Genesis Rabbah Proems

1. R. Oshaya began: I was beside him as an ’amon. I was his delight every day [ . . . ] (Proverbs 8:30). ’Amon [may mean] “a tutor” [lit., a pedagogue]; ’amon [may mean] “covered”; ’amon [may mean] “hidden,” and there are those that say ’amon [means] “great.” ’Amon [may mean] “a tutor,” as it is said: As a nurse [’omen] carries the nursing infant (Numbers 11:12). ’Amon [may mean] “covered,” as it is said: Those who were covered [ha-’emunim] in crimson (Lamentations 4:5). ’Amon [may mean] “hidden,” as it is said: He used to hide [’omen] Hadassah (Esther 2:7). ’Amon [may mean] “great,” as you read in scripture: Are you better than No-’Amon [Thebes] (Nahum 3:8)? And as the Targum renders it: “Are you better off than the great [city of] Alexandria, which lies between the rivers?”

[Another interpretation] is that ’amon [refers to] an artisan. The Torah says, “I was the tool of the craftsmanship of the Holy One.” According to the custom of the world, when a king of flesh and blood [i.e., a human king] builds a palace, he does not build it based on his own knowledge but rather on the knowledge of an artisan; and the artisan does not build it from his own knowledge, rather, he has documents and blueprints [lit., parchments and writing tablets], so that he knows how to make the rooms and the wicket doors. Thus the Holy One looks into the Torah and creates the world, and the Torah says: In the beginning [be-re’shit] God created [ . . . ] (Genesis 1:1). Beginning [be-re’shit] means nothing other than the Torah, as it says [in scripture]: The Lord created me at the beginning [re’shit] of His way (Proverbs 8:22). [ . . . ]

2. R. Joshua of Siknin, in the name of R. Levi, began: The power of His works He has declared to His people—to give to them the portion of the nations (Psalm 111:6). Why did the Holy One reveal to Israel what He created on the first day, and second [day], and the third, et cetera? On account of the nations of the world, so that they would not taunt Israel, saying to them, “Are you not a nation of plunderers?” And Israel would answer them, “As for you—is that not plunder in your hands?! Are not your own lands stolen [from others]? For: The Caphtorim, who left from Caphtor, destroyed them [and settled in their place] (Deuteronomy 2:23). The world and all its fullness belong to the Holy One. When He wished, He gave it to you, and when He wished [otherwise], He took it from you and gave it to us.” Thus it is written: To give them the portion of the nations (Psalm 111:6). The power of His works He has declared to His people (ibid.)—He declared to them [His people] the beginning. In the beginning, God created [ . . . ] (Genesis 1:1).

3. R. Tanḥuma began: For you are great, and you perform wondrous deeds (Psalm 86:10).

R. Tanḥum the son of R. Ḥiyya said: This leather bottle, if there is a hole the size of the eye of a needle, all the air will go out of it. But a person is made with all sorts of cavities and holes, yet his breath does not go out from him. Who would create such a thing? You alone, God (ibid.).

When were the angels created? R. Yoḥanan taught: The angels were created on the second day. As it is written: He lays the beams of His upper chambers on the waters [ . . . ] (Psalm 104:3). It is [further] written: He makes the winds His angels (Psalm 104:4). R. Ḥanina said: They [the angels] were created on the fifth day. As it is written: And the flying things that fly over the earth (Genesis 1:20). And it is [further] written: With two [wings], the [seraphim] would fly (Isaiah 6:2). R. Luliana bar Tabrin said in the name of R. Isaac: Whether [one follows] the interpretation of R. Ḥanina or the interpretation of R. Yoḥanan, all acknowledge that not one [of the angels] was created on the first day, lest they say that Michael stretched out [the world] in the south, and Gabriel in the north, and the Holy One was measuring in between. Rather, I am the Lord who makes all, who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself [me-’iti] (Isaiah 44:24). [Read it rather] as it is written: Who was with Me [mi ’iti]? Who was a partner with Me in the creation of the universe? In the world, a human king is honored by his nation and the great people of his nation are honored with him. Why? Because they bear his [the king’s] burden with him. But it is not thus in the case of the Holy One. Rather, He alone created the universe. And He alone is glorified in His universe. R. Tanḥuma taught: For great you are, and perform wondrous deeds (Psalm 86:10). Why? You alone, God (ibid.). You alone created it [the world]. [As it is written:] In the beginning, God created [ . . . ] (Genesis 1:1).

4. [In the beginning, God created (Genesis 1:1)]. Six things preceded the creation of the world. Some of them were created, and some were thought of, to be created [later; i.e., the intention was formed to create them later]. The Torah and the Throne of Glory [i.e., the divine throne] were created. [From what source do we know this about] the Torah? As it is written, The Lord created me as the beginning (Proverbs 8:22). And the Throne of Glory: as it is written: Your Throne was established of old [ . . . ] (Psalm 93:2). The patriarchs were thought of, to be created [later,] as it is written: Like the first ripe fruit in the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers [ . . . ] (Hosea 9:10). Israel [the nation] were thought of, [to be created later,] as it is written: Remember Your congregation that You established at first (Psalm 74:2). The Temple was thought of, [to be created later,] as it is written: Throne of Glory, on high from the first, the place of our Temple (Jeremiah 17:12). The name of the Messiah was thought of, [to be created later,] as it is written: Before the sun, his name is Yinnon (Psalm 72:17). R. Ahava the son of R. Zeira said: Repentance [teshuvah] too, as it is written: Before the mountains came into existence (Psalm 90:2), and at that very time [the psalm continues], You return [tashev] humanity to contrition (Psalm 90:3). However, I [still] do not know which came first, whether the Torah preceded the Throne of Glory, or if the Throne of Glory preceded the Torah. R. Abba bar Kahana said: The Torah preceded the Throne of Glory, as it says: The Lord created me as the beginning of His way [as the first of His works of yore] (Proverbs 8:22). This is before that which is written: Your throne is established of old (Psalm 93:2).

R. Huna and R. Jeremiah, in the name of R. Samuel the son of R. Isaac, said: The thought [to create] Israel preceded everything. [This can be likened] to a king who was married to a certain [high-class] woman [matrona], and he did not [yet] have a son from her. On one occasion the king was found passing through the marketplace, and he said, “Take this ink, reeds, and candles for my son,” and they were saying, “He has no son. Why is he asking for ink and candles?!” They reconsidered and said, “The king is an astrologer and foresaw that he will have a son! Thus, had the Holy One not foreseen that twenty-six generations into the future, Israel would receive the Torah, He would not have written in it [the Torah], Command the Israelites (Numbers 5:2; 28:2)!

R. Banaya said: The world [and its bounty] were only created on the merit of the Torah—In wisdom, the Lord founded the earth (Proverbs 3:19).

R. Berekhiah said: [The world was created] on the merit of Moses—He [Moses] himself saw the beginning [i.e., creation] (Deuteronomy 33:21).

R. Huna said in the name of R. Matenah: On the merit of three things the world was created: On the merit of challah, the tithe, and the firstfruits, as it is written: In the beginning [be-re’shit] [ . . . ] (Genesis 1:1). The only re’shit is challah, as it is written: The first [re’shit] of your dough, [you shall set aside as a gift-offering, a challah] (Numbers 15:20). And the only re’shit is the tithe, as it is written: The first [re’shit] of your new grain (Deuteronomy 18:4). And the only re’shit is the firstfruits, as it is written: The first [re’shit] of your firstfruits (Exodus 23:19).

5. R. Huna in the name of Bar Kappara began: Let the lying lips be silenced [te’alamnah] [that speak boldly against the righteous with pride and contempt] (Psalm 31:19). [This means:] Let [their lips] be tied up, let them be silenced, and let them be quieted. Let them be tied up, as you read: And here we were, binding [i.e., tying up] sheaves [me’almim ’alumim] (Genesis 37:7). Let them be silenced [’etḥarshan], as is written: And who makes one mute [’ilem] [or dumb (ḥeresh) . . .] (Exodus 4:11). Let them be quieted [’eshtatkan], literally: that speak boldly against the righteous [with pride and contempt] (Psalm 31:19)—against the Righteous One, the life of all worlds [i.e., the Eternal] regarding matters that He has hidden from His creations. With pride?! (Psalm 31:19). In order to exalt himself and say, “I will expound about the creation of the world [a forbidden activity].” And contempt (ibid.)?! He has contempt for My Glory?! For R. Yosi the son of R. Ḥanina said: Whoever elevates himself by diminishing his peer has no portion in the world to come. [With respect to] the honor of the Holy One—how much more so?! And what is written after this? How great is your goodness that you have stored away for those who revere you (Psalm 31:20). [For those who revere you—and not for those who despise your grandeur.] Rav taught: Let him not have any portion in the abundance of your goodness.

It is the way of the world that when a human king builds a palace in a place of sewers, garbage, and decay, anyone who comes and says, “This palace was built in a place of sewers, garbage, and decay,” denigrates it, does he not? [Similarly,] anyone who comes and says that this world was created out of formless chaos and darkness [tohu and bohu]—does he not denigrate it?! R. Huna said in the name of Bar Kappara: Had the matter not been written [in scripture], it would have been impossible to say: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Out of what? And the earth was formless chaos [tohu and bohu] [ . . . ] (Genesis 1:2). [ . . . ]

9. A certain philosopher questioned Rabban Gamaliel, saying to him, “Your God is a great creator only because he found good materials to work with.” He said to him, “And which are those?” He said to him, “Formless chaos [tohu and bohu], darkness, water, wind, and the watery depths.” He [Rabban Gamaliel] said to him, “May the soul of that man expire. For in the case of each of these, the word ‘creation’ is used!” [Concerning the] formless chaos, [scripture says:] [I] make peace and create wickedness [chaos] (Isaiah 45:7); [concerning] darkness: I form the light and create the darkness (Isaiah 45.7); [concerning] water: Praise Him, O highest heavens, and the waters [above the heavens] (Psalm 148:4). Why? For He issued the command and they were created (Psalm 148:5). [Concerning] wind: Behold, the One Who forms the mountains and creates the wind (Amos 4:13); [concerning] the watery depths: When there were no depths, I was brought forth (Proverbs 8:24).

Translated byAaron Samuels.