrew word for iron is similar: barzel.) The three names Yaval, Yuval, and Thuval all share the same root word, meaning "flowing" or "a stream of water". Were these "three streams" flowing from Lamekh a counterfeit of the four flowing from Eden? Or is there a fourth, and these occupations that made the construction of YHWH's dwelling place (a tent, livestock, music, and metal-working) a picture of the way back to Eden? Since Qayin was barred from agriculture, all of these descendants of his invented alternative occupations, all of them designed to make life in exile easier, thus in a sense escaping the curse. But Adam, while continuing to till the soil, would have a constant reminder of what he had lost and, as he humbly submitted to his punishment, would be reminded of the hope of redemption his seed would one day bring.23. And Lamekh said to his wives Adah and Tsillah, "Hear my voice, you wives of Lamekh! Listen to my words--for I have killed a man for wounding me, and a young lad for hurting me,
Tradition says the man he killed was Qayin (based on his statement in v. 24). For wounding me: or, to my wounding…to my hurt.24. "for Qayin is avenged sevenfold, but Lamech seventy-sevenfold!"
25. And Adam knew his wife again, and she gave birth to a son, and she called his name Sheth [granted or appointed]--"because Elohim has appointed to me another seed in place of Hevel" (since Qayin had killed him).
Does this mean Chawwah thought the redemptive seed was Hevel rather than Qayin, or only that Qayin disqualified himself? In any case, a replacement is now granted for the one that was killed, for since Qayin had also left home, she was without seed until Sheth was born. This goes along very well with the Jewish tradition that the first Messiah would be killed in battle (in his case, spiritual battle), and a second Messiah would come and reign permanently. In Yahshua's case they are one and the same (since Miryam is dead, and both Messiahs, according to this foreshadowing, have to come from the same mother!), but Hevel and Sheth played out a rehearsal of this theme. Paul also often compares Yahshua to Adam, since he took the place of the one who fell and thus "died" to any right he had to rule the earth. Yahshua is called "the second man" and the "last Adam" (1 Cor. 15:45-47). Elohim is the title used here, unlike YHWH in v. 1 at Qayin's birth, because Elohim is the name used when emphasizing His judgment and justice. Sheth is now the one through whom the promised seed (3:15) will pass. 5:3 tells us how long a time this chapter covers.
[Year 235 / 3765 BCE]
26. And a son was also born to Sheth, and he called his name Enosh. Then was it [that people] began to call on the name of YHWH.
Those who had not had a direct experience of YHWH (as Adam and Chavvah had) began to call on His name as a result of Sheth naming his son Enosh (which means "mortal", "frail", or "fragile"). Those who recognize their frailty commonly do turn to the help that He provides. Calling on His name particularly as YHWH has only been widely restored in the past few years. What momentous results will this have spiritually?
This term "genealogies" (tol'doth) --also translatable as "births", "generations", or "history" is found throughout the book and in Num. 3:1, as well as in Matt. 1:1. In Aramaic it is translated as "pedigree" or "line". Its repeated use may indicate that what preceded each one was an account appended by the person named therein (Adam wrote chapters 1-4, etc.), with the possible exception of notations later added to Terach's, possibly by Avraham. Moshe, the redactor and editor, would simply have completed the account. In that case, most of Genesis was written by eyewitnesses. Josephus writes, "Those who then lived...noted...with great accuracy, both the births and deaths of illustrious men." The scrolls would undoubtedly have been given to Avraham by Shem (Melkhitzedeq) then kept safe while in Egypt by the Levites, who maintained more freedom than the rest of Israel, as evidenced by Aharon's being able to leave at will to go meet Moshe in the desert. After its initial use in 2:4, before the fall of Adam, from this verse on ward, it is spelled "defectively", that is, missing the second "vav", which does not change the pronunciation. The "vav", which has the numeric value of six, and therefore represents a man, is restored only in Ruth 4:18, after the blessing of being like Peretz is given to Ruth (4:12), for Peretz was also one who carried on the line from which Messiah would eventually come after it appeared to have been cut off. The word "vav" means a hook, and reminds us of the peg on which David's lineage is said to hang (Yeshayahu 22:23-24)--for this was made possible through these two restorations of the royal line.
* * *
In the day when Elohim created Adam, He made him in the likeness of Elohim.
2. He created them male and female, and blessed them, and called their name Adam on the day they were created.
Note the interplay between the description of Adam as both "him" and "them". The two together were counted as one entity. Thus we see that the likeness of Elohim is only seen in its fullness when both male and female are present. Both aspects are seen in YHWH. Some of His titles even reflect the combination of the two: El Shaddai describes Him as both a stern judge and a breast that is adequate to nourish His children. The pagans had goddesses of fertility, but we do not need statues, for YHWH provides all we need. The name YHWH means He will be whatever He needs to be at the moment. It too is a nurturing name, but when attached to Tz'vaoth (armies), it brings back the balance we need to view Him as, and imitate. For Israel to finish forming the restored image--the second Adam of which Messiah is the head--and then return to Eden, we must have the proper balance brought by both sides--judgment in mercy and mecy in judgment, in the right measures. YHWH wants to dwell in an orderly place. We cannot walk properly without balance. In order to be in balance, we must weigh everything out. The Torah already represents the perfect balance. The more we die to self, the closer we can come to that balance. The things not directly covered by Torah must be weighed out by seeing how they fit together and considering more than just how they will affect "me and mine". The Hebrew word for weigh is shaqal, from which we derive sheqel, which is actually a particular weight in silver. The half-sheqel Temple tax demonstrates how we always need another Israelite to complete us. Being joined to community sets our individual idiosyncracies straight, keeping us from "majoring on the minors"; the details of Torah are important, but the people takes priority over the person. Wisdom is the ability to weigh things out and bring balance. Our first thought shold be how a prospective action or even thought will affect the congregation or the kingdom as a whole. Wisdom is gained by consuming--and carrying out--the Torah. When YHWH judged, He still provided. When He was seen as all in all, He still went to war. Finding the proper balance may mean helping our enemy's ox out of a ditch, but then stoning our own offspring if they are rebellious. His ways are not ours. The voice of the serpent still influences us and when we heed it, we get out of balance. It can sound very much like the Torah at times, and will use YHWH's words against us if possible, just as it tried to do with Yahshua. A key to discerning which is which is that the Torah assigns different weight to the same thing in different seasons. At Passover, deliverance and teaching our children receive the heaviest emphasis; at Sukkoth, it is what will brig most joy that takes priority and can help us determine which course to take. Not working on the Sabbath balances out the working on the other six days; true refreshment can only come on the seventh day. The balancing out simply cannot come on any other day.3. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and called his name Sheth ["appointed"].
Here Adam carries on what YHWH did with him. It is significant that he did not truly have a son, or "another Adam", until Sheth, for both Qayin and Hevel were lost. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, based on a Hebrew tradition, says Qayin was ctually fathered by the serpent, and thus was not in Adam's likeness; in any case, he was banished, and his descendants are not counted in the book of the genealogy of Adam. But Sheth did resemble him, and carried in him "the Seed" that would later come to fruition in Yahshua as the Head of the Second Adam.4. And after he fathered Sheth, the remaining days of Adam were 800 years, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
These might provide wives for Qayin and Sheth, as there may have been few mutations prior to the events of the next chapters that would render marriage to close relatives dangerous to the gene pool. But we do not even know their names. Together with Qayin's line, they made conditions worse for the line that bore the Seed. Even those that were not evil were not as weighty as the firstborn, who inherits a double portion so he can carry out his role as priest (officiator, mediator) to the family in his generation. He was responsible to see that the rest did the right thing. Only one branch of the family in each generation bore this special relationship to YHWH, and they later bring forth a "man whose name is the Branch". (Zkh. 3:8; 6:12; Yeshayahu 4:2; Yirmeyahu 23:5; 33:15) This is the Seed that counts. It does not always flow through the physical firstborn, but rather the one who loves the inheritance and will stand up and take charge to ensure that it remains intact (Yaaqov and David being notable examples). Three foreign women, including one Kanaanite (possibly that fourth stream suggested in the note on 4:22), are brought into the mix to carry on the line--possibly because there was yet a little bit of decency in those lines that YHWH still wanted to preserve and connect to the holy line, as He continued to do through any who wished to join themselves to Israel.5. And all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.
Apparently Chawwah died at the same time as her husband, since "Adam" includes both male and female. (v. 2) He could not live past 1,000 years, for YHWH said that in the day Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, he would die. Psalm 90:4 explains how YHWH saw this: 1,000 years to Him is like yesterday when it is past. It is up to Him whether He will see a day as 1,000 years or as 24 hours. The serpent knew the fullness of death would not come within 24 hours (though they did go through a tremendous loss), and so used the ambiguity of YHWH's own words to deceive. YHWH chose the definition that allowed for more mercy no these mortals so that they might be cured of what got them expelled. But did men really once live so long? Actually, science now asks why, given the right advances, such bodies as ours should die at all (cf. Yeshayahu/Isaiah 65:20f). Before the Deluge, a thicker atmosphere (cf. 2:6; 9:13) screened out most ultraviolet radiation, and the gene pool had not yet deteriorated far enough for inbreeding to cause genetic debilitation, which required ten generations to take full effect. Men's life expectancy began to stabilize at 120 years (cf. 6:3) 10 generations after Noach.6. And Sheth lived 105 years and fathered Enosh ["mortal, danger"].
The focus is now on the line that will bring about Israel.
[Year 325 / 3675 BCE]
9. And Enosh lived 90 years and fathered Qeynan ["mournful lamentation", "to form, build, or nourish"].
10. After he fathered Qeynan,
Enosh lived 815 years, and he fathered sons and daughters.
11. And all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.
[Year 395 / 3605 BCE]
12. And Qeynan lived 70 years and fathered Mahalal'el ["the mighty judge who is to be praised"].
13. And after he fathered Mahalal'el,
Qeynan lived 840 years, and he fathered more sons and daughters.
14. And all the days of Qeynan were 910 years, and he died.
The trend of diminishing lifespans has some slight exceptions in Qeynan, Yared, Methushalach, and Noach below.
[Year 460 / 3540 BCE]
15. And Mahalal'el lived 65 years and fathered Yared ["He shall descend"].
16. And after he fathered Yared,
Mahalal'el lived 830 years, and he fathered more sons and daughters.
17. And all the days of Mahalal'el were 895 years, and he died.
[Year 622 / 3378 BCE]
18. And Yared lived 162 years and fathered Hanokh ["training, dedicated"].
19. And after he fathered Hanokh,
Yared lived 800 years, and he fathered more sons and daughters.
20. And all the days of Yared were 962 years, and he died.
[Year 687 / 3313 BCE]
21. And Hanokh lived 65 years and fathered Methushalach ["His death shall send"].
22. And Hanokh walked with the [true] Elohim for 300 years
after he fathered Methushalach, and he fathered more sons and daughters.
Walked with: Targum Neofiti, served in truth before; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, worshipped in truth before. He did not just call on YHWH's Name, like those who came before him (4:26); he actually walked with Him. I.e., he was more after what YHWH wanted, and YHWH played a larger role in his life.23. And all the days of Hanokh were 365 years,
The fact that man was created on the sixth day has led to a Hebrew tradition that six is "the number of a human being". We see this exact phrase show up in Revelation 13:18, where we are told that wisdom will allow us to calculate the number of "the Beast's" name, and that number is given as 666. Many, not thinking Hebraically, have speculated about whose name might have this number in it, and have been barking up the wrong tree. To the original readers, "calculate" would mean to figure out the numeric value of the Hebrew letters that comprise it. We do not know this name, but there are only three places in the Torah that include a word whose letters total up to 666. Actually the value of the numbers, individually, are 600, 60 , and 6. The 6 refers to one man--this "beast". Sixty would therefore mean "ten men", thus a group of ten men united in association with another man. Right in the first verse of Revelation 13 we find a beast with ten horns. 17:7-12 tell us that these ten horns are ten kings who have authority with the beast for one hour. But this same beast with ten horns is identified in Dani'el 7:7 as the fourth beast, which the progression in history makes clear is Roma. And sure enough, in Roman history, we find a group specifically called "the ten men"--decem viri in Latin--whose influence remains today, though in their corruption they were in power for less than two years ("one hour" in the overall scale of history). Why? Because they rose up in opposition to the nobles and established the Senate, in which every man was to have a voice. I.e., they established democracy, and the Senate remained, revived in our own day. Most of the United States Constitution is based squarely on twelve letters these ten men wrote. So the middle "6" of 666 is democracy. While it may be YHWH's temporary provision for our protection in exile, it is not the way of Scripture, where authorities based on the Torah have the final say, not the people's wishes or desires. Ultimately, one Man will have the final word on what is law. The first 6 (that is, 600) would represent 100 men. One rule of Scriptural interpretation is that the first time something appears in Scripture, it sets the tone for the figurative meaning of the term throughout the remainder of Scripture. The first time the number 100 appears in Scripture (other than someone's age) is in Gen. 33:19, where it is the sum of the pieces of silver used in a purchase. Therefore, 600 would indicate "the men with the money", and indeed in the same immediate context (Rev. 13:17) we see this beast linked with control of the commerce system. At the beginning, when YHWH provided food right on the trees for all mankind and all animals, how could anyone be richer than anyone else? There were no price tags. Animals did not need to be corralled because we were not keeping them for food. Our only concern was to preserve what YHWH had made--an ecosystem He considered "just right". Once bloodshed began, it became about who was out front, and it thus became man against man and man against animals. And that, in a nutshell, is the story of how the world got to be how it is today. Commerce, violence, and bloodshed all go together. The beast sheds blood to keep the money and to keep control of the whole world through money. We have already seen examples of this system biting those who try to leave it and care for one another in community. One was David Koresh in Waco, Texas in the early 1990s. While we do not agree with all of his teachings, he was catching the scent of some worthwhile trails, and was destroyed for trying to buck the state's ownership of its citizens. But we are told here that someone with understanding can calculate its meaning properly, and the implication is that we can thereby overcome this "beast". Psalm 111:7-10 tells us understanding is derived from practicing YHWH's commandments and Psalm 119 repeatedly tells us it is gained by meditating on YHWH's precepts. Calculating the number of a name, for one with understanding, therefore, would involve finding words within YHWH's Torah that have the numerical value of 666. There are only two (and one of them is repeated). The first is in Lev. 25:14, and its meaning is "you [will] sell"--a clear reference to the commerce we spoke of above. The second word with the numerical value of 666 is "you shall turn aside" or "deviate". It appears in both Deuteronomy 5:29 and 17:11. And as with snake venom, the poison includes the antidote right within it, because Lev. 25:14 reads, in full, "And if you [will] sell anything to your associate, or buy anything from your associate's hand, you shall not oppress each other." If we put the Israelite community instead of self first in whatever necessary dealings with commerce we may have, we can wrest "unrighteous Mammon" from the beast and use it for eternal purposes. (Luqa 16:9) Deut. 5:29 reads, "So you must be careful to act according to what YHWH your Elohim has commanded you; you must NOT turn aside to the right or to the left." Deut. 17:11 reads, ""You must do according to the word of the instruction by which they [the Levitical priests] direct you and the decision with which they answer you; you must NOT deviate from the sentence which they make known to you, [neither] to the right not to the left." Thus we negate the "666", whereas if we reckon it the wrong way, we are part of the beast system which indeed "turns aside" from YHWH's intent that one man (without the "men" and the "money", without elections, and without merchandising) has the rule over the entire world. (Yeshayahu 11) The Torah therefore tells us how to handle these snakes when we must, and not be bitten. We get there--back to the world without violence, bloodshed, or commerce--by taking care of one another. We overcome by the innocent blood shed by the Lamb (to redeem his lost brothers), the word of our testimony, and by not loving our own lives, even to the point of death (Rev. 12:11), as Yahshua exemplified.
[Year 874 / 3126 BCE]
25. And Methushalach lived 187 years and fathered Lamech ["powerful" or "despairing"].
26. And after he fathered Lamech,
Methushalach lived 782 years, and he fathered more sons and daughters.
27. And all the days of Methushalach were 969 years, and he died.
Lamech would have been 56 years old when Adam died. According to Jewish tradition, when Hanokh was taken away, all the kings of the earth proclaimed Methushalach the ruler of the earth. He taught the truth and rid the earth of thousands of demons through fasting for three days and using a sword inscribed with YHWH's Name. Simple math shows that he died the year of the Deluge. His name is a prophecy that means "His death shall send (it)." Jewish tradition says that the reason the flood did not come for seven days after YHWH shut the door of the ark is that these were the days of mourning for Methushalach.
[Year 1056 / 2944 BCE]
28. And Lamech lived 182 years and fathered a son,
29. and he named him Noach ["Comfort"], saying,
"This child shall comfort us concerning our work and the hard labor of
our hands, because of the ground which YHWH has cursed."
Though "despairing", Lamech was clearly a prophet and was thus indeed strong. It may be that his desperation led him to the truth, because "If you seek Me, you shall find Me, if you search with all your heart." (Yirmeyahu 29:13) Contrast him with the Lamech in Qayin's line: strength came much sooner for Qayin than for Sheth, but so did despair. Both lines also had a Hanokh. Both were dedicated, but Qayin's line was dedicated to their own accomplishments, and Sheth's to YHWH. The only difference seems to have been their priorities. The holy line did continue to eat bread by the sweat of their brow (a picture of wearing themselves out for the community), as YHWH had commanded. They thus learned to work the ground in a way He would accept, in contrast with Qayin, whose line seems to have given up the practice altogether. They just ignored the cursed ground, while the holy line fought against it. Qayin's line soon lost track of the fact that the world was against them, because they were just leaving it alone. They would thus have had to buy bread from the line of Sheth, because they had lost interest in doing so, and were busy with other pursuits. A shepherd should not have been necessary, for each one should have been doing the right thing for themselves, but because they were not, YHWH had to train some to teach others. With Noakh something would change. Deliverance from some of the effects of the curse could come.30. And after he fathered Noach,
His father outlived him by five years, possibly showing a genetic weakening.
[Year 1556 / 2444 BCE]
32. And Noach was then 500 years old.
Then Noach fathered Shem, Cham, and Yefeth.
Shem is the firstborn, but it appears that they were all triplets. Based on 11:10, these sons would have been born 2 years after Lamech died. The above lineage defines the "sons of Adam" alluded to so often throughout Scripture, in the fullest sense. Qayin's line is not referred to by that name. So "Son of Adam" identifies those from the original line who walked with YHWH, carried the Seed, and took responsibility for the rest of their brothers. The Messiah referred to himself by this title often, for He indeed took responsibility for Israel when no one else would. Psalm 8:4 contrasts the fact that YHWH keeps all kinds of men (ish) in mind (He sends the rain on the unjust too), but He visits, looks after, cares for the Son of Adam. Psalm 80:17 identifies the Son of Adam as the "man of YHWH's right hand". Y'hezq'el is often called "son of Adam" by YHWH's messengers and so was Dani'el once (8:17), for they were the ones held responsible for the Kingdom in their generation. Dani'el prophesies of one called "Bar Enash"--the Aramaic form of Ben Enosh--who is given the Kingdom. Son of a mortal! This troubled Dani'el--and continued to trouble men, so they turned the Messiah into deity so he could be worthy of a kingdom. But, as in Eden, YHWH gives it to a Man. He is called Ben Enosh, because in the days of Enosh, men began to call on YHWH's name. (4:26) And now, as the Kingdom approaches, the wider use of YHWH's name is again being restored.
Men began to multiply: literally, "the Adam became great". In the next few verses, each instance translated "men" literally says "the Adam", or the human entity--now truncated, but after beginning to call on YHWH's name, growing in holiness once more as a community, so the Adversary had to counter with a corrupting influence again.2. that the "sons of Elohim" noticed that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves from whomever they chose.
Sons of Elohim: elsewhere this refers to a class of angels who were present at creation and had some authority over the earth (e.g., Iyov/Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:4ff). The most ancient commentaries interpret it this way here. Another interpretation, of which the first known adherents were around the second century C.E. in reaction to overemphasis on the importance of angels by some other sects, is that this refers to the line of Sheth intermarrying with those from the line of Qayin. Since the term "son of Elohim" is indeed used elsewhere in Scripture to refer to David, Shlomo, and their seed who would inherit the throne. (2 Shmu'el 7:12ff; 1 Chron. 17:13; 28:6; Psalm 89:20ff; Acts 13:33) This is a title they were not born with; it was conferred on them at the time they were raised to the throne. At that time, they were called a firstborn son He had begotten--or, regenerated. This has to do with the rebirth that was depicted in the Hebrew ritual of immersion. In Yahshua's case, this title was indeed proclaimed just after he "fulfilled the righteousness" of undergoing immersion. (Mat. 3:15ff) In Hoshea 1:10-11, the House of Israel are also called "sons of Elohim" (when joined back to Yehudah, who already have this title because the king is from that House). In the division of the Kingdom, we did see the Northern Kingdom take up the way of Qayin (walking after our own hearts and giving less than the best), while the Southern kept walking in the way of Sheth. As Qayin wanted YHWH to overlook his pitiful attempt at a sacrifice because his brother's had already been accepted, so the Northern Kingdom of Israel has wanted Him to count the offering of our brother, the Jew, as covering us as well, as an excuse not to do as well. But this part of Israel will come back into the line of Sheth and again be a people with true Kingdom vision and deeds. If we are not starting to do so now, we are not really looking for the Kingdom. The seed of David contains THE Son of Elohim, but those who regather as Israel and return to YHWH are called the (plural) sons of Elohim. (See 1 Yochanan 3:1) And Yahshua says that whoever overcomes the world will be called sons of Elohim. (Rev. 21:7)3. And Elohim said, "My Spirit will not dispute forever with the Adam who goes astray; he is flesh, and his days shall be 120 years."
Dispute with: or, judge. Whatever is going on here angers YHWH to the point that He will no longer take the merciful interpretation of His sentence that men will die in the day they sin (that they could not live a full 1,000 years), possibly because they are having too many daughters with the inclination to tempt. They will no longer live so long--no more than 120 years. This could also mean that Elohim would extend a final grace period of 120 more years (which is how targum Onqelos interprets it), or that mankind's lifespan hereafter would be only 120 years. Both could be the case. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan takes it as His already having given them 120 years to see if they would repent, and since they had not, the sentence would indeed be brought.4. The Nefilim came to be on the earth in those days--and afterwards--when the "sons of Elohim" [made a habit of] coming in to the daughters of men [the Adam], and they bore offspring to them. These were the mighty heroic champions who were of the ancient age, the famous men of renown.
Nefilim: fallen ones; LXX, "earth-born", which is similar to the word for "giants" and thus some have interpreted it this way. Were they the unnatural hybrid offspring of the unions in v. 2, to which multiple ancient cultures seem to refer in their stories of the demi-gods? Champions: these may have been the "people" capable of building such colossal monuments as Stonehenge, the Great Pyramid, and the Easter Island statues. Their sires may be those to which Yehudah/Jude 6 refers as the angels who "left their proper estate and went after strange flesh". This is probably why Elohim considered the whole earth corrupt. (6:11; compare Lev. 18:25) Yahshua spoke of fugitive spirits seeking embodiment until "the time" set for their judgment. (Mat. 8:29; 12:43) Worship of "the gods" is forbidden not because they do not exist, but because they are not our creators, though some demonic overlords are apparently given jurisdiction over those who will not deal directly with the "Elohim of elohim" (cf. Daniel 10:13, 20). If this is at all what Yahshua was referring to when he said "As it was in the days of Noakh", it would be just before he returns (Luk. 17:26), it should make us sober to hear reports of humans being contacted by "alien" creatures who claim to hold the key to "the next step in our evolution", when they are sexually probed by these "space brothers". Afterwards: The Nefilim show up again in Num. 13:32 and Deut. 3:11 in the Land of Kanaan, unless the fearful spies were exaggerating. If they were indeed very large, how could this have resulted from two human lines being mixed? Science actually shows that when a gene pool is closed, there is a negative effect on those born from it, contrary to Hitler's philosophy. We have seen examples of inbreeding, and the children that result are less intelligent and less well-formed. So introducing a different strand into the genetic mix does tend to produce stronger and smarter people. But if they were earth-born, from what had they fallen? It is not necessary to interpret the Nefilim as themselves being these great heroes, for the text only says they were present at the same time. Could they have been angels that fell with Heylel (Lucifer) prior to this creation, and who came with the same intent as the serpent--to encourage the corruption of this new creation So which is being talked about here? A Hebraic outlook can accept all of these levels of interpretation as possible, because they would all teach us the same lesson--that YHWH does not want us unequally yoked. All of the ways to interpret should be in our toolbox in case we need them later. All of the options have to do with seed. What it all comes down to is that YHWh does not want His people partaking of those who worship other elohim. He wants His people separated from the other lines. (Ex. 34:14ff) This does not mean "racially" as we think of it today (which is really an erroneous concept since all people now alive stem from Noakh, as seen in the coming chapters. There have always been people of other nations who married into Israel and became part of Israel. The intermarriage YHWH does not want is with those who do not give up their pagan ways. This confuses the children. Nekhemyah got so angry when some Jews had children who were speaking the languages of their other parents and no longer knew Hebrew that he pulled out their hair, hit them, and cursed them! (Nkh. 13:23ff) It does not protect the seed, but results in their turning away from YHWH. (Deut. 7:2-4) We cannot be part of the peoples around us if we are to be people of Torah. That is what we are separated unto. In a previous return to Torah, those who had taken pagan wives had to divorce them as well as sending their children away. (Ezra 9; Nekhemyah 10:28ff) This should show us how seriously YHWH takes the sin of marrying those outside of His covenant. Even King Shlomo, who YHWH loved, was corrupted by pagan wives, and this influence continued throughout the history of both Houses of Israel. We need to reverse this tide as we return this time. Men of renown: Everyone knows of their fame, but because they are not completely for YHWH, they are not counted as being for Him at all. Today, much of Israel is in the same situation. Because we have mixed paganism into our worship, or made compromises in other areas, there are power and politics involved in the motivations of the leaders everyone looks up to, YHWH counts the resulting religious climate as evil.5. And Elohim saw that the wickedness of humankind was great on the earth, and that every inclination of the contrivances of his heart was only evil all the day long.
Compare 11:6. Some use "YHWH knows my heart" as an excuse to compromise. But He knows our hearts by what we do ; He saw by their actions that their hearts were evil. In rabbinic teaching, everyone is born with two inclinations, one to right and one to wrong, but here they had gotten to the point of only serving one side. There is no balance. Men try to be "balanced" by making everyone comfortable with one another, no matter how much tolerance of evil it involves, but this is the wrong kind of balance, and YHWH counts it as leading us into sin, no matter how pleasant it may appear.6. And Elohim sighed because He had put mankind on the earth, and He was gouged to His heart.
7. And Elohim said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, off the face of the earth, from man to beast to creeping thing to bird of the heavens, for I regret that I have made them."
"Beast...creeping thing...bird of the heavens": each of these specific categories is elsewhere in Scripture compared to or descriptive of demonic beings as well.8. Noach, however, found favor in the sight of YHWH.
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